It’s been said that we will do anything in the name of love. The Trojan War was waged over Helen of Troy, Romeo drank poison to be with his Juliet who he thought had passed on, all in the name of love.

I’d like to amend that and say that we’ll try anything in the pursuit of love. Boys will comb their hair and put napkins in their laps, girls will watch football and tractor pulls, and so on.

But we’ll all try anything in the pursuit of love. Remember back to all those crazy things you did to catch the eye and attention of someone?

Did you give away candy or flowers? Did you give that person a poem that you wrote just for them?

Or did you do what I tried one time; did you give away your common sense?

If you did, you know it. Because I’ll never forget when I handed my brain away, all in the pursuit of love.

You know, one of the best places for couples and folks who are just starting out together to go to a place where there is a lot of people and you can talk and have fun.

This time of the year, the best place to go is the fair.

Go to a fair this year. And as you’re walking between the booths selling cotton candy and hot dogs, look around at all the couples at the fair.

They’re easy to spot. All you have to do is look for a man trying to knock down those three milk bottles with a baseball. Some of y’all have done this.

Now, with the 30 dollars he’s spent already trying to win that bear, he could’ve bought his date one, but sometimes in the pursuit of love, we hand away our brains.

My brother and I went to an amusement park several years ago on a double date. Now amusement parks are much like state and country fairs, only much larger and elaborate.

It’s a great place to get to know one another and to laugh and have fun in a casual environment. It’s a great place to hand away your brain.

So anyway, my brother and his date, me and my date were all have a great time at Carowinds near Charlotte.

We rode the rides and ate all the food and candy and lemonade we could. And it wasn’t long before we passed by a ride that I been avoiding the entire day.

In fact, this was a ride that I had avoided every time I went to Carowinds. Now, let me explain. I like rides. I love roller coasters and what not. But I never like to put myself in danger all in the name of fun – Love yes, but fun, no.

And here we were standing in front of a big mock pirate ship. Now, on most pirate ship rides at fairs and amusement parks, the ship just rocks back and forth and it’s very docile and tame.

But this was no ordinary pirate ship. You see, instead of simply rocking back and forth, this pirate ship would turn all the way upside down – and it would stop upside down!

Remember when I said I down really care to put myself in any danger for the sake of fun? Well, the idea of sitting 50 or so feet in the air upside down, with nothing to catch me or even break my fall didn’t really appeal to me and it certainly didn’t sound like much fun!

And I assumed that my company shared my intelligence and felt the same way that I did! And just as I was about to pass by the great and powerful pirate ship, my brother and his date and my date started to walk toward that nasty ride!

I dropped my cotton candy. I looked at my brother, his date, and mine walking toward that insane ride and then I looked at the pirate ship turned upside down and I could hear change falling out of people’s pockets and screams coming from terrified people and I knew there was no way I could survive this ride!

I grabbed the arm of my brother and pulled him aside, and I said "Marty, let’s down go on this ride, I really don’t want to go on this ride" pleading for my brother to save me and show some compassion!

But my brother saw it a different way. It couldn’t resist the opportunity to embarrass me in front of my date, so he said "hey Steve is too scared to ride, what are we going to do?"

I could’ve killed him. My date looked over at me and said "really? Are you scared to ride this little ole boat?"

What was I supposed to do? I didn’t have a choice! I did the same thing that everybody in this room would’ve done and I said "Of course not! I absolutely LOVE this ride, in fact, I’ve been looking forward to this ride all day!"

Do you remember what I said about handing away your brain and common sense? All in the pursuit of love.

Sweating, trembling, and praying, I boarded the boat for what I was sure would be my last voyage of any kind. And we started to sway. Back and forth, back and forth.

And before long, we gathered enough momentum to turn all the way upside down and we stayed there what felt like half and hour. Nickels and dimes jumped from my pocket to the platform below and my legs trembled causing even more money to fall to the ground.

My heart was no longer beating, I couldn’t really find a breath, I was only inches away from crying like a baby in front God, my date, and everybody!

