Peter excels at bold faithfulness. He is the rock on which Jesus builds the church.
Perhaps his most memorable moment is his confession at Caesarea Philippi, when Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter alone gets it right when he blurts out, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God!” (Matthew 16:15-16).
However, we should recall the rest of the story, times when things did not turn out so well. After stepping out of the boat at Jesus’ command, he looks around and notices the power of the wind and the waves. Fear takes over, and Peter the Rock sinks like a stone.
This same disciple is also the one who falls asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane and denies his Lord not once, but three times.
This model for our faith – the rock on which the church is built – turns out to be a person who is a lot like the rest of us: gutsy and afraid, confessing and denying.
And yet he matters to God. Thanks be to God, to whom we belong and to whom we matter.
This message is excerpted from “As God sees us” by Audrey West in the July/August 2017 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate the Confession of Peter. This is the first day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
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