The Lord stood by me

The Lord stood by me

At the foot of the steps leading into St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome stand two commanding statues, one of St. Peter and the other of St. Paul.   Each statue is eighteen feet tall and sits on a sixteen-foot-tall pedestal.   Standing at opposite ends of the steps, these statues act both as sentinels guarding the church and as emblems of the Church spread throughout the world.

In his statue, St. Peter is depicted with a large key, which recalls how Jesus gave him the “keys to the Kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 16:19).   He has an expression of care and concern as he looks down toward the people gathered in the square:   a pastor whose heart is full of love for his people.

St. Paul’s statue depicts him looking out intently, with an opened scroll in one hand and a sword in the other—“the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).   He is the determined, fiery apostle to the Gentiles, whose letters in the New Testament proclaim the glory of the risen Lord and the power of life in the Holy Spirit.

These are the men we are celebrating today:   two pillars of the Church who gave their lives for the gospel.   Two men whose writings, preaching, and witness made it possible for the Church to spread out from Jerusalem and cover the whole world.

Near the end of his life, Paul wrote that the Lord had stood by him even when everyone else had deserted him (2 Timothy 4:16-17).   As Peter sat in prison, wondering if he would be executed the next morning, an “angel of the Lord stood by him” and set him free (Acts 12:7).   This is how these men were able to serve the Church so faithfully.   They trusted that God was with them through thick and thin.   And that trust held them steady, right up to their final days and their martyrdoms.

In our hearts, just as in St. Peter’s Square, Peter and Paul stand tall as two of the greatest heroes of our faith.   Each in his own way shows us what loving, faith-filled discipleship looks like.   How blessed we are to have them as part of our history!

Word Among Us