Peter and Paul, Apostles
June 29, 2025
John 21.15-19
We’re going to take some polls this morning, nothing too difficult, just go with your gut instinct answer. We’re picking our favorite member of iconic duos, so just raise your hand for your vote. Alright, first up, Chewbacca and Han Solo. Chewy fans, Han fans. Lucy and Ethel are up next. Bert and Ernie. Bacon and eggs. Burger and fries. Peanut butter and jelly. Snoopy and Woodstock. Woody and Buzz Lightyear. And of course, you know what our last one is going to be, Peter and Paul.
It’s the nature of the beast of duos, right? There’s always going to be one side that people gravitate to a little more than the other. Duos kind of have to have a balance of opposites, which means you’re going to be drawn one way or the other. You can’t appreciate Ernie’s blissful lack of awareness without Bert’s hyperfocus and anxiety. Sherlock’s heightened sense of observation and social awkwardness has to be balanced by Watson’s ability to actually navigate through the world and work with people. We need people that balance us out, it’s just the way the world works. I think that’s why most of my friends are extroverts, because if I was only friends with introverts, none of us would leave our houses or answer the phone. You need people who pull you out of your comfort zone, you need people that you help balance out, people who when our talents combine make for something magical.
Now, I say all this and yet I can’t help but wonder if up at the pearly gates, St. Peter isn’t grumbling that he has to share his feast day with that guy. Because honestly, in the world of iconic duos, Peter and Paul are not the two I think of. If you throw Mary in with them, then sure you have a heck of a trio, but from a very different perspective. No, I can’t really think of two people who would not have wanted to be paired together than these two and yet, here we are, Peter and Paul, Apostles.
It does beg the question—why? Why are they paired up together? Which of course was a question that came up in Bible study too and so we had to consult Doctor Google. The reasoning is both logical and legendary in equal measure. The logic is that when looking at the pillars of the church, the foundation upon which it was built, these two men are at the forefront. It was their combined work that brought the early Jesus movement from a small smattering of random gatherings to the church writ large. The legendary piece is based on the tale that Peter and Paul were martyred on the same day, by the same emperor, both in Rome, just several years apart. We have no way to actually confirm this because we don’t know the exact year either of them were killed, let alone the day, but out of these stories comes this sharing of their day together. And just like any duo, these two are a bit of a lesson in opposing forces.
Let’s start with Paul, because you all know…I have…some feelings about our boy Paul. I appreciate that Paul was Luther’s guy but sometimes, I just can’t with this man. In all he does, Paul comes with a staggering level of confidence, even when he says that he is not here to boast or brag. Whether it was in his previous life as a Pharisee or in his next life as an apostle, once he had a calling and a mission, he just dove straight forward, confident in his words, sure of his next move. Paul has a bit of an Alexander Hamilton vibe to him, why do you write like you’re running out of time. He knew what he was about, and he knew he had a mission. God had called him out from Damascus and into the wider world. He was a Roman citizen so he could maneuver, he had access to people, access to funds, he had a skill he could leverage for accommodation. You need a tent? Paul’s your guy. He moved through the world with a surety. He could be all things for all people and would bloom wherever he was planted and then tell you about it.
And then there’s Peter, and for as much as I have feelings about Paul, I have the same and completely opposite feelings for Peter. A life of religion and theology is not one that Peter thought he was destined for. His only trade and skill is that of a fisherman; he isn’t eloquent; he’s not all that put together. From what we know of him in the gospels, he’s a bit of a mess. He’s the guy voted most likely to stick his foot in his mouth. He has moments of soaring at great heights and then just crashing and burning. He seems to have a temper, and while Paul spent his early life persecuting the church, at the moment Jesus needed him most, Peter turned away in abject denial of their entire relationship. After the resurrection, leadership was kind of put on his shoulders, suddenly he was the one needing to address the crowds and make decisions about what comes next, and for Peter, he seems like he wanted to stay put. Jesus’ mission was here, in Galilee, in Jerusalem, and that’s where he was staying, somewhere he knew, somewhere he was comfortable, he could do God’s work right here, without threat of shipwrecks and unknown cities.
