Scripture Readings: Acts 1:1–11 | Psalm 47 | Ephesians 1:15–23 | ​Luke 24:44–53

“God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.” (Ephesians 1:20-22).
 
This past week our King, Charles III, paid his first visit to Canada since his coronation in order to deliver the Speech from the Throne at the opening of a new session of Parliament. This is a deed worthy of notice for lots of reasons, including the fact that this kind of thing doesn’t happen very much.
 
For the most part, even though Canada remains a constitutional monarchy, and the King is our official head of state, the Royal Family has been fairly remote from the day to day lives of Canadians for some time. The King and Queen reign and reside far across the sea, and while we might think of them now and then, they don’t really tend to directly influence or factor into the decisions we make.
 
But at this particular moment in our country’s history, a moment when Canada’s sovereignty and independence has been called into question, and our way of life challenged by some of our close neighbours, the King was invited to come visit Ottawa, and to publicly reaffirm our historic and ongoing relationship to the Crown. And in this speech, King Charles also proclaimed our nation’s unique identity and role to play in the wider world… while also inviting both our representatives in the government, and by extension all Canadians, to continue to embody the values that we so often claim to uphold.
 
Here's a short excerpt: “You speak for your communities, representing an incredible richness of cultures, languages, and perspectives. We owe it to this generation, and those who succeed us, to think and act for the greater good of all. While the world faces unprecedented challenges, generating uncertainties across the continents with regards to peace and stability, economics, and climate change, your communities have the skills and determination to bring a wealth of solutions.

By fostering collaboration and engaging in respectful, constructive debates, you will ensure this Government is capable of bold and fair action to support Canadians.”[1]

Now whether or not this session of Parliament will live up to these words, during this visit King Charles has offered our government, and all Canadians, a positive vision for us to strive for together. As far as earthly rulers goes, I think that’s a pretty good step.  
 
But today, we Christians celebrate not just the authority and influence of an earthly head of state… we are celebrating the ascension of Jesus Christ the Risen Lord: God’s chosen Son who died, was raised, and who now reigns at God’s right hand in glory as the eternal King of Kings.  
 
In our readings today from the Gospel of Luke, and the Book of Acts, we heard how the Risen Christ appoints His apostles to serve as His representatives and witnesses in the world, promises them that they will receive power from on high when the Holy Spirit is given to them… and then Jesus is taken up before their eyes, and hidden from their sight by a cloud. And while this may seem like a strange and dramatic ending to our Lord’s story, that’s not at all how the apostles and later generations of Christians saw things.

After all, not absent-ion Sunday… it’s ascension Sunday!

This is not about our Lord leaving us and our world behind, and escaping the confines of our messed up world… this was His moment of exaltation in order to take charge of it… going up to be seated at His Heavenly Father’s right hand to reign with Him over the world that He died and rose again to save, and to set free to share in God’s Kingdom. In the ascension, we see Jesus taken up into God’s presence to take up His royal authority over all things.
 
As we heard in our reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: “God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:20-23).
 
The ascension reminds us of the wonderful truth that Jesus Christ the crucified and risen Lord has not left us here alone to fend for ourselves, and gone off somewhere far away… it tells us that He lives and remains our world’s only true King of Kings, even if others here on earth keep on laying claims to our allegiance.
 
We might not think about that word allegiance all that much in our context here in Gondola Point… but that doesn’t mean that our loyalty is not being sought after or challenged day in and day out.
 
I mean, in our everyday lives: whose approval are we usually seeking? Our family? Our friends? Our peers? Ourselves?
 
And what are the concerns that tend to drive us? The fear of loss? The desire for the next new experience or gadget? What about boredom… the need for distraction? Or are we just focused on doing what we need to do to get by?
 
All these priorities can take hold of us… and pull us towards them… demanding our attention, and that we align our minds and our actions in ways that satisfy them.
 
But when we confess that Christ Jesus is King, we are acknowledging our intention to live in allegiance to Him… to be His people… shaped by and for His Kingdom’s priorities… and obedient to His will for us, and for our world.
 
That doesn’t mean that these other obligations and preoccupations will simply disappear moving forward… but it does mean that as Christians, all of our other relationships and areas of concern are to be brought in line with the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ… and that ultimately, our daily lives are to be marked by our connection to Him above all else. That everything we say and do should be consistent with our confession that Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again!
 
Of course, this is easier said than done. But what does it mean for us to put this into practice? What does it mean for us to be an ascension people? Those who take the reign of Christ seriously, and are seeking to serve Christ Jesus our King in our context?
 
Does it mean just waiting around until He comes back? Killing time, and treading water… while abdicating any sense of responsibility?
 
Does it mean going along with the flow of the world around us… basically striving to gain influence by keeping in step with the latest trends and popular opinion… even if they go against God’s ways?
 
Does it mean trying to seize the reigns of power and steer the course of our society… imposing our own vision of God’s Kingdom onto our neighbours… forcing them to get in line with our agendas… or face the consequences?
 
