Christ the King-Epiphany Church, Wilbraham

The Rev. Martha S. Sipe

June 29, 2025 / Sts. Peter and Paul

There are no more compelling characters in the story of the early church than Peter and Paul.  

At the same time, one can hardly imagine two more different characters than Peter and Paul.

Peter hailed from a backwater town in Galilee.  Paul came from the cosmopolitan city of Tarsus in what is now Turkey.

Peter was a simple fisherman, uneducated except in his trade.  Paul received advanced education In Jerusalem, and belonged to the sect of the Pharisees, who were experts in the Law.

Peter, as a subject of the occupying Roman empire, had few rights.  Paul was a Roman citizen, which gave him rights that saved his life more than once.

Peter knew Jesus, being one of the first disciples to be called, and along with James and John, was a part of Jesus’ inner circle.  Paul never met Jesus during his earthly life.

Peter was the first among the apostles to identify Jesus as the Messiah; though immediately afterwards, he blew it by telling Jesus not to talk about suffering and death, earning him a stern rebuke from Jesus.  Paul, on the other hand, took a perverse delight in hunting down, persecuting, and imprisoning those who believed in Jesus; but after he encountered the risen Christ on the Damascus Road, he sang a different tune.

And in their ministries, too, the two men differed.  Peter, originally the outsider in the halls of religious power, was chosen by Jesus to be the Rock on which the church would be built.  That’s why Roman Catholics view Peter as the first pope.  Working from within the newborn church, his missionary work was chiefly, though not exclusively, among the Jews.  Paul, on the other hand, who had been the ultimate Jewish insider, who as a Pharisee should not have wanted to be contaminated by associating with Gentiles, instead became devoted to taking the message of Jesus to the Gentiles – the outsiders.  In fact, in an incident recorded in the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Galatians, Paul is quite critical of Peter for flip-flopping on the idea of reaching out to Gentiles.  Apparently Peter had been associating with the Gentiles in Antioch until some of the people from “headquarters” in Jerusalem showed up, making Peter step back from his inclusion of all people for fear of offending church leaders.  The outsider became the insider, and the insider became the outsider – for Christ. 

Peter and Paul also differed somewhat in the things they emphasized in their teaching.  Paul focused on grace and the freedom that comes from being in Christ, while Peter tended to emphasize the need for holiness and righteous living as a response to God’s grace.

Even in their deaths, the two men differed.  Both are traditionally believed to have been martyred in Rome under the emperor Nero in the mid-60’s CE.  Peter, like his Lord, was 

crucified – a criminal’s death.  But the tradition says that he insisted on being crucified upside down because he didn’t feel worthy to die in the same way that Jesus did.  Paul, with his Roman citizenship, was executed by beheading with a sword – which, while it sounds (and was) awful, was still a quicker, less painful, and more dignified way to die than crucifixion – all because he was a citizen.  Though it is impossible to know the exact dates of their executions, the church has long celebrated June 29th as the day both were martyred.  

Two very different followers of Jesus – each of whom has their own festival day (The Confession of St. Peter on January 18th and the Conversion of St. Paul on January 25th) – but who are also celebrated together today – June 29th.  They’re the only apostles who get remembered twice on the church calendar.  Part of that, I suppose, is because they were so important in the foundation of the church – Peter for establishing the tradition and Paul for stretching it.  But another message that I take from their joint commemoration on this day is this:  while their experiences, gifts, and skills were different; while their viewpoints were sometimes opposite each other; and while at times they disagreed with one another. . . still they were united in Christ.  And the witness of both was needed in the church.  

That’s why I am particularly glad that June 29th falls on a Sunday this year – so that we get to think about these apostles side by side – because in this, the year of our Lord 2025, it seems to me that we all really need to hear how much we need one another in our differences!  Need to hear it over and over again, since that’s not the popular message right now.  In the body of Christ, we need people whose experience, gifts, and skills are different than our own.  In the church, we value a diversity of viewpoints.  We even need people we disagree with.  Just like Peter and Paul, who with their differing strategies and emphases, made the church stronger, so do we become stronger when we work together across differences. 

And we can – we can have unity in diversity – because what binds us together is not our political party or our ideological leaning; what keeps us together is not that we all hold the same opinions; what holds us together is not similar likes and dislikes, or even similar enemies and friends; what unites us is Christ.

“May we see in the relationship [between Peter and Paul] our own reconciliation with one another in the Church: knowing that it is always possible through God’s grace to walk hand in hand even if we don't always see eye to eye, so that united by the love of God, we will be able to proclaim with one voice the life-giving Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, to whom be glory forever and ever.  Amen.”[1]

[1] https://sttikhonsmonastery.org/files/Sermon-for-Sts.pdf