 |
| Beverley Church |
On a cold and rainy day, the walk to Beverley from the subway station is no fun. As I arrive, I find my pone is dying and with it my sermon. Thankfully, Irina the accompanist has a charger and I don't need to freestyle...
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! (I'm trying to get them to learn this exchange for the whole of Easter..)
Today our Resurrection celebration continues....
This is another of my favorite resurrection stories. Former Episcopal Bishop Spong of Newark used to say he believed this was the first story of the resurrection. Let's be clear on what's going on here.
It's clear that the disciples have given up. Jesus is dead and gone. It was a nice run, a good run. There had been hope, excitement. But it's all gone now. No use crying over spilt milk. Time to move on. And go back to their old life. Back to being fishermen as if nothing had ever happened. And when Peter says he's going fishing, they all follow. And they fish all night. And catch nothing.
When Jesus tells them to try the other side, they get so many they can barely haul it in. (As to why 153? Don't ask. No one knows...) Stop right there. Sometimes we keep on doing what we've always been doing with no results. Jesus says Try the other side. That's what he always does. Gets us to see what we haven't seen before. Try what we haven't tried. And then????..they get so many they can barely haul it in.
John, the one who loved him, gets it immediately and cries "it's the Lord" and jumped in. Maybe it was Jesus' voice that got him, just like Mary on Easter day. Peter, hears John, but doesn't know, and like Adam in the garden, feels embarrassed and puts his clothes on. (Swimming naked would have been easier..)
It's what happens on the beach I love. Notice they had not recognized him. No glowing body, no halo. Nothing fancy. Just like Mary thought he was the gardener, the resurrected Jesus looks ordinary. (Warning....he still does that ...shows up when least expected...and so ordinary looking you don't recognize him at first...)
There's a charcoal fire going. And he puts some fish on the fire. Stop a minute. Close your eyes. Imagine the beach. The feel of the morning sun. The smell of salt in the air. (Or not, it's actually a lake...But I like the smell of sea air..)..the smell of charcoal...then of the fish starting to cook.....
(Throughout Lent when I was growing up, every neighborhood church had a fish fry every Friday...I associate that smell with Lent...)
And Bishop Spong says here is where they know he is with them...not through some spectacular resurrection display, but in the simplest of acts, something they had done a 100 times before, breakfast on the beach, and in the smell an the taste and the presence of each other around the fire, they know he is there with him. And my friends, that's how we know he is risen..in our presence, here in this place, with each other, we feel it, know it, he is in our midst.
But my friends, if you know he is alive, there are consequences. Demands. And that's what now faces Peter. He's got to be filled with guilt. When he pulled his clothes on, he felt guilty as Adam. He had after all, denied Jesus three times. So Jesus gives him three chances to un-deny him. By the the third time, Peter's starting to feel hurt.
Now I'm one who believes you all can understand the Bible by reading it yourself, with discipline, with regularity. With prayer. And the leading of the Holy Spirit. And community, with each other. You don't need a seminary degree to get it. But here's where we ministers help.
Jesus asks Peter "do you love me" with the word "agape" ..self-giving love...and Peter answers with "philos"....brotherly love...he's still holding back, you see? And Jesus' answer is pretty clear...if you love me, tend my lambs, feed my sheep..
That's it, right there.
Look, it's our call to extend grace to each other. But the fact is, in human relationships, you can exhaust another's patience and run out of grace. Believe me, I know. But not so with Jesus.
I'm willing to bet that like Peter, everyone of us in here has denied Jesus (and not just in words) at least 3 times...some of us might be feeling that this morning...
And the point is, our Easter story, our resurrection story is that he's ready to take us back again. Even today. BUT....
you can't just tell Jesus you love him. The way you let him know you mean it is you tend his lambs, you feed his sheep. Believe me, he'll know. And on this rock, Peter and all of us Peters, the church is built...
After this he said, Follow me...
Let those with ears to hear, hear..
Amen.
****
Three postscripts..yesterday was the 49th anniversary of the Kent State/Jacksom State shootings. A day that changed my life...Pete Seeger's 100th birthday. Throughout his life Pete tended the lambs and fed the sheep and kept us going in dark times ...we give thanks to God for his life and witness..
Today is Cinco de Mayo. No it's not Mexican independence day. It's when a badly outnumbered Mexican army unit defeated the French at Puebla. Thus preventing the French from aiding the US Confederacy. What we're really celebrating is the ongoing contribution of Mexicans to US society and culture. We do that by opening doors and embracing brothers and sisters, not building walls. No one who doesn't support immigrants should have a shot of tequila or Corona, lime or no lime.
Tend his lambs, feed his sheep.
Gospel John 21:1-19
1After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No." 6He said to them, "Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. 8But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.
9When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." 11So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
15When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." 16A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep." 17He said to him the third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. 18Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go." 19(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow me."
No comments:
Post a Comment