Where Are You Going?

Today we observe the Feast of St. Peter in Chains. But the Gospel lesson appointed for this feast does not focus on Simon Peter's liberation, but rather on his bondage. We do not err to call the scene before us "the examination of St. Peter."

Why should this matter to us? Because these same chains, the chains of indecision, enslave most Christians today — a condition of the soul which the Lord Jesus condemns as "lukewarm":

The Greek word for lukewarm, Χλιαρός / Chliaròs, invokes a first-century metaphor describing a soul "wretchedly fluctuating between a torpor and a fervour of love."

The situation is urgent. The condition is fatal. But how do we probe the soul? How do we test for its health? The standard Jesus has given invokes the "the first and greatest commandment" (Mt 22:38):

Here is the ultimate examination of conscience. Can we say that we truly love God with an overflowing love? It is this heart, soul, and mind that defines Christian life. Any other state of soul cannot rightly be called Christian. This is, after all, the first and greatest commandment.

As we know, there are many words that express different sorts of love. Which one does Jesus use when He articulates the greatest commandment? He uses Αγαπήσεις / Agapéseis That is, the Son of God is very careful to use precisely the same word that appears in Deuteronomy 6:5. This same word for love He also uses when He says:

We need not rush off to Greek lexicons to map out the possible meanings. Jesus defines His usage for us. This love — the noun form of agápe — is the level and quality of love which brings one to sacrifice oneself for his friends love. "Greater love hath no one" — The superlative, the highest, the first. There can be no greater.

Yes, forms of the word agápe do not always refer to this incommensurable love, which defines our relationship to God and which refers to Jesus sacrifice for us both in His life and Crucifixion. But in Jesus' usage of the word it does. This is the meaning, the solitary meaning. Moreover, Jesus chooses the most important moments in Holy Scripture to teach us the meaning of this word: where we learn about our relationship with God and where we are instructed in the meaning of Jesus' Self-offering on the Cross. This is the burning point of all Scripture.

To depart from this meaning, Jesus' Passion and Crucifixion devolve into the sordid details of criminal execution. We move from God offering Himself for His people to an unknown person of death room entering a dingy room to be executed.

☦

Now, the linguistic circumstances of agápe are important. But no less important is the structure of our Gospel lesson. Let us step back and survey the scene set before us.

The Risen Christ has revealed Himself to the Disciples. His Divine power is bountifully displayed. In this, He instructs His Disciples in two modes of life: the empty and futile life without God and the abundant life that proceeds from a relationship grounded in Divine Love. As the chapter opens, Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, and the sons of Zebedee James and John and two others have fished all night and caught nothing .... futility. Jesus then commands them to drop down their nets "on the right side of the boat" after the left side had yielded nothing. The great draught of fishes is sufficient to reveal fullness where futility had just exhaustively demonstrated nothing .... they fished all night and caught nothing. The only difference is God's Presence. God is present in His aspect of Provider, of Providence.

We know this very well. This is the way of our world. The difference between life with God and life on our own is the difference between life overbrimming with meaning and expectation and life which is vacancy and meaninglessness. This difference, experienced by all humans (sooner or later), is the boundary between the Kingdom of God and the weary world.

Having dragged the stretching nets of fish to the beach, The stage is set for Simon Peter's examination. The drama will feature two Disciples, in fact: the Beloved Disciple and the man who could not make up his mind — the one who is capable of stopping in his tracks and saying, "Look! We have given up everything to follow you! What's in this for us?!" (Mt 19:27). These are words we are not likely to hear from St. John.

The examination begins with a single question. Handing Peter fish and bread, signifying love of the world, Jesus asks, "Do you love me more than these?" the verb is a form of agápe.

In replying, Peter equivocates. He says "Yes, I love you," but the verb he chooses is a form, not of agápe. but filia. It means "I have affection for you."

When we look through the English Bible translation, we consistenly find the word "love": Jesus asks, "Do you love Me." And Peter replies, "I love you." It is the translation carried out by Holy Apostles Convent (Buena Vista, CO), which we used to proclaim the Gospel this morning, which has it right. Jesus asks, "Do you love me," and Peter replies, "I have affection for you."

Given their relationship — Master to apprentice — we might expect that this love speaks to that relationship, having to do with vocation and the natural gratitude that a journeyman or apprentice feels towards the one who trained him. After all, Peter was called to save the lost sheep, and Jesus is the Good Shepherd.

An analogy would be the young man who demands to know if the woman he loves feels the same way. We can well imagine that he has a lump in his throat. His heart beats rapidly as he waits for her response. She replies, "Yes, I am fond of you." This is not the word he expected. The word means affection. Yes, it means love, after a fashion, but there is vast world of difference between the word in his question and the word in her answer.

Jesus replies sharply: "Then, feed my lambs!" In effect, He says, "Do you love your job? Then do your job!"

After facing the shock of unrequited love, Peter is then given a second chance as Jesus repeats the same verb form of agápe. And Peter digs in, replying with the same verb he had used the first time, φιλω And Jesus again replies, "Feed by sheep."

