All In

John 6:66-68

“From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.  ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve.  Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.’ “
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It is rare in the Gospels, but here we see my favorite disciple, Peter, for once getting the answer to a question right.   Of course, I am exaggerating a bit, but I love Peter because he is so much like us…OK, like me.  He tries hard, but more often than not, he messes up.

Different from much later in John’s Gospel, when Peter denies Christ, here he stands firmly in line with Him.  For some reason, I have a very strong visualization of this interaction between Peter and his Rabbi.  Peter knows in his soul that Jesus is the Christ, the Way, Messiah come.  Peter recognizes in this crucial moment of choice that the world and its ways cannot even compare to the glory of Jesus.  He is scared by the alternative.  He is all in.

Can you imagine a situation where you would lose your faith?  It happened to me many years ago.  The whole period of time when I had turned my back on God was a very lonely, desperate and depressing place.  Peter sees that what the word has to offer is fleeting.  It satisfies temporarily, but when juxtaposed against the offering of an eternal relationship with God, there is no question in his mind, which is the better choice.

Peter’s comment is one of both deep love and crushing fear: “Lord, to whom shall we go?”, he says.

Indeed, without Jesus, to whom shall we go?

Father God, 

You created us as beings who have a deep longing for You.  Our souls thirst and hunger to be bathed in the glory of Your Love.  When we have had the chance to experience it, not being a part of it feels like an empty expanse of infinity. 

Thank you for being patient and merciful when we turn aside and chose the world and ourselves.  You welcome us back with open arms, joyfully bringing us home when we return to you. 

We are humbled that you would chose us as your family.  Help us to remember that we can rely on you when the world has let us down. 

In Christ’s name, we pray, 

Amen.