Sermon for Saint Peter & Saint Paul, Apostles, June 29, 2010
Sung Mass
By the Reverend Stephen Gerth
Ezekiel 34:11-16; Psalm 87; 2 Timothy 4:1-8;John 21:15-19


Peter and Paul preached and died in Rome. By far, they are the most prominent apostles in the first Christian community, and despite Matthew’s account of Peter receiving the keys to the kingdom – and the use that the largest Christian denomination makes of it, it’s hard to disagree with the late Raymond Brown conclusion that it was Paul’s work and Paul’s writings that made Paul, after Jesus, “the most influential figure in the history of Christianity.”[1] Peter’s mission was primarily to the relatively small Jewish community; Paul’s mission was to the much larger non-Jewish world.[2]

Today’s celebration of their martyrdom dates originated in Rome to the middle of the third century during a period of persecution.[3] But apart from the tradition of the Church, the best evidence for their martyrdoms happens to be in the Bible – in Peter’s case, the ending of the gospel according to John,[4] and in Paul’s case, his own letters[5] and Luke’s Acts of the Apostles.[6] That said, there’s just a lot that we do not and will not ever know about Peter, Paul and that first generation of women and men whose faith in the risen Christ shapes our lives today.

Peter denied Jesus, of course;[7] Paul persecuted Jesus’ followers and, according to Luke, watched as Stephen was stoned to death.[8] In Peter and in Paul we don’t see perfect people. But we do see people whose lives have been taken by the resurrection and by the Holy Spirit.

Since the time of the New Testament, a great deal has been made of the two apostles, probably far more than they would desire.

For my part, I work hard not to dismiss the great power of the good in their lives that has been colored, in Peter’s case, any way, by the Roman papacy. For the record, it would be centuries after his death before anyone thought Peter was the first pope.[9] And for the record, no fair reading of the New Testament could let anyone conclude that Peter was in charge of Paul.[10]

As for Paul, it’s so easy for me sometimes to think of him as some kind of Christian Pharisee. Last night at Evening Prayer, in a reading from his Second Letter to the Corinthians, instead of Paul the judge, I heard Paul the apostle of God’s grace: 

We do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.[11]

This he seems to have written in 57 AD.[12] The Holy Spirit was strong in his life and in his understanding.

So, tonight we celebrate the deaths of Peter and Paul to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We celebrate the grace and the hope that comes to us through the Word they preached and the witness of their lives. We celebrate the gift of faith we share with them in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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