Peter the Patron Saint of Tubthumping?

tub–thump·er:  a vociferous supporter (as of a cause) 

Are you a follower of Christ who feels like you can’t getting anything right? You try to follow Jesus, but get lost along the way? The harder you try the worse things get? You feel like you just keep falling down? And sometimes your not even sure what Jesus is talking about anyway?  Yeah. I’ve been there. We all have.

    When I feel like I’m failing at this discipleship thing, I think of eager, well-intentioned, bumbling Peter. He is amazing. He isn’t a model of perfection, impossible to emulate. Peter is a real person, flawed, unsure, unfaithful, but so ardent in his discipleship. What is amazing and inspiring about Peter is that he gets knocked down but he gets up again, nothing keeps him down.

Here’s a greatest hits of Peter: 

• He proclaims Jesus as the Messiah, one of the first to say it out loud. Only to be told by Jesus soon after, “Get behind me Satan, you don’t know what you are talking about.” 

• But Peter gets back up and enthusiastically tries to join Jesus for a walk on the water only to find himself sinking. Jesus has to reach down, pull him out of the water, and place him back in the boat. 

• But Peter gets back up.  At the last supper Peter sincerely says, “I will follow you Jesus, even to death.” Only to deny him three times in the court yard during Jesus’ trial.  Peter abandons Jesus as he is executed. 

• But Peter gets back up again and runs to the tomb when Mary reports that it is empty. He wants to see what has happened, but leaves more heartsick and confused than he was before. 

• Peter gets back up and stays with the others. He is there when the risen Christ shows himself to them. Jesus speaks with them and the disciples rejoice at Christ’s presence... only to fearfully go into hiding.

• You guessed it, Peter gets up again. In the book of Acts, several weeks after the Resurrection, Peter and his friends are still afraid, still hiding. The Holy Spirit descends upon those gathered and they begin to preach to the people in Jerusalem. When some begin to criticize the disciples, Peter stands as the leader, defends his friends, and shares the gospel message.

    When ever I think of Peter, I hear that 1997 Chumbawamba song, Tubthumping, just the refrain.

“I get knocked, down but I get up again
You're never gonna keep me down
I get knocked, down but I get up again
You're never gonna keep me down”

    Awesome and true story: My wife (at the time my girlfriend), who usually has wonderful taste in music, blew the speakers of her 1992 Mazda 323 listening to this song. (editor’s note: The author has no proof of this.)
                   
    Though he messes up, Peter keeps trying. He comes back to Jesus, again and again, and says, “Here I am. I am open to where you will lead me. Here I am. I am yours, because I know God has called me to a new life in you. Here I am.”
   
    Peter teaches us that not only don’t we have to be perfect disciples, but that we can’t be perfect disciples. To be a good disciple means that we realize that we will get things wrong, but we'll keep trying. Peter followed Jesus, made mistakes, trusted in God’s forgiveness, and tried to do better the next time. That is discipleship.

    Following Jesus, as we learn from Peter, is no easy thing, but it leads to a life worth living.  Following Jesus leads us to serve others, to show God’s love, to share our lives, and to have others share theirs with us.  What a wonderful gift to be able to help others know that they are loved and cared for, that new life is real and possible. We may not always get it right, but we are encouraged by Peter’s example.