Acts 9:1-20 • Psalm 30 • Revelation 5:11-14 • John 21:1-19
"After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3Simon 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. 4Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5Jesus said to them, 'Children, you have no fish, have you?' They answered him, 'No.' 6He 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. 7That 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. 8But 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. 9When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10Jesus said to them, 'Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.' 11So 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. 12Jesus 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. 13Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14This 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.' 16A 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.' 17He 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. 18Very 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.' 19(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, 'Follow me.'"
Well this morning, we also stand at a crossroads, with construction putting obstacles in the way of the future of our congregation.
Today we stand with Saul on the road to Damascus. We stand today at the crossroads of the past and future of our congregation. We stand today, at the intersection of all the preparation, and the beginning of the Building Faith and Future Capital Campaign that kicks-off today. We stand at the crossroads as we see our church’s tool for ministry, our building, crumbling before our eyes.
What does a community do when it is faced with these kinds of challenges? What can we do to find some sense of assurance that this community has faced adversity in the past, and has overcome it before? One thing we can do when we stand at the crossroads is to reach back into our past, and tell stories: stories of how we began, of why we are who we are, stories that show what matters most to us, and that remind us of whose we are as we look at the road in front of us.
So that is what we are going to do for the rest of this season of Easter: tell the stories of our origins. For the next five weeks of Easter, from today to the conclusion of the Easter season of Pentecost on May 23rd—which is Commitment Sunday, the day we make our pledges for the three year Capital Campaign called Building Faith and Future—from today until that Sunday we will be focusing in worship on the lessons from the Acts of the Apostles. Every first lesson in this season of Easter comes from Acts. The Acts of the Apostles is where we hear the origin stories of who we are—of the birth of the church. It is not a book we hear about or talk about often in church, but it is a book full of stories that are treasures that speak to us about who we are and what matters to us, as we stand at the crossroads.
And in addition, we will be telling stories about the origins of United Lutheran Church as well: stories that tell us about who we are and where we have been, that can inform us about what story we want to continue for future generations of disciples at United Lutheran.
Today I’d like to begin the storytelling by sharing one significant story from United Lutheran’s origins that came very early in its history, and that reflect a very similar vulnerability to our own time. United Lutheran opened in 1928, just before the Great Depression hit. There was a significant mortgage for the church to pay during those early years, amidst difficult economic times. Many have said we have not been hit that hard since the Great Recession of 2008 that we’re still feeling the effects of. But God’s people here were eager for the story of this church to continue well past the Great Depression. Several members re-mortgaged their homes so the church could continue making it’s mortgage payments. Many more gave tremendously of their resources during that difficult economic time. And as a result, the church stayed open, and in the 1950’s, United Lutheran paid off its mortgage.
Ten years ago this church had its first Capital Campaign in its history. It happened in more favorable economic times than today, and over $600,000 was raised. Now we face another campaign, but times are much tougher. Today we stand at the place where our forebears stood back when it began as they faced the Great Depression. Those courageous and generous saints stand with us today, as we look at the road before us.
Saul stands with us at the crossroads too. His story is one that defines what the risen Jesus did in the early church. What happened to Saul continues to happen in the lives of people here today. What Jesus does to Saul is remarkable—Jesus changes the road Saul travels on…from a road of authoritative intimidation, to a road of vulnerable, forgiven compassion. Saul meets the risen Christ, not in a manner unlike Martin Luther, as he travels the road to Damascus where he plans to arrest, persecute and jail Christians. But the risen Jesus confronts Saul with the truth: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (9:5) In an instant, Jesus changes the road Saul’s life will take…forever. After this remarkably dramatic turnabout, Saul does not go to Damascus full of himself—he goes there full of Christ, who turns his allegiance from his own power, to the power of one who met him at his crossroads. Jesus changed Saul’s road to Damascus into a road not of fear, but of compassion, of a road following Christ.
What are the stories we can tell with Saul of being met by Jesus in this community? When have we met Jesus here, and because of that, what “way” have we taken? What does that road called “Jesus” look like?
Perhaps you have found here an Ananias-like person who has come and taken the scales off your eyes and has put you on a Jesus-directed path in life. Perhaps the way of Jesus opened up to you by the way you were welcomed here—and it made you believe that church wasn’t a social club, but could really be a place where the love and justice of Christ were present.
Whatever road Jesus has put us on, he has been our way…he is our way…and he will continue to be our way forward.
Recently in the Atlantic Monthly magazine there was an article about what brings the most long-term happiness to people’s lives. The top two things were, number 1, belonging to a community, and number 2, a sense of purpose. Isn’t it amazing that the road Jesus puts us on gives us those two things?! Saul doesn’t receive healing from his blindness until God tells Ananias to go and minister to him—he can’t be fully transformed without someone else there, laying hands on him. Community brings about his healing and his repentence. And Saul then goes to join the Damascus Christians as a brother in Christ, a part of their community—because of the road Jesus put him on. And, as Lutheran church consultant Kelly Fryer put it, when Jesus calls his disciples like Saul, he does not say to him, “You are so saved!” He calls Saul to follow him. He says, “Get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” (9:6)
The call of risen Jesus also comes to Peter. Jesus says, “Do you love me?” three times, and each time Peter responds yes, Jesus tells him to feed and tend to his sheep. Saying “yes” that we love Jesus is important, but it’s not enough on its own; he calls us to back it up with a mission…to those he loves.
As we stand today at a crossroads, Jesus is putting us onto the road of his abundant way of life. A way of a community of faith; a way of tending to his sheep. The road Jesus puts us on is a road of discipleship, for he himself is our Way.
We Lutherans don’t like to talk about discipleship—we think that it speaks of works righteousness. We are so eager to speak of God’s forgiveness and grace that we forget: we are forgiven and given grace to serve and love our neighbor. Our discipleship of Christ—how we grow in our relationship with him—is a very personal thing: it’s how we respond to his call. Discipleship is our witness to who has touched our lives, and to the way of Jesus which we follow.
We do not know where the road of Building Faith and Future will lead. This capital campaign is a road that has lots of construction signs on it. It will take everyone pitching in for this road to be made Straight. We do know as we look at the campaign ahead, we have a purpose, a mission: to proclaim Christ together, and feed his sheep.
What story will future generations tell about this congregation? We do not know. But we do know today, as we stand at the crossroads of our past and of our future, that we stand with Saul, Ananias, the ancestors in faith, the saints of United Lutheran’s past…and Jesus stands with us. Whatever the way forward brings, as people of his way…Jesus promises to keep us on his road of community, his road of his mission to love, a road of his Easter resurrection. Jesus believes that future generations at United Lutheran will be telling stories about how God opened up a new way of life before us—all because we followed the road of Jesus. He is our way. He will lead us to life. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment