If you and I were to paint a picture of Peter, this would have been the Gospel that we would have painted. Here he is in a boat with the other eleven. The Good Lord is out, because remember, the first time he’s with the Good Lord, it’s just him and the Good Lord fishing... It’s midnight, because they fish at night. Remember, this is the Sea of Galilee. As a result, he says “Lord, I’ve been out fishing all night.” “Throw your nets over Peter.” You know how Peter threw the nets out. “Lord, I’m the fisherman. You’re a carpenter. You want the nets out? Great, great, there, they’re out.” They catch so many fish that it almost sinks the boat. He drops in the boat and says “Depart from me Lord, I’m a sinful man.” Just him and the Good Lord... The next time Peter’s in a boat, a storm’s coming. The Good Lord’s asleep in the bow. You know the story. “Lord, do you care that we’re about to perish.” He didn’t wake Him up because, you know why? Because He’s just a carpenter. I’m the fisherman. I’ve been on this scene my whole life. Man, this is my home away from home. I’m the man. And now, all of a sudden, he can’t even take care of a storm... This time the Good Lord is saying “Yeah, Peter, you have confidence in Me when I’m right here. Well, this time I’m going to be 50 yards out there.” “Lord if it is You tell me to come.” “Come.”... My brothers and sisters in Christ, that’s the portrait we painted of Peter. He’s walking on water, the wind begins to blow, he turns his head, and, man, next thing you know he’s drowning. That’s the portrait we paint, but I bet you if we ask the Good Lord to paint him, I bet you He would paint it differently. I bet He would paint Peter crucified upside down, and I bet the words at the bottom of the painting would say “This is My rock, and I did build My church on him.” My brothers and sisters in Christ, that’s the portrait that God painted for Peter, not the one that you and I paint all too often.
...Here you and I sit 2,000 years later. My brothers and sisters in Christ, if somebody was to paint a portrait about you, what would we put in the picture? Would we put all of our diplomas on the back wall so everybody can notice how intellectual we are? ... Maybe we could put a bank statement at the bottom, so they could show how much money we accumulated as if it was ours? Maybe they had all our sports memorabilia?... My brothers and sisters in Christ, don’t you understand? Every one of those items are immediately worthless upon our death. The minute that portrait was painted, it is now useless because not one of those things will go forward with us. My brothers and sisters in Christ, if you painted a portrait of yourself, would there be anything on you that somebody would look and say “Look, right there, in the top right hand corner, on the shelf, behind those six books, to the right, down an inch. I think it’s a rosary?” Would you even have a rosary in your picture? Would you be carrying a crucifix in your hands? Would behind you be an image of Christ?... My brothers and sisters in Christ, ask yourself “What would be in your portrait that would go with you to life everlasting, and what in that portrait would be of this world, the world that will come to an end? If Christ painted your portrait, which he will, and is doing as I speak, what would he put in the picture? ... You came in on this day, we’re going home on this day... You have all this time in between to make a portrait of yourself...
My brothers and sisters in Christ, I leave you with this... Make sure the portrait that you paint has some relic of Christ, more relics of Christ than relics of the secular world, for that is going to be the portrait that Christ will come to.