Here it is gang. Have at it.
Sermon: The Third Sunday of Easter, 2007
April 22, 2007
Community Church of Wilmette
Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)
John 21:1-19
Alleluia! The Lord is risen!
The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
I have stood in this particular pulpit for almost a year now. And there was never a more helpful congregation when it comes to suggesting new ideas, giving pointers, or offering helpful comments about preaching. I thank you for your participation and I encourage you to continue.
One of the comments I have received from several people is this: Some want to know what I mean when I use the word "salvation." You want a definition. This is a wise request because, as many likely know, the idea of salvation can be used to bludgeon people into submission. We are still getting to know one another and I don't ever want you all to misunderstand me in this. So, write this down, or say it with me. Here's a good working definition of salvation:
"We are put on earth for a little space that we may learn to bear the beams of love."
William Blake penned those words. And for me, they are a great reminder of the purpose behind everything we do...God's intent for us on this earth. Every challenge, every obligation, and hope we possess can be channeled into this notion. It is a great working definition of salvation.
"We are put on earth for a little space that we may learn to bear the beams of love."
When I speak of salvation, I am speaking about the process of learning to bear the beams of love. There's still a great deal for me to learn about bearing the beams of love standing in this pulpit. So, I don't want you to stop making your suggestions, or asking your questions, or outright disagreeing with me. You see even Peter and Paul had to learn from community. They spent their entire lives, their ministries learning from Jesus through those whom they were called to serve. We can all learn from that example, especially those of us given the task to preach.
In our stories this morning Paul and Peter both encounter the Resurrected Jesus. They both encounter the risen Lord, and they both experience a moment that becomes a road marker on their journey of salvation. These examples are powerful, so powerful that the communities that surrounded them wrote the stories down, they handed them on to us so that we might better understand the nature of our own salvation…
Paul's journey to salvation is one of the more famous. In Baptist tradition it is so honored that in some circles if you cannot recite the day and the hour of your conversion, the validity of your conversion may be questioned. Now that's pretty stiff engagement with a story! We may not take it to that extreme, but Paul's salvation story can still be a great guide to us. Paul is led from violent opposition to Christ into passionate proclamation of love. His tale is legendary because of the immeasurable impact he had upon the church as a teacher, a guide and an example of what salvation can do. It can transform a man from being a violent persecutor into being a loving guide, and demanding teacher.
Peter's own journey to salvation is no less remarkable. Peter was given the "keys to the kingdom." Jesus honored Peter by placing incredible trust in him. "Will you feed my sheep?"
This is the same Peter who denied Jesus three times.
This is the same Peter who, so frequently, could not keep his mouth shut
and would try to walk on water only to sink into the sea.
Peter was given this kind of responsibility in spite of (or perhaps because of) his past inconsistencies.
Can it be that Jesus gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom,
that the Resurrected Christ gave Peter the task of feeding his sheep,
because he hoped that Peter had learned compassion?
Peter knew what it was to deny Christ. Peter knew what it was to stand in opposition to Christ and yet still receive forgiveness and be led back into grace. This would be Peter's great gift to the church. Feed my lambs, Peter…Teach them salvation. Love them even when they deny me.
These two tales of salvation also tell us something of the role of community.
Conversion is not an isolated experience between the individual believer and Jesus. Yes, it is a personal, intimate and potentially quite profound experience, but it is at its very core a communal experience. It is not private, belonging solely to the individual. By deciding to follow Jesus, we enter into the community whom God has claimed as God's own Body. We join a great cloud of witnesses. God will call on others like Ananias to guide us, to teach us, to show us the way.
Paul, after he was struck blind, was given into the care of Ananias. He was told to go and find the community. We will find out later in Galatians that he spent three years with the community before beginning his work of creating communities of the faithful. He had to learn from someone, from a community what it meant to love in the radical life-giving fashion of Jesus. And this was no easy task for Ananias. Ananias took a risk.
"Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name."
But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel. I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."
We risk.
But God is with us in this risk.
The community is not alone in its charge to teach people to love.
Peter was given the responsibility of guiding the community. He was given the responsibility of feedings God's sheep. Our salvation comes with this kind of responsibility implied. This is one of the many reasons why Baptists hold to the notion of believer's baptism. Agreeing to follow Jesus is a tremendous responsibility. It is a salvific risk! It is the pledge to love in a way that the world with its false hierarchies, divisions and violence may not welcome.
Today we witness to the beginning of conversion. We do not know if it will come to fruition in baptism or if it will take some other direction. We dedicate Hunter to God. But please notice that in all that was said and done this morning Hunter said nothing. He made no promises. He made no pledge. He gurgled and smiled and tried to steal my glasses, yes. But he made no promises. Hunter was simply presented to us as is.
We pledged.
We promised.
We, as parents, god-parents, and as church have committed to Hunter's education in love, his salvation. We have taken on that responsibility. The dedication of this child is about the pledge and commitment of this community to teach him about salvation in Jesus, to teach him about what it means to bear the beams of love.
And God knows that this is a world that needs people who know how to bear the beams of love.
On the journey that is life, there are many turns in the road. Some we make ourselves. Other turning seems to come on its own volition, as if willed by circumstance. And sometimes it is as if a voice spoke from above and simply asked us to stop, to change direction, to follow, or to feed some sheep.
This morning we have been given the generous reminder of that journey...to encounter Hunter so near the beginning of his journey is a great gift to us all. To be given the opportunity to pledge our love and wisdom to him and his parents, too, is a great gift to us all.
For God will meet us on the road.
Christ will ask us to feed his sheep.
God will ask us to turn when we stray.
"We are put on earth for a little space that we may learn to bear the beams of love."
Alleluia! The Lord is risen!
The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Thanks be to God!
Posted by tripp at April 22, 2007 08:28 AMThat works.
Posted by: Reverend Ref at April 22, 2007 06:23 PM