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Sermon May 5, 2019
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers,
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
The Third Sunday of Easter, Year C
Asian and Pacific Islander Observance
http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearC_RCL/Easter/CEaster3_RCL.html
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.’
Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’
Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep. John 21:15-17
Please be seated
I think most of you have heard me talk about the china I have. It is a rose Syracuse china pattern that my great-grandfather bought for my great-grandmother. It was probably in the 1950s. It’s a large set for 12 people with dinner plates and luncheon plates and dessert plates and dessert bowls and soup bowls, cups and saucers. It is tiny pink roses with gold trim. Can’t put it in the microwave!
My grandmother inherited this set and I have many fond memories of spaghetti and meatball dinners using those plates with a white linen tablecloth on the table! Can you imagine?
Then my mother inherited the set and we had many a family holiday meal using those plates.
Finally they have come to me. When I moved to Newport, I got these dishes out of my son’s basement where they were stored and brought them to my house. I actually use them for everyday and I do put them in the dishwasher. I doubt anyone else will want them and I get such pleasure from using them. There are so many memories triggered by those dishes.
Mostly, they are memories of great love of my family members who are no longer alive. These dishes not only remind me of meals that fed my body; they remind me of the love that fed my soul.
In today’s Gospel reading from John, the disciples, in their grief, are in Gallilee. The Gospel writer intimates that they are still at a loss as to what to do next. They are together, and back where they met and walked with Jesus, yet, still grieving. Peter decides they should go fishing. Most of us when we have been grieving and feel at a loss, often do things that were part of our routine. This is the same with the disciples.
Out in the boat they go. They don’t go out very far from the shore. Near daybreak, they have caught very little, which must have been discouraging. A man they do not recognize observes that they have not caught many fish. This stranger suggests they throw their net over the other side of the boat and WOW, they have so many fish, they can barely haul them in.
Then one of the disciples recognizes that the man calling at them from the shore is indeed Jesus.
When they get to the shore, Jesus has a fire going with fish and bread. Jesus feeds them breakfast. Jesus knows their physical bodies need to be nourished. When we are grieving, sometimes we don’t really feel like eating and we don’t always have the energy to cook for ourselves. Preparing this meal is a wonderfully loving act. Jesus knows what they need in their sorrow. He also knows what they need for their time ahead.
Then Jesus begins to question Peter. Now, notice, Jesus doesn’t chastise Peter for abandoning him during the crucifixion. Jesus doesn’t berate Peter for being such a poor leader, cowardly, even, we could say. That’s because Jesus knows what the current science tells us: people grow more from what they know they do right. Building on peoples’ strengths is more powerful than dwelling on their weaknesses.
Jesus knows our strengths and even though we mess us plenty, and even fail. We see that in the example of Peter who always seems to be saying or doing the wrong thing. Yet Jesus sees Peter’s strengths and keeps calling on them and pointing them out to Peter. Jesus sees that Peter, if he so chooses, has the ability to spread Jesus’ teachings.
Today we observe Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage. The apostle Thomas is credited with taking the good news of Jesus Christ to Asia, especially to India. Imagine living something so wonderful and amazing that you would go over 4,000 nautical miles in a boat to a place you had never been, just because you knew the teachings of Jesus Christ were so important that everyone you could reach needed to hear them and know about them! That’s what Thomas did by the year 43, just ten years after Jesus’ resurrection.
By the year 72, the year Thomas died, Christianity had come to modern-day Sri Lanka. There are reports that Thomas visited the country before he died and brought them the Gospel. There is a special cross in the country called the Anuradhapura cross. It has been found in granite relief and dated to the year 500.
The Anglican church is also in Sri Lanka, begun in 1845.
After feeding Peter, Jesus emphasized that Peter’s work was to feed and tend the followers of Jesus Christ. Like the others, Thomas took that to heart and traveled far away to share the love of Christ with people and a culture unfamiliar to him.
So, too, we come to this table today for a meal that if offered nearly every Sunday in our community of Nativity and St. Stephen. Jesus feeds us. Jesus sees the best in us. Jesus asks us to use our best to go out to the world and feed and tend his followers.
Amen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_the_Apostle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Thomas_Christian_cross
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/a-brief-history-of-christianity-in-sri-lanka/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Sri_Lanka
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anuradhapura_cross
