Will you Love me?

As I reflect on the Gospel for this Sunday (John 21:1-19), there are two things that jump out immediately at me: (1) we are living a life with “poor” fisherman and (2) there are two nameless disciples who get in the boat to go fishing with the apostles.

Like the story in Luke, John recounts that the men went fishing and though they had laboured through the night, they had caught nothing. On the edge of things, it looks like the fishermen aren’t very good at their work. They had a “waterhaul”. They throw the net in and all they draw from the lake is water. No fish.  But then there is this figure on the beach and after discovering that they had no fish, tells them to throw the nets on the other side of the boat. This was a common thing on the Lake, to have someone on a beach direct the nets. More importantly though, through listening there was a catch. And because there was a catch, there was joy and there was food for others to eat. Most importantly, the net as filled with a great number of fish and yet the net did not break.

Obedience is not an accident. Obedience, learning to hear to know what to do and when to do it is essential, whether it is fishing or it is working to build up a community of the Church through preaching and caring for people so that they can see Jesus. In hearing and experiencing the catch, they recognize who Jesus is because they have been through it before. They have caught fish and nearly sank two boats. And while that was important, in the moment they all knew Jesus. They knew that they knew it was him. Then Peter does an odd thing. He gets fully dressed to greet Jesus and then without waiting for the boat to make the beach, Peter dives into the lake and swims for shore leaving his companions to shoulder the load of bringing the catch in, sorting it out and counting it. Peter greets Jesus sopping wet  but fully clothed. Then the disciples are invited to bring something of what they have been blessed with and to share it in the meal that Jesus has prepared for them over the fire.

Have you ever stopped to consider the purpose of that meal and gathering?  Did you ever consider what Jesus and Simon Peter talked about as they watched the others finish dealing with the catch?  “Peter, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord. You know that I am fond of you.”                      

“Feed my lambs.”

“Peter, do you love me?”                                                             

“Yes Lord, we are friends and I am fond of you”

“Shepherd my sheep.”                                                                  

“Peter, do you really love me?”

“Lord, you know it all. You know that we are friends and that I am really fond of you.”   

“Feed my sheep.”

The reconciliation was not just for Peter with Jesus, it was to make clear to the witnesses that Peter was restored to his position and ministry for what lay ahead. Peter wasn't just restored, he was given back to be effective amongst his brothers in terms of ministry and leadership in the community. Peter has been supported, supplied and sent by Jesus.

Where does this leave you and me? Imagine us as those two disciples. We have been blessed through the support of those around us including Jesus. We have been supplied with what we need for the ministry that we need to fulfill in this community. We have been sent by the Master to make disciples and baptize and teach the lambs and guard each other against the wolves and other dangers.

Do you love Jesus enough to put what you say you believe to the test? Will you live the love you have within you for Christ and with others? Will you agapaos Jesus in others?

Jason+

Its Eucatastrophic!

Every group and community seems to have one. You know the one I mean... the realist. Sesame Street has Oscar the Grouch; Snow White and the other dwarves had Grumpy; The Peanuts Gang have Lucy. The apostles have Thomas. These folks kept every one else grounded and real with what was going on around them. And I can remember going to church and hearing sermons that would come down on Thomas for having doubts about what he was being told and demanding the same kinds of proof and experiences that everyone else had when Jesus came through the locked doors.

Thomas wants what everyone had already had – the chance to meet the risen Lord Jesus face to face. When he gets that chance Jesus challenges him by telling him that “Blessed are those who have not seen but yet still believe.” It is a reminder that there is more to faith than knowledge. We can know something. And that knowledge can make us feel secure because we think we know all about it. We are called to more than just knowledge and proof: we are called to faith and to hope. We can trust the things that have been revealed to the Church by God. There are things that we can know. And for the things that we don’t know yet, and for the things we cannot be sure of, there is hope because God is here.

