3d Sunday of Easter
April 19, 1977
Acts 5: 27-32, 40-41Rev 5: 11-14
John 21: 1-19
Practicum in Preaching
I
was already a deacon when I took the required seminary course on how to preach
well. This a homily prepared for that
course rather than for a church congregation.
This
morning’s readings from the Scriptures offer us images of two
transformations. 1st, Jesus has been
transformed. 2d, his disciples have been
transformed.
The
Easter season announces the change in Jesus that results from his
resurrection. When he appears to Peter
and the other disciples by the Sea of Tiberias—which we know more familiarly as
the Sea of Galilee—they do not recognize him at first. When the apostles stand before the Sanhedrin,
on trial for their preaching, they boldly proclaim that the crucified Jesus has
risen and been made Leader and Savior of Israel. The vision of John in the book of Revelation
shows us Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb, in heavenly glory with the Almighty
Father.
Jesus’
transformation is wondrous enuf. We know
how long it took the apostles to grasp what had happened thru the resurrection
of their Lord. But much more wondrous is
what happened to them when the reality of the resurrection sank into them.
Take
Peter. We know he was a rough, impulsive
fellow, apparently the kind who’d rather act than think. And we see a little of those qualities here in
the abruptness with which he says he’s going fishing and in the way in which he
plunges into the lake. We also know that
these qualities led him, at the Last Supper, to assure Jesus of his undying
loyalty, his willingness to die for his Lord—only to lead him shortly after to
deny even knowing Jesus. If any of you
saw the movie Jesus of Nazareth on TV
Easter Sunday, you saw a very powerful portrayal of Peter.
Peter approaching Christ on the lakeshore (source unknown) |
Now
Jesus stands on the shore. There’s no
more rashness in Peter, but a charming sort of simplicity and sincerity. Jesus asks him whether he loves his Master
more than the others do, and Peter is much wiser than at the Last Supper, too
wise to say, “Yes, of course!” He says
only, “Lord, you know that I love you.”
That is the only assurance he has now, the only one he can give
Jesus. He no longer relies on
himself. This change in the source of
his strength from self to Jesus changes Peter from a denying coward to a
courageous apostle.
In
the 1st reading, we find Peter and the other apostles before the
Sanhedrin. They’re under arrest. These are the same men who ran and hid from the
Jewish police on Good Friday because they were scared to death. After seeing Jesus alive again and receiving
the Holy Spirit, they are different.
They are still plain, uneducated fishermen, but they are bold. They are preaching to the leaders of their
nation, saying they and the Holy Spirit have a message to deliver. They count it a blessing to suffer for the
name of Jesus. The transforming power of
the risen Jesus is at work. It is a
power which forgives and encourages because it is alive with love.
And
the transforming power is at work now, among us here. We have all sinned, like Peter and the 12. We have denied Christ when it was more
convenient not to be recognized as his followers. We have been cowards and run away. In our business dealings, we have sometimes
found Christ embarrassing and put him aside.
We have run from our children because we didn’t have time for them. When we gather with friends at school or at
home we usually don’t think of Christ’s being there; we might have to speak
more kindly and act honestly if we did.
But
we can be forgiven, and we can love simply and sincerely like Peter. We have to let the risen Jesus and his Holy
Spirit transform us—not in a day, certainly, but day by day. Seeing the risen Lord and loving him convinced
Peter and the apostles that they had to be different. They could risk martyrdom in order to be
fishers of men and proclaimers of the Gospel even when it was
inconvenient. We receive the same call
as Peter: “Follow me.” We wouldn’t be here in church this morning if
we didn’t believe Jesus is risen. It is
our task now to bring the risen Christ with us when we deal with a customer or
client, when we have friends over to our homes, when our children ask us for
our interest in their games and projects, when our parents give us jobs to do
for the family, when we go out shopping, and so on. Will we now let Christ transform our
noncommittal lives into a sincere announcement of our Christian faith?
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