Following Jesus in a “Hokie” World

Following Jesus in a “Hokie” World Text: John 21:1-19 April 22, 2007 Rev. Vicky Ney I have a confession to make. But before I make this confession, let me preface it by saying, I love Easter. The alleluias, the music, the flowers, the Easter message of Christ is risen and that we have been given a living hope. I love it! But my confession is this: I’m glad when it’s over! Almost all of my clergy friends say the same thing. After the pressure of extra services, sermons, and preparation, most of us are glad it’s over. Even church musicians are secretly glad that Easter is behind us. I think florists are the only people who are sorry that Easter isn’t every Sunday! The rest of us are glad to be able to relax a bit. On the other side of Easter, we all get on with it, we all get back to life as usual. And frankly, that’s exactly what the disciples were doing 2000 years ago. They had been through the horror of Jesus’ crucifixion, then the confusion on Easter morning about his missing body and the empty tomb, and then the two appearances of Jesus in the upper room. But then what? Days, perhaps weeks, of nothing. Obviously the Jewish authorities weren’t searching for the disciples, so their fear was subsiding. It seemed as though Jesus had stopped coming to see them. Nothing was happening. They didn’t know what to do. One day, Simon Peter and his fishing buddies go back home to Galilee and Peter basically says, “Let’s get back to normal, get back to business.” Isn’t that we tell our friends and relatives who have just suffered the loss of a loved one? We give our sympathies for awhile and send over cards, and flowers, and casseroles. But after awhile, we say that it’s time to get on with it. Do something. Go back to what you used to do. We know what that’s like. So despite the appearances of the resurrected Jesus, the disciples decide to go back to their former job. They go fishing. That’s their vocation, their trade. They do the only thing they really know how to do. When you think about it, the apostles were not very good at the profession of being apostles. They were not very good disciples in the craft of discipling. They were not very good students of Jesus. They hardly ever understood what he was saying, they didn’t recognize him, they never really knew what was going on. In their minds, the only thing they were good at is the thing that Jesus called them from doing. So they went back to doing it. They went back to fishing. And even that didn’t work well. Our scripture passage says they worked all night and caught nothing. I wonder if they felt useless and washed up. I wonder if they felt as if Jesus had just disappeared for good. Maybe Jesus only appeared in Jerusalem—not anywhere else. And there they were back in Galilee. I wonder if they felt like God was gone. There’s a scene from an Oscar-nominated movie, Blood Diamond, that’s interesting. I’m not necessarily recommending the film—because it is quite violent (it takes place in 1999 in Sierra Leone during the civil war there.) The main character, played by Leonardo DeCaprio, is a mercenary with something close to a conscience. He’s hunting for a rare huge pink diamond along with all the bad guys and good guys. Meanwhile, the revolutionary soldiers are creating mayhem in the country—just like the things we see on newscasts—burning villages, murdering, kidnapping children to be soldiers in the rebel army, and cutting off the arms of people so they can’t vote in elections. Just horrible things. In one of the few quiet moments in the film, this main character talks to a journalist and reveals what his younger life was like in that country. He says, “Mum was raped and shot and Dad was decapitated. Sometimes I wonder, will God ever forgive us for what we’ve done to each other? Then I look around and I realize—God left this place a long time ago.” I wonder if 2000 years ago, that little band of disciples felt that way. How about us? When events happen like the carnage at Virginia Tech this week, it shatters our peace, it interrupts our feelings of security, it makes us realize that no one has guarantees of safety, it irritates and saddens and shocks, and we wonder if God hasn’t left this place a long time ago. Some lady on a news program said that the saddest thing for her is that we all know what to do. We organize public rituals, we burn candles, we have memorial services—we know what follows these events. We were reminded about Columbine eight years ago and the Amish children just last year. We’ve buried children before. And the truth is there are countries all over the world who bury children every day—the West Bank, Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa. Did God leave this place a long time ago? And if he didn’t, what would Jesus have us do now? The answer to this question is actually in the gospel text for today. Remember, it’s Eastertide. If you’re feeling like “God left this place a long time ago, you’re right. At Easter, the tomb is empty. God left that place forever, only to visit us—to be with us—in a new place. The opening verse of our scripture passage says, “Jesus appeared again to his disciples.” And Jesus is here with us this morning in the words of these verses. In this wonderful story by the sea, Jesus wants us to remember a few things. 