The Third Sunday of Easter
April 29, 2001

By
The Rev. Ann M. Smith

Based on the readings from Acts 9:1-20 and John 21:1-19

The common thread through the readings today is our encounter with God. How do we experience the risen Christ in our lives?

The first one whose encounter is recalled, is Saul whom we come to know later as Paul. It is hard to imagine a more angry and threatening person. He was very much opposed to the new faith. He had the authority to persecute those who followed the risen Christ. He was single minded in his mission.

Then one day as he was travelling to Damascus he saw a bright light. He heard a voice, demanding of him, "Why are you persecuting me?" He asked who it was, but in his heart he knew. As far as Saul was concerned, Jesus of Nazareth was dead, and good riddance to him. But on hearing the voice, he could not help but realize the life-bond that exists between Jesus and those who follow him. It was a turning point for him, an about face, a conversion experience. There in the dust of the road, blinded by the brilliance of the light, he encountered the risen Lord. He entered a new relationship with God, which resulted in a new life of witness to the risen Christ he had so vehemently persecuted. He began to preach the word of God as strongly as he had once preached against it. His energy became focused on God.

Peter's story is another encounter with the risen Christ. In their attempt at normalcy the disciples decide to go fishing. They got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing, not one fish all night long. Just after daybreak, they noticed someone on the beach. The stranger told them to cast the net on the other side of the boat. What did they have to lose! They did as he suggested. And suddenly they were swamped with fish – one hundred and fifty three of them. It was then that Peter recognized Jesus. In his excitement he put on his clothes and jumped into the water to get to Jesus.

But that wasn't the real encounter. Peter was not yet ready to take on the responsibility of carrying on Jesus' work. He was still reeling from the events of the past few days. He had betrayed Jesus. He had run away. What's more, there was some unfinished business, an unfinished conversation. It began where it had left off.

"Do you love me, Peter?" It must have startled him.

"You know I do."

"Then feed my sheep," Jesus tells him. Then he asks him again. Is this some kind of bad dream? And then a third time Jesus asks him the same question. And finally it sinks in to Peter's brain. What has held him back from following Jesus to the cross? If he loves Jesus, then of course it follows. He must feed the sheep. He must continue the work that Jesus began. It must not come to an end. The work is just beginning.

Both of the stories are about turning points. We all have them. If we look back at our lives we surely find a few of our own. They may not be life shattering. They may not even seem important now. We may feel almost embarrassed about them. But they are important. For they are spiritual landmarks that set us on our Christian journey. They mark our lives. They help us to frame our life of faith. Sometimes we experience it as one powerful event that changes us dramatically. More often, it is a series of events, some that we scarcely remember. Both experiences of conversion are authentic. Both experiences are part of our life journey.

The question Jesus asked of Peter is a question asked of each of us. We may identify with Paul whose encounter on the Damascus Road was earth shattering. Or we may identify with Peter's slow and steady response. But our experience is unlikely to be like any other. It doesn't need to be as long as we act on it. Paul encountered Christ and went on to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. The disciples got up from breakfast and began to build the church. The heart of the matter lies in our response to that eternal question, "Do you love me?" For if we love Jesus then we must feed the sheep.

What does it mean to us to feed the sheep? Many people are spiritually hungry. They need to be fed and nurtured so that they can grow in faith. We all need that kind of nurture in our lives. It begins with entering a relationship with God. Change is something that comes about, not by accident, but through really desiring to make a change. There's a joke about that, after all! How many psychiatrists does it take to change a lightbulb? It only takes one, but the lightbulb really has to want to change.

Such change in our lives begins with a longing for God. The psalmist expresses it, "As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God." It is part of human nature to yearn for God, to know and be known by God. It is part of who we are – God's creation. But at the same time we need to work out a pattern in our spiritual lives to sustain and nurture our souls. Most of us are awfully good at organizing our daily lives. We don't consider that perhaps our spiritual lives need just as much attention. What has helped me in my spiritual life is to have a plan, a rule of life. And so that you do not think that it is because I am ordained that I have such a discipline, I would like you to know that my rule of life began long before I was ordained. As a matter of fact it began when I was in my teens. For me it involves corporate worship, daily prayer and meditation, Spiritual Direction and Sacramental Confession.

I think all of us need to have a discipline about corporate worship. For any number of reasons we no longer live in a society where Sunday is the Lord's Day. It is not uncommon for people to have to work on Sundays. It is often the only day that people have to spend together as a family. But we need the nurture of the Christian community. If we think that we don't need it, the Body of Christ certainly needs our participation. It is no mistake that in our Baptismal Covenant we promised to "continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers". It is not just to get us out to church, but to help us realize our place in the Body of Christ. It is to help us understand our need for the nurture of Christian community.

We are called to prayer. "Pray without ceasing," Paul says. "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." We do not get to know other people without having meaningful conversations with them. How can we expect to know what God wants for us in our lives if we do not speak to God and in turn listen to God speaking to us? Prayer is not just a shopping list of our needs and concerns. We turn to God to say that we are sorry for the wrongs we have done, to share where we have fallen short, to ask God for forgiveness, and to seek ways to change our lives. We open our hearts in adoration to God, thanking God for all the blessings of our lives. It has been my practice for many years to say the Daily Office. I find that as I read the Office I sense myself to be a part of the Church at prayer. The discipline of reading the Scriptures, saying the Psalms and praying at a specific time each day nurtures me. I also love to pray as I walk my dog Jewel. I used to pray as I drove, but I discovered that I was getting lost and making people nervous.

There is another sense in which we are called to feed the sheep. We can take quite literally. Our Christian faith calls us to look after the needs of other people. Today is the kickoff for our annual FaithWorks campaign. And I am happy and enthused to tell you about it. The theme this year is from the Book of Acts. "Those who believed shared." And it is expected that we will raise 1.4 million dollars to be spent, not on shoring up our buildings, not on salaries, but on reaching out to the underprivileged, to the impoverished members of our society. In other words, it will be spent on ministry, on living out the message of the Gospel.

It astounds me that we have so little understanding of the wonderful Outreach work that is accomplished in this Anglican Church of ours. And so I share with you a little of how the Outreach money raised through the campaign will be spent. On a global level, our FaithWorks dollars will go to support mission through the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund —famine relief, aid to refugees, disaster relief, work that goes on all over the world in so many different ways. On a Diocesan level, money will be spent on hospital chaplaincies, Youth drop ins, child poverty issues, ministry to ex-prisoners, and housing for poor and underprivileged. Area ministries will receive funding. And finally, fifteen percent of what we raise will stay in our own parish to be used for outreach in our community.

There are many ways in which this parish reaches out to the community. We send a donation to the Dam each year for their work with youth. We assist people who come to the Church Centre for food vouchers. Every week the basket in the sanctuary fills up with food that is sent to the food bank. But there is so much need. There is so much more we could be doing.

I urge every one of us to support FaithWorks in whatever way we can. We can pledge to our own parish at the same time that we make a pledge to FaithWorks. By pledging to FaithWorks we can designate how and where our Outreach money will be spent, knowing that a percentage of it will be spent by us in our own community to do the kind of work that we want to see happen.

Most importantly, we will feel the sense of gratification at knowing that we are reaching out to others, and we will be fulfilling the demands of the Gospel.