                                                                                       

That very thought helped me to learn a new word this week from my favourite author, J.R.R. Tolkien. The word? Eucatastrophe. Now you are probably wondering what that is or what the word means. It is maybe better if I use Tolkien’s own work to help me describe what a eucatastrophe is. In essence it is the unpredicted redemption in the face of an unimaginable loss. Throughout the tales of “the Hobbit” and “the Lord of the Rings” there is on group that constantly comes to the rescue of those who are trying to make things right. So whether it is the eagles rescuing Thorin Oakenshield and his company from the trees as the goblins and wargs attack or as Aragorn and his friend battle the orcs and other monsters at the Black Gate in the great final battle to destroy the Ring and Lord Sauron with it. Sam and Frodo waited for the end of all things when Gandalf comes in with the eagles to rescue them from the Mountain of Doom after the ring is destroyed. Surrounded by molten lava they were redeemed after completing a task that was supposed all along by those who sent them to be fatal.

The disciples hadn't understood that Jesus was going to rescue them after the crucifixion. They believed that with Jesus dead, their ministry shattered and their hopes gone of a Messianic age, they would be next to be sought and killed. There was a lot of “shock and awe” at Jesus’ appearance precisely because they thought no one was going to get in. Or at least they weren't going to get in easily... Jesus arrived undetected and unexpected amongst them in that upper room. It’s the same upper room in which Jesus washed their feet. It’s the same room from which Judas went to betray Jesus and had him over. It’s same room where Jesus commanded them to love each other as he loved them.

And as for Thomas and Peter, neither of them was there for that moment. Each where dealt with in their own way and in a time and manner that was of the Lord’s choosing. Thomas needed to learn to rejoice at what he was being told and Peter will need to learn the price of denial. Both will be brought back within the fold, but on Jesus’ terms.

Perhaps, some of the best news out of the Gospels is that the original followers are shown to be as clueless as we feel at time. They did have it all together and didn’t understand it all. They understood enough that there was a need to have faith in what they could know and hope for the things that could not, at least for the moment, be comprehended. So it is true, “blessed are you who choose to trust even when you have no proof, for your faith will be proven soon.” So go and live the risen life with Christ, for Christ and in Christ.

Jason+

No request is too big or too small

For the second time in my ministry this Sunday, I am going to be able to preach at a Confirmation. And this service will be on the holiest of days in the Christian Calendar: Easter Day. There will be baptism first and then confirmation of those who are being baptized and others who have been baptized but have waited until this moment to come forward to be confirmed. Such things cause me to reflect on my own journey. I remember kneeling down in front of the then Bishop of Caledonia Diocese. I remember his hands going on my head and the heat that was coming from his hands. I remember that he prayed for me in the following manner: “Defend O Lord, this your servant, with your heavenly grace; that he may continue yours forever and daily increase in your Holy Spirit more and more until he comes to your heavenly kingdom.” But what does this have to do with Easter and the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead? It has everything to do with it!

The Bishop asked God to defend me. That is no small request. He asked God to shield me from the attacks and the dangers I was going to face in my life. This does not mean that I am not going to have troubles or faces challenges. It means that all those things that are in the world that could overcome me, kill and destroy me are kept at bay. The Bishop asked also that God would maintain and support me in the face of trial and hostile criticism for my faith. The Bishop asked that God would through the ministry of the Holy Spirit prove of the fruit of the Christian life within me and enables me to defend my faith. And lastly, the Bishop asked God to help me with the race and receive the goal of my faith in his Son: life. God himself offers the “prize”, the crown of eternal life with God and all who have run the race.

Why would God do all this? Simply, because God loves us through and in his Son. God is here and he is with us through his risen Son. This is what God does for his children what every father ought to do for his children. Fathers need to protect, guide, shield, guard, and safeguard the children. And how should we as his children respond? By trusting what it is that he has done for us in and through Jesus Christ our Lord and our Saviour. We need to learn to trust him and put our lives on the line for him. We need even in the moment to recognize that Jesus Christ is Lord! Yes, the grave is empty and the cross is left behind, but Easter is more than the empty grave and the useless nails. It is the presence of the living Christ. We need to learn to trust him and to follow him as we move back to the Galilee with the risen Jesus and a whole new way of looking that the same old world.