Or are we being called to something even more challenging… and far more Christlike: to serve as faithful witnesses to the Good News of Jesus Christ in our world?
 
This was the calling of those first disciples who stood by and watched as the Risen Lord ascended to the Father’s right hand, and it has been an integral part of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ ever since. It doesn’t mean we will all become gifted evangelists, or ordained ministers… even though some of us here may be.
 
Honestly, just being His people… being committed to walking in His ways, and being willing to share the faith, and the hope, and the love we have received from Him is already an incredible witness and message to the world around us. But this way requires us to practice integrity, to live with conviction, and to be willing to do and say things that may put us in a vulnerable position… where we may face the confusion or rejection of those around us for staying true to Jesus.  
 
But just like those first disciples, we too have been given two great gifts to help us live as Christ’s faithful witnesses: first of all, Christ gives to His people the power of His Holy Spirit… God’s life-giving presence dwelling inside us, and guiding us, and reshaping us to become like Him… to embody the values of God’s Kingdom in ways that go far beyond our own capabilities.    
 
And secondly, God gives us each other… the Church… the community of saints, or as St. Paul puts it, the body of Christ… brothers and sisters bound together by the saving love of God, and serving our Lord together as His holy people here on earth… learning together and leaning on each other and lifting up one another.
 
Ascension Sunday call for us Christians to be faithful citizens of Christ’s Kingdom. It reminds us of our own unique identity in the world: as a community of witnesses to the Good News that Jesus Christ truly is the Lord… confessing together that Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again… and that we are to live each day embodying the life and values of Christ’s Kingdom… through the power of His Holy Spirit and work in us.
 
But even more than that, the ascension reminds us that the One who loves us, and gave His life to rescue us and our world, is alive and reigns on high, and His Kingdom will come, and His will will be done… and that even if, in times of darkness and despair, we can’t always recognize the signs of His reign at work, we can trust that Christ Jesus our King will not abandon His world… but will return to set it right for good.
 
Ascension Sunday calls us to first look up to our King Jesus Christ, the ultimate source of our life and our hope…  and then it calls us to get to work, with the Holy Spirit’s help, serving His Kingdom together. Amen.

I’ll close now with the words of St. Paul to his fellow witnesses in Ephesus: “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.” (Ephesians 1:17-19). Amen.


[1] “Speech from the Throne to open the first session of the 45th Parliament of Canada” https://www.canada.ca/en/privy-council/campaigns/speech-throne/2025/building-canada-strong.html

Today we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus Christ the Risen Lord to the right hand of God the Father, where He reigns as Lord of Lords. ​Our service of Morning Prayer and Sermon this week can be found here:

Scripture Readings: Acts 16:9–15 | Psalm 67 | Revelation 21:10–22:5 | ​John 5:1–9

“Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’ At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.” (John 5:8-9).
 
We are drawing near to the end of the Easter season, a time when we Christians reflect on the Good News of the Resurrection of Jesus, and the New Creation God is bringing about in Him… the news of Christ victory over sin and death, and rising again to new resurrection life… and how this event confronts us all with a new way to exist in the world: as a new community drawn together into the story of the Risen Christ, and living His way in the world.
 
Our Scripture readings today invite us to reflect on some of the surprising ways that our Saviour Jesus brings about God’s good Kingdom in people’s lives… and they also invite us to consider what new and surprising possibilities the Risen Lord may have in store for us… today and down the road… if we will trust Him, and listen to Him, and seek to walk in His ways.
 
Our first reading today from the book of Acts gives us an account of an episode in the missionary work of the Apostle Saul, better known by his Greek name Paul. At first glance, this story might seem pretty straightforward: Paul shows up to a new city, shares the Good News of Jesus, and creates a new Church community. What could be simpler, right? But when we step back a bit, and see what led up to this moment, and to this fateful meeting, we might begin to appreciate anew the surprising ways that God works in our lives to bring about unseen possibilities.
 
If we back up from our passage in Acts 16:9-15, and read just a few verses earlier… we see that Paul and his fellow missionaries kept running into what seems like a strange problem: the Holy Spirit of God kept stopping them from sharing the Good News with people!
 
Acts 16:6-8, “They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia [that is, in the western region of modern-day Türkiye]. When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.”
 
I mean, what’s going on here? Why would the Holy Spirit be actively stopping Paul from sharing the Gospel with anyone? Doesn’t He want everyone to come to know the Good News of Jesus Christ the Risen Lord?
 
Well yes, but as it turns out, this story reminds us that God actually knows best how and when to share this Good News. All throughout the book of Acts, we see that what leads to the Good News of Jesus spreading out from Jerusalem to embrace the nations, is not a series of random encounters, or a thoroughly planned out strategy on the part of the Apostles, but rather it’s the work of God’s Holy Spirit, working through Jesus’ disciple’s as they are attentive to the guidance of the Lord, and remain willing to let Him lead the way.
 
