In my sermon two weeks ago, I spoke about the example of the saints, and I said that the reason the saints are great examples to us is that they were just like us. And indeed, if that were not the case, if the saints were able to do what they did because they were different from us, they wouldn’t, and couldn’t, serve as examples to us of Christian living and discipleship.
Today we celebrate the lives and examples of two of the most important saints of all, St Peter, the one Jesus chose to lead the Apostles, and St Paul, the one Jesus chose to take to Gospel to the Gentiles. As important as Saints Peter and Paul are though, in spite of all they did to proclaim the Gospel in the early Church, in spite of the fact that they were chosen by the Lord himself to carry out the work they did, they were not perfect; they were every bit as flawed as everybody else. They are, in fact, perfect examples of what I was talking about in my sermon two Sundays ago. Just think about their stories.
We know from the Gospels that they both believed themselves unworthy of the call Jesus made on them, too sinful to be worthy, and we know that because they both said it. And when we look at St Peter we find someone who was impetuous in both word and deed: he spoke without really thinking about what he was saying and leapt into things without really looking first at where he was jumping. He was a man who acclaimed Jesus as Christ and Son of God and said he would die before he abandoned Jesus. And yet when it came to the time for those fine words to be backed up with deeds, he couldn’t, he backed off, put some physical distance between himself and Jesus and then denied that he even knew Jesus. He was the man who wanted to walk on water with Jesus, and did, until he became aware of the wind and waves, and became so concerned about them that he took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink. And yet in spite of all, he was he one who, in his excitement at seeing the risen Lord, forgot everything, his work, fishing, his boat, his friends and fellow fishermen, and leapt into the sea once again in his eagerness to be with the Lord.
And what can we say about St Paul. As Saul he was a great persecutor of the early Church, a man who travelled from place to place looking for disciples of Christ to arrest them, to have them imprisoned and even murdered. And if we read the story of Saint Stephen being stoned to death, it was a murder, more akin to a lynching than a lawful execution, and we’re told Saul witnessed and approved of what happened. But later, as St Paul, he was far from what many people might today expect a Christian to be. We know from his letters that St Paul was often involved in arguments, sharp arguments, even with other Christians, including those who’d worked with him, even with St Peter. One early description of St Paul says that he had the temper of a demon and the eyes of an angel. St Paul himself speaks about having a “thorn in the flesh” , something he struggled with during his ministry and prayed to have taken from him. There’s been much debate about what this was, but I think perhaps it was his bad temper which led him into so many disputes and arguments, even with his fellow Christians.
When we look at Saints Peter and Paul, as the men and very human beings that they were, we can see all sorts of things in their characters that can remind us of ourselves. But what we also see in them, and perhaps not so much in ourselves, is their willingness to carry on regardless, to do what the Lord asked of them in spite of their weaknesses and character flaws that they knew all too well that they had. And this is how and why they are examples to us.
So does anybody think that they’re not worthy of the name Christian because of something they’ve done? If so, you’re in good company because Saints Peter and Paul thought exactly the same thing. We all acclaim Jesus as Christ and Son of God, but we all act in ways that deny that acclamation. So if anybody has ever tried to distance themselves from Jesus because following him closely has been difficult, or even denied him in some way, and the most common way we do this is by not speaking up for our faith when others criticise it because we don’t want to get into an argument with them, again, you’re in good company because St Peter did the same. And if anybody has ever taken something on for the Lord and then not followed it through because we’ve been too concerned about other things and other problems that surround us, St Peter did that too. But if, like St Peter, anybody has done these things then let’s be ready to put those things behind us and be eager to be with the Lord again, just as St Peter also was.
And if we’ve ever treated anybody badly, we can’t have been any worse than Saul, but what he did, did not stop the Lord from calling him to do great things for the spread of the Gospel and the growth of the Church. We’ll all have our own thorns in the flesh, things about ourselves that we don’t like and that stop us from being the disciples of Christ we’d like to be, but so did St Paul. Like him, we might get annoyed with people, angry with people and argue with them. We might get annoyed and angry and argue with other members of the Church, but so did St Paul. But that didn’t stop him from carrying on with the work the Lord had given him to do. Problems and arguments within the Church didn’t cause him to give up and leave the Church as it has and does cause so many to do. And St Paul is a wonderful example to us in that respect.
Whatever we’ve done that we shouldn’t have done, however we’ve failed in the past do to what we should have done, we should also remember that the saints trod this same path before us. These two great saints, Peter and Paul certainly did. But they didn’t give up because that’s not what saints do. Saints are fully aware of their weaknesses and faults and failings, but they simply ask the Lord for the strength to carry on and then do. And the saints were no different from us so there’s no reason that we can’t follow their example. So when we think we’ve got things badly wrong, when we think we’re unworthy, when we think our faults and failings make it impossible for us to follow the Lord as we should, let’s remember the saints, perhaps especially Saints Peter and Paul, ask the Lord for the strength to carry on and then do it.
Amen.
Propers for St Peter and St Paul, 28th June 2026
Entrance Antiphon
These are the ones who, living in the flesh,
planted the Church with their blood;
they drank the chalice of the Lord
and became the friends of God.
The Collect
O God, who on the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul
give us the noble and holy joy of this day,
grant, we pray, that your Church
may in all things follow the teaching
of those through whom she received
the beginnings of right religion.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Readings
Acts 12:1-11
Psalm 34:2-9
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18
Matthew 16:13-19
Prayer after Communion
Grant us, O Lord,
who have been renewed by this Sacrament,
so to live in the Church,
that, persevering in the breaking of the Bread
and in the teaching of the Apostles,
we may be one heart and one soul,
made steadfast in your love.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 