Petertide 2025 St Andrew’s Milngavie
Today we celebrated the Feast of St Peter accompanied by Alison.
Sunday 13th July 10am Sung Eucharist we welcome Bishop Nick, our new Bishop, to preside and preach. Please all support if you can.
This Week
Monday 3pm – vestry -Garden Room
Tuesday 10am – Prayer Group in the Garden Room
Thursday 10am – Said Holy Communion followed by coffee in Friendship House.
Readings for next Sunday – 3rd Sunday after Trinity – Isaiah 66:10-14 Galatians 6:7-16 Luke 10 :1-11,6-20
Today’s readings – Acts 12:1-122, Timothy 4:6-8,17-18, Matthew 16:13-19
That great passage we have just heard from the book of Acts describing the angel rescuing Peter from prison always reminds me of the time I studied it, probably over thirty years ago, with the teenage Sunday school class at St Mary’s Wimbledon.
My ministry in those days was very much in its infancy. Unsure of myself I tried to focus on the theme of angels as I hesitantly extoled their mystical role in our lives. However, there was one smart boy in the class who always seemed to have an answer to everything, and he was clearly unconvinced by my teaching declaring confidently that if anyone believed that story about angels, they would believe anything! Defeated, I didn’t have the experience or wisdom to know how to respond. I can’t remember how the lesson finished but I don’t recall any guardian angel coming to my rescue that day.
But the story does underpin the significance of Peter and the importance of his vocation as Jesus charged him with the great task of being the rock on which he would build his church.
Today is his feast day. It’s often referred to as Petertide and associated with the ordinations of priests and deacons. A time of celebrations as new vocations are formalised, new ministries begun.
Throughout history people have always been called to ministry and through the power of the Holy Spirit continue to be so.
In the beginning of the bible in the book of Genesis God called Abraham, the first Hebrews to be his people. He then called the prophets so that his people might turn back to him.
In the NT God in Jesus called the disciples to stop being fishermen and to start catching people to proclaim the gospel.
One of those disciples was Saint Peter. Peter is the disciple we all relate to the best and probably the disciple we know the most about from the Gospel accounts.
Peter was the enthusiastic visionary, the one jumping up and down with all the ideas and like my smart boy in the Sunday school, he liked to have all the answers.
“But what about you?” Jesus asked his disciples. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter is the first to answer, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:15-16
Peter – impetuous Peter who walks on the water, then sinks through lack of faith, who doesn’t understand the parables, who argues with Jesus and ends up being called Satan. Who falls asleep when he is supposed to be praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and who then denies knowing Jesus. But Peter was also the disciple who knew more than anyone the restoring power of God’s love, and forgiveness. He gives us all hope –because he is not some kind of perfect saint, Perfect Peter he is not.
Despite this it is Peter who took Christ words seriously and Jesus loves him all through it and never loses his belief in what Peter can do, is called to do, will do.
“You are rock and, on this rock, I will build my church,” Jesus says
Its not always easy to make the right judgements about others or about ourselves. We often fail to see the abilities and gifts we have been given – we seek strength, forgetting that it is in our weakness that Gods strength is made known. We often look for perfection and castigate ourselves when we fail, forgetting to understand that it is in our restoration that we become stronger and learn, and are given the ability to grow into our calling.
Jesus’s statement to Peter comes because of Peter’s declaration about him “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God” Matthew 16:16
To which Jesus responds with “You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church” Matthew 16:18
And he did, and these are words of life. They were for Peter, and they are for us. What Jesus says to Peter he says to all.
“Who do you say that I am?” This is a question for all of us.
But we mustn’t just answer the question, we need to live the answer and so discover the “rockness” that Jesus knows we have which means live with hope amid despair, love our neighbours, trust God for the future – offer forgiveness and love, pray when we can.
Deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him.
Above all we need to be the rock, be the rock on which Jesus’ church stands before the world today.