And this is a good reminder and invitation for you and I today too. God still speaks to His people… not in ways we can control, or manipulate, or manufacture on demand, but as we draw near to Jesus in prayer, and in faith, and as we seek to step into His story… understanding His agenda more and more through the Scriptures… God’s Spirit continues to lead His people.

​Sometimes we call this process discernment. A posture of openness and eagerness to hear and to do God’s good will. Discernment means not just assuming that all our ideas are divinely inspired, or sanctioned by Him… but humbly tuning in to Jesus, and being receptive to His direction… which, while it will never break from the Gospel, the Good News about the Risen Lord Jesus, that we find in the Bible… we may at times discover that our Lord has some surprising ways for us to share in His story, and to share it with all those around us.
 
But back to the story of St. Paul in Philippi.
 
As Paul set about his missionary work, journeying from town to town, his usual approach would be to go first of all to the local synagogue to share the Good News of God’s Messiah, Jesus the Risen Lord, with his fellow Israelites… with those most familiar with God’s promises and ways, though his message would then spread to all sorts of Gentiles as well.
 
But as Paul and his friends journeyed through the Roman province of Asia, God’s Spirit kept stopping them from preaching the word, even though that seemed to be both the obvious thing to do… and what they wanted to do. They had their own plans, that, as far as they could tell, were perfectly in line with what God was wanting them to do… but the Lord kept on clearly saying no.
 
Not because God didn’t care about these other communities. Down the road, many early Christian churches would be founded in that region. But as it turns out, God was saying no to Paul’s plans because God had a surprising new direction for his ministry.
 
Acts 16:9-10, “During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.” (Acts 16:9-10). Paul and his companions discerned the leading of the Holy Spirit, and didn’t hesitate to get to work. Even though it doesn’t turn out quite like they had imagined it.
 
They cross the Aegean Sea, and step foot in Europe, arriving in the Romanized Greek city of Philippi. And here we find no mention of a synagogue in the city. Paul’s go-to method for sharing the Good News of Jesus, stopping in at local synagogues didn’t happen… and some scholars think that this means there was likely not enough Israelite men in Philippi to form one. Ten Jewish men in a community were the minimum requirements for a synagogue to be maintained, so if Philippi was almost entirely made up of Gentiles, Paul’s normal pattern of ministry wouldn’t work here at all.
 
But what Paul finds instead of a synagogue is a gathering of women outside the city… women who were open to the Good News of Jesus Christ the Risen Lord. Paul had been led to the region because of a vision of a Macedonian man asking for his help, but the Spirit leads him instead to some God-fearing women like Lydia, who eagerly receives the Gospel and is baptized into Christ, establishing the first Christian community in Europe.
 
And this episode begins a new, surprising, and challenging chapter of St. Paul’s missionary work. Just read the rest of Acts 16 this afternoon, and you’ll get a sense of it. Listening to God, including when God’s Spirit said no, opened up these new possibilities that Paul would not have imagined before… and pathways for the Good News of Jesus to be shared with those hungry to hear it.
 
There may be things that we want to do… as disciples of Jesus, and as a parish community here at St. Luke’s… things that might have worked well for us in the past, or that seem to be in line with our understanding of God’s Kingdom work… that He might be saying no to today. And there are probably things that He is calling us His people to take part in that will push us and stretch us, just like with Paul and his compatriots.
 
But the message of Easter reminds us that we are called to follow the Risen Lord Jesus Himself… to listen to His Spirit, not simply to a series of ‘timeless truths’, or ‘guiding principles’ for life. Listening to Jesus, discerning His will for us can be far more surprising and full of possibilities than we realize. So let us keep drawing near to Him in worship, in prayer, and the study of the Scriptures… the story of Jesus… and ask for the Holy Spirit’s help discerning His will for us today.

But discerning our Lord’s will is just the first step. Once we can clearly hear what He wants for us… what comes next?
 
Turning to our Gospel passage from John Chapter 5, we hear an account from early on in Christ’s ministry where He meets someone who has very little hope that his life could be changed for good.
 
St. John tells us that there were many living in those days with serious medical and social challenges… people without the power of sight, or the ability to walk… who were drawn to a certain pool in Jerusalem where there were rumours of miraculous healings taking place when the waters were stirred up. This site was filled with people desperate for help… searching for hope anywhere they could find it. Even if the hope was fleeting… it was all that they could find to hold onto.

Sound at all like today? People all over our world… and right here in Gondola Point are searching for hope… but often in all the wrong places. They’re searching for things like connection, and meaning, and community, and peace… but many are ending up caught up in addictions, bitterness, prejudice, and many other self-destructive ways.
But the Good News is, Jesus shows up right where these people were. Right where we are. He steps into the reality of their pain. He sees their suffering, their sense of longing… and He also sees another way for them… and for us all to find life.
 
And so, in John Chapter 5, Jesus approaches a man who had been unable to walk for 38 years… and He asks him a profound question: “‘Do you want to be made well?’ The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.’” (John 5:6-7).
 