Everything is going to change because of what was learned: not just at the cross nor at the tomb when Jesus was laid to rest on that Friday evening as the Sabbath was beginning. Those sights are all too familiar and we know what that is about. We need to learn to walk and to become the people that God is making us to be, in and through the power of the risen Christ. And what we will learn is to turn our church communities not just upside down, but (please God) we will learn to turn them inside out. We will seek out the least the last and the lost of this generation in this city and draw them to the heavenly City. We will do this so that we in turn can defend the people around us and draw them into the grace we live in and please God, into the life that is so freely offered to those who will receive it and truly live.

Jason+

Come and journey with the Saviour

On Palm Sunday five-year-old Jason had a very sore throat and had to stay home from church with a sitter. When his family returned they carried several palm fronds. Jason asked them what they were for. "People held them over Jesus' head as he walked by," his father told him. "Wouldn't you know it," Jason fumed, "the one Sunday I don't go and He shows up!"

This week is one of my favourite to walk as a Christian and as a liturgist. We are going to move from the anticipated glory of the parade and the palms into the unexpected glory of the resurrection. The path that guides us there goes through the city and out the gates and up a small hill and then to new tomb. There will be many who are shouting, “Hosanna, hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

On Thursday night we will recount how Jesus gathered his friends for the “Last Supper”, taught them to serve each other through washing each other’s feet and command them to love each other so that everyone around them would see that God lives with and in them.

On Friday we will watch in almost virtual silence as Christ takes the punishment and suffer the death we should have received. We will here him speak to those closest to him, caring for his mother and for those who did the things they do to him with such words as “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

On Sunday – We know for certain who Jesus did this for: you. “My body, given for you.” He did it for you. He did it for me. Why did he do it? Because God through Christ loves us with an everlasting love. He would rather die than live in splendid, glorious isolation for eternity without you. He dies for you that you would go and live for him. he did it to brings us into the kingdom so that we could participate in the everlasting kingdom and in life and relationship with God and with each other.

So turn aside and come with me on this journey from the palms to the empty tomb. Learn where to put your trust for the days ahead and be prepared to travel with the Saviour beyond the grave to where we will have everlasting life.

Don’t miss the parade! Don’t let Jesus pass you by!

Jason+

Costly way of following Jesus

What has believing in God cost you? It is a question that has been bugging me the last few days... but not for the reasons you would think. Like Mary (Luke 12:1-11) throughout all of my adult life I have offered myself in service to God and the Church. I have literally served from Sea to Sea to shining Sea. This time of year seems to make me stop and consider what has been offered to God in the past year; what has been given and offered, and what has been sacrificed for the cause of the kingdom. There are things that bring me joy, to see how there has been growth, and maturing in the faith and in the priestly life. Reflection also helps me to see the challenges and sorrows that have had to be met and the things that still have to be overcome.

In particular, I like to consider the “great” moments of ministry when people’s lives changed and they were different, transformed by what they saw and heard. For example, I remember ministering to a man on the South Coast of Labrador. He was sick and dying of cancer. The time with him was significant because in getting to know him, I discovered that he had been baptised and confirmed but he had never participated in the Eucharist. The Bishop came in and confirmed one Sunday and he was to have his first communion when the priest came to the community the next Sunday. Unfortunately for this gentleman, he had to go out in the boat in the week in between services. As a consequence, he was not in the community but out on the boat when the priest arrives from somewhere else and did not have his communion. He lived a good life, doing all the things a Christian ought to do, care for his family and his community. He lived his entire life thinking that he couldn’t have that part of the experience. I was glad to be able to share that first communion moment with him and other such moments as we prayed and he battled the cancer. That short time was a time of transformation and that man grew stronger in his faith and in the relationships he had with family and members of the community until the day he died.

And while some in the community saw his death as a failure of his health, his doctor and his faith, I can tell you he went to be with the Master confident in his faith and had his hopes fulfilled.

