These past several weeks, we have been really getting at the heart of Christ’s own sense of mission in this world. Many of our Gospel texts have come from the tenth chapter of Matthew or its parallels in the other Gospels, a section of the Gospels where Jesus sends out disciples into the lands of Judea and Galilee ahead of him. He tells them what they are to do and what they will encounter on the road. At the center of his instructions is to preach and proclaim the good news, to tell to all that the kingdom of God has come near.

Today, in more traditional denominations like our own, we mark the festival day for saints Peter and Paul, two men who throughout their lives were front and center in this mission, who went and did what Christ had commanded them. And if it had not been for these two in particular, the world in which we live might be a very different place.

But who exactly are these men? Sometimes, I think we take that a bit for granted. After all, everyone has heard their names before, but do we know their stories? I’m sure each one of us can pluck out an anecdote or two about them, but talking about their whole stories, their whole lives, and what they chose to do with them.

Peter began his life under another name. Many of us know he was born Simon, a simple peasant, a fisherman born along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Simon probably never expected to be anything but a fisherman, but you have to wonder if he didn’t hunger for something more. Well, be careful what you wish for, because one day along came this Jesus fellow. Jesus was walking along the seashore and he said “Follow me,” and Simon and his brother and his partners, did just that.

It’s hard not to love Simon, because in the years that followed leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, he was rarely not at his master’s side. Simon was devoted to Jesus, and was often fortunate enough to be chosen to witness events and teachings that others missed out on. But even with such privileges, he was hardly a perfect disciple. We know many stories in the Gospels were Simon opened his mouth, only to promptly insert his foot into it. But like we ourselves might.

To me, three stories best define who Peter is, and they are both his best and his worst moments. You’ve heard these stories before, I’m sure, but let me refresh your memories. The first takes place at Caesaera Phillipi amidst the Roman temples and shrines. And Jesus asks, “Here we are in the midst of these other gods and religious figures. Who do people say that I am?” And the disciples answer with various prophets of old, but they are asked directly, Simon says “You are the Messiah.” Jesus turns and looks at him, “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.” Petros. Rock. The rock of faith. Faith that drove Peter this one time, to get it right.

He doesn’t quite get it so right in the second story. On the night of Jesus’ arrest, after pledging only a few hours earlier to stand with Jesus until the bitter end, three times Peter denies knowing Christ. Three times he denies him. You may recall what Jesus said in last week’s Gospel about what he would do with people who denied him before others, and yet here is Peter, leader of the disciples, the first to acknowledge him as Messiah and Lord, doing just that. And yet where there is sin, there is also grace, mercy, and forgiveness. The story we have as today’s Gospel lesson is said by many to be Jesus’ offer of forgiveness to Peter for those denials. Three times he is asked if he loves Christ, and three times he responds “yes.”

The third story about Peter takes place years after that moment on the seashore and it is recorded in the tenth chapter of Acts. Peter receives a vision and a request from a Roman centurion named Cornelius to come and proclaim the Gospel.

From his vision, Peter discovers that the Gospel isn’t just for the Jews alone and he goes, he goes to this Roman and proclaims the good news to these outsiders, these invaders, these gentiles. Peter has embraced his missionary calling and has taken to heart

But the door he opens in that story is walked through by another man. Like Peter, Paul begins life with another name and he is as opposite Peter as you can get. Educated, refined, upper crust, these are words that describe Saul of Tarsus. And as devoted as Peter is to Christ, Saul is anything but. His first appearance in all of Scripture is to stand by and hold the coats of those who murder Stephen, the first Christian martyr. You would be hard pressed in ancient Palestine to find a more fervent opponent to Christ than Saul.

But we also remember well Saul’s second appearance in the Scriptures. Acts chapter 9. Breathing threats and murder, Saul heads off to Damascus to persecute the church and its members there. But on the road, he is struck from his horse and he too has a vision. Christ demands to know why he is persecuting him. Struck blind, Saul taken into the city and he is ministered to by the very church he had come to destroy. It changes his life. He disappears for a few years, then reappears in Jerusalem before the church with a new name and on fire for the Gospel. Not quite knowing what to do with him, the elders of the church including Peter decide to send him out to collect money for the church in Jerusalem. And so Paul goes and he goes to the far corners of the known world and almost everywhere in between.

Those missionary journeys are likely the reason you and I are here, because Paul just doesn’t go to the Jewish communities scattered out in the world, he goes to everybody. And he writes letters, both to his churches and to others. Those letters form the bulk of our New Testament.

Nothing stops them, either of them. They are unafraid of their own failures. Peter the denier, Paul the persecutor, and yet they live out their lives in service to the Gospel. They are unafraid of persecution. Both men are imprisoned, beaten, tortured, and ultimately killed for the message they bring. They are unafraid because they know those same basic truths we ourselves cling to.

Christ lived. Christ died. Christ rose again. Christ is coming back. Go and tell.

They knew that Christ did all this out of love for them and for all the world. For as much as we admire these men and their remarkable stories, I hope we recognize that the simple truth of the matter is that they are just like us. Peter and Paul are human beings. They make mistakes, they’ve got some wrong ideas, they do some dumb or even hateful things in their time. But Christ calls them to his service anyway and because of that call, they changed the world.

Christ calls us also, calls us to “go and tell of him” in word and in deed. And if we take that calling seriously, we may change the whole world or just a small part of it. And if we take that calling seriously, we may trials, rejection, even persecution. But the truth remains and it is God’s gift to us.

Christ lived. Christ died. Christ rose again. Christ is coming back. Amen.