The Psalm: Psalm 30
The psalmist clearly praises God for his recovery from grave illness, but this psalm may also be allegorical: its title says that it was sung at the dedication of the Temple, which was desecrated in 164 BC and rededicated in 161 BC.
I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit. Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved." By your favor, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed. To you, O Lord, I cried, and to the Lord I made supplication: "What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!" You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
The Epsitle: Acts 9:1-20
The conversion of Saul to Paul involves not only his being incapacitated but his dependence on others to be cured.
Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" He asked, "Who are you, Lord?" The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He answered, "Here I am, Lord." The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name." But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."
So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God."
The New Testament Lesson: Revelation 5:11-14
This book is an inspired picture-book, intended to make a powerful appeal to the reader's imagination. Using a literary genre known as apocalyptic, John gives us an insight into what will occur at the end of the current era.
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, "To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the elders fell down and worshiped.
The Gospel Lesson: John 21:1-19
Jesus appears again to the disciples who have returned to their old way of life and again challenges Peter to serve God.
After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon 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.
Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No." He 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. That 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. But 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. When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." So 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. Jesus 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. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. When 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." A 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." He 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. Very 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." (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow me."
"Just Another Fish Story"
It is not coincidental that the story of the nets overflowing with fish, which is the last miracle story in the gospel of John, echoes the story of the jars overflowing with wine, the first miracle story in this same gospel (the wedding at Cana, 2:1-11). It's very important for the fourth and most literary evangelist to bracket the story of Jesus with these two powerful events. Both stories reveal the true identity of Jesus to his followers and both stories proclaim the abundance of God's grace, a subject central to baptism and to new beginnings of every kind.
John continues that emphasis in many subtle ways, in the story of the feeding of the five thousand (John 6), echoed again here on the lakeshore where Jesus provides the disciples with a breakfast on the beach.
In the same way he balances the setting for the undoing of Peter's three time denial of Jesus, which takes place around a charcoal fire in the courtyard of the high priest. It is the only time such a setting had been mentioned in the gospels, and here once again it's around a charcoal fire that Jesus extracts from Peter the three-fold confession of his love.
This final gospel was really a catechism of sorts for early followers of the Johannine tradition, teaching what John's disciples considered to be the most important facts about the faith. They drove those points home through the repetition of symbols, numbers and actions, of which this section is a classic example.
I think there are many important lessons one can learn from the story of this third resurrection appearance of Jesus, three of which I would like you to consider this morning because they have such relevance to what is happening in this congregation. Those three lessons are:
There is always another side, often overlooked, and everyone is "the other side" to someone else.
Sometimes you just have to try something different to be successful and get it right.
And finally, one we have heard before in this gospel, many of the most important lessons are not learned the first time around.
Let's look at them one at a time.
There is always another side
Have you ever looked at someone else's life and wondered what it must be like to be them? The entertainment industry is built on the belief that we all have some interest in wondering about other people's experiences. We can marvel at our good fortune not to be afflicted with some of the problems that other people have, or long for the lifestyle of the rich and famous and daydream about how carefree life could be if only we were like them. On a more practical level we certainly grow in our appreciation for the wonderful diversity of God's creation when we allow ourselves
to learn as much as we can about what it must be like to be someone else: a person of color, a man or a woman, a child growing up in these times, a person of a different faith persuasion, a person who is married, single, gay or lesbian, rich or poor.
If you are not in any one of those categories it's easy to assume that those who are must be so very different from you; on the other side of where you are. Truly allowing ourselves to learn as much as we can about that other side actually narrows the distance and helps us realize how very much we have in common. It's also important to remember however that for everyone of us there is someone who sees us as being on the other side; someone who finds it equally hard to fathom how we think and find meaning in our lives.
Life experiences are by nature multi-faceted; there is always another way to see the same event. Consider the variety of views expressed in an accident report, or the overview of a relationship as seen by the two people in the thick of it as well as by close friends of each party. Consider two people talking about the actions of a child, especially the potentially annoying actions of a child - have one be the parent and the other the grandparent.