There’s no one who cares enough to help him, he says. He's just left alone in his misery. The man wants to be well, but he cannot see any way for that to happen.
 
But Jesus sees the way… Jesus is Himself the way… and so Jesus tells the man what he must do. John 5:8, “Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.”
 
Now the man has a choice. He knows what he’s being called to do… even if it seems impossible. And now he has to choose between letting his own understanding of what is possible lead the way, and remain on his mat alone… or to trust Jesus, and do what He says… to stand up, take his mat, and walk.
 
But even before the man does what Jesus tells him to, suddenly a whole world of new and surprising possibilities open up. John 5:9, “At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.” In an instant, Jesus transformed this man’s whole life. But that’s only the first half of the story… as it turns out, some Jewish people living in Jerusalem had a real problem with the ways that Jesus was working… particularly because Jesus seemed to be challenging their understanding of God’s plan regarding the Sabbath rest.
 
John 5:9-13, “Now that day was a sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, ‘It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.’ But he answered them, ‘The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’’ They asked him, ‘Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take it up and walk’?’ Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there.”

The man was stopped by some devout Jews who were concerned that whoever had healed this man was not someone who took the Living God’s ways seriously enough. After all, the Sabbath rest was sacred! It’s one of the Ten Commandments, and served as a key reminder of the Living God’s gracious rescue of Israel from slavery in Egypt… and point forward to the hope of God’s ultimate rescue of Israel and the world, when all suffering and evil will have been dealt with, and God’s faithful people will be made whole at last.
 
The Sabbath rest was a gift to God’s people… a sacred sign of His saving love for them, in the past, the present, and the future.
 
But in their eyes, Jesus seemed to be jeopardizing this sacred sign by asking the man to pick up his mat. There were some commandments in the Law and the Prophets against bearing burdens on the Sabbath day, and these commandments were elaborated on and emphasized in the teachings and traditions of later elders. For faithful Jews, keeping the Sabbath was not an option. It was God’s clear will for His people.

But alongside these commands against bearing burdens on the Sabbath, imagine for a moment the incredible burden that had just been lifted off of this man’s life by Jesus! Imagine the newfound sense of freedom and joy that now came over him! The people around him were focused on the man’s apparent neglect of concern for the Sabbath, but he had just been set free from being bed-bound for 38 years!
 
And Jesus knew there was even more good work to be done: He sought to set the man free from more than just his physical bondage, but from slavery to sin as well… to set him free to fully share in the new life of God’s Kingdom.
 
John 5:14-17, “Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.’ The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is still working, and I also am working.’
 
Jesus the Risen Lord still has work to do in our world today. Through His Holy Spirit at work in us who believe in and seek to follow Him… to do what He tells us to do… our Saviour Jesus is still at work transforming lives, setting people free, and opening up all sorts of glorious and challenging possibilities.
 
And there are also many today… including people who earnestly see themselves as being obedient and faithful to the ways of the Living God… and who may even call themselves Christians… who are not really open to doing what Jesus is calling us to do… or to the changes that He’s trying to bring about in the world.
 
So then, how do we make sure that we aren’t among those who are actually opposing Him? Well, one important step is to keep practicing humble discernment: to pray, alone and together with other believers, for God’s gracious guidance. To keep on studying His story, the Holy Scriptures, alone and together, to learn His ways. And then to keep trying to put into practice everything that Jesus tells us His people to do, and to listen attentively, even when what He says makes us uncomfortable.
 
Maybe like Paul, we have our own plans… but God has a different vision for us… and for the people that He wants to bring into our lives?
 
Maybe we have been sitting alone for a long time with our own pain and discouragement, and can’t seem to see the presence of Jesus our Risen Saviour right there along side us, or imagine how He could ever turn our lives around?
 
Maybe we want to push back against the things that the Holy Spirit is doing around us, because they seem to challenge what we hold to be precious… even though it might mean missing out on something even more valuable?
 
Whatever our challenge might be today, the Good News of Easter calls us to be open to the surprising ways that the Risen Lord is still at work in our world. And so, with the Holy Spirit’s help, may we draw near to His table in faith… and seek to discern His word to us today, and in the days to come… and may we say yes to whatever He may want to do in and through us. Amen.

Scripture Readings: Acts 11:1–18 | Psalm 148 | Revelation 21:1–6 | John 13:31–35

“The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us.” (Acts 11:12a).
 
I’ve never really been one for telling jokes. Some people are, and they have a whole host of jokes stored up, ready to go at a moment’s notice. Not me. But I did learned one joke as a child and that has always stuck with me. Here it goes:
 
‘What’s the difference between an elephant… and a loaf of bread? Well, if you don’t know the difference, I’m certainly not sending you to the store to buy a loaf of bread!
 
Sometimes distinctions matter a lot. But sometimes, we want to draw lines and build up barriers that end up actually getting in the way of what matters even more!
 
