Thursday, March 11, 2021

Sermon - Midweek Lent 3 - Matthew 26:30-35, 69-75

 


The Rooster – Matthew 26:33-35, 69-75

Dear, dear Peter.  The chief of the apostles, but also the everyman we can all relate to.  He has his highs and lows, and doesn’t seem to do anything in a small way.  When we shines – he stands as a bright light of faith, a rock, like the nickname Jesus gave him.  But when he fails, and boy does he, it is embarrassing and humiliating and especially in this case, brings him to bitter tears.

The rooster, tonight’s animal in our series, will forever remind us of Peter.  The symbolism of the church often remembers St. Peter with the crossed keys – because Jesus spoke those words about locking and unlocking heaven – meaning the power to forgive sins – and spoke those words to Peter.  But in more than a few of those depictions, you will see also a rooster sitting on top of those keys.

I have to say, of all the animals, it seems the rooster is well suited to remind us of Peter, not simply for this incident, but because the rooster is the first to speak in the morning.  And Peter seemed always the first to speak in any situation, often before thinking.  I often come to church early in the morning, and the neighbors to the south here have some chickens, and a rooster.  And I’m often greeted by that cocka doodle doo, and I think of Peter.

When Jesus told the disciples they would all fall away that night when he would be arrested, Peter again spoke up.  He surely meant well.  After all, the spirit is willing, even if the flesh is weak.  The other disciples join in – “if we have to die with you, Jesus, we won’t fall away.  We won’t leave you.  We won’t deny you!” 

Peter even went so far that night as to draw his sword and slash off the ear of Malchus.  Had a few things gone differently, maybe Peter would have been killed in action.  Going down in a blaze of glory, his courage remembered by all.  But that’s not how it was to be.  There would be no clash of swords this night.  Jesus had other plans. 

Jesus had a long night ahead of him.  First there was the trial by night before the Jews.  Then the rushed morning trial at dawn.  And an early appointment at Pilate’s place in the morning.  And Jesus knew just how it would go for him, for the disciples, for Judas, and for Peter.

The rooster stands as yet another reminder that Jesus knew what lay ahead.  Everything unfolds just as he says it will, down to the parts the characters play in betrayal, denial, and desertion.  He even knows the part that rooster would play in heralding the fulfillment of his own little prophecy about Peter.  Every detail, just as Jesus says, is fulfilled.

That’s because, contrary to outward appearances, Jesus is in control of it all.  He could have stopped all this with 12 legions of angels at his beck and call.  But he didn’t.  He could have called on his followers to fight.  But he didn’t.  He could have come down from that cross later on in the story, but he didn’t.  And he didn’t have to die, but he did.  No one takes his life from him, but he lays it down of his own accord.  He could have turned away at any point, gone back home to Nazareth and lived the life of an obscure carpenter in peace and quiet.  But instead he set his face toward Jerusalem, set his will to fulfill the Father’s will, and submitted to the cup of punishment that was appointed for him – our cup – and he drank it down to the last drop.

Peter, on the other hand, was not so determined.  Brandishing his sword one moment, but cowed by a servant girl the next.  Sure, he and John tagged along and went to the High Priest’s place to see what would happen, but before long Peter’s courage failed.  When questioned about his accent, his origin, and his association with Jesus – Peter hits his low point.  He denies Jesus.  Denies being a follower, denies even knowing him, and does so with curses.

Three times, not once.  If it were only once, we might say it was a moment of weakness and look more kindly on Peter.  But the repeated, increasing vehemence with which he denies his Lord.  It stands in contrast to the three times Jesus was tempted by the devil, and he never wavered, never failed.  But against a far less impressive accuser, Peter crumbles and cowers, lies and denies.

It’s hard not to identify with Peter.  More and more the world around us is starting to ramp up the pressure.  We see the persecution of Christians coming, as a train in the distance, and wonder when it will arrive in its fullness.  Already cancel culture is nipping around the edges of the church – threatening people who speak unpopular opinions.  Opinions which we might well agree with as Christians.  We might well wonder when we will be next.  Government initiatives further threaten to formalize and concretize values and standards at odds with Christian morality.  It may be the servant girl today that asks, “are you with Jesus?”  and tomorrow the officer and the magistrate who put you to the test.  Be ready, dear Christian, for Jesus warned and promised of such persecution, and we do well to heed.

But it doesn’t take the threat of arrest, or even the pointing finger of a stranger to coax us toward denial.  We are often quick enough on our own to find reasons to deny our faith, and our Lord.  There is a sense in which every sin is a betrayal and denial of Christ.  Every time we cast our lot in with the Old Adam and not the New.  Whenever we decide our way is better than God’s, through whatever rationalization or excuse we tell ourselves.  When it comes to sinning, we don’t need much encouragement or temptation at all.

And then the rooster crows.  That is to say, the reminder of God’s law breaks the silence of our conscience and draws to mind what God has said.  The Spirit applies that law to us – and like Peter who remembered Jesus’ word and went and wept bitterly – we are driven to contrition.  The law crushes us, too.  It rubs our noses in our sin, and shines a spotlight on our guilt and shame.  Whoever denies me before men, I will deny before my Father, Jesus warns.  And so it’s not just that the law points out our sin, it also shows us what we deserve. 

But the point of this story is not “Jesus good, Peter bad” or even, “Jesus good, you bad” The contrast between Christ’s willingness to suffer all and Peter’s failure to be faithful teaches us just why we need Jesus.  And it opens the door for the epilogue to this story.

After Jesus died and rose, he would meet Peter again.  And in one of those early meetings, you’ll remember, he took Peter aside.  And without specifically addressing the denial, Jesus restored and forgave Peter.  He had denied him three times.  Jesus restores him three times.  Peter do you love me?  Feed my sheep.

With Jesus, the dark night of sin is always followed by the dawn of forgiveness.  The rooster that heralds the morning might also stand to remind us of God’s mercies, which are new every morning.  Gone are the sins of the past when Christ restores and renews us by his word.  Gone is the night of sorrow and tears when the morning of Christ dawns with the mercy he brings.

I would imagine that dear Peter pondered these things every morning he was awakened by the rooster’s call, for the rest of his life.  Surely he continued, daily, to struggle with sin, as each of us does.  Surely he failed again and again, though never quite as memorably as that night at the campfire.  Still, God would restore and renew his servant – and so the Peter who once denied Jesus in fear would meet his death with courage that has also come down to us.

Besides the keys and the rooster, another symbol of Peter is the upside down cross.  This is to signify the way he died.  According to the early church fathers, as Peter was about to be crucified by the Romans, he requested to be crucified upside down, as he was unworthy to die the same way Jesus did.  And so, in their dark humor, they agreed.

What a difference between the Peter of the denial and the Peter who met his final cross with courage.  This can only be because the Lord sustained and seasoned him through a lifetime of repentance and restoration, preparing him to make the good confession at the last.  May the Lord sustain and strengthen our faith, that we too, may remain steadfast to the end.

So the rooster – a reminder of Peter’s bitter sin of denial, but also of the dawn of daily grace in Jesus Christ.  Weep bitterly over your own sin and denial of Christ, but take comfort in the restoration he brings, the forgiveness he has won at the cross. Remain in him even unto death, and rise to life again at the trumpet call on the last day. 

In Jesus’ Name.

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