April 14 — Third Sunday of Easter

Listen to this sermon HERE. 

Grace to you and peace this day from our risen Lord Jesus…

Isn’t is amazing that it was Paul, the persecutor of the Christians who later used that greeting...grace to you and peace?!  Today we have two exciting post-resurrection accounts about two foundational characters in the Christian church.  New Testament reading: Paul.  Gospel reading:  Peter.  

One denied Jesus three times, even though he said that he loved Jesus and would never abandon him.  The other never claimed Jesus, in fact he was a Jewish terrorist, who was—with the authority of the state—hunting down and killing Christians systematically!  That’s how our beloved Apostle Paul got started!  This day in age, there are lots of ho-hum Christians, there are seekers, there are people who believe in God, but don’t really “dive into it” (to use an image from the Gospel reading), much more passive ways of denying Christ.  But Paul: he downright didn’t buy it.  He was sure, and he was angry.  This reading from Acts is an important reminder that God can work with anyone.  God can take anyone and turn their life around…

But, personally, I always had a hard time relating to this fantastic episode.  I could sit in the stands and applaud the drama of Saul falling off the horse, the blinding light, the voice of Jesus and the miraculous healing, baptism, and hospitality of the terrified Ananias.  What an epic: Saul transforms into Paul.  But it was hard to put myself into that story: I’ve always just been Dan.  I never had that kind of dramatic experience with Jesus, falling off a horse.  

Maybe you have?  Praise God.  I’ve notice that lots of Christian motivational speakers have amazing Saul-to-Paul stories... about once being addicted to something awful, but then God swoops in and knocks them off their high horse.  

And there was a time in my life, after hearing one of those amazing, sexy faith stories, that I kind thought I needed some kind of fantastic conversion story, but I didn’t have one, so maybe there wasn’t a place for me.  My experience was much more subtle, less flashy, maybe boring to some, when it’s time to share conversion stories:  “Well, I was 12 days old and my parents took me to church and this bit of water was splashed on my head…”  And then just gradual ups and downs in my journey with God...who has always been there, despite my denials and my doubts and my struggles and attempts at escaping God’s presence and love.

For me, faith has been much less flashy and much more like...having breakfast.  

I wish I could tell you my Saul to Paul, falling off the horse experience, but I don’t have one.  So I’m glad that this Gospel text talks about Jesus cooking breakfast for his disciples. “Come have something to eat,” Jesus says, after a night of long fishing.  The Gospel of John is a play ground because all the images are laden with symbolism and meaning.  So get ready: I’m going to play a little here...  

[I’ve always wanted to write a book based on this Gospel text, about worship — the 4 parts of our worship service — and imagine them, parallel them to activities in the evening first (GATHERING & WORD) and then the morning (MEAL & SENDING).  We gather, we come home, after a long day, or a long week.  Bath time, Story time.  But then the night can be peaceful or it can be scary (this is the sermon event--the wrestling with the texts).  Ps. 30— “Weeping spends the night, but joy comes in the…” The MEAL was in the evening before the resurrection, but now, it’s at breakfast, everything has become new, and then we are SENT out.  That’s my book idea, and his text at the end of the Gospel of John would be foundational — where the disciples gather but then struggle through the night, only to be met by Jesus bbqing in the morning, and then saying essentially Go in Peace:  “Feed my lambs”, “Follow me” at the end.]      

“Have something to eat,” Jesus says.  And the disciples come in, and Peter gives us this wonderful baptismal image, when he puts his clothes on (creed) and dives into the water to come in.  We too swim to the meal of Christ.  Through the waters of our baptisms, to the table of the resurrected Lord.  Bath and Table.  Baptism and Communion.  Rich, loaded, beautiful text — Jesus making breakfast. 

I want to show you something:  I did my internship in St. Louis with Lutheran Campus Ministry.  (Much like Agape House, who we support today.) And a handful of times I did something that hadn’t really been done before:  I dragged the little bbq grill out onto the front porch and grilled meat and vegetables for passing college students, set up tables in the front yard.  And just grilled out there...which I love to do.  (I was just trying to attract more people to our program by giving away free food.)  But my internship supervisor—the Campus Pastor, John Lottes, a wonderful man and great scholar and theologian—he was always wanting to find great biblical connections with everything that we did, such a deep well of Scriptural references.  And he struggled with how to connect this grilling out front for a bit, but I’ll never forget when he came up with it, he was so excited!  And it was this text that he recalled:  “I got it!” he exclaimed, “John 21:19!  Jesus grilling.  Barbecuing is biblically sanctioned!” At the end of my internship year, he gave me this apron that I always think about when this text comes up…

Jesus was there, grilling over a charcoal fire, John tells us.  Do some grilling this week, grill some fish if you can.  And remember that not all our faith stories have to be sexy, have to be like the amazing Paul’s.  Sometimes amazing things do happen, yes, but most of the time, faith and being with God is more like having breakfast — something that gives us nourishment to face the tasks before us.  And then Jesus invites us into the game.  

I’ve talked a lot about myself this morning: but I’ve got to share just one more story:  Micah’s playing baseball now

...and I love sitting in the stands watching and applauding (kind of like watching the Saul-to-Paul episode)
...but yesterday Coach called me into the game to help at first base…

Very different being on the field, than being in the stands.  Maybe it’s a little cliche, but it’s a great one, and I experienced it yesterday first-hand.  God calls us onto the field today!

Jesus calls Peter, Jesus calls you, into the game, from the small boat, from the stands.  Jesus calls us, feeds us first, and then asks us to go and feed others, feed the world with love, with grace, with food, with forgiveness.  Jesus feeds us first with these good things.  “Follow me,” Jesus says.  And now we go, blessed, drenched, fed, forgiven and loved.  Thanks be to God.  AMEN.

HOD:  #817  “You Have Come Down to the Lakeshore”