BROADCASTS.com

About an hour later another asserted, \u201cCertainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.\u201d Peter replied, \u201cMan, I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about!\u201d Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.\xa0The Lord\xa0turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him:\xa0\u201cBefore the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.\u201d\xa0\xa0And he went outside and wept bitterly. (Luke 22:59-62)

\xa0

These are the raw materials upon which Jesus said he\u2019d build his church.\xa0 Faithless, betraying, disowning disciples.

It\u2019s not that Peter wasn\u2019t given a second chance to think better of his decision to deny public association with Jesus.\xa0 In fact he was given a third.\xa0 But Peter doubled down on his denial.\xa0 Some Gospel writers even report that he called down curses on himself to prove the point.\xa0

Today, in this moment in time, a number of reports and studies are going around, suggesting that the Church is hemorrhaging members.\xa0 That the church of Jesus Christ in North America could be as much as 30% smaller on the other side of this pandemic.\xa0 Will so many disown Jesus at this point in time?\xa0 Maybe they wouldn\u2019t deny him today on a direct ask like Peter received, but with time, who knows?

That possibility creates a lot of fear for us, or at least it can, I think.\xa0 Fear for the church.\xa0 Worry for those who might or who have walked away or gotten lost in the chaos and hardship of this moment.\xa0 Fear perhaps even, that we might be among them.\xa0 That this whole hardship might just get to be too much for us if the night carries on for long.

On that night of Jesus\u2019 trial, it says: \u201cThe Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.\u201d\xa0 Luke does not report what look Jesus gave to Peter though.\xa0 Was it a look of anger on Jesus\u2019 face?\xa0 Of condemnation?\xa0 Of betrayal?\xa0 Or was it a look of compassion?\xa0 Of grace?\xa0 Of love?\xa0

I\u2019m not sure, but I do believe it was a moment where Jesus was intentionally discipling Peter.\xa0 And that at the very least, is an act of loving care.\xa0 Even while he was on a trumped up trial before the religious leaders that would lead to his death by daybreak\u2014Jesus was working with Peter, the rock upon whom he would build his church.\xa0

God is constantly subverting any notion that we have his plans figured out.\xa0 We never truly know whose out and whose in.\xa0 Peter denied his Lord at the darkest hour of the night, and yet was forgiven in the cross, redeemed, and brought to new life as the spokesman for the fledgling church of Acts.\xa0 The fractured rock upon which the church was built.\xa0 Built ultimately, not because of the faithfulness or faithlessness of the church or disciples: but because of the loving faithfulness of God.

And you know what, God is faithful still.\xa0 It\u2019s a dark hour in the life of the church.\xa0 Not the darkest ever, but not the brightest either.\xa0 In the middle of it, Jesus is still looking right at us and at the ones who have wandered or gotten lost along the way.\xa0 Seeking contact with us still.\xa0 Pursuing us still. \xa0Discipling us still.\xa0 And always, building his church.

So take heart: Jesus hasn\u2019t abandoned us.\xa0 Even now, he sees us, and through us, he\u2019s building his church.

\xa0