Brand New Day

This sermon was heard on April 18, 2010, the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Acts 9:1-6
Psalm 30
Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-19

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

I read this on the internet on Monday, so you know it must be true, “A bank robber in Minneapolis told arresting police officers that he had been converted at a Billy Graham Crusade and that is why he didn't use a weapon during the holdup.”[1] Yep, must be true. This is one of those situations where the conversion to the gospel doesn’t quite lead to the transformation we would expect to follow. Close, but no cigar.

As much as anyone else, I love the mountaintop experience; those times when we are so close to God that we can feel it. I love those times when there is such a spirit moving in the air that the room is positively electric, and who doesn’t? They happen at retreats after hearing a particularly stirring speaker. They happen here in the sanctuary during a glorious rendering of an anthem by the choir. They also happen during prayer, during those quiet moments when we await the response of the Lord and we can positively hear the Word of God being spoken to us. The mountaintop experience is filled with glory and wonder and joy.

The worst thing about the mountaintop experience is what comes next, the inevitable valley descent. It is impossible for us to live on the mountaintop; the air is just too thin. There must be valleys to go along with the peaks; it’s just the nature of being.

Let’s imagine what the disciples have just experienced, it’s not so difficult since we have just made this journey ourselves through Lent and Holy Week. Imagine the time spent with our Lord, hearing his teaching and witnessing his miracles. Remember the ways we have seen him evade the best laid traps of the Sadducees and Pharisees. See the joy on the faces of those he has healed; see how the masses have been restored to their health, their families, and their communities.

Recall Palm Sunday, the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, not on a warhorse like a Roman overlord, but on the back of a colt as prophesied in the scriptures. Palms and the coats being set before him, every thing is made ready just as he said. The upper room is ready and they take their final meal together. Jesus breaks the bread and tells them “Take, eat. This is my body given for you.” He then blesses the cup and tells them, “This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” He then instructs them that whenever they share this meal it should be shared in remembrance of him.

The situation then falls apart from glorious to terrifying with a kiss. Jesus is swept away and the disciples scatter. Only Peter will remain close, and then only close enough to hear the prophesy of his betrayal of Jesus come to pass as the cock crows. The celebration of the meal is quickly followed by the horror of the crucifixion. Then the horror of the crucifixion is quickly followed by resurrection of the Lord Jesus the Christ. The promises of the coming counselor are fulfilled and the breath of his Holy Spirit comes upon them to commission and empower them to continue his work on earth.

Mountaintop experience? Even with the horror of the Lord’s death, it doesn’t get more glorious than this.

Our gospel reading today comes from sometime after these events. Scripture doesn’t say whether this event happens immediately after what we read last week or some time later. This epilogue begins with the disciples, in essence, hanging around the house. This scene seems so subdued to me. Everyone is listless and lethargic. They seem resolved that life may end up going back to the same-old-same-old. They know that their lives will never be the same, but they don’t quite know what to do with that.

Peter is the one who breaks the silence. He says, “Well boys, I’m goin’ to work.” The others, including James and John who are his partners in the fishing business say, “Well, we’ll go too.”

Evening is breaking and it’s time to get the boats out on the Sea of Tiberias, what we usually call the Sea of Galilee. It’s not a terribly big sea, it’s not so big that you can’t walk around it; but it’s set just so that when the wind blows off of the Mediterranean and across the plains that tremendously dangerous storms can come seemingly out of nowhere and hit the sea with horrendous consequences. As I recall you have some familiarity with that sort of thing here.

It’s dark, it’s dangerous, and they’re distracted. They may be flirting with disaster, but they’ve got to do something. Sitting around the house just won’t cut it another minute.

The evening was uneventful, too uneventful. They weren’t able to catch a cold out there.

Then there is a voice from the shore, “Children, have you caught anything?” You know, it’s one thing to work all night long and get nothing for your effort, but it’s another to be called “children.” This guy on shore calls seven grown men prepubescent. On the bright side, the term is one of affection.[2] It is a term Matthew’s gospel uses to describe those who will get into the kingdom of heaven,[3] and that’s not all bad. Jesus blesses the little children saying the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like them.[4] When considering what the Lord says of little children, the man on the shore could surely call them something worse.

So when they answer his question, the man on the shore suggests they cast their nets to the other side of the boat. Can’t you just hear someone asking, “Wow, we could have cast from the other side of the boat? Why didn’t we think of that?” The disciples may have had sarcasm but they didn’t have objections when they cast their nets to the other side of the boat. There they are rewarded with a catch of many fish. Then and only then does the disciple Jesus loved recognize the Lord.

Jesus calls to Simon Peter, Simon Peter whom Jesus called the rock of the church. Simon Peter to whom Jesus cries “Satan, get behind me.” Simon Peter whom Jesus said would deny him. Jesus calls to Simon and asks “Do you love me more than these?” Simon responds, “Yes Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus commissions him, “Feed my lambs.”

