When The Dove Kills The Rooster

“When the Dove kills the Rooster”

St. Luke 22: 31-34 & 54-62

The term rooster is a Puritan term that was birthed in the United States during the nations Genesis. It was created due to the vulgar connotation associated with the biblical term “cock” or the term of the times “cockerel” The rooster crows to affirm to all that he is “king of the clock”. The crow signifies three things to all those that hear:

1. Yesterday is gone. The chapter is closed and no chance to redo anything, no chance to righten a wrong, no hope to relive the day.

2. The territory belongs to me. Not only am I cock of the walk, and master of the clock. All invaders beware, I own this barnyard.

3. This is a new day. A day full of promise and full of potential. A clean slate. A fresh start.

What a blessing and a curse the rooster can be. He can herald the new day but at the same time can dash us with the haunt of yesterday's failure.

The sad story of Peters' denial of Christ is forever canonized in the Holy writ. It lies here forever emblazoned in the scriptures for all who read to clearly recount the failure of the fisherman. This man whose fear of failure induced failure itself and eventually allowed the rooster to crow the sad epitaph. Three times this Disciple, handpicked by Jesus, makes a cowardly denial of Christ that is punctuated by the crow of a rooster. A three fold denial just about daybreak on Friday morning.

Every time that Peter heard a rooster, it reminded him of his infamous moment of spiritual fatal failure. His crisis of cowardice that ended in a pool of tears, humiliation and a broken spirit. No matter how many failures are in yesterday, they can never be undone. No matter how haunting or daunting the past is, it can never be erased. With every cock-a-doodle-do we are hounded by the haunt of yesterday and clouded by the depressing and disheartening realization that we did not make the mountain.

St. John 21: 15-17

Though there was a fatal failure and a crisis of cowardice that Peter would rather forget; Jesus gives a moment of redemption. Three times Peter had denied the Lord and now three times he is allowed to affirm his affection for Jesus. The rooster is losing his territory as we grasp hold of the hope that the dawn has delivered. The rooster may want to remind you of yesterday, but his primary God-given chore is to testify of the new day!!

Acts 2: 14-16

Peter finds his personal redemption with the coming of Heaven's dove. The rushing wind could well have been the mighty snow white wings of the Holy Ghost dove descending on those anxiously awaiting “the promise of the Father”. Near the very same time of the day Peter gets another feathered delivery in his life. A new day had finally come! Peter has been transformed into a Pentecostal powerhouse! What a Pentecostal punctuation mark on the ministry of the fisherman.

With the first alter call Peter has a 3000 time increase on his infamous moment of failure. First a three fold denial and a three fold affirmation now he has a 3000 fold punctuation of his new ministry as a fisherman of souls. The promise for the new day will always outweigh the crisis of cowardice and that fatality of failure.

A chicken crowed the punctuation for what appeared a final fatal failure for the first Pentecostal preacher and preachers have been waging a war of vengeance on the chicken ever since!! No more will the sound of a rooster remind me of the past but it will herald my tomorrow of promise. We need to ring the roosters neck and have chicken nuggets and Pentecost mingled together!!