New Life of Easter, Easter 3 , April 14, 2013 (full size gallery)
What a beautiful Sunday! Contrast this one with Easter Sunday two weeks ago. The warmth of this week brought out the flowers and leaves and Travis cutting the grass made St. Peter’s look like a garden. 40 people attended today. The bulletin is here.
We welcomed the Anderson’s back from a long winter in Texas. BJ will resume making the communion bread which is a blessing. Birthdays included Tierra and Brad. Catherine played "Happy Birthday" for him. There should be a birthday surprise for Tierra on Wed afternoon for the youth program as they watch the "Prince of Egypt" movied.
We also welcomed Warrington Tripp from the Gideon’s. Alex is a member of the Gideons and they have a chapter encompassing King George and Caroline. They are involved in Jail ministry, having prayer breakfasts and support churches in spreading the word of God. This week they will be handing out Bibles midweek at the University of Mary Washington. He will speak at St. Peter’s at a later time.
Singing the Psalms is coming along with the whole choir pitching in! Many people like hymn 378, "Alleluia, Alleluia" so it looks like a "keeper" during Easter.
Next week in celebration of God’s creation and Earthday we will be dedicating the latest dogwood provided an anonymous donor. We will also watch the film "Six Degrees of Change" in Adult Education at 9:45 on April 21 and have a discussion the following week.
You might say this is commissioning Sunday. Saul becomes Paul on the Damascus Road, a turning point in his life, and one that leads him to become one of the great apostles. The disciples are commissioned in John’s reading – "Follow me" on the beach. The readings for this week can be found here.
The content of John 21 may be considered s an afterthought to resurrection. Between chapters 20 and 21 there seems to be a shift in emphasis, from the body of Jesus in chapter 20 to the body of believers in chapter 21. Both chapters involve stories about the risen Jesus. But the stories of chapter 20 conclude with exclamations of recognition that are confessions of resurrection: Mary tells the disciples, "I have seen the Lord!"; Thomas cries out, "My Lord and my God!" The stories of chapter 21, though, feature no such clear-cut moments of recognition and confession. The disciples recognize Jesus (21:7). But precisely because they recognize him, they dare not ask him who he is (21:12). The emphasis is not on their words about Jesus, but on Jesus’ words to them. It is less a confession of resurrection than a call to discipleship.
David Lose writes this week "John’s story is presented as another resurrection appearance. But don’t be mistaken; it is also a commissioning story in its own right
"Or, maybe more accurately, it is a story of re-commissioning. After all, in John’s gospel it is only the beloved disciple who keeps faith with his Lord to the end, staying with him to the cross and taking Jesus’ mother as his own. All the others have fallen away. And so perhaps their failure to catch any fish not only serves as an occasion to elicit Jesus’ involvement in the miraculous catch of fish (and the subsequent revelation of his identity), but also represents their failure to remain faithful. Notice, in this regard, that Jesus invites them to try again, even after failing all night long.
"Not only that, but once they have hauled their catch ashore, Jesus invites them to bring some of what they have caught and add it to what he has already provided for them. I think there is something powerful here, as Jesus not only provides for the disciples – in what is as close to Eucharistic sharing as you will get in John’s account – but also invites them to contribute what they have and, by extension, who they are. As they are join what they have to what Jesus provides, they are drawn back into the fellowship of those who not only see but also believe. They are reminded who they are and what they were originally called to be. They are challenged to get back in the boat and try again — in more ways than one
"The scene with Peter is even more explicit and powerful. Three times Jesus’ asks Peter to confess his love. Three times Peter does, though by the third time he is disheartened, even hurt. But what Peter doesn’t quite catch in this moment the reader surely does. For the last time Peter was gathered around a charcoal fire was when he was in the high priest’s court yard and denied his Lord three times. So three times Jesus invites Peter to confess, symbolically wiping away the three times Peter denied.
"Moreover, just as before, Jesus doesn’t merely provide, he also invites Peter’s participation by telling him to “feed my sheep.” Peter isn’t merely forgiven; he’s also drawn back into the discipleship community and given meaningful work to do.
"Again, I think there is an important connection between this scene and our life of faith. We are commissioned at Baptism to share in the work and ministry of our Lord. And yet we often fall short, failing to give witness in word or deed to our faith in the living Lord. And yet Jesus doesn’t just commission us, Jesus also forgives us when we fall short. And Jesus doesn’t just forgive us, but calls us to try again. And Jesus doesn’t just call us to try again, Jesus also invites us to share what we have and gives us meaningful work to do."
We’re invited back in the flock and to participate with our strengths and capabilities.
The sermon follows along with developing the latter point.
"Now I firmly believe that God calls those of us who love Jesus to serve as fully devoted disciples in specific ways that are unique to each one of us in our own time and in our own places.
We could be martyrs like Peter, or we might be like the beloved disciple, who was a follower of Jesus and who lived to be an old man, or we might be like the other five disciples mentioned in this story–the disciples who did their loving work quietly and without drama or recognition in the ways that God asked them to serve.
And God calls us to be fully devoted disciples in our own callings and circumstances—in our jobs, in our retirement, in our health, in our various illnesses, in our wealth, or in our poverty, in war and in peace, to do what God calls us to do out of our love for God.
And no matter what the circumstances in our lives, because we modern day disciples truly love our risen Lord as Peter did, we too will find ways to serve those around us, to feed God’s sheep, and to tend God’s lambs—to witness to God’s love and to serve in ways that may be dramatic or in ways that are known only to us and to God.