PALM/PASSION SUNDAY “Denial and Recovery”

 

Readings: Psalm 118:1-19, Isaiah 50:4-9, Philippians 2:5-11, Luke 22:31-34, 54-60
 Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, April 10, 2022

The crowds on Palm Sunday welcome Jesus with cries of welcome. 'Hosanna, Hosanna, Blessed is He'. Yet in under a week those cries have turned to shouts of 'Crucify Him, Crucify Him'. We may put it down to the fickle nature of the crowd, but if we dig deeper, we find within ourselves that we also can betray truths we claim to believe. In none of the disciples is that better exemplified than Peter.

Peter moves from simply denying he ever knew Jesus, through to claiming no relationship with the disciples and eventually to rejecting his personal identity. There would be a recovery for Peter. Such an opportunity is always an open door for each of us. But we must recognize our denials before we can ever move to a place of recovery.

Peter's first denial is of Jesus himself. “A servant girl saw him seated by the firelight. She looked at him closely. “This man was with Him.” But he denied it. “Woman, I don't know Him' he said.” (Luke 22:56-57). This first denial has to do with his personal faith.

There is something telling in Luke's description of the woman looking closely at him as he sat in the light of the fire. Sunday morning faith permits us to make an easy confession. When we are amid the faithful, singing our songs, saying our prayers, shutting the world outside beyond our doors, it is not so hard to say, 'Jesus is Lord.'

But when things start to fall apart, when we get a little too close to the fire, when we are far from home and facing the worst, where then is our confession? When people probe our faith and ask us problematic questions about our beliefs, how do we hold up? We could say to ourselves, 'I do all right, I can stick up for what I believe, I'm confident I can rise to the challenge.'

But that's exactly what Peter said to Jesus, earlier in the day. 'Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you like wheat'. Peter (wondering why Jesus was calling him by the name he had before he came to faith) declares 'Lord, I'm ready to go to prison for you, even to death with you.”

Peter thought he was secure. Hadn't Jesus called him the rock? Hadn't Jesus said that it was upon a faith like his that the church would be built? We may be tempted to think that when it comes to faith, we have enough. We go to church, we read our bibles, we say our prayers, we try and be good people.

Trouble is, if we think we have arrived, if we think we've gone far enough and deep enough, then we are in denial. We are setting ourselves up for a fall. When the time of testing comes, we are going to be found floundering and spluttering and fearful and hurting.

Let us not be in denial about the fragile nature of our faith. Look deeply into yourself, before someone else does it. Let the fire of the Holy Spirit refine your heart before the fire of the world burns your relationship with God. Peter's first denial is very personal. He denies his savior.

The second denial comes in verse 58 “A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them” Having firstly denied his savior, Peter now denies his relationship to his fellow disciples. He goes from 'I don't know Him' to 'I don't know them.'

I have noticed in my own spiritual walk, that when I have conflicts with my personal faith, they soon spill over into conflicts with my communal faith. That is, if I'm in denial of my need for the personal grace of God to renew my life, I also deny my need for others to help me grow in my faith. I deny my need for community. I believe I can make it alone.

You hear a lot of people say these days, 'I'm spiritual, but I'm not religious'. That often translates into, “I'm going my own way and don't see any need to belong to an organization like the institutional church.”  

I have been around church most of life. And do you know what? It isn’t easy. God goes and calls people to be part of our church communities that aren't the folk we want to hang out with! Think about the disciples. Two sets of brothers. A freedom fighter. John, who seems a bit of a romantic. Thomas, whom we remember because of his doubts. Judas who turns out to be a traitor. What an odd collection of guys!

But it turned out that their faith grew strong because they stayed in community. Their jagged edges refined each other. They had to deal with each other and be accountable to each other. As a church we have meeting in our facilities help groups like Alcoholics Anonymous. The people in those groups understand the power of community to affect the kind of recovery that going it alone cannot do.

I would suggest to you that every person who is truly on a spiritual journey, is a person in recovery. We are sinners who need the salvation grace of Jesus Christ to remold us, reshape us, and renew us. We are all in recovery. And if we think we can do that alone, we are in denial. Peter's second denial is of his connection to the community of the faithful.

