Paul (to himself): "...and now the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith..."

Peter (to himself): "Jesus said there will be a time when someone else will stretch out my hands and fasten a belt around me and take me where I do not want to go."

Paul: I'm not sure this is what I had in mind when I followed Jesus.
Peter: I'm not sure this is what I had in mind when I followed Jesus.

Paul: I was born in Tarsus ...anyone else from there? It's on the southeastern coast of Asia Minor -- about 10 miles from the Mediterranean Sea. I was born into a Jewish family - we Jews were a minority in Tarsus. Yet I challenge anyone to claim that they were more loyal to the faith than me...(proudly) "circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews, as to the law a Pharisee..."

Peter: All right already! We know, we know -- you were a faithful Jew - even in Tarsus! I on the other hand grew up in Capernaum - a town on the Sea of Galilee in the middle of the Jewish heartland. My beginnings were a bit more humble than those of my friend here! While my friend was studying and debating Torah with the finest of teachers, I was learning a trade from my father - my brother Andrew and I were fishermen. I led a quite ordinary life - which of course suddenly became so very extraordinary!

Paul: My name is Paul. Or Saul.

Peter: My name is Peter. Or Simon. Or Simon Peter. Or Cephas - (looks to Paul) why do you call me Cephas anyway?

Paul: It's Aramaic - it means the same thing as Peter - "Rock". ...Some called me boastful!

Peter: Some called me impulsive!

Paul: I was the least likely of all people to be called an apostle.
Peter: I was the least likely of all people to be called an apostle.

Peter: Me? How in the world could he expect me to carry on the mission of the church? I wasn't educated. I didn't have any theological training. I acted like a coward just when he needed me the most. I denied him three times - he knew I would too!

Paul: Me? How in the world could he expect me to carry on the mission of the church? I persecuted early Christians. I was there when Stephen was stoned. I was "breathing threats and murder" as I sought out Christians worshipping in secret.

Peter: He called me anyway.
Paul: He called me anyway.

Peter: I was in my boat with my brother Andrew - fishing of course.

Paul: I was on my way to Damascus - trying to round up more of those Way-ward Christians of course.

Peter: He called and Andrew and I left our boat, our nets - and our father - and followed him.

Paul: My call was a bit more dramatic - he came to me in a vision and I was struck blind. When Ananias came and laid hands on me, something like scales fell from my eyes and I could see - really see -- who Jesus was.

Peter: I followed, but I didn't really know what was planned for me!
Paul: I followed, but I didn't really know what was planned for me!

Peter: He simply said, "Follow me!" I didn't know anything more. I didn't know that following Jesus would mean that I'd be leaving behind everything I knew - my job, my family, my way of life. I didn't know that I'd need to beg for my keep. I didn't know that I'd be a wanderer, never knowing where I was going to spend the night. I didn't know that I'd be going with him to Jerusalem to confront the Roman authorities. I didn't know that he'd be tried as a criminal. And I didn't believe that I could become so frightened that I'd betray him myself - that I'd deny that I even knew him..... I didn't know any of that.

Paul: He told Ananias that I would be his instrument and bring his name to the Gentiles. I didn't know how that was going to happen. I didn't know I'd be imprisoned and flogged nearly to death. I didn't know I'd receive a stoning. I didn't know I'd be shipwrecked and adrift at sea. I didn't know I'd be in constant danger - "from bandits, from my own people, from Gentiles, from the city, from the wilderness, from the sea...and from my own brothers and sisters...." I didn't know I'd endure such "hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked."

Peter: And I didn't know that I'd lose my very life for the sake of the gospel.
Paul: And I didn't know that I'd lose my very life for the sake of the gospel.

Paul: You know, he and I (points to Peter) were similar in a lot of ways.. Not least of all we were similar in that tradition says that we were martyred in Rome on the very same day. See all the red around here? (points to paraments) That's why!

Peter: We might have had similar "experiences" as apostles. But we didn't always agree, did we?

Paul: Nope - not at all! I guess we'd have to say that from the very beginning those of us in the church have had disagreements about something or other!

Peter: Often it seems it's about who's in and who's out.

Paul: In our case it was about the Gentiles - non-Jews.

Peter: I thought that it was important that everyone - Gentiles included - be subject to the law of Moses before they became Christians. They should be circumcised!

Paul: Barnabas and I disagreed.... We met - all of us -- at a council meeting in Jerusalem to hash it out. Barnabas and I told them of all the wonderful things God was doing among the Gentiles.

Peter: It was actually James - surely you know the story of our own St. James?! - who helped come up with a solution.

Paul: (Pause) Yes, through it all the church has survived.

Peter: And not only survived - it has flourished!

Paul: Through the flawed and very human individuals whom God has called - people like us.

Peter: Through all of us who are both saints and sinners alike.

Paul (wonders): How do you account for it?

Peter: I remember the last time Jesus spoke to me. He asked me a question - pretty much the same question in fact three times. He asked, "Do you love me?"

Paul: What do you think he meant?

Peter: At first I wasn't sure. I said, "Of course Lord, you know that I love you." He asked though, do you love me more than these? And I thought to myself - do I really love him more than all of this? Do I love him more than my fishing, my boat and my nets, my home, my family, my reputation? Do I love him more than all of this? Not long ago, when faced with this question, I'd said no - three times. This time, I said, "Yes."
Jesus responded, "Feed my lambs."

And then he asked me again, "Do you love me?"
I said, "Yes Lord; you know that I love you."
He said, "Tend my sheep."

And then a third time he asked me, "Do you love me?"
I was hurt, and said, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you."
And Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."

Paul: How has the church survived despite our failings? Maybe it's because Jesus hasn't stopped calling us - each of us - more than 3 times, more than 6, 9, or even 18 times. More times than we can count or are even aware of, Jesus calls us, asking if we know how much he loves us - and then asking us to respond to his love by caring for his sheep.

Peter: His last words to me were the same as his first..."Follow me." I didn't know at all where that would lead.

Paul: But now that "the time of my departure has come.." I can say, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith..."

Both: Amen