Rector's Sermon - Sunday, April 25, 2004

First Reading	Psalm	Epistle	Gospel
Acts 9:1-6	30:1-6	Revelation 5:11-14	John 21:1-19

    They seemed to have returned to the place where Jesus had first called them. Perhaps they thought that getting into the routine of fishing again, and putting some distance between them and Jerusalem would help them to better understand all that Jesus had tried to teach them and that they would gain some semblance of clarity on what to do next. Jesus had already appeared to them twice before, so it was no real surprise when they discovered him again, alive and beckoning to them from the shore. Even the great catch of fish seemed to be natural when Jesus was among them. As they all ate together again, Jesus' teaching made more and more sense. The disciples realized that they had all changed and would never go back to doing just what they had done before. The change was more than the discovery that Jesus was alive and death had not done him in. Jesus did not treat them strictly as students or disciples. It was clear that this time by the lakeshore they were called to be apostles, designated as leaders of a new community and teachers of future disciples. As Jesus had told them, they were not like servants any longer; they were like comrades, becoming the bearers of the gospel beyond the known boundaries.

    After the meal, Jesus and Peter found some time to be alone with each other. It was the first time they were able to have a private, extended conversation after that terrible night in the courtyard of the high priest's quarters, where Peter had denied Jesus three times. Peter needed not to fear a reminder of his shame or a burden of guilt. Jesus had already died for that. The resurrection had given new life to Peter also. Jesus treated Peter as the leader he was expected to become. Feed my lambs! Tend my sheep! Follow me!; and in response this time, the new Peter readily accepted the challenge of the Gospel.

    Easter has the power to redirect and re-energize all of us. The disciples did not obtain promises of a safe and comfortable existence from the risen Jesus. They were invited to go out into the world as Gods' ambassadors. They discovered that in some manner, disciples of Jesus are always expected to grow and keep moving. The resurrection means we can't go back and be the same people as before. The only direction Jesus calls us is forward.

    That is the reason that resurrection stories never mention passive bystanders. After Easter, there are no spectators, only participants. In our time we are learning that we no longer live in a so-called Christian culture that sees church membership as part of one’s civic responsibility. Indeed being faithful to the Gospel inevitably leads to being at odds with our prevailing culture. People of faith can’t simply blend into the background submissively seeking to get along. They are different.

    Here is an arresting quote from Transforming Congregational Culture p78, by Anthony B. Robinson: “You can’t raise live chicks under dead hens.”   The Gospel won’t be incubated or hatched by passive bystanders. If we aren’t willing to learn and grow, we can’t expect our children to learn and grow. If we can’t practice forgiveness and welcome dramatic change of heart, neither will those who come after us, nor will our neighbors. If we expect to always stay the same, if will be very difficult to recognize the risen Lord calling us into the future. “You can’t raise live chicks under dead hens.”

    The meal on the lakeshore with the catch of fish and Peter’s charge is not solely a reunion to reminisce over old times. It is a graduation ceremony, sending all disciples onward. It is commissioning all followers of the risen Jesus as apostles. It is the transformation of the craven denial of Jesus into the bold affirmation of Jesus’ followers to the great mission ahead, a transformation that is going on even in our time.

    And I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.