My brother, his date and mine all laughed at me up there in that boat as my knees knocked against theirs, as sweat poured from face and hands, and as I hyperventilated gasping for life up there on that boat.

It was the worse experience of my entire life!

All in the pursuit of love.

Jesus was walking with his disciples near the beach. As they were walking between the little towns and settlements he began to probe his followers. He wanted to know what the people thought about him.

"who do people say I am?" He asked them.

"Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets."

"But what about you, who do you say I am?"

And Peter jumped up and said, "You are the Christ"

In other words, Peter was saying, you are the one that God has sent! You are the one that is to save us from sin, slavery, and death. You the one that God has chosen. You are the Messiah, the Savior!

And they walked on.

When they stopped some time later, Jesus began to teach, just as he always taught. But instead of telling his disciples about the kingdom of God and the glory of Heaven, he taught them about suffering.

And in the end, he taught them about death, his death. Jesus must be MAD, he must be insane talking about such nonsense, and Peter grabbed him by the arm and took him aside, "what are you doing, talking about death and suffering and all that"

And Jesus turned away, looked at his disciples, and told Peter to go away.

Impossible we might say. How could someone like Peter, someone as great as Peter, whom Jesus called a rock, rebuke the same person he professed to being the Christ, the Savior of the world?

How could someone confess something as glorious and wonderful as that, and then deny it all by fussing at the same person, as if they didn’t know what they were talking about?

How could someone say one thing, but do and feel something else?

We do it all the time.

We do it all the time, saying and proclaiming one thing, but thinking and acting in a manner totally different.

How many times have we called Jesus the Christ, the one who saves, yet say our life has no meaning?

How many times do we say that Christ is love and he calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves, yet betray Christ by thinking it doesn’t apply to the wicked, the poor, and the undesirable?

How many times do we tell everybody that the Church is our Foundation, our Rock and Strength, yet find plenty of other things that are more important?

How many times do we say that we are Child of God, yet live like an orphan?

How many times have we proclaimed that God guides us in every move, but look for help and direction in everything but God?

How many times have we said that We Believe, yet live without Faith.

How many times do we board ships that take us upside down, yet know we shouldn’t be on them.

Peter did, and so have we.

But faith is more than saying I believe. Faith is more than agreeing to the ride while we’re screaming on the inside; with our world upside down.

Our faith is not merely a concept or an idea, but it’s the road in which we travel.

Jesus tells us that it will not always be smooth, but that many times, many times, it will be rocky, with holes and slick spots that cause us to swerve and slip.

But that road will take us to that place which calls us, it will take us home, to the presence of God.

But faith and love is more than an idea, it’s an action.

Christ calls us to something more than simply knowing the road exists.

Christ calls us to something more than passing by or acknowledging the road of faith and love – Christ calls us to travel on it.

Christ wants us to find that road of faith and love, and travel on it, not by it, not over it, not around it, but on it.

He wants us to be sincere in our faith.

He doesn’t want us to say one thing and feel something totally different on the inside.

He wants us to follow him down the road of faith and love.

And many times we will fail, many times we will fall. We might even find ourselves on boat that is upside down.

We might find ourselves saying one thing, yet doing another. We might find ourselves saying one thing, yet feeling another.

Just like Peter.

But you see, what makes Peter wonderful is his humanity. What makes Peter wonderful is that he’s just like us.

Think back to all the disciples. Who fussed at Christ? Who mumbled nonsense at the Transfiguration? Who denied Christ not once, but three times? Who did Christ build his church upon?

Peter.

This is the Good News! This is the Good News for us and everybody, that even though the road of Faith of love may be bumby and rough, we are not walking alone!

Even though the road my not be paved and even, it will still bring us home.

This is the Good News of Great Joy. Even though we may give in to the demands and expectations of others, even though we may board ships to please others, even though we may say one thing yet do another, God loves.

God loves so much in fact, that he gave away something very precious, so that we may find that road home. All in the name of Love.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.