1. He meets us where we are. Right in the ordinary things of our lives. He doesn’t just appear to us in a wonderful historical church building. He comes to us while we’re in school, at the office, stuck in traffic, working on the computer. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us, and Jesus keeps his word. 2. Jesus also wants us to remember that he gives us his forgiveness. It doesn’t matter who we are, what we’ve done or not done, whether or not we feel like failures. If you remember from the story, good old Peter ran right to Jesus. Peter the disciple who said he would do anything for Jesus, who said he would die with Jesus if necessary, ran away when the going got tough as Jesus was arrested. Peter denied even knowing Jesus. He made Jesus’ prediction come true that before the rooster crowed, Peter would deny Jesus three times. Can you imagine how Peter felt about himself? In this passage today, Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” three times. It doesn’t take a Bible scholar to tell us that it was probably Jesus’ way of allowing Peter to feel redeemed or rehabilitated for the three denials. Jesus never accused. Jesus never scolded. He just gave the opportunity for redemption—for feeling whole again—which is something only Jesus can do. Peter is transformed by this. Three denials, three affirmations. The slate is wiped clean. He was ready to try again. That happens to us, as well. When we’re forgiven, our slate is wiped clean. We’re given a second chance, and a third chance, and a fourth chance, and….well, you can catch my drift. 3. Jesus comes to us where we are, he forgives us, and then Jesus gives us instructions. Feed. Tend. Feed. Feed my sheep. Tend my lambs. Feed my sheep. We are not left to our own devices. Jesus tells us what we need to be doing. Being a disciple is not a spectator sport. Jesus is laying out a sort of job description for disciple wannabes. People who follow Jesus will be involved in the day-to-day work of caring for others. If you love Jesus, you need to do what Peter did; you’ve got to get dressed, wade ashore, roll up your sleeves, and dig into the work of discipleship, if you want to tend and feed the flock of God. Unfortunately, there are a lot of us who are floating aimlessly on the sea of life. We move only in the direction that the current takes us—maybe where the cultural winds blow us or where the gale force of our work dictates. In Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians, Paul touches on this theme when he says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God— what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2) The will of God, Jesus says, is that Peter and those who love Jesus like Peter said he did, must feed the lambs, tend the sheep and feed the sheep. Feeding Christ’s sheep means tending to the fold around us and it also means looking outward, beyond the walls of this Christian community. Feeding lambs that Jesus entrusts to our care means putting time and energy and, yes, resources into the concerns of the community around us. If we’re feeding, tending, feeding, we’ll find that, in an unexpected way, this outward focus has an internal advantage: We feel whole, and good, and satisfied. Jesus wasn’t kidding when he said that those who lose their lives for his sake will actually save their lives. We discover the new life of purpose that comes through service and sacrifice. As I was watching some of the special TV broadcasts about Virginia Tech this week, I saw the kids referring to themselves as Hokies—the official term for sports teams, students, fans and alumni of the school. They said they were all Hokies. They were all the same—with the same needs and wants and insecurities and hurts. I saw that community of Hokies come together—hugging, listening, praying. Perhaps if that Hokie community was like that all the time—perhaps if we were all like that Hokie community all the time—feeding, tending, feeding—we would not have so many people who feel alienated and angry and end up doing unspeakable things. Don’t misunderstand; I’m not trying to make a simplistic solution to the world’s deep problems. We can’t change the whole world. But we can work on it one person at a time. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to love others. It isn’t enough to just pay “lip service” to Jesus say, “Jesus, I love you.” Peter and the other disciples thought that was all there was to it. But at breakfast on the beach so long ago, they learned that loving God is about caring for others. Feed. Tend. Feed. Will you pray with me? Lord, Jesus, we love you. Help us to remember that loving you is more than just saying we do. You have called us by name and have deemed us worthy to be partners in your work with all your precious children. Give us the power to say yes every time you ask. Forgive us when we hesitate and help us to let go of fear. Help us to embrace with joy the work we do in your name. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

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