Be all you can be

BE ALL THAT YOU CAN BE

Mt. 16:13-20

If we want to be saints, we must always strive to be better than we are.  In the spiritual life we can never remain the same.  We are either growing in the love of God or decreasing.  There are certain traits of character in ourselves that trouble us and we would like to get rid of them.  We see qualities in other people that we admire and we would like to possess those qualities ourselves.  If only we could get rid of our nasty temper and replace it with a more genial and placid disposition.  If only we could be more patient.  Perhaps we have even prayed about these concerns, "Lord, make me a better person." 

Let us approach the problem from another angle.  Let us suppose that these desirable qualities are already in us, but undeveloped.  The problem is that we are simply not living up to our potential.  Simon Peter can make us believe that we can be better persons.  You remember the day when Jesus said to him, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church."  We all know that Peter means rock and if there was one thing that Simon did not seem to be it was that.  When Jesus called Simon a rock He was challenging him to be one.   

How Jesus treated Simon we could treat ourselves.  We can all be better than we are.  That rock-like quality is in us right now.  Our task is to bring it to the fore.  That is the challenge facing every one of us.  We do not need to become someone else.  We just need to live up to our potential. 

The first thing is that like Peter we must have a vital Christian faith.  Peter had that.  He believed in Jesus as God.  His faith was far from perfect.  The thing he really believed, at this point, was that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and that was something worth knowing.  It was a clear statement that God is active in human affairs.  We are not in this struggle by ourselves.  God wants us to be all that we can be.  He helps us to reach that goal.  That kind of faith can sustain us in the fight when times are hard.  Without that faith, it would be easy to give up.

Yes, there are times when we can think that the world is in an awful mess, but with eyes of faith, and believing in Jesus as the Saviour, we can see another world where truth and justice can and will reign supreme.  It is not here yet, but because we believe in a God who will win in the end, we are sure it will come.  There are days when life may seem bleak and pointless, but on those days, let us hear a voice saying, "Simon, you are Peter and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it."  A vital Christian faith will help us to become all that we can be.

Another helpful influence is friendship.  It was a friend who said to Simon, "You are Peter."  No one else had seen that steadfast quality in him.  No other person had even guessed that it was there.  It is always our friends who encourage us to reach our potential.  Just the mention of that may start everyone here to think about certain people who have encouraged them.  It may have been a parent, a teacher or a priest.  All of them are friends.  They have believed in us when no one else did.

We need that kind of friendship because it is not easy for us to believe in ourselves.  It was not easy for Simon to believe that he was a rocklike character.  Early in his Christian venture, he had said to Jesus, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man."  Later he would deny his Lord three times, then go out and weep bitterly.  Simon found it hard to believe that Peter, ‘the rocklike person’ was in him.

A young man went to see his priest and told the story of his moral failure.  When he had finished, the priest said, "You, my friend, are a fine young man."  The boy could not believe his ears.  He wondered if the priest had taken him seriously.  The priest said, "I meant every word.  You would not be feeling what you are feeling now if you were not a fine man."  Then the boy put his face in his hands and wept like a child.  It was the same old story over again, "Simon, you are Peter."

Lord Jesus, if we are to be saints we must have a vital faith like Simon, believing in You as the Saviour.  May we have a friend like Peter had in You to encourage us.  Yes, we live in a society that appeals to our worst, but today we are meeting You, the Friend of sinners, and hearing You say "Simon, you are Peter."  Let us recognise our potential and be the saint You believe we can be.

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