The
readings on
which this
sermon is
based can be
found at:
http://frsparky.net/a/r161.htm
s161g16
Third Sunday of Easter
10/4/2016
‘Jesus showed himself again to
the disciples by the Sea of
Tiberias’ John 21:1
Again, the risen Jesus
appeared to the disciples in
the most unexpected of places,
by the sea; when the disciples
least expected it, when they
had returned, of all places,
to their secular
occupations. It
was almost as if their time
with Jesus hadn’t happened,
that it had all been a dream.
The paradigm has not changed
from the time when Jesus first
attracted the crowds by
Gennesaret. People
will flock to the one who will
actually leave the temple,
synagogue, church, mosque or
whatever and be found in
secular society.
As I wrote for Sunday 5:
‘Jesus was elsewhere, standing
beside the lake of
Gennesaret. He
came to where people were at,
physically, yes, but more
importantly spiritually, and
the crowds flocked to
him. While we are
devotedly praying in our holy
huddles that others will come
and be converted by the
building, the architecture,
the music, the liturgy, the
scripture interpretation and
theology so elegantly
complete, the superficial
friendliness; we will be
forever waiting.’ (1)
And our doors, seemingly wide
open in superficial
friendliness, are actually
firmly locked .. for fear,
fear that our perceptions
might be questioned, our
contributions
eclipsed. But we
might consider is what we
offer all that is?
Would we go to a medical
doctor whose treatment was
based on blood letting rather
than modern medications?
Why do we invest so much
authority in past
perceptions? Does
this not preclude the
perceptions of others, and if
so, why will anyone else ever
consider themselves anything
other than a second-class
parishioner?
So the crucifixion and
resurrection hasn’t changed
Jesus; it reinforces the
eternal legitimacy of the
earthly ministry.
The risen Jesus is not more
remote than he was when
accounts could be written of
his day to day life; but is
eternally present, ever
accessible in our day to day
lives as well. The
risen Jesus didn’t suddenly
become more religious, our
gospel today affirms that his
eternal presence is always
away from temple, mosque,
synagogue, and church.
Which is perhaps why we don’t
hear so much of appearances of
the risen Jesus, so much so
that we have the story of the
Ascension 40 days later.
(2) But even that did
not preclude the risen Jesus
coming to Saul on that road to
Damascus. (3)
The reality is that the risen
Jesus comes to people in a
myriad of ways.
Each and every experience of
the transcendent can be seen
as a vision of the risen
Jesus; not to convert or
constrain, but to affirm and
include. Every
spiritual experience is
precious and unique, but
inevitably partial, needing
complementary experiences to
make the point of this very
diversity.
For in the end, Jesus was
killed because he proclaimed a
God found in places other than
the dedicated and consecrated
sacred spaces, and in people
other than the ordained elite,
ordained either by self, by
education, by status, by
election or by
appointment. So
after his resurrection; his
appearance by the lake
confirms this multiplicity of
ways, so that no one can ever
again pretend to have a
monopoly on the
divine.
No experience is more or less
kosher than another and each
of us do well to hear that
others do not need to
replicate our
experience. It is
not a competition; we are
called not to fight or to win
but to love.
The risen Jesus appeared to
the disciples by the sea, so
the resurrection has not put
an end to incarnation, but
affirms that incarnation is
eternal.
1.
frsparky.net/a/172g16.htm
2. Acts 1:3,9
3. Acts 9:5