Our Scripture reading today from the book of Acts recounts the story of one of the biggest changes and challenges to the status quo that the first generation of Christians had to face: as the Holy Spirit of God led them to let go of a familiar and distinctive way of living… a way of seeing themselves, as well as all those around them, to become something new.

Our reading comes from a watershed moment in the story of the Christian Church, as St. Peter carefully defends his controversial choices and actions as an Apostle of Jesus Christ… actions that would come to have truly world-changing significance.
 
Following the Holy Spirit’s lead, St. Peter had opened up the fellowship of the Church to welcome in non-Israelites… baptizing a family of Gentiles, and embracing them as full brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
Now this may not seem like a big deal to us today, especially as most, if not all of us here this morning are Gentiles ourselves… descendants of families that cannot be traced back to the patriarchs of Israel. But this was an incredibly big deal for the early Church, which was an entirely Jewish community to begin with… one centered on a band of Galilean Jews, who bore witness to the Risen Lord Jesus of Nazareth, whom they proclaimed to be Israel’s Messiah, the Christ… God’s chosen one sent to rescue His people from their sins.
 
But as we heard, God Himself had worked through St. Peter to radically challenge some of the basic assumptions that were widely held by these first members of the Church, specifically assumptions about the age-old distinction between Jews and Gentiles.
 
Without belabouring the point… St. Peter tells his fellow Jewish Christians how God’s Holy Spirit led him to go with some Gentiles “and not to make a distinction between them and us.” (Acts 11:12). And how, in response to his visit and his message, these Gentiles received the gift of God’s Holy Spirit as well. Finally, St. Peter says to his critics “If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” (Acts 11:17).
 
And despite their own expectations, and reservations… the Jewish believers confronting St. Peter back in Jerusalem fell silent. They had a choice to make: to cling to their old ways, and the clear distinctions that had made so much sense up to this point… or to follow God’s lead, and to take part in this new thing His Spirit was inviting them to share in.

Thankfully, they chose the latter. Verse 17, “they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.’” (Acts 11:18).
 
What happened here was nothing less than a complete paradigm shift for the Church… a radical reorganization of their understanding of God’s story, and their place in it. Suddenly, they were no longer just a part of their own community’s religious renewal movement… a glorious restoration of Israel in their unique role as God’s chosen people. Now it was starting to dawn on them that God wanted even the Gentiles to share in the new life of Christ’s Kingdom… that God was actually after a world-wide restoration… giving the gift of repentance that leads to new life to all other nations as well!
 
I don’t think that many of us are used to thinking of repentance as a gift, but the first Christians did. Repentance in Scripture doesn’t simply mean apologizing, or feeling bad for the wrong things we’ve done, even though it might, and often does involve these things. No, repentance means ‘turning around’… a clear change in direction, and action.
 
And so, we can be given the gift of repentance when God opens our eyes to our need to turn around, and do something different… to change… to leave behind our old ways, and start to move towards the new life God has in mind for us.
 
For a long time, faithful Israelites had looked on their Gentile neighbours as those headed straight for disaster… as those who had embraced all sorts of foolishness and evil… especially in their worship of idols. And the Prophets had often accused the kingdoms of Israel and Judah of becoming just like their Gentile neighbours… of turning away from the Living God, and breaking their sacred covenant with Him to live as His faithful people… warning that this path would lead them to the horrors of Exile… which is exactly what happened.
 
But God had mercy on them, and eventually, the survivors of Judah were brought back to their own land, where many became very concerned about allowing themselves to be influenced by their Gentile neighbours once again. Add to this the fact that Judah was repeatedly being oppressed by hostile Gentile Empires… Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and finally Romans. Is it any wonder that in the first century, most Jews, including Jewish followers of Christ, looked at their Gentile neighbours as enemies… as obstacles to God’s good Kingdom?  
 
And yet, all through the Bible… and even in the words of the Prophets that had some pretty harsh words for the Gentiles at times… God’s word holds out hope for the nations… and He consistently points forward to their restoration and healing alongside Israel.
 
But for the early Jewish Christians, who had for so long imagined themselves to be God’s main concern… and had understood the saving work of Jesus Christ to be primarily about them… it was startling to suddenly see that God was doing something much bigger through Jesus than they had recognized: God was fulfilling His promises not only to rescue and forgive His covenant people Israel… God was reaching out to rescue and forgive everyone else too… reaching out to save even the Gentiles through Jesus, Israel’s Messiah… turning them around to share in the gift of God’s new life as well… breaking down this ancient barrier, and uniting them… in Christ.  
 
And of course, this is the key: it is through Jesus Christ that God is reaching out to both Jews and Gentiles… reconciling them to Himself, and to each other through Christ’s saving love at work at the cross… dying for the sins of the whole world, and rising again to bring about God’s New Creation… God’s new beginning for everyone who puts their faith in Jesus.
 
And this was the heart of St. Peter’s message to the Gentiles that the Holy Spirit led him to visit. He told them the story of Jesus, and that story changed their lives for good. Let’s turn back to Acts 10:34-48, to hear the message that St. Peter shared that fateful day:
 
“Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’
 
While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, ‘Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’  So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.”
 