Jesus then repeats this question. “Do you love me?” Simon again responds, “Yes Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus commissions him, “Tend my sheep.”

Jesus repeats this question one more time, “Do you love me?” By now it’s like hearing that old knock-knock joke and Simon is hoping to hear Jesus finally say, “Orange you glad I didn’t say banana again?” Simon is upset. He is angry, offended, and insulted. He is saddened, grieved, and distressed[5] that his Lord, Jesus the Christ would feel like he had to ask him three times if he loved him.

“Surely Lord you know everything,” he says, “you know that I love you.” Simon Peter then gets his commission. He receives his mission. He is given his marching orders. He is told by his Lord and Messiah one more time, “Feed my sheep.” But that’s not all.

Jesus warns Peter about the death he will face. He is told that he will face the most horrible, painful, disgraceful death the empire has learned to inflict against its enemies. His arms will be stretched out on the cross. He will be hung from a tree. Jesus even reminds Peter he will not wish to go. He won’t deny Jesus, but he won’t volunteer for this death either.

Then Jesus tells Peter, “Follow me.”

Follow me. When Jesus says this, scholars say he is telling Peter to follow him on the cross. I can’t disagree with years of scholarship, but I believe the Lord is asking more of Peter than just to die. I think, I hope, and I pray Jesus is telling Peter how to live. Jesus is showing Peter that he must be transformed to life in Christ.

Transformation in Christ and the way transformation takes a hold of us is no more poignant than we find in the story of Saul’s conversion found in Acts. Transformation is often a slow and painstaking process, but for Saul, not so much. His story of transformation is the stuff of biblical proportions.

Saul’s life was good. A member of the tribe of Benjamin, he was a Roman citizen by birth and a Pharisee by training. He was the guest of honor at the stoning of Stephen. He had it all, including letters allowing him to bring anyone who belonged to the Way from Damascus bound to Jerusalem.

It’s all going according to plan until he is blinded by the light from heaven. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Asking who is speaking, the reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” What strikes me about this is that Saul knew this much, he knew he was persecuting those who followed Jesus. He knew that. But now, now he learns that the one he persecutes is the one who is worthy of worship.

We have to remember, Saul was doing all the right religious things. He was a righteous man. By the reckoning of scripture, there was no man who was more in tune with the law than Saul of Tarsus, but being righteous in the law is not enough. As important as the law is, and it is important, there is more. In this moment, Saul discovered that following the law was not enough, without the Messiah, without Jesus, it is not enough.

The story continues; Saul, blinded, goes to the home of Judas and is met by a follower of the Way named Ananias. Ananias was sent as an emissary of Christ because in the words of the Lord, “[Saul] is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel.”

It was at this moment that his life changed, his transformation from oppressor to apostle is begun.

The wondrous love of our Lord calls Saul to take the gospel to the gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel. The wondrous love of our Lord calls Peter to build the church; the church which is to be—and is still today—Christ’s body on earth. The church has always been the people of God, and not some structure. Buildings rot, decay and are forgotten, but as the people of God we still speak and act as the body of Christ today.

From the Psalms of David, to the Gospel of John, to the Acts of the Apostles; theirs are the words we speak when we share the Word of God. Through our tithes and offerings, we share the Word of God. Through mission, whether it’s a soup kitchen or with Presbyterian Disaster Relief in the Gulf Coast or in Haiti; whether it’s helping our neighbors after a storm or helping a child with homework; we share the word of God. When we share the word, we feed his lambs. We tend his sheep. We truly become God’s people when we remember the people God calls us to be and act in obedience.

We are called to follow Jesus in the work he commissions us to continue. We are sent by Jesus to feed his lambs and tend his sheep. What’s wondrous is that the word disciple comes from a noun meaning follower. The word apostle comes from a verb meaning to send. In this passage, Peter is called to be both a disciple and an apostle. As Christ’s body in the world, we are called to continue this work as both disciples and apostles. As the Body of Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are continuously transformed into both disciples and apostles. We follow Jesus and we are sent to take his work into the world.

We remember that like Simon Peter, on this brand new day we are called to follow the Lord and we are sent to be God’s reconciling people to the world. On this brand new day we are called by our Lord to serve creation healing the wounds that separate us from God and from one another. On this brand new day we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit, God who walks beside us and guides us as we do God’s will in the world. And on this brand new day, saved by grace through faith, we are transformed into the Body of Christ.

[1] HomileticsOnline.com Illustration Keyword Search—Transformation. http://homileticsonline.com/subscriber/illustration_search.asp?keywords=transformation, retrieved April 12, 2010.
[2] “padia” entry from the electronic edition of Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third Edition. Copyright © 2000 The University of Chicago Press. Revised and edited by Frederick William Danker, sixth edition.
[3] Matthew 18:3
[4] Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:14, Luke 18:16
[5] “lupeow” entry from the electronic edition of Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.