And yet…for all of their flaws and messiness, for all of their differences, there is one really significant thing that they share. When Jesus called…they followed. Without question. Paul turned his entire life completely upside down and inside out after receiving his call on the road to Damascus. Peter let go of his past and his regrets on the banks of a lake over a resurrection breakfast. Jesus looked at both of these men, their anger, their egos, their fear, their messiness and he said, yes, you’re good, you will do, here is your mission should you choose to accept it. Jesus saw both of them for who they were in their entirety, their fullest selves, and even though those selves were flawed, he knew they were who he wanted to send, because who better to go out to God’s flawed people than flawed messengers. Jesus knew Paul would get cocky, Jesus knew Peter would probably yell at the wrong person, and he sent them anyway.
And there’s a reason for that, for all of their oppositeness, there is one vital thing that Peter and Paul share, that all of us share, they belonged to God, they were God’s people, and they were being sent to God’s people. It seems like an obvious statement, but it struck me anew this week when someone pointed out the exact words Jesus uses in the gospel this week. As he is giving this three-fold commission to Peter, he doesn’t say go feed the world, go feed the people, go tend the sheep. He says tend my sheep, feed my sheep, feed my lambs. Jesus knows that he is commissioning Peter for a hefty job, one that will require his heart, his time, and ultimately his life, but he makes it very clear, the people he is being sent to…they belong to God, they belong to Jesus, which means it isn’t up to Peter who he goes to, he doesn’t get to pick and choose, he has to go where God has called him, to God’s people, to the people he watched Jesus go to, which means going to the margins, going to the untouchable, going to the forgotten, going to the lost, going to the voiceless.
Jesus didn’t look at Peter and say go to the people you want, go feed the people you think need feeding, go to the sheep you think belong. He just said go to my people, and just like us, I’m sure Peter thought he had a monopoly on deciding who those people were, but then he probably remembered…Jesus went to the woman at the well, Jesus went to Lazarus’ tomb, Jesus went to Zaccheaus’ house, Jesus went to Jairus’ daughter’s bedside, Jesus went to weddings, Jesus went to him…and so who was he to dictate and decide who got Jesus’ love and attention? He had to go where God was calling him, and the only way to do that was to follow in the footsteps of his Savior who he loved.
And you best believe both of these men were scared, this wasn’t an easy world God was calling them out to. They were being called to share the gospel in a world where the gospel was illegal. They were being called to serve in a world that just killed Jesus. They were being called into an Empire that wanted nothing more than to squash them, and yet there was that commission…feed my sheep…not just those in safe places, not just those you think are worthy, not just those that will make the job easy. They were probably scared and intimated and freaked out about whether they were up to the job, but they went, they followed, they listened, because at the end of the day, if it wasn’t going to be them, then who was it going to be?
Down through the centuries, the call remains the same. People of God, do you love me? Yes Lord, you know we love you. Tend my sheep, feed my lambs. God isn’t calling us out to start a movement, lead a new church; God isn’t calling us to hop a boat and go find cities where we need to preach in the marketplaces. But God is calling us out into the world, because while the time has changed, the reality hasn’t, there are people who need to hear and know that they are loved, that they are precious to God, that they are safe and beloved amongst God’s people. And it’s true, we’re messy and we’re flawed and we’re not always going to get it right, but sometimes we are and when that happens…lives can be changed, hearts can be moved, and grace can be known.
The world is hard, y’all. And we are a community filled with diverse and different people, people who might be complete opposites in some ways, and yet…we share this day, this gospel, this call together. Each of us are part of the sheep, part of the lambs, part of the flock, and each of us is called to be a part of the gospel, to do with it what we can, however we can, in our corner of the world where God has planted us. Jesus never promised either Peter or Paul that it would be easy, but he did tell them it was necessary. God’s people need to know that they are loved, they need to know that they are seen. The gospel still has a place in this world, but someone has to carry it. Do you love me? You know I love you. After this Jesus said to him…Follow me…AMEN!!!