We often see the same things, even very important things quite differently. One would assume that a person who had been an eyewitness to an event as big as the resurrection would find their life changed forever. Yet here we find that within a very short period of time, just a few weeks, the disciples felt the need to get back to the reality of business as usual-to their old life of "going fishing."
They lost sight of the new alternative, the other side that had been presented to them in such a spectacular way.
We're going to be having a special charge conference on May 10th and again on May 24th to discuss some rather important matters in the life of this congregation. A lot of preparation is going into setting the stage for those discussions as you will hear at the end of the service this morning. No matter what the issue, and no matter how strongly we may feel about our own positions, it is extremely important for Christian communities to always keep in mind there is an alternative view! People have and are entitled to have very different opinions. Refusal to see the other side only wastes our time and keeps us from finding consensus and the proper center.
The disciples had fished all night and caught nothing when the solution was as close at hand as the other side of the boat. They just couldn't see it until Jesus pointed it out and they were willing to listen.
Sometimes you just have to try something different
It's always hardest for people who are comfortable with themselves to see the value of trying a different way. That "If it ain't broke why fix it?" philosophy certainly sets the standard for a lot of seemingly stable lives. Yet there are times, and it seems to be a fairly reliable theme in scripture, when God pushes the envelope, makes us stretch our comfort zones in order to get us beyond the previously set boundaries. These are those moments when God, fastens a belt around us and takes us where we do not wish to go---or leaves us unable to see and dependent on someone else to come to us and restore our vision-- in order that we might grow in faith.
But it's never easy to cross those thresholds. Couples who say they want to "save their marriage" will often resist every effort to bring some alternative ways of thinking into their relationship. When a therapist suggests " Let's try it this way and see what happens" it's almost always met with resistance…even by those who know that the old way is no longer working.
Churches are notorious hotbeds of resistance to change. Why are we such creatures of habit?
In lives of faith the themes of overcoming our present challenges and being reconciled to God are meant to be ongoing. They are meant to be life-long exercises that require constant reevaluation, confession of our shortcomings, and the intentional desire to try again with God's leading.
In today's lections we have Peter reconciled at a breakfast on the beach, Paul transformed on the Damascus Road, and the Lamb that was slaughtered raised to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. All examples of things that had been in one situation…and are now in a totally different place. Even the Psalmist sings: "I will extol you, O Lord for you have drawn me up....Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning."
But you don't get there from here by staying in the same place! You can't grow and expect that you won't have to change…and one thing is for certain…if you absolutely, positively refuse to budge…the world will still change around you.
We don't always get it the first time around
As amazing as these transformations are, scripture is also fairly consistent in pointing out that even the most amazing people didn't always get it the first time around. Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, and Jonah all needed more than a second chance, and Peter is the classic example of someone who needed to hear it over and over again until he got it right.
The good news here however is that God seems to understand that we are all on different learning curves, and that slow learners are okay with God. In fact, it is the abundant patience of God that allows us to experience grace, and the marvelous compassion of a God that recognizes that before we can begin to minister to others we must be nurtured with a warm meal, already prepared for us on the beach. All that we need will be provided if we put ourselves in the situation.
The most encouraging and wonderful thing that any clergy person can ever hear is for someone to say "You know I've been coming to worship services all my life and I never heard it that way before." It is a clear sign that one is learning and growing. If you never experience that you need to find another church! May God help you to do so.
Pastoral Prayer:
Loving God we thank you for the love that you have poured out upon us through Christ Jesus, and for the opportunity You have created for us as His servants. We come before you as a resurrection community, as an Easter people, and we ask for your holy and transforming presence to be among us so that we might always live as such. Bless us O God at this hour, and in the days ahead, so that when confronted by all the challenges of life we might meet them with the abundant grace You have already provided.
We know that there are as many ways to come to you as there are people - and we thank you for those who faith has been strong since childhood - and for those who have come to you only after a life time of being blind or lost. We thank you for every person who has followed you in the way and done as you have commanded. Without them we would not be here. Lord hear prayers for those we love and for those who would be our enemies. Hear especially our prayers for all who need your healing and redeeming love to touch their lives in a special way. We ask all of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. Amen