3 Easter April 10, 2016
Acts 9:1-20 Ps. 30
Rev. 5:11-14 John 21:1-19
Lectionary Link
Would you rather be a shepherd or an instrument? An instrument sounds more mechanical or surgical? Being a shepherd seems to be a bit more personable.
Would you rather be a shepherd or an instrument? An instrument sounds more mechanical or surgical? Being a shepherd seems to be a bit more personable.
Today we have read about Peter, called by Jesus to be a shepherd and Paul, called by Jesus to be a chosen "instrument."
The New Testament writings are writings which survived among many other Christian writings. The survival of the New Testament writing is an indication of their continuous function in successive groups of people who came to follow Christ. Often the ancient papyrus documents achieved duration by having the fading ink text re-rewritten over with new ink. This meant that there was a continuing use of a text. The texts that did not get retraced meant that a community of reader did not regard them has having continuing use in their community. Some texts were also destroyed. The famous Athanasius of Nicaean orthodoxy, ordered the destruction of many documents which he did not believe to be orthodox.
The portion of the Gospel of John we've read today and the account of the conversation of St. Paul in the Acts of the Apostles were written by writers who knew what had happened in the history of the Jesus Movement. They knew that Jerusalem had been destroyed; they knew that the inhabitants of Jerusalem both Jews and Christians had been forced to relocate. They knew that Peter and Paul had made heroic witness with their lives as martyrs in Rome.
The New Testament was in part, written to establish the succession of the life and ministry of Jesus through the two cardinal leading apostles of the Christian Church, Peter and Paul. And though all roads did not lead to Rome for everyone, they did lead to Rome for Peter and Paul.
Their presence in Rome was emblematic of the success of the Jesus Movement in the cities of the Roman Empire. The examples of their lives were presented to promote their strains of leadership in the practice of Christianity. Some scholar have even opined that the purpose of the Acts of the Apostles was to establish the credibility of the writings of St. Paul. By showing the heroic life of St. Paul, it would follow that his writings were worthy to be considered by a very wide audience, and as we know from history, eventually the church voted to include his letters and the letters written in his name in the official text book of the church, the New Testament.
Today we have read about the dramatic conversion of Saul who was persecuting the followers of Jesus. He was even complicit in the death by stoning of followers of Jesus, particularly the death of St. Stephen. After Saul was converted, Ananias, a Christian leader who was afraid to approach Saul, was told that Saul was going to be a chosen instrument of God.
Saul became Paul, and Paul became the instrument to bring about the first major paradigm shift in the Jesus Movement. Paul became the architect of a Christ-centered Judaism offering full membership to Gentiles; Gentile followers of Christ did not have to comply with all of the purity rituals of Judaism. Paul was the main instrument in crafting the theology and practice of bringing a Christ centered Judaism to the Gentile people. Why did Paul do it? Because the Gospel message was successful with the Gentiles. The success of the Gentiles receiving God's Spirit of transformation in their lives necessitated that Paul write about God's new plan. But the success of the Gospel message for the Gentiles was so profound, it brought about a threat to Judaism, and the members of the synagogue decided that they needed to separate from the followers of Jesus to maintain their distinctly Jewish mission.
Peter did not have a dramatic conversion, but he did have a profoundly intimate experience of forgiveness, restoration and commissioning to ministry. We might call the restoration of Peter by the Risen Christ, Three for three. When Jesus was taken to trial, Peter said about Jesus three times: "I don't know Him." The very confident Peter was crushed in self-disappointment about his denials. Why would anyone still be his friend again if he had denied him in the time of the very worst of life crisis? Three for three. Jesus let Peter replace his three denials with three "I love you's." Jesus who once predicted that Peter would deny him, now predicted great things for Peter. Jesus, the Good Shepherd in the Gospel of John, ask Peter to a be good shepherd for the followers of Christ. Jesus, then predicted that Peter would be given a second chance. Peter did not choose to go to the cross with Jesus, but Peter had the inner strength to remain faithful and suffer and die a death upon the cross. Tradition records that he died upside down upon the cross.
What did the Risen Christ do for Paul and Peter? The Risen Christ converted Paul from being a killing persecutor into being the instrument and the architect of the theology for bringing the message of Christ to all of the people in the Roman Empire. St. Paul wrote the theology for the inclusion of Gentiles in continuity with salvation history recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures. Indeed Paul's life proved that he was a chosen instrument in the forging of the Christian Mission.
What did the Risen Christ do for Peter? Well, the Risen Christ does not have or hold grudges. The Risen Christ did not have a fragile ego. The Risen Christ was kind enough to help Peter be restored to himself. Peter was completely self-disappointed by his vehement denials of Jesus. The Risen Christ, gently restored Peter to the friendship and the original ideals that enticed Peter to follow Jesus in the first place. For Jesus, it was not one, two or three strikes and you're out; Jesus practiced a loving forgiveness which not only restored Peter's esteem and self-image, he also commissioned Peter to be the shepherd of the sheep or new members of the Jesus Movement.
So what does the Risen Christ do? The Risen Christ converts people who oppose him and inspires them to bring the message of love to more people. The Risen Christ gives his followers more chances even when they don't follow him with perfect loyalty. The Risen Christ will keep asking us, three times or a hundred times, "Do you love me?" If you do, then be a good shepherd and take care of those who are needy and vulnerable. The Risen Christ still remains optimistic about our future even in light of our past failures.
