Today’s readings include some long, complicated and wonderful stories about our Christian faith. They are stories about how, when and where Jesus showed up after the Tomb was Empty. Though the stories are all very different, they end up on a joyful note of praise that affirms who Jesus is.
First, the marvelous story from the Acts of the Apostles of Saul’s encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. Now Saul is a Roman Zealot who persecutes Christians, (He’s the one who becomes the apostle Paul.) But all of a sudden he’s stopped in his tracks and struck blind by this voice of Jesus. By the end of the story he is converted, full of praise, and proclaiming Jesus as “The Son of God.”
Then in the reading from Revelation, which is about John of Patmos’ vision, the joyful note of praise we heard in Saul’s conversion story becomes a full-blown song of praise. It comes, not from human beings but from myriads of angels who call Jesus, “the Lamb who was slain.” The angels are joined in the praise and affirmation of Jesus by “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them.” They sing out, “To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
Finally, the reading from John’s Gospel is that wonderful story of Jesus’ third (fourth if you count Jesus' appearing to Mary Magdalene at the tomb) appearance to the disciples after his crucifixion. I can’t imagine what all they’d been thinking and feeling since Good Friday, and since Jesus had appeared to them the other times…Awed, bewildered, numb, lost, scared, rudderless (?). Eventually Simon Peter announces, “I am going fishing.” Maybe he thinks he’s going back to life as he’d known it—before Jesus. Six others join Peter, (perhaps all wanting to return to their pre-Jesus life?) but they have no luck…no fish. Then there’s this mysterious man on the beach. They admit to him they have no fish. Then the man suggests they cast nets on the right side of the boat. For some reason they do what he says. The nets fill, well past their capacity, but they don’t break! Then John, the beloved disciple, finally realizes…this man on the shore is the Lord! Then the story tells us they all knew it was Jesus as they shared a breakfast with him of campfire-cooked fish and bread. (Note the meal consisted of the two fish Jesus had already started to cook and some of the fish Jesus had empowered them to catch.)
No doubt it was a joyful time as they celebrated Jesus’ presence among them. I wonder if they thought they were going back to life as it was with Jesus, before Good Friday (?). But then, Jesus interrupts the happy moment, ups the stakes. He asks Peter three times if he loves him. Peter is emphatic, if frustrated by being asked so many times, “Yes, yes, yes…I love you!” Then Jesus tells him: In response to that love, he must feed and care for Jesus’ sheep.
God doesn’t just leave us in our joyful places where we know Jesus is in our midst. Our songs of joy and praise, our agape meals, even the Holy Eucharist are only a start. God calls us out, like Peter, from these blissful places, from our ordinary lives, to tend and feed those in need. Now I think this literally means those who don’t have enough food to eat. And at St. James we are faithful to this call through our ministry with the People’s Pantry, Breaking Bread Kitchen, Heifer Project and other programs. But I think Jesus’ call to tend, feed, and care goes well beyond literally feeding with food…I know there is loss and grief in our world that’s caused by broken systems, and natural disasters. And there’s also personal loss and grief in our very midst. God calls us to tend and care for those who grieve. To give them ears to listen, shoulders to cry on, and arms to embrace. But we’re also called to give the mind, heart, voice, and funds to work at fixing our world’s broken systems and to help with disaster relief. In addition, God calls us to tend and care for those who are sick, dying, or oppressed…Those around the world and those in our own families and cities. We do this through organizations like Heifer, ERD, Construct, South Berkshire Community Coalition, and through a certain missioner we know in Honduras.
Sometimes this work seems overwhelming, grim, even hopeless. It’s certainly not something overtly filled with the joy and praise, we heard throughout today’s scriptures . . . AND YET. . . That’s the very thing about Jesus’ appearances: He shows up at the darkest times/ the darnedest times. As the Psalm says...wailing can be turned to dancing. When Saul seemed to redouble his energy for going out and finding Christians to persecute…Jesus appeared to him, and showed him a better Way. And when the Disciples resigned themselves to go back to their “old way of life,” it didn’t work! They couldn’t catch any fish. They couldn’t feed themselves, themselves anymore. (They’d tasted a better food.) Yet in the midst of that darkness, Jesus appears and not only feeds them, but asks them to feed others.
In the midst of times that seem the darkest, we may be tempted to think God is not there. God must have abandoned us. However, what Jesus does is contrary to that…Jesus shows up at the darkest times. By extension I think he calls us to show up at the darkest times, when people are hungry, when people are hurting, when people are grieving, when people are oppressed. ANYTIME God’s sheep need feeding or tending, we’re called to be there, trusting the fish God supplies and bringing some of our own fish that God has empowered us to catch.
There are situations in which others think God is absent. They ask, “How could God have let this happen?” Or “What kind of God would do this?" Or they may decide, “There is no God.” In the face of such questions and doubt, our love and concern for others can stand as a gentle presence that says “not so” to these questions & doubts. Our love and concern can do this…WE KNOW THAT! But sometimes it just can’t do that, and we have to let people go. However, even at the times when our love and concern do not seem effective, we can trust God’s love and concern are ultimately and perfectly effective.
So no matter what happens, we’re called to be faithful—To be that gentle presence that consistently tends, cares, and feeds. We can do this because we know who Jesus is. We know he is with us in the darkness. And we know he is risen indeed! Amen.
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