There is so much here to explore… but I’ll try to keep things focussed, and draw our attention to verse 43: St. Peter says “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

First of all: everyone. Peter and the prophets proclaim that this gift is open to everyone! There are no essential distinctions between who can become a Christian, and who cannot. Absolutely everyone is invited… to what? To believe.
 
And this is now the only distinction that’s made: everyone who believes in Jesus Christ… those who respond to the Good News of His story… of His life, and death, and resurrection, and coming return… and place their trust in
Him receives forgiveness of sins. Not as some religious hoop to jump through, but as a gift… as a new story to live by, a new direction to follow… a new freedom from our old sinful ways, and freedom to live God’s way, through His Spirit at work in us.
 
There is no partiality at work here. God is not playing favourites, or choosing sides. St. Peter tells his Gentile hosts that they too can take part in Christ’s Kingdom… that they can receive God’s forgiveness, and share in His new life offered to all in Jesus’ name. And they believe it… and God’s own Holy Spirit is poured out on them, just as it was on the Apostles at Pentecost.

Faith in Jesus the risen Lord had united Jewish and Gentile believers into one family. Both now were being turned around to share together in the story of God’s saving love.
 
And this is our story to share in too. The story of the Christ’s own Church throughout the centuries: of God’s saving love reaching out to all nations… to everyone, without distinction… so that all of the unnecessary and tragic divisions we humans keep creating can be torn down… and God’s gift of repentance and forgiveness can turn us all around to share in His new life together in Jesus’ name.   
 
This is our story. But sadly, so often we Christians have forgotten what our story’s all about. So often we have given into the temptation to divide the world up into ‘us’ and ‘them’… and fooled ourselves into believing that God’s good Kingdom is really about our own priorities and plans. There are all kinds of examples of this divisive behaviour throughout the history of the Church, but I think that one of the most tragic, and disastrous distinctions we Christians have made is when we turn against each other.
​
When we turn our backs on our fellow believers… and refuse to have anything to do with our brothers and sisters in Christ… and keep on fighting amongst ourselves, while the world around us watches.
 
From the start, Jesus Christ came to rescue and reconcile us all to God, and to each other. To share His holy, life-changing love with everyone… forgiving our sins, and leading us into a whole new Spirit-led life together. But again and again, we His people keep failing to follow His Spirit’s lead, or obey His clear commands… and then we sit back and wonder why the world around us doesn’t seem all that interested in what we have to say.  
 
But even so, Jesus our Lord has given us all a clear calling. He’s made an important distinction to help His disciples stay true to the heart of our story… and to draw all peoples to Himself:
 
John 13:34-35, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
We Christians are called first and foremost, to love one another! This is where it all begins!
 
To love one another. Not just some perfect, ideal community… but the real, everyday believers we share our lives with. To love one another as Jesus our Lord first loved us: practice offering each other grace… assistance… encouragement… honesty… patience… forgiveness… and hope… everything that He has already shared with us.    
 
This is how the world around us will come to know the Good News of God’s saving love: when we Christians put His love into action… when, with the Holy Spirit’s help, we truly try to love one another, in our words and actions.
 
Because honestly, if we Christians aren’t trying to love one another… even imperfectly… why should our neighbours believe anything we say about the life-changing, saving love of God? But if we are striving to share God’s love… starting with our fellow believers, and building from there… our neighbours will start to see God’s own power at work in us, inviting them to draw near and receive this gift as well.
 
As Christians today, we are commanded to love one another. Not only those gathered here at St. Luke’s, but all those who place their faith in Jesus Christ, and seek to walk in His ways. We will not always agree. And there may be some important distinctions that we have to hold onto for now. But that cannot stop us from seeking to share the love of Jesus Christ with one another in any way we can.
 
And this may mean we need to repent of some things… turning away from our old ways that lead us farther away from God’s will for us… or tearing down some of the unnecessary barriers that we have built up over the years.  
 
If we are to take part in Christ’s Kingdom work today… and help our world come to know the Good News of Jesus, and God’s saving love offered to absolutely everyone in His name… we need to do all we can to put that love into practice. With the Holy Spirit’s help we really need to love one another. And that’s no joke. Amen. 

Scripture Readings: Acts 9:36–43 | Psalm 23 | Revelation 7:9–17 | ​John 10:22–30

“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.” (John 10:27-28a).
 
As you may have guessed by the sheep-themed language in some of our readings this morning, today is Good Shepherd Sunday... where we recall that Christ Jesus is not simply the crucified and Risen King of Kings and all Creation… He is also our Good Shepherd, the One who cares for us, and nurtures us, and leads us together into God’s New Life. It is an image of the Living God’s intimate understanding, and investment in the lives of His people… and it reminds us of an important aspect of our relationship with Him:
 
If Jesus is our Good Shepherd… we His sheep are to follow Him.
 
