Vicar Beths last sermon for those who missed it! Peter and Paul Apostles Sermon by Vicar Beth Hawk June 29, 2014 John 21:15-19 Today we celebrate two great figures from the church’s early history; Saints Peter and Paul. Peter is the focus of our gospel lesson. Peter the disciple who confessed that Jesus was the Messiah; the son of the Living God. At the same time Peter was often slow to understand Jesus’ teachings, was a roadblock to Jesus on the way to Jerusalem and the cross, and denied knowing Jesus when the going got tough. Yet through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Peter’s life was transformed and he was commissioned to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Jews. Our gospel opens with Jesus and several of his disciples having just finished a breakfast of bread and fish on the beach. After breakfast, Jesus asks Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Christ asks Peter three times if he, Peter, loves Christ more than anything else. Three times Peter is invited to declare his love for Jesus and three times Peter answers, “Yes, Lord. You know I love you.” Some scholars believe that this conversation harkens back to the three times that Peter denied Jesus prior to his crucifixion as well as Jesus’ own identity and work as the Good Shepherd. Other scholars believe that this conversation is about Peter’s redemption. (Lutheran Study Bible, page 1792) Either way, the end result is that Christ commissions Peter; “Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.” The commission that Christ gives to Peter is the same commission he gives to us. We know what Christ is asking yet we wonder how he can use people such us. We struggle daily with sin. In the words of St. Paul, we do not do what we want but we do the very thing that we hate. We do not always fear, love, and trust God as we ought. As human beings we believe that life is all about us and that we are the center of the universe. There may even be times that we deny knowing Christ and yet God uses us to change the world. We have much in common with Peter. Peter was a sinner. Peter was a saint. You and I are sinners. You and I are saints. According to Luther we are simultaneously saints and sinners. We are all born children of a fallen humanity but our relationship with God is changed because of God’s grace. We are redeemed by the blood of the crucified and risen Christ; made holy and gifted by the Holy Spirit to do God’s work in this world. Because we have been redeemed by Christ’s life saving act on the cross, we are just the people that God needs to bring words of healing, wholeness, and love to this broken world through the ministries of feeding and tending Christ’s flock. Feed my lambs. Feed and care for the children, persons new to the faith, persons whose faith may be shaky, or persons who have never felt or known the love of Christ or seen his face. Tend my sheep. Care for and encourage the faithful so they do not go astray; so that the devil does not come to them in clever and pleasant disguises to keep or turn them away from God. Encourage the faithful to use the gifts received at baptism from the Holy Spirit for the sake of the common good and for the building up of others and the body of Christ. Care for the ones who have no one to speak for them; the poor, the oppressed, and the vulnerable. Feed my sheep. Feed them with the food they need for daily living. Feed them with the Word, with the bread and the wine, with the water and the Word. Feeding and tending Christ’s sheep physically, emotionally, and spiritually is our call to mission and ministry. God’s call to feed and tend is meant for all of us no matter what our occupation, position in the community, age or gender. During our mission trip to New Jersey, I chaperoned 4 young ladies from our parish as we spent 4-6 hours a day in the Center for Community Resources in Keansburg, New Jersey. The center is run by Saint Marks Episcopal Church and is the face of Christ in that community. As a group, we helped make and serve breakfast and lunch to over 500 guests during the week; people who are either homeless, people who are still out of their homes because of Super Storm Sandy, or people who need help making ends meet. The guests of the center were so excited that we were there. They loved seeing and having our young people with them for the week. Last week Pastor Jonathan told you about Jimmy, the man that the girls nicknamed Golden Heart Man because he told them the very first day that they had golden hearts because they gave up a week of their summer vacation to come to New Jersey. John, another guest at the center, didn’t want the girls to be disappointed that they might not get to the boardwalk during the week so he brought the boardwalk to them. He had a stuffed animal from the boardwalk for each of them on our last day there. At the center we met little lambs who greeted us with beautiful smiles, giggles, and shy hellos. I especially think of little Ty whom Faith and I had a chance to hold and cuddle. Ty was a preemie; weighing about two pounds when he was born. Now he is a beautiful healthy 7 month old little boy with a sweet smile and a love of chocolate cake. As we fed and tended we in turn were fed and tended emotionally and spiritually with hugs, smiles, and kind words. We were blessed by the prayers offered by the guests each noontime before lunch. Their prayers were simple, exquisite, straight from the heart; full of thanksgiving and gratitude that God sent us to help at the center for the week. We never know where our commissioning will take us. Today is a bittersweet day as my commissioning takes me from your midst and back to school for another year. I have grown to love each of you, the Rural Retreat and Attoway Kimberlin Lutheran Parishes, and southwest Virginia. I will miss hearing the train, the cows, and the birds outside my windows. I will miss seeing the rabbits and groundhogs. I will miss hearing about what’s happening in Rural Retreat, Wytheville, Marion, Galax, Gladesboro, and other places. I will miss worshiping with you. All of you and this place will remain in my heart. Yet, I have also been away from my home, my family, and my friends for a year. It will be good to get back to PA to see them. And it will be good to finish my last year of seminary and graduate. I don’t know where God’s call will take me. Wherever it is, though, I know that I am being called to feed and to tend. Over the past year I have been blessed to experience first-hand as well as be a part of how you all answer God’s call to feed and tend through the wonderful ministries currently underway in the Rural Retreat and Attoway Kimberlin parishes. One that is particularly close to my heart is your ministry as an internship site. I know when Becky arrives in Rural Retreat in mid-July she will be as lovingly fed and tended as I have been during my time with you. I am certain, too, that as individuals and as parishes you will continue to answer God’s call through future ministries you can’t even begin imagine. After having breakfast on the beach, Jesus commissioned Peter to feed and tend. Peter had no idea where he would be sent or what would happen. All Jesus said to him was “Follow me.” Though none of us knows where our commissioning by Christ will lead us we continue to follow him. Because your future ministries of feeding and tending are as open as mine, I would like to end my message this morning with a prayer from the ELW hymnal. Let us pray. Lord God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. * *ELW page 304, Office of Morning Prayer
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 13:33:42 +0000