October 22, 2024: Tuesday Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark 14:54, 66-72
I hope that this morning finds you filled with the peace and joy of God which is ours in Jesus Christ. Like me, you are probably election exhausted by the TV, radio, and Flyers in your mailbox. Only a few days before the election on November 5, we will celebrate our thanksgiving for the Saints on All Saints Sunday, Nov 3. If you are a part of a family or friends group, I can't imagine that you have never experienced the loss and grief of a family member or a friend. In comparison to God's plan for the creation, which includes you and me, our lives are but a bright flash of the hope which God has for every life. That may make us feel like we are insignificant and not cherished by God, but exactly the opposite is true. We have been created to be stewards of God's creation, and we are, in the order of that creation, God's greatest treasure. Such a treasure that Christ, our King, has come to reassure us of the powerful desire of God for us to always be with Him in this life, and in the next. Please pray for Jim and Linda, and their extended family, on the death of Jim's mother, Betty. She was 102 years old. We had the blessing of hosting Betty in our home for family gatherings before she became homebound. She was a wonderful saint in Christ. Thank you, LORD, for taking her to your eternal home. Remember this Sunday is pumpkin carving at 9AM on the patio, a Gospel Group rehearsal quickly after service, and Church Council after that rehearsal. At worship on Sunday, we will have an adult Baptism, and there will be a brief cake reception in the Narthex after service too. This will be another wonderful Sunday for us to gather in the unity of Jesus Christ, our Savior. And in secular notes: Remember to vote!
In many ways our reading this morning from Mark 14:54, 66-72 is a reminder for us all about how our strong faith in Jesus Christ can fall victim to our fear for our lives, causing us to turn from Christ, and seeking other gods that seem easier and more attractive for our benefit in this life. Today we are reading about Peter, a man of extraordinary courage and strength. I know that very often we view Peter, because of this passage in the Gospels, as weak and failed. He is the one upon whom Christ has said he will be the Rock on which the Church will be built. Our reading this morning sounds more like Peter is a collapsed person sitting by that warming fire in the outer court of the High Priest's house. Christ has already told him that he will be the one who betrays his own faith in Christ three times before the cock crows. Though Peter denies that any such thing could ever happen. It does happen. I see a great deal of myself in Peter's denial, thinking how many times I too have not been the person, or the pastor of the Gospel, who Christ has called me to be. I know that I have speaking gifts and faith too, yet there are times when I must consider that I have not been strong enough to face the situation and its need for the presence of the living Christ. But, like us, Peter has the courage and strength of the living Christ in his life too. His comes through having lived and journeyed with Christ for those three years, and in our own Baptisms we receive that very same presence of the Spirit who brings us Christ's courage and strength in our lives. We really must-see Peter in this light instead of thinking of him as a coward. Peter stayed on the course, and, by the way, exactly where are the other disciples in the outer court of the trial's location that night? None of them have come to keep watch. Only Peter. The strength of Peter's dedication to Christ is really proven when he is identified by others at that fire around him. A stronger person might flee to get away from possible persecution, but not Peter, and at the third call of a rooster Peter weeps openly for his weakness. (The rooster in this case at the break of day at 6AM may well have been the call of a Roman morning call on a horn. It was nicknamed the rooster.) When I say during a message that we are simultaneously saints and sinner. It is exactly this example of Peter on the night of Christ's trial that helps us to see this more clearly. Though it is not written into the Acts of the Apostles, it may well be that Peter told others in his mission to share the Good News about Christ's loving forgiveness for him during His presence after His Resurrection while he remained on earth with His disciples. Sharing our own amazing stories of faith failure, and then lifting up Christ's never-ending love and forgiveness for us are an effective way to bring Christ into people's lives in an understandable way that we all know from our own experiences of coming up short, and yet being covered by the Amazing Grace of our Savior.
With love in Christ, Pastor Kim
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