There is a promise we intend to make only once. There are vows we take before God and each
other. It is because of this that we
call our promises sacred, and what we say, the very foundation of our honor. To see our vows broken, is to see our
humanity broken alongside them. Should
someone else betray their vow to us, that betrayal leaves a scar that seldom
heals in full. Its mark is carried with
us, making us apprehensive to trust again, making us apprehensive to commit
again. In point of fact these are only
words. But the context of these words,
the circumstances in which they are spoken, the witnesses to them … add up to a
vow that becomes part of who we are. And
what happens to us when we are the one who breaks them?
Humans have no control.
We know we live at the whims of fate.
A tornado or extreme weather event could hit and radically change our
perspective. Cancer, AIDs, or heart
disease can seem to come upon us out of the blue, and radically change our
perspective. Love itself can overwhelm
us and make our lives something new, something entirely different. So humanity must reduce its expectations of
control to only the things we believe we can control, our words, and perhaps
our actions. We make promises. We intend to keep them. Should control not be lifted us, from
circumstances that prevent it, we do keep them.
But if scripture teaches us anything, it teaches us that our promises
founded in our strength are worth nothing.
This was to be the most painful lesson in the life of
Peter. It left a mark on him that
colored his perspective, even many years later while recalling his gospel
through his friend and transcriptionist John Mark. Peter too had made a vow. It was a vow taken before God, and a promise
to God. It was made in the company of
witnesses, not just strangers mind you, but witnesses who lived with him day
and night for a little more than three years.
These men knew Peter. Jesus knew
Peter. And with this context, in a
circumstance that was the most important setting he would ever face. Peter made a vow. It was more important that his wedding
vow. It was the most important one he
would ever make, and strangely, it is the most important one you or I will ever
make.
Peter begins his recollection to John Mark in his gospel
picking up in chapter fourteen and verse 27 saying … “And Jesus saith unto
them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I
will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. [verse 28] But after
that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.” Jesus declares an ominous truth. He prophesies again what is about to happen,
not with conditions, but with clarity.
He predicts His own death, and He predicts it will happen beginning
tonight. He also predicts His own
resurrection, and gives directions about where they will find Him once He is
risen. They can find Him again in
Galilee, a place they remember fondly from mission work, and a home that
offered them fishing on the sea there.
If Peter, like us, could have focused on the aftermath, on the reunion
in Galilee perhaps all might have been well.
But he, like us, could not.
We see only the part of the text our minds are drawn
too. Peter is drawn to the circumstances
Jesus’ prophecy will create. That “all
shall be offended” this night, and because of Him. Jesus states in absolute clarity, that
finally, the hopes of each one of the disciples that He would become the
earthly king they surely thought would happen, will be dashed upon the
rocks. Each one of them will lose
hope. Each one of them will question
their faith. Did they really get it
right? After all, this Jesus will NOT be
fulfilling the scriptures as defined by the leaders of the faith, or as hoped
for in their own hearts. This means the
Jewish people will still be crucified.
This means the Jewish people will still be over taxed. They will continue to suffer with not an
ounce of relief. How could a real
Messiah allow that to happen, when He had the power to change it?
But to be offended by Him.
After all this time, to wind up offended by the Master he had left
everything for, had left everything to follow.
No. Not Peter. His memory continues in verse 29 stating … “But
Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.” There it is.
There is boast of certainty.
There is the vow of a wedding.
There is the most sacred promise a human could make. But the scary part, is that we make it too,
almost exactly the same way, in almost exactly the same circumstances. Peter says to his Lord, that while everyone
else may get it wrong, he will not. He
declares that his brothers in Christ are not as mature as he is. They may be offended, they may not understand
scriptures as well as Peter, they may flee because of it. But not Peter. Not you or I.
We know more. We know
better. We will stand with our God no
matter what comes, or who is offended.
And we mean this vow too.
Jesus responds to his vow in verse 30 saying … “And Jesus
saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night,
before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.” Jesus does not condemn his arrogance. Jesus does not judge him as unworthy, or
forever damned, or forever separated from Him because of what will come. Jesus calmly explains to Peter, and to us,
what his vow is worth. In this day, in
fact even in this night (the next 12 hours for Peter), Peter will fail at his
vow not only once, but three times.
