PROPER 14-A, August 7, 2005

Shakespeare once asked the rather profound question, "What’s in a name?" On the surface the answer is, "Sometimes something. Sometimes nothing." Take my family for example. Arlena and I and our siblings are named after close relatives or patron saints. On the other hand our children and grandchildren are not named after anyone. My great nephew born last Sunday is named Vionno. My brother, his grandfather, has no idea where his son and daughter-in-law came up with that name. So sometimes there is indeed something in a name and sometimes there is nothing. What is important is what we do in our own names.

The main figure in today’s Gospel is a name named "Peter". Actually "Peter" is really his nickname. The name his parents gave to him when he was circumcised was "Simon, son of Jonah". Jesus gave Simon the name "Peter". "Peter" means "Rocky". And I believe Jesus had a good reason to nickname Simon "Rocky". That nickname, I think, came not from the incident where Jesus said to Peter, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church." Rather I think the name came from today’s Gospel story.

Picture the scene if you will. It’s late at night. The disciples are in their boat trying to cross the lake. It’s windy and blustery and not a little dangerous even for experienced sailors like some of them. These men suddenly begin to become quite terrified because the sea turns very treacherous. In their fright they look up and they see someone walking on the water. They can’t believe their eyes. They must be seeing things, even seeing a ghost. No one can walk on water that is for certain.

But as the figure gets closer and closer and the sea gets rougher and rougher, they realize that it is Jesus walking out there on top of the water. Now they really begin to shake in their sandals. Yes, it is true, they have seen Jesus giving sight to the blind and making cripples walk and deaf people hear – but walking on water in the middle of the night in the middle of a violent storm – that is incredible. It is unbelievable!

Actually, they are not sure just what to believe. So Simon yells at the person walking on the water and asks, "Is that you, Jesus?" And Jesus responds that it is indeed he. So Simon being Simon, brash and bold and maybe even a little stupid, says to Jesus, "If it really is you, let me come over to you." And Jesus says to him, "Come on over."

And Simon does. And Simon sinks – like a rock. Jesus stretches out his hand, grabs hold of Simon and saves his life. Then they get into the boat and Jesus immediately begins to rib Simon about his lack of faith and how he sank like a rock. From that moment on, I want to believe, Jesus used this new nickname for Simon: Peter, Rocky. It’s almost like an inside joke, is it not? When the boat lands on shore, Jesus and the disciples continue on their way as Jesus continues on in his ministry. When the people begin hearing Jesus calling Peter "Rocky", they probably wonder what this "Rocky" thing is all about. They’re not in on the joke.

But the great part about this inside joke is that it was more than a joke. It became a reminder to Simon Peter about how important faith is and about how his past mistakes must not keep him from growing into the person Jesus knew he could become. It was a reminder not so much of what he had been but of what he could become. Peter was a brash and impetuous man whose outward profession of faith was counterbalanced by his inner lack of faith. Outwardly Peter’s faith seemed rock solid. But every time Peter was asked to put his faith to the test, he sank like a rock.

From the very beginning, when Jesus saw Simon and called Simon to follow him, Jesus saw potential in Simon. He saw not someone who would sink like a rock in time of a crisis in faith but one who would be rock solid. So every time Jesus called Peter "Rocky", it was subtle, gentle reminder to Peter that what Jesus wanted most from Peter was faith. He wanted Peter to live out in his life what Peter said he believed – and to be rock-solid in that faith. Jesus, of course, wanted that same solid faith from everyone who would follow him.

In many, many ways many of us, maybe all of us, are like Peter: when our faith is put on the line, when push comes to shove, we often sink like a rock. But that is not the point of this Gospel story. It would be if it had stopped there. But the Gospel story does not end with Simon sinking into the lake, not even with Jesus chiding Simon because of his lack of faith or even how he Simon got his nickname.

No, the Gospel does not end with Peter’s failure, his failing in faith. It ends, for Peter, with his dying because of his faith. By the time Peter died, his faith was rock solid. And the reason why it was, or at least part of the reason why Peter’s faith grew was that Jesus forgave Peter – always. Whenever Peter began to sink, Jesus stretched out his hand for Peter to grab onto. Jesus always saw the good in the man, the potential for good. And for Jesus the past was past, always.

That is not to say that the past is unimportant, that or failures should be overlooked, that our lack of faith is no big deal. Our past is important. Our faithlessness is important. But what is even more important is what we learned from our past mistakes. Peter learned a lot when he sank like a rock. He learned even more when he denied he knew Jesus. He learned that he was not as strong as a rock, as strong and as faithful as he thought he was or publicly claimed he was. When Peter examined his conscience each night as he fell off to sleep, he reflected booth upon his failures and his successes. It was the only way he could continue to grow in his faith, to make it become rock solid.

What’s in a name? What is in your name, in my name? Within our name is contained all of our past, both good and bad. Within our names, no matter how young or how old we are, is contained all our hopes for a better future. Jesus knows us by name, you and I, and he calls us by name, just as he called Simon by name. And just as Jesus knew that within Simon there was both the ability to sink like a rock or to be rock solid when his faith was put to the test, so Jesus knows that that same potential is in each one of us.

Today’s Gospel is a reminder to you and to me that our name is important, that we are important, that God knows us and calls each of us by name. It is also a reminder that there is more to us than just our name, more than what others can see or perceive. The Gospel is a reminder that we need one another in this world and that without the love and support and forgiveness of others, we will all drown in our own failures and mistakes.

And most importantly, the Gospel reminds us that we must always reach out our hands to others so that they can grab on to us and we can grab on to them. It’s what "Matthew 25…and all that jazz" is all about is it not? This Gospel story is a reminder that we cannot live out the commands and demands of Matthew 25 without the love and support of one another. Without that love and support, without those supportive hands, we will all fail. We will all sink like a rock. But working together our faith will be alive and will be rock solid.