Well, it happened again. It always does. Every time I prepare a sermon on a bible passage, I see something I did not see before, and I wonder how on earth I missed it. So, inspired by that, here’s my scripture verse for today, taken from our final reading from St Peter’s first letter. The significance of it might not be obvious straight away but bear with me.

With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God.

So, who is Peter, the author of the letter? This is what Jesus says. Peter’s name means rock.

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matt 16:18-19)

Strong words. And who is Silas? My first though on finally noticing that name was: it’s that man again. Silas pops up here and there in the Bible, never as the star, but as the man in the background whom you couldn’t do without.

Jesus was a working man, a fact which didn’t go down well with some.

… coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's^[a] son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. (Matt 13 53)

Peter was a fisherman from a small village with no formal education, as St Luke notes:

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. (Acts 4 13)

Some are sceptical about this letter of St Peter, which we have been studying over the last few weeks. How could an uneducated man like Peter write a sophisticated letter like this even in his own language, let alone in Greek, a language that was a foreign language to him, they ask. Well, the answer is staring them in the face here. If you want to write a sophisticated letter in Greek, you get a sophisticated Greek to help you. To every question there is an answer. Sometimes we are too proud to ask for help. We are strong and independent, we are the provider, we help others. Self-reliance is good thing, but sometimes you just can’t do on your own. Peter has been told that he holds the keys to the kingdom of heaven – that could go to some people’s head - but Peter has learned from painful experience not to be proud. He knows his limitations and allows his friend to help him. It reminds me of the famous hymn:

Brother, let me be your servant.
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.

Perhaps the second half of that is the more difficult part

So what does Peter say here, with the help of Silas, as he brings his letter to a close. Note that he calls himself a witness, not of Christ’s triumph, but of this sufferings.

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: ² Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; ³ not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock … for

“God opposes the proud
    but shows favour to the humble.”

Peter writes this letter as an older man, but in this passage recalls an incident from his youth 30 years before. Jesus calls himself the son of man for reasons that we won’t go into now, we just note that when Jesus says son of man he means himself.

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matt 20 25-28)

So starting from a quite mundane looking verse we have arrived at the essence of the faith into which Jesse has just been baptised. True greatness is not found the advancement of the self but in service. If you seek self-fulfilment you are guaranteed not to find it – but if you serve something greater than yourself you just might stumble across it. To be fair there are lots of great philosophers have said similar things, not just Jesus – but perhaps that’s because it’s true. But there’s more. Christ’s message is not a philosophical theory, it’s the story of a life, the centre of Christ’s story there is sacrifice. Nothing great is achieved without cost. Now that really is at the centre the faith into which we are baptised.

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”