Shepherding is not like the kind of farming where the livestock are kept in protective pens, and just wait around until their fed. Shepherding is free range… open to the wide world, with all it’s surprising joys and dangers…
 
Shepherding relies on the care and diligence of the shepherd, who knows what the sheep really need, and where they can get it. But it also relies on the sheep trusting the shepherd… and constantly paying attention to where the shepherd is leading them. To live, the sheep need to follow.
 
And for thousands of years, God’s people have used this image to think about how the Living God relates to us: He does not invite us to just sit around waiting to be fed, while sheltering behind the walls of our pen. He invites us to trust Him… to trust that He knows what we truly need, and where to find it… and that, as we make our ways through the wide open world, with all of it’s surprising joys and dangers, to trust that God loves us, and He will not leave us… and He longs to lead us to share in His New Life… but we need to stick close to Him, and follow Him every step of the way.
 
This morning we read Psalm 23 together, an ancient Hebrew poem explicitly calling God our Shepherd, and praising Him for His steadfast love and guidance… an enduring source of comfort and hope in times of distress and uncertainty.

As we know, God’s people have faced many times of distress and uncertainty over the centuries. Times when we could not see a way forward. When we did not seem to have enough of what we need… or when our sense of security and peace was being shaken. When we faced the shadow of death.
 
And as we know, many today, both inside and outside of the Church, are feeling overwhelmed by the distress and uncertainty that our world is facing these days… and many of us are finding it really hard to know where to turn for help.  
 
Thankfully, our Scripture readings this morning offer us all an invitation to trust in God’s steadfast love, and in Christ Jesus, our Good Shepherd, to guide us… and to give us what we really need to share in God’s New Life.
 
In our Gospel reading today, we hear about an encounter Jesus had in Jerusalem around the time of the feast of Dedication… which we know better as Hanukkah.
 
This was a celebration that highlighted the victory of God’s people in their war against their Greek oppressors… with the Maccabean led revolt of devout Jews recapturing Jerusalem and the Holy Temple, which had been desecrated… events that had occurred in the centuries between the Old and New Testaments.
 
For a sense of the general mood that this festival stirs up, think of the American Independence Day, the Fourth of July: joy and patriotism, combined with a sense of national destiny, and blessing… all wrapped up together with a message of military victory.
 
But in Jesus’ day, Judea was not independent… it was under the thumb of the Romans, another pagan Gentile Empire, even greater than the Greeks before them. Imagine for a moment the mood of a Fourth of July celebration if somehow America was taken over by some other nation. Imagine the tension… the sense of frustration… and maybe the rising anticipation that someone would come along again to lead another revolt and win independence again.  
 
I say this because this is how many people felt in Jesus’ day. They knew God had good plans for their people. They knew they had once before thrown off their pagan oppressors, and that God had promised to one day raise up a descendant of King David’s line to rescue God’s people once and for all… and to establish God’s Kingdom on earth… and they were eager for this new King, this Messiah to get to work. To gather his forces, and overthrow their enemies, and show the whole world that God’s people will be victorious. They were wanting a military Messiah… but then Jesus of Nazareth came along.
 
And Jesus messed with a lot of their expectations about what God’s King and God’s Kingdom looked like: He performed amazing signs and miracles that showed God’s power at work in Him… but He also said and did things that did not mesh at all with the vision they had for their future. One minute, He would be feeding thousands of hungry people from just a few loves of fish and bread… (just imagine how well He could provide for Judean armies in their fight against Rome with that kind of power!) but the next minute He’s talking about being the bread from Heaven… and that to have God’s life, we need to eat His flesh and drink His blood… or He’s forgiving people who were clearly caught in their sins… or He’s confronting the influential spiritual leaders of God’s people.
 
And so, in this passage, during the patriotic celebration of the Dedication, as He walked through the Temple courts, and some Judeans “gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’” (John 10:24). Stop messing around, and speaking in riddles. Are you the Messiah, they ask, or not?
 
Maybe some of us can identify with the people asking Jesus this question. When we look around our world… at the deep divisions, distress, and uncertainty, shaking not just our corner of the world, but seemingly everywhere… we might be wondering: ‘OK Jesus, what gives? We need a Saviour right now. Are you the One we can trust to get us through this mess? Are you really God’s chosen King? Or should we be following someone else?’
 
But Jesus responds to this question in a way that turns the table around on us all. Instead of saying yes or no, He drives home the necessity of faith.
 
John 10:25-30, “Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”
 
You do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.
 
For those willing to see, Jesus had already tipped His hand. His works… what He had been busy saying and doing told the whole story… but that story wasn’t the one that they wanted to hear. In other words, Jesus was the Messiah… but not their kind of Messiah… and unless they could let go of their own expectations, and listen to Jesus… and learn from Him what God’s Kingdom was really about, they were going to miss out on the real victory.
 
What began as their demands for an answer, Jesus turns into a question for them, and for us all: Will we listen to His voice and follow Him, wherever He will lead... or not?
 