I understand that for some folks, particularly our younger folks in school or college, to be seen belonging to a church, can make you seem out of step with some of your friends. Peer pressure is brutal. But I'd encourage you to trust in God to make a way for you to be yourself, without fear of what others may think. If you get the first thing right, your relationship with God, then somehow, your relationship to the church isn't a problem! Peter only denied his friends, after he'd denied his Lord.

Let us move onto that third denial. Luke 22:59 'About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.” Peter replied, “Man, I don't know what you're talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.”

This third denial in some ways is the saddest of them all. Peter denies his identity. He was a Galilean, and Galileans were known for their protective nature towards their hometown. This was like a New Yorker, saying, “New York? No. Never bin there. I'm from da South.” Not only would his accent give him away, but it would also be a denial of his roots.

When we are in denial about something it has that effect. We lose ourselves. We forget about our commitments to family, to community, to friends and colleagues. We just want to get away. We want a complete change of identity. But we are who we are. And though we may try and conceal it, others will see through it.

As soon as I am involved in a conversation with somebody I have not met before, it doesn't take them long to ask, 'What sort of accent is that?” I usually try and explain that it's a broadly British, tinged with West Virginian, Long Island dialect... I cannot do anything to change it, and if I tried to hide it, it would still slip out. So, Peter, can't hide where he is from.

We all have those moments, when for some reason or other, we try and pretend that we're something that we're not. Maybe we're trying to fit in. Maybe we're afraid of what somebody will think. It never works. Remember that song, 'Oh yes, He's the great Pretender'? We can all be tempted to play that game.

One of the wonderful things about belonging to the Kingdom of God is that God does not want us to be anybody other than ourselves. God can use everything about us, our background, our talents, our dreams, our peculiarities. If we lay them at God's disposal, they are not a weakness but a strength.

After the rooster crows, we read “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.” (verse 61). We don't know what kind of look that was, but it caused Peter, not simply to regret what he had just done, but more importantly, it gave Peter the strength to walk away from his denials and make an amazing recovery.

Earlier at supper Jesus had said to him, “I have prayed for you Simon that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (verse 31). Did you hear that? 'When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers”

God can use those times when we are at our worst, our days of ultimate failure, to demonstrate the power of His grace and His love. Peter fails. Miserably. He promises to give it all and ends up denying it all. But he made a recovery. And what a recovery!

•    He recovers his relationship with Jesus. He discovers in a new way the power of Jesus to forgive him and renew him. He becomes one of the first disciples to witness the resurrection. Before his denials, his words came from misplaced pride. Afterward, they came from brokenness and grace, and they become real and powerful.

•    He recovers his relationship to the church. He becomes the first spokesperson on the day of Pentecost, the day the church is born. He becomes one of the key leaders, main preachers, one of the churches greatest prophets.

•    He recovers his identity. He holds his head up high as a citizen of the kingdom of God. He could tell you, 'That's where I'm coming from, that's where I belong, that's where I'm headed. That's who I am.”

Now what's the name of that big fancy church in Rome? That's right. St Peter's. Not a bad recovery for a guy who in our reading says, 'I don't know Jesus, I don't want anything to do with His church, I just want to be somebody else!” An amazing story of denial and recovery.

The crowds on Palm Sunday changed their cries of 'Hosanna' to shouts of 'Crucify Him'. But that wasn't the end of the story. Jesus was crucified. And as He hung on the cross, He prayed for them, 'Father, forgive them, they don't know what they are doing!”

Jesus still makes that prayer for our world and over each one of us. I believe that, even though we can be in denial of His love, He still reaches out to each of us. I believe that if only we can recognize where we fall, the strength offered through His Holy Spirit can pick us up again, restore us and offer us visions of new possibilities and opportunities.

As we reflect this morning on the ability of Jesus to take us, in all our brokenness, and use us for something beautiful, may we be encouraged to place our lives in God's hands. He did it for Peter, who denied that he even knew who Jesus was. His grace and love can do amazing things in us and through us, if we just allow God to be God.

And to God's name be the glory. Amen.

The Reverend Adrian J Pratt B.D.