And what did such ministry really cost me? Some time, some prayer, and a listening ear which in turn meant so much to both the man and to his wife and family. Thus I think it is important to remember that we are not called to be great servants with super powers and great faith. The Master calls us to be humble, thoughtful servants who live everyday lives within an uncommon vigor and an extraordinary love. God calls us to serve and to bring whatever it is we have been given in terms of time, talents, treasure, tears and trees and use it to help those who are in need of seeing and know God to be able to do so.

And since when has loving somebody, even when they do not deserve it, ever been sensible? After all didn’t the Master say, “Father, forgive. They know not what they do.”

The Mercy of the Father

What does the Parable of the Lost (Prodigal) Son tell us about God? Everybody identifies with the son who made the demands of the father and then went his own way, spent through his inheritance, found himself in a dead end, no where job working for someone who did help him out at all and was so hungry he was ready to steal from the pigs! Not only that but nobody wants to picture themselves as the older boy who, while he remained at home, was just as bad off as the brother who went away. The elder brother was consumed with what his father had done and allowed his brother to run off with his share of the money and other things from the house. After all he was going to be the one running the show somewhere down the road. The older brother always did what was expected of him: h always went to work on time, he never got himself into financial or girl trouble. He was the perfect son... or so he thought.

What about the father though... what of his hurt, of his life and generosity in the face of the unruly and self satisfied children? There are two things that we need to keep in mind about the father and thus about God as we approach this parable: (1) watch how he deals with the child who wanted everything and had nothing but an empty tummy, empty life and a broken heart at the end of it all and (2) see how he intentionally goes out to seek the older son who has refused to come in and celebrate with his father and so the father goes out to the older boy and tries to draw him in. Can you see yourself in either of these two boys? God can.

I can see the Father going out the end of the driveway and hanging on the gate as he looks down the road in suspense, waiting for the return of the son who has cut himself off from the family; for the child who has chosen to live life away from all that is familiar, not just the things, the rules he doesn’t like. He waits hoping to get a glimpse of the form of the younger child as he comes over the rise and his form shadows the setting sun behind him.

I can see him also go out to find the older boy who is refusing to come in to the house to welcome home his wayward sibling. The son is storming around a small glen trying to gather and bundle enough wood so that he can build a small fire to warm himself and cook supper later. I can see the father pursuing him, pleading with this child to come in and recognize that his brother is a changed man. Things will be different now and to live this new life within the family the younger and the older will need each other. All that the older boy can consider is how his younger brother walked away with everything and how badly he treated the family... why he should celebrate his brother’s return when he has treated his family so badly?

Can you see the nature of God in all of this? Actively pursuing and waiting for us to turn away and come to him? God gives mercy and grace to the wandering prodigal while loving and encouraging the dutiful and obedient child to make full use of everything that he has to offer him.

And let me say a word here about grudges: they are what you would wish for everybody else but would never ask for yourself. Thus we get resentful towards others and wish that we too had what they had Instead of celebrating with them, we choose to build walls with resentment and distain. So as part of our Lenten discipline let us make forgiveness a part of our everyday life. Let us make forgiveness, mercy an act of reconciliation and then allow forgiveness to be a habit of restoration between us.

Most of all, remember that the Father calls us all home, whether we have been away by ourselves or have been out doing our duty. God calls us to himself saying to each and to all of us: “Fear not; I have redeemed you and called you by name – your are mine.” (Isaiah 43.1)

Jason+

The disciple's trial

What is it in you that you allow yourself to be weighed down in this way?

Can you not receive my gifts, my mercy and grace and so find your own freedom?

Is it truly easier to kick against the goads?

I watch, with tears in my eyes, struggling to go your own way and live life on your terms.

You desire to have it all your own way. You reject my hand, pushing it away.

You grow deaf to the sound of my voice calling out to you to return and allow me to take your burden.

You grow blind to my care and compassion for your path and your pain.

Do you remember that I have been this way before?

Do you not recall that I have felt the pain, suffered scorn and wore the shame?

Look into my eyes and what can you see... is there any rest, any hope, any promise in me?