When Jesus repeats His question a third time, we recognize the structure of negotiation. But this time the Lord gives Peter what he wants, what he has asked for. He asks Peter, "Do you have affection for Me?" using the verb form of filia. And Peter is distressed. And Jesus command him one last time, "Feed my sheep."

It is as if to say, "This is what you want? Affection? Then have it!" And He parts company with Peter issuing a grave warning (if you'll pardon my translation):

Peter, recognizing the danger he is in, descends into that last resort of the perfidious mind: shifting blame-worthiness. And turning to the Beloved Disciple, Peter blurts out, "But what about him?!"

At this, Jesus has heard enough and deals His flinty rebuke: "What's that to you?!" (Jn 21:22).

We have before us the most important distinction in the world: on the one hand, the company of God and God's love and on the other, separation from God, isolation, and alienation. Here is the story of the man who loved God with all of his heart, will all of his soul, and with all of his mind and the wheeler-dealer whose commitments were always wavering, who had already denied Jesus three times in high priest's courtyard.

That the Lord should command Peter to feed His lambs and feed His sheep looks ahead to the "Quo vadis" story recorded in the Acts of Peter. Written down in Koine Greek during the second century (making it an earliest instance of Apostolic literature), the story recounts Peter fleeing from Rome, abandoning his flock. He encounters Jesus on the Appian Road. "Quo vadis, Domine?" he asks. "Where are you going, Lord?"

Jesus replies, "I am going to be crucified a second time" modeling for Peter, one last time, the meaning of agápe.

Of course, the Acts of Peter also relate Peter's arrest and crucifixion. So in the end, you see, Peter has learned his lesson. For in God's heart, it is our last chance that counts.

We note that the examination of Simon Peter does not detail Peter's faults over a lifetime. And it does not drag his secret sins into the light. In the end, all that matters is what Jesus had taught all along:

An overflowing, unconditional, and all-consuming love for God — this is state of the healthy Christian soul.

I recently read about a priest who was encouraged by polls in the U.S. showing a decline in Christianity. For centuries, he explained, people automatically checked "Christian" in the little box. And he contemplated people people who did not actually follow the Lord Jesus, who did not strive to become like Him, who did not say their prayers, who did not examine their consciences, who did not worship Him at church .... except maybe Christmas and Easter. They simply checked the little box. Moreover, in an era when non-Christians were excluded, they saw an advantage in tagging themselves as Christian.

But when it became socially acceptable, even self-advantageous, to check, "Unaffiliated," then this became the new trend. The Pew Research Center reports that roughly one-quarter of all Americans check "Unaffiliated." That number is fifty times greater than all Orthodox Christians in the U.S. It is greater than all Roman Catholics in the U.S. And it is roughly equivalent to the number of Christian Evangelicals. I wonder what the result would be if this box were given a new name: Lukewarm.

Many years ago, I was introduced to Paul Cherry, the national head of the United Church of Christ. He shared what he thought to be a shrewd strategy: "UCC .... Undecided, Considering Christ." He hoped to fill the UCC churches with this large group: Undecided.

But Undecided is a dangerous position, in some ways it is a trance that never ends. Better that we should say, Atheist or Agnostic. For then a positive position. From there a conversation might begin. We are called to reflect. But being "Lukewarm" might go on forever .... literally.

Peter is the Apostle of Indecision. His name is Simon bar Jonah, the son of Jonah, is the son of the one who ran. God called him to Nineveh in the East. But he responded by going as far as possible in the opposite direction (by the nautical charts of the first century). He sailed to Tarshish, beyond the Pillars of Hercules, which marked the western boundary of the known world.

Peter famously rejected the Lord three times. In the end, he stood at a final crossroads. Today the words "Quo vadis" signify the great crossroads for every person in the Christian life. It represents the moment of decision. On one side lies bountiful life. Jesus said,

On the other, we have the opposite of abundant life.

We recall the drama of Lazarus and the Rich Man. One enters the Bosom of Abraham, the other, unquenchable fire. On one side are the sheep. on the other, the goats. Into one pool the angels sort the good fish, on the other pile, the bad fish. The thresher stores his wheat into His barn, but the chaff He burns in unquenchable fire.

Are there several different ways to the read Jesus' message? Perhaps the undecided and the lukewarm think so. "Who knows the Bible really means?" they say. But those who are hot or cold do not suffer from this delusion.

What will be the content of each examination? Can we look in our hearts and truly say that we love the Lord with every atom of our being? Will we deny ourselves in favor of others? Will we be our brother's keeper? Will we give succor to the outcast and the stranger? Will we refrain from thoughts that are displeasing to God and His angels? Will we be faithful to a life of prayer and worship? Will we live the Christian life? These are the basics. This is not the advanced course for nuns and monks. This is not the spiritual PhD. This is elementary.

At the Advent of Christ, a great boundary has been drawn across the human lifeworld forever. "Two ways there are," begins Chapter One of the Didache (written down at the same time as the Acts of Peter). "One way leads to life, and the other to death." All the Sacred Scriptures ring out with one common theme. It is not ambiguous. It does not pose the question, "What did Jesus really mean?" It is plain and clear: "Choose God. Choose life."

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.