Every year all the deacons in the Diocese of Erie, where I now serve, are expected to attend a retreat. It is a requirement meant to revitalize them spiritually and simply spend some time praying and reflecting. I attended one of the two retreats recently that are made available by the Diocese for its deacons. It was much needed on my part and a spiritual refreshment that I greatly enjoyed. The wives of the deacons are welcome to attend the retreat and this year I was blessed with having my wife along.
The retreat leader was Msgr. Ed Lohse. I know Msgr. Ed because he has been my spiritual director for several years, though he was recently appointed the Vicar General of the Diocese, which means that he cannot continue in that role, as his administrative role creates a conflict with the role of spiritual director. In any case, I knew that the retreat would be good because Msgr. Ed is a good spiritual director. It was a great retreat!
The theme of the retreat was “The Cost of Discipleship”. This may sound familiar because the theme was taken from a book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer with the same title. Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor and seminary teacher from Germany in the years prior to World War II.
The theme of many of his writings was that while grace is a freely given gift from God there is a real cost involved. Ultimately, grace is an expression of God’s love for us individually and as a people. Love is not earned. You can’t buy it or merit it. Because it is a gift, about all you can do is accept it or reject it. The cost of that love is borne by God. That cost was paid by Christ on the cross, which is the fullest expression of divine love.
While we can’t do anything to earn that love, it we accept the gift, there are consequences. Love transforms a person. Over time someone who is loved becomes infected by that love and begins to embody love himself or herself. As you become more loving, your actions, relationships and associations begin to change. There are values you consider worth defending and moral choices that you are called upon to make that may not be understandable to your friends or relatives. Bonhoeffer’s understanding of the demands of grace caused him to oppose the Nazi regime and eventually cost him his life.
Early in the book, Bonhoeffer notes that the first three recorded words of Jesus to Peter were “Come, follow me.” He also notes that the last three recorded words of Jesus to Peter were “Come, follow me.” Both times the words were said to Peter on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The big difference was that the first time Peter heard those words, his response was to set out on an adventure with the young rabbi about whom rumors were spreading. The second time he heard these words from Jesus, he had been following Jesus for three years and had come to appreciate the demands inherent in that invitation. He had seen the power of Jesus in his miracles and the cure of the ill. He had listened to the words of Jesus and let them take root in his heart. He had also seen that Christ ended up on the cross. The invitation to “Come, follow me” also meant that responding to this invitation to discipleship would cost Peter his life as well. He realized the cost that accepting the gift of divine love would exact from him and responded in the affirmative. This is described as his “Peter Moment” because it is here that he makes a conscious decision to be a disciple of Jesus.
What is it that Jesus said which drew so many people to him and which caused Peter and the other disciples to commit their lives to him? What is it that can bring us to a “Peter Moment” today? The short answer is hope!
The world of first century Israel was a dangerous and unstable place. Israel was under the heel of an authoritarian Roman Empire. While many of the provinces of the Empire went along with the rule of Rome and enjoyed relative peace and prosperity, Israel chafed under Roman rule. Israel had a distinct culture and sense of identity that resisted the best efforts of the Persians, Greeks, Egyptians and Romans to absorb the tiny country. In the face of Israeli resistance, the Romans doubled down on their efforts to control the region. There was constant resistance and attempted uprisings. It was not uncommon to find the young men of an entire village fastened to crosses along the side of a road left to die because some of them may have ambushed a Roman patrol.
A common theme in popular Jewish folk religion at the time was the coming of the Messiah. This was the belief that God would send his representative to lead the people of Israel out of the quagmire in which they found themselves and into the Kingdom of God, in which justice would be done and all would be made right. The common understanding was that the Messiah would be a military leader, as was King David, who was the prototype of the Messiah king. History records about 10 men over a period of about a century and a half who were seen by groups of Israelis as the Messiah, heralding the coming of the Kingdom of God. None were ever successful in ultimately overthrowing the Romans, even though the uprising in 70AD resulted in several years of relative independence and freedom before the Romans returned with a vengeance.
So, the initial reaction of Jesus’ followers was to perceive him as the Messiah. They followed him initially because they thought he would overthrow the Romans and bring freedom to Israel. If Jesus was the Messiah king, then the disciples would be his chief lieutenants and powerful men in the kingdom of God. That Jesus could heal the sick, feed thousands with only a few fish and loaves of bread, raise the dead, calm the sea, drive demons out of the possessed, then it was probably a safe bet that he was the Messiah…or, at least, God was working through him in a powerful way. Peter had called Jesus the Messiah and Jesus had not denied it, rather he told Peter that it was the Father who had given Peter that insight.
Yet, as events unfolded, nothing was working the way Peter had expected. Moments after Jesus confirmed that he was the Messiah, he was talking about heading to Jerusalem to be rejected and killed. When Peter told Jesus not to say such things, Jesus rebuked him as a Satan. When Jesus entered Jerusalem in procession, he wasn’t acknowledged by all as the Messiah, though the scribes and elders began to plot against him because they perceived him as a threat to the safety of the community. When Peter attempted to defend Jesus from being taken away by the Temple guards, Jesus told him to put away his sword. Within hours of loudly declaring that he would never deny Jesus, Peter denied Jesus not once but three times. The next day Jesus was tortured and put to death as another failed Messiah.