There it is. There is the reality
of our vow not to sin, of our vow to follow God. We make it.
Then our sins, our weakness, break the vow we make multiple times in the
same day our words are uttered. What
good is a wedding vow? What good is a
promise we make to love God, when it can be broken by us in heart, mind, and
mouth, multiple times in a single day?
How can the Lord take our promise seriously? Why should He? Our problem, was Peter’s problem, separated
by more than 2,000 years and yet identical in nature. We promise something based on the strength of
our will. We then find that strength is
nothing. We then find only a short
passage of time, leads to a dulling of our commitments, and a lure or “need” to
forego them. We state in front of others
that we will be a follower of Jesus, then find ourselves sinning against Jesus
multiple times just a bit later. It is
not a onetime event. We do it
repeatedly. We then beg for
forgiveness. And perhaps come to a
point, where we think “God” made me this way.
So it’s His fault. It’s His fault
I fail, so He must know it, and accept me in spite of my failures. Maybe my failures are OK with Him after all. His grace then becomes cheap to us.
But a vow is not so easily discarded. For with a vow comes pride in who we
are. If we are going to break it, at
least give us the courtesy of not thinking our words are so cheap they can be
done away with in a single day, and multiple times in that day. So thought Peter as he responds in verse 31
saying … “But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will
not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.” Peter ups the ante. He does not accept what Jesus is saying. He disputes it. He disputes truth, the Truth. So he raises his voice, deepens his tone, and
makes his commitment even more fiercely.
He now adds to his vow, that even unto death he will honor it. He will follow his Lord unto death no matter
what. His words now sound in our ears,
for haven’t we said the same things, if not to God, then to other Christians so
that they will “know” how holy we are.
At this point, mob thinking takes over. The other disciples are not going to be
shamed into letting Peter make so vehement a declaration, so meaningful a
wedding vow, and them remain silent.
They join Peter’s vow themselves.
They add their own voice to it.
And mimic the words of it. So do
we. One of our friends declares their
voice or promise to follow God, and so do we.
Particularly if it is a group of our friends. We do not want to be left out in the cold,
alone. We want to be part of the
“team”. So we add our voices to whatever
vow is offered, for better or for worse.
Our passion is weaker, but present.
We either do not want to be outdone by another, or do not
want to be the only guy afraid of commitment at all. So we all make the vow. And even more important than what words we
will say to our spouse in our wedding, we are making our vow right to the face
of God. Whether in our prayers, or as
Peter did in front of Jesus, we are vowing ourselves to Jesus Christ. And how often does Jesus know the sad truth? He knows it every time. For so far, our records remain imperfect
every time. Human strength is worth
nothing, yet we continue to rely upon it.
Constantly making and breaking vows to God, destroys us inside, it
hardens us until we have no more words to speak, or intentions to underlie
them. These actions hollow us, as they
did Peter.
We should not be making vows. Counsel was given us to simply let our yes
mean yes, and our no mean no. That
counsel was insurance against the pride that comes when a vow is made. It is insurance against the linking of honor
to vows. For once vows have been broken
over and over again, our honor is destroyed when it need not be. Better to recognize we have no honor in the
first place. Our honor, like our
strength is reflected through us by Jesus Christ. Our promises have no strength or longevity,
if not maintained by Jesus Christ. Our
faith, and its condition, its strength, is a product of how much we humble
ourselves and submit to Jesus Christ.
Christ can do all things in me, is not a testament about how much I help
Jesus accomplish His work. It is a
testament about how little I can do, effectively nothing, and how Jesus does
all things through me, because I can do none of them.
It is our illusion of control that gives way to making a
solemn vow before God. But if our vows
to God are broken with such regularity, then how can anything we promise each
other in front of God stand any better chance?
We must ground our commitments in the will and love of God, or make no
commitments at all. We must not promise
anything, but ground our language in the will and love of God. To learn to submit our responses, and our
intentions through Jesus, is to trust Jesus to run our lives, our marriages,
and our salvation. Our transformations
do not occur because we will them, but because we submit to them.
But if we needed any proof of this, the recollections of
Peter would provide ample examples as the story continues …
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