But Peter denied it again. A little later some of the other bystanders confronted Peter and said, “You must be one of them, because you are a Galilean.” Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know this man you’re talking about!” [Mark 14 (NLT)]
Described as a “preaching genius…like no other preacher you have ever heard,” the late Rev. Fred Craddock was well-known for including stories in his sermons. He told one that took place during the early 60s in a diner in the deep South. Although the white Craddock sat in a booth and was served with courtesy and consideration, he silently watched the diner’s manager treat a Black man at the counter with rudeness, disdain, and open contempt. Although offended by the man’s racist behavior, Craddock remained silent. It was when he walked out of the diner after finishing his meal that the preacher heard a rooster crow. A signal of his betrayal, the crowing told the preacher that, by ignoring one of the “least of these”, he’d ignored Jesus! His silence was as much a betrayal of the Lord as were Peter’s denials!
Of course, to understand the impact of Craddock’s story on him and those who heard him tell it, you must be familiar with the story of Peter and his denial of Jesus. After finishing what would be known as the “Last Supper,” Jesus and the disciples went out to the Mount of Olives. When Jesus predicted that all the disciples would desert Him that night, Peter and the others protested saying they’d never deny Him. Outraged at the thought of denying the Lord, Peter insisted, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” Jesus, however, told the overconfident disciple that he would, indeed, deny knowing the Lord three times before the rooster crowed. Within a few hours, the man who claimed a willingness to join Jesus in prison and death denied knowing Jesus three times before the rooster announced the break of day with his crow.
The stories of Peter and Fred Craddock remind us that our faith is more vulnerable than we think. While I’ve never heard an actual rooster crow after denying the Lord, like those men, I’ve denied Jesus every time I’ve ignored His face in the faces of God’s children. While we may not have denied knowing Jesus as did Peter, like Craddock, we’ve denied Him when, like the goats in Jesus’ parable, we fail to be His disciples. We deny following the Galilean whenever we fail to be the hands of Jesus and serve the needy, to be the voice of Jesus and speak for the disenfranchised, or be the feet of Jesus and walk the extra mile for our neighbor.
Although Scripture assures us of God’s provision, presence, and power, when push comes to shove, it’s hard to fully trust a God we don’t see and whose ways we can’t fully understand! That’s when Satan gets busy behind the scenes instilling doubt, cowardice, and shame into our hearts. Rather than trust God’s strength more than our own, we begin to fear failure, rejection, and involvement. Rather than hear His call and cede control to Him, we’re like the priest and Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan—we turn a blind eye to the suffering and a deaf ear to their cries!
We are fallen people living in a fallen world and, at times, we will fail to be the people Jesus calls us to be. We will fail to see Jesus in our midst and the cock will crow! Nevertheless, we must never allow those failures to defeat us. Peter—the one who lied three times with his blatant denial of Jesus—did not remain a prisoner to his fear or shame. He became the Apostle who boldly spoke of Jesus to the high council and, despite the threats, continued to speak of Christ until he, like his Lord, was crucified! Craddock didn’t let his failure stop him either. He told his story and others like it and, thirty years later, the man who remained silent when he should have spoken was named one of the twelve most influential preachers in America. Neither man was defined by his failures and neither are we. In nature, goats can never become sheep but, in God’s kingdom, by the power of the Holy Spirit, they can!
All men will be Peters in their bragging tongue, and most men will be Peters in their base denial; but few men will be Peters in their quick repentance. [Owen Feltham]
Having previously warned people that not everyone who claimed to follow Him would enter the Kingdom, Jesus told the Parable of the Sheep and Goats in which He likened the last judgment to a king separating the sheep from the goats at the end of the day. Placing the sheep to His right and the goats to His left, the King invites the sheep into the Kingdom. The reasoning behind His selection is disarmingly simple: “For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.” [Matthew 25:35-36] Having failed to do those things, the goats are sent into eternal punishment.
The email from my dentist asked, “Would you recommend us?” When I answered in the affirmative, I was hyperlinked to a site that added my five-star rating to that of other patients. The following day, I received a longer survey regarding my recent visit. Once done, it again asked if I would recommend his services and requested use of my name in an on-line testimonial. It’s clear that my dentist wants more than feedback; he wants the public approval of his patients. Although I like him, I like my privacy more, so I declined!
There are 613 commandments in the Torah/Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible). But, as seen in Jesus’ interaction with the lawyer who wanted “neighbor” defined, there was room for interpretation. For example, what exactly does it mean to “honor” one’s parents? When Deuteronomy 11:18-20 says to bind “these words” to one’s hands and forehead and place them on doorposts and gates, exactly what words and how was it to be done? Work on the Sabbath is prohibited in twelve places but is the command limited to the few types of work mentioned? For that matter, what defines work?
“Happy Easter,” said the Pastor as she welcomed us to worship. She was neither a week late nor four weeks early for Greek Orthodox Easter. While it’s no longer Easter Sunday and all the jelly beans, chocolate bunnies, and hard-boiled eggs have been eaten, it is Eastertide (“tide” just being an old-fashioned word for “season” or “time”). The Christian or liturgical calendar designates Eastertide as the fifty days from Easter/Resurrection Sunday to Pentecost (when we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church).
Today is Maundy (or Holy) Thursday—the day many Christians throughout the world will observe the institution of the Lord’s Supper/Eucharist/Holy Communion by coming to the Lord’s table. Regardless of what you call this sacrament, Jesus’ mention of a “new covenant” probably will be part of your service. Not a word commonly used today, what is a covenant and how does it differ from a contract?
Devotions of the Heart 