What happened to the parade?

Easter morning is all flowers and Alleluias and excitement and, well, resurrection!  For the Church, it is THE celebration of the year....well, of all time, but each year we try to pull out the stops.

Then we get to hear about the disciples hiding and Jesus appearing although the door was locked and Thomas coming to deep faith.

Then we get to hear about Jesus serving brunch on the beach and Peter hearing that he is loved, loved, loved and being sent out into the world to tell others of Jesus and take care of Jesus' flock.

And then.....we get sheep.  The sheep hear my voice.  The sheep know me.  The sheep, the sheep, the sheep.

The fourth Sunday of Easter is always Good Shepherd Sunday, and although it is a great image and a most reassuring message, I often wonder how we lost the celebration of resurrection so quickly, moving from Alleluia, from confetti and loud trumpets, to 'he makes me to lie down in green pastures.'  It seems we go from wonder to slumber much too quickly.

There are lots of gospel lessons that ooze resurrection and two of them bookend this section of John's gospel where the Good Shepherd is the main character.  First, in chapter 9, we have the healing of the man who was born blind.  Now just in case you think this is an ordinary healing I will point out two things:  in this story the fact that this man was Born. Blind. is mentioned 8 times in 34 verses with an additional 2 mentioned of the fact that he was bling.  Someone is making a point here.

Second, is the final words of the man who was born blind but who now sees "Here is an astonishing thing!...Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind."

Now there's a story of God doing a new thing right under our noses.  Never since the world began....that is definitely a 'new thing' .....the kind of new thing that Isaiah predicts and is manifest in the empty tomb.

We could never see who Jesus is/was/will be without Jesus coming to us and removing the veil over our eyes.  We would walk around, managing our lives, making a living, but we would not know Jesus and through Jesus, God the Father.

Through Jesus, we now have the ability to see, praise, worship, proclaim, and live out our lives as people healed by God.

Folks, that is resurrection.  A great story for the 4th Sunday of Easter.

That is not the story we are given....but boy would it have made a great sermon.  It gives us a strong image to shape our imagination.  It helps explain how our existence has shifted because of Jesus' presence and gift.

We start this week giving thanks that Jesus came and healed all who were born blind and gave them new life.  Amen

Forgiveness given and received....or

                                               
"Why this scene on the beach between Peter and the risen Jesus is so important for people of faith."

If you are familiar with Peter's understandable but deeply disappointing behavior when Jesus was arrested, and subsequently crucified, you will understand why this scene grabs our attention.

It is intimate.  Although others are around, the gospel writer clearly makes this between Peter and Jesus.

It is serious.  Simon, son of John.......remember when your mother called you by your full name?  It's serious.

"Do you love me more than these?"   Jesus never clarifies what the 'these' are, but his point is made.  Am I number 1....or do I fall further down your list of priorities?

What do you do when you are across from the one you claimed to love yet betrayed so completely?  What do you say when you are as deeply disappointed in yourself as the other guy is?
What do you do when your crime.....sin.....wrong doing.....weakness....is an enormous elephant sitting right in the middle of the room?

Somehow, with your mouth dry from the depth of your emotion and a lot of stress, you croak out, "You know that I love you."   and you wait.

You wait to hear how big a disappointment you've been.  You wait to hear how much hurt you caused.  You wait to hear someone say outloud, "You really screwed up."  but instead you hear.

"Feed my sheep".

This is forgiveness in its rawest form.  No recriminations.  No words recapping the bad deeds of old.  No finger pointing or name calling.  Just a mission.  An important mission.  A mission to lead the others in the telling of the story to the whole world.

There are lots of potential explanations of why Jesus repeated the question three times.  Some say it parallels the 3 time denial of Peter.  Some say it helps Peter focus on the task at hand instead of the past.

Perhaps it took three times for Peter to truly believe he had been forgiven in such a way that his past was just a building block for the future that Jesus had for him.  Perhaps it took three times for Peter to truly forgive himself for being the fragile, fractured human being that we all are.

But this is the one who received the mission:  tend my sheep, feed my lambs.  Tell the world about God's love poured out; tell the world your story.  Forgiveness given sets us free and breaks open the possibility of new life.  Forgiveness received sets your steps on the path of life in God.

This is Jesus: God's great forgiveness given for you.

Do you love me? repeat 3 times

It's Peter and the risen Jesus on either side of a charcoal fire on a beach alongside the Sea of Galilee.  It's a scene that can break your heart.

"Simon, Son of John, do you love me?"

This is not a simple question because Peter is not just any Tom, Dick or Harry.
He's the one who vehemently denied knowing Jesus.
Not once.  Three times.
Just before they crucified him.
Just before he died.

I think there were some days when Peter simply wanted to die from the shame of it all, and the scent of this fire on the beach could have easily brought back the smell of the fire that night just days earlier.  That fire.  On that night.

"Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."

"Simon, do you love me?" Jesus asks again.

What is Peter to do now?  How can he convince Jesus that his love is genuine?  How can he convince himself that his love is strong enough for whatever trial is in his future?

He had failed once.  Would he fail again?  What exactly did loving Jesus look like?

"Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."

"Simon, do you love me?" Jesus asks a third time.

Was it to counter balance the three times Peter denied him?  Was it to help Peter be certain that he could translate love into action?  Was this third time to get Peter's mind off himself and focused on the work that Jesus had for him?

"Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."  Really, what more could Peter say?

Then feed my sheep.

The past was past.  God's future was waiting.  Jesus called Peter to be a part of God's future.  It was time to let it go and get on with the coming of the new creation and that looked like tending sheep.

Return to this story again and again when you are uncertain of your love, when you have failed yourself and others, when you are so distracted by the daily grind that you can't see or hear Jesus at work in the world, when you don't know what God is calling you to do.  Feed the sheep, tend the lambs, watch after the flock.

God will be at work in and through you whether you recognize it or not. Peace my friends.