So what is the Gospel for us today? The Risen Christ converts, restores, commissions to ministry and is very optimistic about our future.
This is reminder to us; never give up on ourselves because the Risen Christ has not given up on us or anyone. Amen.
The New Testament writings are writings which survived among many other Christian writings. The survival of the New Testament writing is an indication of their continuous function in successive groups of people who came to follow Christ. Often the ancient papyrus documents achieved duration by having the fading ink text re-rewritten over with new ink. This meant that there was a continuing use of a text. The texts that did not get retraced meant that a community of reader did not regard them has having continuing use in their community. Some texts were also destroyed. The famous Athanasius of Nicaean orthodoxy, ordered the destruction of many documents which he did not believe to be orthodox.
The portion of the Gospel of John we've read today and the account of the conversation of St. Paul in the Acts of the Apostles were written by writers who knew what had happened in the history of the Jesus Movement. They knew that Jerusalem had been destroyed; they knew that the inhabitants of Jerusalem both Jews and Christians had been forced to relocate. They knew that Peter and Paul had made heroic witness with their lives as martyrs in Rome.
The New Testament was in part, written to establish the succession of the life and ministry of Jesus through the two cardinal leading apostles of the Christian Church, Peter and Paul. And though all roads did not lead to Rome for everyone, they did lead to Rome for Peter and Paul.
Their presence in Rome was emblematic of the success of the Jesus Movement in the cities of the Roman Empire. The examples of their lives were presented to promote their strains of leadership in the practice of Christianity. Some scholar have even opined that the purpose of the Acts of the Apostles was to establish the credibility of the writings of St. Paul. By showing the heroic life of St. Paul, it would follow that his writings were worthy to be considered by a very wide audience, and as we know from history, eventually the church voted to include his letters and the letters written in his name in the official text book of the church, the New Testament.
Today we have read about the dramatic conversion of Saul who was persecuting the followers of Jesus. He was even complicit in the death by stoning of followers of Jesus, particularly the death of St. Stephen. After Saul was converted, Ananias, a Christian leader who was afraid to approach Saul, was told that Saul was going to be a chosen instrument of God.
Saul became Paul, and Paul became the instrument to bring about the first major paradigm shift in the Jesus Movement. Paul became the architect of a Christ-centered Judaism offering full membership to Gentiles; Gentile followers of Christ did not have to comply with all of the purity rituals of Judaism. Paul was the main instrument in crafting the theology and practice of bringing a Christ centered Judaism to the Gentile people. Why did Paul do it? Because the Gospel message was successful with the Gentiles. The success of the Gentiles receiving God's Spirit of transformation in their lives necessitated that Paul write about God's new plan. But the success of the Gospel message for the Gentiles was so profound, it brought about a threat to Judaism, and the members of the synagogue decided that they needed to separate from the followers of Jesus to maintain their distinctly Jewish mission.
Peter did not have a dramatic conversion, but he did have a profoundly intimate experience of forgiveness, restoration and commissioning to ministry. We might call the restoration of Peter by the Risen Christ, Three for three. When Jesus was taken to trial, Peter said about Jesus three times: "I don't know Him." The very confident Peter was crushed in self-disappointment about his denials. Why would anyone still be his friend again if he had denied him in the time of the very worst of life crisis? Three for three. Jesus let Peter replace his three denials with three "I love you's." Jesus who once predicted that Peter would deny him, now predicted great things for Peter. Jesus, the Good Shepherd in the Gospel of John, ask Peter to a be good shepherd for the followers of Christ. Jesus, then predicted that Peter would be given a second chance. Peter did not choose to go to the cross with Jesus, but Peter had the inner strength to remain faithful and suffer and die a death upon the cross. Tradition records that he died upside down upon the cross.
What did the Risen Christ do for Paul and Peter? The Risen Christ converted Paul from being a killing persecutor into being the instrument and the architect of the theology for bringing the message of Christ to all of the people in the Roman Empire. St. Paul wrote the theology for the inclusion of Gentiles in continuity with salvation history recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures. Indeed Paul's life proved that he was a chosen instrument in the forging of the Christian Mission.
What did the Risen Christ do for Peter? Well, the Risen Christ does not have or hold grudges. The Risen Christ did not have a fragile ego. The Risen Christ was kind enough to help Peter be restored to himself. Peter was completely self-disappointed by his vehement denials of Jesus. The Risen Christ, gently restored Peter to the friendship and the original ideals that enticed Peter to follow Jesus in the first place. For Jesus, it was not one, two or three strikes and you're out; Jesus practiced a loving forgiveness which not only restored Peter's esteem and self-image, he also commissioned Peter to be the shepherd of the sheep or new members of the Jesus Movement.
So what does the Risen Christ do? The Risen Christ converts people who oppose him and inspires them to bring the message of love to more people. The Risen Christ gives his followers more chances even when they don't follow him with perfect loyalty. The Risen Christ will keep asking us, three times or a hundred times, "Do you love me?" If you do, then be a good shepherd and take care of those who are needy and vulnerable. The Risen Christ still remains optimistic about our future even in light of our past failures.
So what is the Gospel for us today? The Risen Christ converts, restores, commissions to ministry and is very optimistic about our future.
This is reminder to us; never give up on ourselves because the Risen Christ has not given up on us or anyone. Amen.
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