|
First
Reading
|
Psalm |
Epistle |
Gospel |
| Acts 11:1-18 |
Psalm 148 |
Revelation 21:1–6 |
John 13:31–35 |
The old Methodist circuit riders of the 19th century would ride from one small Midwestern town to another, from the beginning of spring until late fall. As the sun set and the air cooled, they would begin the opening revival meeting with a few rousing hymns. Then they would preach for an extended time. People didn’t get antsy because frankly they had worked hard all week and were pretty well exhausted, and there was little else to do on Sunday evenings in these small towns anyway. Near the end however, after people had sung some more, the preacher might say, “Now all of you who wish to be followers of Jesus, raise up both your hands. Get them up high.” People would look around them, first the extroverts and then the cautious introverts would raise their hands, filling the air. “Ah, ha,” the preacher would say,” just as I thought. That’s exactly the problem. We all wish to stay followers of Jesus, but Jesus calls us forth to become disciples!”
A change takes place in a community when its members see themselves as active participants in shaping their history rather than as observers of what is taking place. People really begin to grow when they realize that the decisions they make today will play a large part of where they will be tomorrow. It is like going to the theater, smug in having a good seat, and when you hand in your ticket, you are given a script and told that you are really a character in the play and your place is on stage and the curtain is gong up, and the play is beginning now.
I wonder if something like that is what happened to Peter in today’s lesson. Peter had become relatively comfortable in witnessing to what Jesus had done and taught. Peter found an articulate voice to interpret the scriptures. Yet now Peter discovered that the new community Jesus had formed was not simply about being a follower of the Jesus of the past, but being a living member of the resurrected Jesus in the present. Peter was being called forward, not back. God was calling Peter out of his comfort zone to a new place. Yes it was disconcerting. Peter learned that something that had been strange to him was not repugnant to God. Peter learned that he had much to learn, and as a disciple, he would always be learning. Like Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the Damascus Road, Peter’s vision and his subsequent response was a pivotal point for him.
The stories after the resurrection involve transition not reminiscence. The disciples became aware of broader responsibilities and larger horizons implicit in the Gospel. It was an unsettling time as well as a joyous one. Visions of a new heaven and a new earth will do that. Yet at the same time, while the disciples knew that they would never be the same people as before, they found that they were more grounded, more rooted into a larger and deeper reality than they ever knew existed. The journey forward was also a journey inward and into a deeper center.
Some of us have had the experience of moving into a new house and town, and for a while our heart is still in the place we left. It may be after the first Christmas or Easter that it happens. For me, it was often after returning from the first summer vacation and being glad to be in my own bed, where I knew where all the things were in my bedroom, and I didn’t have to think about how to adjust the shower in the bathroom, However it happens, there comes a moment when the new house becomes your home. The new town becomes your town. I would hope that a similar thing would happen to those who make St. John’s their parish.
Today’s lesson in Acts is a witness to a seminal moment in the church, for it signaled that diverse and different people are truly called into God’s home community, and that we are all rooted and stretched by the living Christ. That is why the church is never called to be content to gather followers; it is expected to grow disciples who have dreams and visions. It is expected that like Peter, we will be surprised by the vastness of God’s grace and for the sake of the Gospel, we will forever be called out of our comfort zone.
And I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.
