Peter and Paul

Monday, June 29, 2009 -- Week of Proper 8, Year One
Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Apostles

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer)

EITHER, readings for Monday of Proper 8 (p. 972)
Psalms 106:1-18 (morning) 106:19-48 (evening)
1 Samuel 10:17-27
Acts 7:44 - 8:1a
Luke 22:52-62

OR readings for the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul (p. 998)
Morning Prayer: Psalms 66; Ezekiel 2:1-7; Acts 11:1-18
Evening Prayer: Psalms 97, 138; Isaiah 49:1-6; Galatians 2:1-9

I chose the readings for Sts. Peter and Paul

In our calendar, we have a rich tradition for honoring the two most significant pillars of the post-resurrection church. On January 18 we remember the "Confession of Peter," when Peter proclaims Jesus as the Messiah; and on January 25 we have the feast of the "Conversion of Paul," when we tell the story of Paul's dramatic transformation on the road to Damascus. These two observances open and close the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Today on June 29, we celebrate the joint feast of Saints Peter and Paul together. According to tradition they were both martyred in Rome in 64 during the persecution under Nero. The symbol of their joint celebration is a powerful image of the church's unity-in-diversity.

Paul was urbane and educated. He lived among the cosmopolitan Jewish Dispersion. Peter was probably illiterate; a fisherman from a Jewish village in Galilee. Peter was among the first apostles, an intimate companion during Jesus' earthly ministry. Paul was a persecutor of the church who later became a Christian after a vision of the risen Jesus. Peter was an acknowledged leader among the Jewish Christians. Paul's mission was to the Gentiles.

We have several references to their conflicts. Paul tells how he rebuked Peter to his face for Peter's hypocrisy of Jewish elitism and exclusiveness. Yet their commitment to Jesus and to the Good News transcended their differences. Their zeal took them to Rome where tradition tells of their martyrdoms. As a Roman citizen, Paul was allowed the privilege of swift beheading by a sword. Peter suffered painful crucifixion as Jesus, but head downward, according to the stories.

There was much to separate Peter and Paul. Class differences; theological conflicts; different missions; cultural contrasts; separate geographies; different origins in the faith. Yet their union in a shared feast, and the iconography celebrating their relationship, is a symbol of Christian unity-in-diversity. Often they are pictured cheek to cheek in a loving embrace. The writers of the icons also know of the contrast and conflicts between these two great leaders.

One of the traditional strengths of the Episcopal Church has been our willingness to agree to disagree. We are a diverse and often conflictive community. We come from different origins, theologies, economies, races and cultures. We can have dramatically different opinions over things we hold dear. Yet all meet at the communion rail where we receive the one body and one cup of Christ's transcendent and unifying presence among us.

The icon of Peter and Paul, companions despite their sometimes bitter conflicts and their contrasting ways, is an image of a vital church. It is a symbol to be embraced and valued.

The story of these apostles is instructive to our times. Peter was the first to acknowledge the unexpected presence of the Holy Spirit among the Gentiles. That's our story from Acts this morning. But when Paul began to develop congregations of Gentiles, Peter succumbed to pressure from the party of Jewish-Christians and separated himself from them in some form of Jewish exclusiveness. Paul let him have it with both verbal barrels, accusing Peter of hypocrisy.

Our church has lived with conflicts of exclusiveness and accusations of hypocrisy. Some in our church who have been unable to acknowledge the gifts of the Holy Spirit as exercised by ordained women or by gay Christians have separated themselves from the communion and been unwilling to live together in the unity-in-diversity that has been our tradition. That division is a cause for great sadness.

Yet God uses our conflicts and divisions. The Anglican Church is itself the product of a rather scandalous separation of communion. And we have given much to the diverse expressions of worldwide Christianity.

In so many ways, today's church is repairing ancient divisions. Several years ago the Episcopal Church signed a concordat of communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. At the upcoming General Convention, we expect to vote to be in communion with the first church of the reformation, the Moravian Church. We will also vote about taking the next step in our eucharistic sharing with the United Methodist Church. We have a proposal to begin collaboration with the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. and to establish dialogue with the Church of Sweden. In so many ways, old divisions are being healed, even as new divisions arise.

We need the leadership of Peter and Paul, the vision that maintains union despite conflict and difference.

Lowell

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About Morning Reflections
Morning Reflections is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html


The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love.

Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life

We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas