Sermon for Third Sunday of Easter

April 22, 2007

Acts 9:1-20
Psalm 30
Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-1
Year C
I.N.I. (In the name of Jesus)


Alleluia, Christ is risen! (Christ is risen indeed, alleluia!)

WOW - what great stories we find in these lessons today! The stories of conversion for Peter and Paul - who are considered the pillars of the church - the ones who - through the work of the Holy Spirit - really got the early Christian church off the ground!

One thing that I've realized in recent years is how much I love stories. I've always loved reading books and as a child, in a rare act of defiance, would sneak a flashlight under the covers of my bed to finish just one more chapter of a favorite book - I think I read "Little Women" about ten times through that way when I was young!

Musicals - stories set to music in which dialogue can abruptly, and sometimes quite comically, break out into song - are another of my passions, and if I can't go to a live performance of a show as often as I'd like, I'll happily listen - over and over again - to the soundtrack of anything from "The Sound of Music" to "Beauty and the Beast" to "The 24th Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee" - all the while visualizing the characters, costumes, scenery, and actions of the show - the story on stage!

To be truthful, one of the reasons that I love stories is that I get to put myself into the action. As I read "Little Women" over and over again, I AM Meg, or sometimes Jo. As I listen to the soundtrack of "The Sound of Music" again and again, I AM Julie Andrews (Maria) singing from the top of the mountain. (SING) Whoops - sorry! For a minute there I was Julie - and became a part of the story. Stories do that - we are inspired and changed - transformed - by the story.

Our first reading for today is one of the true classic stories of the New Testament - the conversion of Saul also know as the apostle Paul. It is such an important story that we find it repeated / replayed two more times in the book of Acts, and it is given additional press by Paul, himself in his many letters to the new Christian churches. It is a story worth repeating and re-reading - it's a story with drama - real Cecil B. de Mille type drama!

"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 night bring them bound to Jerusalem."

The stage has been set just a chapter earlier in Acts when Saul appears on the scene as the beast - a maniacal persecutor of the early Christian church - stalking the villages and towns, "breathing threats and murder," a terrorist instilling fear in the hearts of the people, with permission to take them away, and absolutely out of control!

"Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him."

Lights - "light from heaven" - early morning / resurrection morning light perhaps(?) Light breaks into Saul's path, stops him in his tracks.

And then, the voice . .

"He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?""

We can only imagine what the voice of Jesus might have sounded like - but it's my guess that when you heard it - you KNEW beyond any doubt that it was Jesus!

"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."

Wow - what a transformation! Saul previously out of control in his persecution, is now at the mercy - under the control of others - "led by the hand" and in a dark and death-like state - in his own tomb of sorts(?) for three days - doesn't that sound familiar?

The rest of Saul's story we've heard before - a brave disciple named Ananias is sent to him, lays hands on him in a gentle healing touch, and calls him 'brother.' Transformation and resurrection happen for Paul in that moment. And Paul begins a new chapter of the story in his preaching, writing, and missionary journeys to carry the gospel to the "ends of the earth."


And then we have Peter - the ongoing drama of Peter. We had a look at Peter in the Acts reading last week - publicly speaking up - witnessing to the story of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection after that so-called Chicken Little performance in the courtyard of the high priest. Here's a story that bears re-telling.

After the disciples heard about the resurrection - this wonderful life-changing news that their friend and teacher - and the savior of the whole world - did not die, but was living, they decided to . . . go fishing??

Isn't there something odd - yet absolutely and refreshingly human - about what Peter suggests - going fishing? I can't help but think that this is most often the way we deal with the amazing, glorious, awe-inspiring events - by just getting back to work and routine and the safety of what we know best and where we are comfortable. Here is the place where we think we might have a chance to manage and control things. But for Peter, even this doesn't bring success or even satisfaction - the nets are empty - maybe as empty as his own hopes and dreams.

After a long night in the boat - as dawn - new light - new resurrection morning light(?) appears, a brave stranger greets the fishermen, calls them children(!), and offers some unsolicited advice. Amazingly it is here, in their naïve attempt to establish some control over their lives by going fishing that Jesus shows the disciples that he is really in control. Then, I think, the real drama begins!

Peter, let's take a walk along the beach -
When I hear this story, I picture that look of pain, and imagine Peter's unwillingness to meet that look and confront his own shame over denying three times any association with his friend, Jesus.

"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?"
Ooh!

"Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Oow!

"Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Ouch!! That hurts!

What a scene! What a moment! Transformation and resurrection happen in that time and place for Peter, who then begins a new chapter with his preaching on the Day of Pentecost and in his rock-solid leadership of the church in Jerusalem.

The stories of Paul and Peter - the pillars of the church!!

Now I would be terribly remiss if I were to blithely skip over another key point in both Paul's and Peter's stories of today - that of suffering. It's pretty clear that life is not a Walt Disney version of the Fairy tale - a "happily ever after" existence - for either Paul or Peter. Paul will "suffer for the sake of my name." And from what we can ascertain about Peter's ministry, it also would not be pain-free. It's likely, in fact, that Peter's following of Jesus led to his own agonizing crucifixion.

We don't have to look beyond the daily newspaper, the evening news, or a news website to see examples of the suffering and pain and darkness that permeate our society. These cannot be overlooked or by-passed in the rush to that resurrection morning light. Good Friday despair and sadness and mourning are real - fully part of us and our human condition.

In the same way that I can enter into the stories of books or musicals and be inspired and transformed, we also can enter into the epic stories of the Bible through its great heroes and heroines. But transforming stories abound in the ordinary and extraordinary people that we find close around us.

Each of us has a story to tell - a drama that is unfolding with and for others. Over these past two years I have heard many stories - stories of faith and of suffering, stories of witness and despair, stories of hope and new life. I was privileged in this time to hear the stories of people like George Hall, Betty Callahan, Bruce Tiedeman, Bill Cunningham, Mildred Kulakowski, and others - all pillars of this church in their own way!

But the real questions are:
How will these stories change us?
How will we be different for having heard them?
And what new chapters will we begin to write as we continue the
story of God's mighty acts of transformation and resurrection?

These 50 days of Easter - this time of new life - this period of reflection on the ways in which God has abundantly fed and nourished us - is an opportunity to ask those questions of ourselves and each other.

What would it look like to "feed the sheep of Jesus" today?

I think it could be

Through these and other activities of faith, we become part of the story - NO, we ARE the story. One to retell, replay, re-read again and again.

Alleluia, Christ is risen! (Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!)

I.N.I.

Judy Converse, Field Education Worker
Christ the King Lutheran Church
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