Third Sunday of Easter, April 14, 2013
Acts 9:1-20; John 21:1-19
When did you last hear, or preach, a sermon on a story from the Acts of the Apostles? Other than on Pentecost? We don’t know what to do with these stories. Maybe the wildness of the Spirit and the confidence of the apostles trouble us. We don’t hear God’s voice, or see signs and wonders every day, like the apostles did.
This month we have a chance to rediscover the Acts. The book tells of the three most important men in the first decades of church history: Peter, James and Paul. The lectionary doesn’t introduce us to James this year and the book has the least to say about him. But his role among the first generation of disciples, in Jerusalem, is crucial. There would be no Peter and no Paul without James. Today’s readings tell us of the redemption of Paul (Acts 9) and the rehabilitation of Peter (John 21). Jesus puts the future of his flock in the hands of one man who has denied being part of that flock and another who has dedicated himself to wiping it out.
In both stories Jesus is clear. He and his flock are one. In the gospel he asks Simon Peter, “Do you love me?” He challenges Simon Peter to confess his love three times, to erase his three denials. Each time Jesus commands Simon Peter to care for his sheep. That’s how he will go on loving Jesus.
Jesus meets Saul, later called Paul, on the road. Saul discovers Jesus is, indeed, alive and aware of what Saul is doing. What Saul does to the flock, he does to Jesus. Jesus has a plan for Saul, though he doesn’t reveal it right away. Jesus speaks to Saul later, through the very flock Saul has sought to silence and scatter.
If we’re troubled by the wildness of the Spirit and confidence of the apostles, the sheer gall of Jesus will really bother us. How dare Jesus choose Simon and make him the Rock of the church? There are 10 other men more qualified, men who didn’t betray him. Jesus said Thomas’s faith was best. Why not him? How dare Jesus forgive a man who disowned him in his darkest hour?
How dare Jesus choose Saul to carry the Good News to the Gentiles? To carry the church into the world? How dare he make the church’s sworn enemy his own special envoy?
Who better to send out to turn the world upside down than two who have been turned upside down, inside out, and right way ‘round themselves?
Jesus didn’t have to make Saul into Paul, a new man out of whole cloth. He may have been called Paul in his youth in Hellenized territory, reverting to his Hebrew name when he went to Jerusalem to begin rabbinical study. He carried a Roman passport. Saul was from Tarsus, a busy cultural crossroad, a centre of commerce and communication. To say he was from Tarsus was to say he knew all the latest philosophical trends and could argue anyone not from Tarsus under the table. Saul went to Jerusalem and attached himself to the best teachers. He got to know tradition backwards and forwards. His heart caught fire when he first found out about Jesus and his little band of followers. Jesus just had to turn the heat in the right direction.
Simon from Galilee and Saul of Tarsus, aka Peter the Rock and Paul of the Gentile World, were hotheaded, hot-hearted men. At times, passion got the better of them. But Jesus got the best from them. Each was a work in progress for the rest of his life. Paul’s letters are records of work that was still in progress when he died. Founded in his deep knowledge of old and new thought. Experiments that still leave us with unresolved questions. Yet strong foundations for us as we follow in their footsteps.
