Some of you have asked me from time-to-time how I prepare for my Sunday messages. Well, many of you know that our Scripture readings each week come from the Revised Common Lectionary, which many Christian churches follow.
On Monday morning of week, I pray with the upcoming Sunday’s Gospel reading, and it continues to live with me throughout the week in my morning prayer and in my thoughts throughout the day.
It becomes my spiritual food for the week, and I’m always amazed to see how God nourishes me each week through the Gospel stories of Jesus.
The Resurrection stories that we have been reading the past several weeks have been particularly moving for me. I think that they are the most beautiful stories in the Gospels, and I have been brought to tears several times praying with them these past few weeks.
Who among us here does not want to experience the risen Christ in our midst in such an intimate way? Who among does not want to experience union with the Divine? Oneness with God?
A God who says, “I have called you by name. You are mine.” My beloved.
In the Resurrection stories, Jesus is not recognized by his disciples at first, until he calls them by name.
You may remember from the Easter story that Mary Magdalene thought Jesus was a gardener, until he says, “Mary!” Only then does she recognize him.
And last Sunday, we heard about Thomas. Thomas has his doubts that Jesus had risen until Jesus says to him, “Thomas, touch me.”
And, in today’s Gospel reading, Simon Peter, Jesus’ right-hand man, doesn’t even recognize Jesus at first; but then Jesus calls him by name: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
And, I think the reason why this story is particularly moving to me is because Simon Peter, who had left everything behind to follow Jesus, tries to go back to his old life as a fisherman, but is unsuccessful.
Let’s look at Simon Peter’s backstory, if you will. He first appears in the Gospels at the same setting of this Resurrection story 3 years prior.
He was just Simon then, and he was fishing with some other fishermen at the Sea of Galilee when Jesus approaches them and says, “Leave your boats and your nets on the shore, and I will make you fishers of men.”
And, Simon is so drawn to Jesus’s invitation that he leaves everything behind to follow Jesus, and he eventually becomes Jesus’s right-hand man.
In fact, Jesus would later call him Peter, which means Rock, for Jesus said, “You, Peter, are the rock on which I will build my church.”
Now, I want to interject something here, because there seems to be a lot of confusion about what Jesus meant by this.
Jesus was not instructing Simon Peter to start a new religion called Christianity. He was not telling him to go out and build churches.
Jesus did not want to start a new religion. He was a devout Jew. As I’ve said before, if you want to convert people to the religion of Jesus, then convert them to Judaism.
The word translated as “church” in that line from the gospels is the Greek word, “Ekklesia.” Ekklesia means “to call out.” It’s an assembly of people called out of their homes by a town crier, if you will.
Jesus is instructing Peter to go out into neighboring towns and to announce the Good News, the Way of Life and Love that Jesus had taught them.
Jesus’s word for “church,” then, doesn’t mean a physical structure with a steeple or an organized religion. It simply means a gathering of those called out to hear the Good News.
So Jesus is telling Peter that he would be the first to go out and lay that foundation, the groundwork for continuing his teachings.
But, what happens to Peter after Jesus is arrested 3 years later? Well, Peter denies knowing him; not just once, but three times.
So, as I read today’s Gospel story early this week, I was moved to tears thinking how terrible Peter must have felt after Jesus died, knowing that he betrayed him three times.
And, so, after Jesus’s death, he goes back to the place where he was before (when he met Jesus) and he tries to go back to the life he once knew.
But he can no longer catch fish. Until a stranger, the risen Christ, makes his presence known and calls him by name.
And, Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?”…one for each time Peter rejected Jesus.
How beautiful! The presence of God appears in our midst during times of despair and transforms us in love and forgiveness.
And, Peter would, of course, go on to continue to share Jesus’s message of love and forgiveness to people far and wide. He did, indeed, feed the flock. He became a fisher of men.
What does it mean for us as Progressive Christians today to continue to “feed the flock,” to be “fishers of men”?
Does that mean we are being called to go and convert people to Christianity?
Well, last Sunday, I talked about how arrogant some Christians are today with trying to impose their views on everyone, and to “save” people who don’t need saving.
They are so certain that they have the answer for everyone, and so their mission is to convert people who have beliefs different from theirs.
They think that their belief is the correct one – the only one that’s true – and that everyone else has it all wrong.
Many Christian missionaries have done tremendous damage over the centuries by going into lands where people already had beautiful faith traditions and trying to convert them to Christianity.
Have you ever heard of Hindus or Buddhists going into African countries, giving out copies of their holy books and saying “we’ll build you schools and hospitals” in exchange for you converting to our religion?
Have you ever heard of Jewish people knocking on people’s doors and trying to convince them to become Jewish?
When Jesus said to “feed my sheep” and to be “fishers of men,” he wasn’t saying to convert people over to a particular religion.
Remember, Jesus did not want to start a new religion, and he definitely wouldn’t want one that was all about worshipping him and saying how amazing he was. He wasn’t about ego.
What he wanted was for us to convert ourselves, to transform our lives by following what he called “The Way,” the way of unconditional love, forgiveness, and service to one another.
And, when we begin to experience this new way of life, it brings us so much joy and peace and freedom that we want to share this Good News with others. That’s what it means to evangelize.
And, that’s what we – this Ekklesia – gather together every Sunday morning, to spiritually feed ourselves and one another.
We’re not trying convert people over to Christianity, the religion, but to share with them the Way of unconditional love and forgiveness that Jesus taught is for everyone.
That’s why Jesus said, “When two or more are gathered in my name, there I am among them.”
To be gathered in his name, means to be gathered in his Spirit. And, when we come together in this Spirit of unconditional love and forgiveness and service, we experience the risen Christ in our midst.
And, can’t you just feel it when we gather together on Sunday? The presence of God here with us?
As we often sing here at The United Church of Rowayton: “Surely, the presence of the Lord is in this place. I can feel God’s might power and God’s grace. I can feel the brush of angel’s wings. I see glory on each face. Surely, the presence of the Lord is in this place.” Don’t you feel it?
That’s why we want to evangelize, to tell people about what’s happening here. That’s why we want to invite them to “Come & See,” as Jesus said. Not so that they we can “save” them and ensure their entrance into heaven, but to invite them to experience this Spirit of unconditional love and extravagant welcome no matter who they are or where they are on life’s journey.
I’d like to conclude with these words from the book, Rescuing Jesus by Deborah Jian Lee:
“I don’t see the church disappearing. I see the church changing radically. Churches who are able to invite, include and celebrate the diversity of humanity – those are the ones that are going to survive. The ones that can’t do that, the ones who continue to make church about boundaries and who’s in and who’s out – those churches are going to become relics.”
May friends, during this Season of Easter, may we, the people of The United Church of Rowayton, continue to invite, include and celebrate the diversity of humanity – all 153 species of fish gathered together in one net of unconditional love.
When we stay focused on that Spirit of Oneness, our church will not only survive, but will continue to thrive. May it be so. Amen.