( Luke 22:54-62 ) - [ Deutsch ]
Good morning, dear congregation,
The sermon reading for today is by Pastor Harald Vogt. It was written for the Sunday of Lent in 2021.
First of all, a brief introduction to the context:
Jesus had just finished praying in the Garden of Gethsemane on the evening of Passover when he was betrayed by Judas and taken prisoner by the temple guard.
We read in Luke, chapter 22, verses 54-62:
Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest’s house. But Peter followed at a distance. Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, “This man was also with Him.” But he denied Him, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” And after a little while another saw him and said, “You also are of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, “Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying!” Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
(New King James Version)
Dear congregation,
What is courage? Courage is not running away when things get serious. Courage - as the dictionary says - enables us to stand up for a cause that we have recognized as right and necessary in the face of resistance and danger.
How often have we been courageous? When a superior acts unjustly, someone spreads untruths or builds up enemy stereotypes against people who think differently, believe differently, are different.
How courageous are we? What do we dare to do? How important are our convictions to us? What would we do for them? As much as Peter? Peter was courageous. Not the coward and denier of Jesus that he is sometimes portrayed as. These were the disciples who disappeared as soon as Jesus was arrested! Peter did not run away. He ran after him - as the only one of the disciples known to us. Not only did he run after them, he even went right into the lion's den. Into the inner courtyard of the palace of the high council, where Jesus was being held prisoner until the trial. He did not want to lose sight of Jesus. Perhaps to signal to him: Don't worry, your people are still there. And he mingles with the guards and the foot soldiers involved in the capture. Just sits down with them at the campfire. Pretty brave. He wanted to spy on how everything was going, what they were planning to do with Jesus, where they were taking him.
And then a slave girl who is part of the household staff recognizes him: "You were with him too! You are also a member of his anti-religious and anti-state organization." How would we have reacted? Would we have stood up and said: “Yes, that's me. I belong to this Jesus” ... Here in South Africa at least we wouldn't be arrested, but in many countries around the world it's a different story.
Now you might think: Peter had to be strategic. He couldn't reveal his identity if he wanted to continue spying; if he really wanted to know what would happen next. No one was helped if he was also taken prisoner. How often do we do that ... in conversations, in conflicts to get out of an unpleasant situation as unscathed as possible? How often do we hide our real opinion so as not to get into trouble, not to attract attention, not to offend?
"Woman, I don't know him." This answer buys Peter time and leeway for his true intentions. But it doesn't help for long. He is also recognized by others: "You're one of them too!" And now Peter's fear grows. His defence becomes more frantic, more aggressive: "Man, it's not me!" When a third person intervenes and confirms: "Of course you were with him too!", panic mixes with his reaction.
All four Gospels report this situation. Luke softens Peter's last reaction: “Man, I don't know what you are saying.” Mark and Matthew report that he begins to swear: “God will punish me if I lie! I don't know this man!” ... Panic. At this moment, Luke reports, the cock crows ... and the imprisoned Jesus turns to him ... and looks him in the eye. ... Then Peter collapses, runs away and weeps bitterly.
Why is he weeping? Because he was a cowardly failure, because he was afraid, because in his panic he denied Jesus? ... It is important for Luke to report that Jesus looked at him. This looking into each other's eyes causes what Peter wanted to achieve, collapse. For between them ... was Peter's desire to protect Jesus, to save him and to continue on a great journey with him. Peter had already tried to defend Jesus with the sword when he was arrested - which Jesus immediately rejected. Peter had the best intentions and he was braver than everyone else. But he chased after his ideas and tried to push them through with violence, courage and cunning.
But: the good intention ... the end does not justify the means!
Not with this Jesus.
Even the best intention does not justify questionable means. They must correspond to the nature of this Jesus. And that is a tough nut to crack - for all of us. The means I use for my faith, the community, our church, social projects, helping those in need, my best intentions ... these means must correspond to the nature of Jesus, the sound of God.
This is a challenge that we often fail to meet and which, as we see in our history, we have pathetically often trampled underfoot. What was not demanded of people for the 'glory' of God? How much mental and physical violence was done to them - with the best of intentions, just to save their souls. Let us think of the 'Christian' education of earlier years! How often the form was more important than the content, no matter how people felt. How often the right terms had to be dropped, the right beliefs repeated to supposedly protect God ... But:
The cause, the good intention does not justify the means! Not with this Jesus. Jesus does not want to be liberated by a sword and does not want to assert himself through cunning and covert actions. He also does not want a cane and ear pulling, no forced missionary work, no pyres and no threats of hell. Jesus does not save himself. He takes the path of non-violence, of courageously standing up for his message, the path of peace with God, people and his own heart.
Why? Because for him it is all about the credibility of God.
There is the sentence: "Well, I am a good-hearted person, but if someone comes across to me like that, they can also experience me differently." ... That is not a sentence from God ... The reality that we call God wants to bring light into our dark abysses, to free us from our negative experiences that often bind us like cords. He who is a loving You to us, seeks and awakens the loving You in us.
And this process thrives on truthfulness.
Peter weeps because Jesus' gaze finally shatters his old image of the Messiah and God and allows him to look into the heart of God. Later, at Pentecost, he begins to talk about it - completely 'intoxicated'. Seeking the gaze of Jesus, seeking his gaze again and again and allowing ourselves to be found by this gaze is a quiet, stirring and joyful path. It changes us deep inside.
This is how Albert Schweitzer, the theology professor who suddenly became a jungle doctor, experienced it. He wrote*: "Christianity is not a religious doctrine, but an 'experience'. The experience of inner‘togetherness with him – Christ’”. According to a Mother Theresa, a Jörg Zink and a Richard Rohr, being a Christian depends on opening up to an inner experience; it is the search for his gaze that allows us to discover our essence and our purpose.
Maybe that sounds cryptic and irrational to some people ... And that's exactly what it is: something that our reason cannot grasp. Just as we cannot grasp many things in life. Blind coincidences that are not blind at all, overwhelming experiences in nature, music or with people that touch us deeply and change us.
Situations in which we realize that HE is there ... the Risen One.
It is about the encounter with Him. And the incredibly beautiful thing about it is that looking at Him means... being allowed to make mistakes, to cry, to learn to love and it allows us to grow beyond our small, limited self.
That was, is and remains his wish and his work.
Just like Peter, who looked Jesus in the eye and found himself ... and found God anew.
May we seek this gaze and be found by this gaze ... To you and me again and again - so that we lose our fear of the future, become courageous and joyful!
Amen
* (Albert Schweitzer, Die Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben, S.32)