Readings for the Day:
Reflection:
Yet Jesus called both of them, not out of perfection but out of their imperfection. Paul was called as he was going to persecute more of the body of Christ, while Peter, in his conversation with Jesus in the Gospel, is asked to feed Jesus' lambs the same number of times as he denied Jesus.
Jesus passed on the role of leading and teaching the church to Peter and Paul, and they in turn passed it down to others, like Paul's protege Timothy, and so on and so on until it was passed down to us.
We too are called on to spread the message of the Gospel of Christ Jesus to the world. It is a message, as our Presiding Bishop so well puts it, that is based on love. It is about a God who was willing to become human and die rather than let us continue down the path of sin and destruction. Our message is not that of fire and damnation, as some are want to put it, but instead a message of hope, forgiveness, and alleviation of grief.
2 Timothy today warns us that there will be a time when people no longer put up with sound doctrine; that is, they will no longer listen to the words of Jesus' love and our hope in the resurrection. It is our duty as those who follow Timothy, Paul, Peter, and all the Christians before us who have passed down the teachings of our Lord and stand up for compassion and hope in this world that so often forgets the power of those words.
It doesn't matter if you feel worthy of the call to spread the Good News about Jesus Christ and His love for the whole world. Neither Peter nor Paul felt ready, but Jesus called them both, directly, all the same.