Like a good shepherd, Jesus leads His sheep somewhere… away from where they are, and towards where they need to be. Will we listen to His voice, even when we’re not sure where He is leading us?
 
This is not an abstract question, but one that we as Christian disciples today… as individuals, and as a parish family need to keep asking ourselves again and again throughout our lives: are we still listening to our Shepherd’s voice? Are we actually trying to obey Him, and walk in His ways? Or are we content to just wander off on our own… or to follow some other voices instead?
 
This is of course a real danger for us as Christians: there are many who want to claim that Jesus is their Shepherd… but they don’t want to go where He’s leading them.

They might be happy enough if He will keep giving them green pastures and quiet waters, but are not so sure about walking through those valleys of the shadow of death… or of sitting down to eat with enemies all about the place. They might be more eager to start a fight, and force their own vision for the future on those around them.
 
But Jesus, our Good Shepherd, is leading us somewhere… He has His own destination in mind for His people… one that will challenge and change us all so that we will begin to become something we cannot become on our own:

Jesus our Good Shepherd is calling us His Sheep to become more and more like Him.  
 
This is where we turn to our first reading today from the Book of Acts Chapter 9, where we see St. Peter following closely in the footsteps of the Risen Lord.
 
In this story, which takes place in the days after Pentecost, St. Peter is summoned to the house of an elderly believer named Tabitha, who had been sick, and had died before Peter’s arrival. When he gets there, he is greeted by mourners, but puts everyone outside, and prays… and then he calls Tabitha to get up, and she does. She comes back to life.
 
Now this story is amazing in its own right. But if it sounds a bit familiar, that’s because St. Peter is simply doing what he had seen his Master do before him. Peter was following Jesus’ lead.
 
The book of Acts is the sequel to the Gospel of Luke, written by the same author, telling the same extended story… and back in Luke Chapter 8, we see Jesus summoned to the house of a father whose daughter had been seriously ill, and who had died while he was on the way.
 
Luke 8:49-56, “…someone came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.’ When Jesus heard this, he replied, ‘Do not fear. Only believe, and she will be saved.’ When he came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with him, except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother. They were all weeping and wailing for her; but he said, ‘Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and called out, ‘Child, get up!’ Her spirit returned, and she got up at once. Then he directed them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astounded; but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened.”
 
And now St. Peter, having seen first hand the resurrected Lord Jesus, and having been sent by Him into the world to share the Good News, and to care for God’s people… and having received God’s own Holy Spirit at Pentecost… follows Jesus by doing what He did: He calls his sister in Christ Tabitha back to life.
 
Once, Peter had followed Christ out onto the waves… walking out on the water with His Master. Doing the impossible, not in his own power, but through his faith in Jesus. And now, Peter was carrying on Christ’s own work… Christ’s signs and wonders were revealed through Peter, so the world could see that the Risen Lord Jesus really is the Saviour we have all been waiting for. That Jesus has achieved God’s victory, and even death cannot defeat or get in the way of His Kingdom.
 
The significance of this story from Act’s Chapter 9 is that the same Spirit of God that was at work in Jesus, is now at work in His Church… and now, in and through His people, Jesus is continuing His Kingdom work in the world.
 
This is where He’s leading us. This is the journey that Jesus is calling us to travel as we follow Him.
 
By God’s Spirit and grace, the sheep are being remade in the image of their Shepherd. Calling us to take part in the work of His Kingdom, and empowering us to live His way in the world. Not necessarily with signs and wonders like St. Peter, but there are lots of ways God’s Spirit us at work in our lives: freeing us from guilt and sin, so that we can also forgive others, like He did. Stirring up our hearts with compassion to care for the needs of those around us who are in trouble. Standing up for the truth, even if it puts us in conflict with those who would rather give in to popular lies. Loving our neighbours, and even our enemies, instead of insisting on our own way.
 
Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.”
 
As we listen to Him, and follow Him, He gives us the eternal life of God… the hope of the resurrection, and God’s New Creation, which He shares with us even now… by re-creating us His sheep to be more and more like Him.  
 
And as we listen to Him, and follow Him, and become like Him… God’s Holy Spirit works in and through us to  confront the world around us with the same choice we had to make: will they trust in and follow the One we are following? Will they believe and join the flock, or not?
 
We can’t make that choice for them. But we need to recognize that, as the Christian Church today, Christ Jesus is graciously calling our neighbours, our friends, our family, and even our enemies to follow Him through us!  
 
We the Church today are how God’s steadfast love and new life are to be made known and shared with the world. We His sheep, transformed by the life of our Good Shepard, are the way He has chosen to draw all peoples to Himself… not just those like us, but people from “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Revelation 7:9). 

So with this all in mind, let us listen to the voice of our Good Shepherd! Let us not go running off ahead of Him, or wander away from His side. Let us not lag behind… lingering when He calls us to move forward.
 
And instead, let us actively acquaint ourselves with Jesus… seeking to understand how the Apostles and Prophets tell His story throughout the Scriptures… taking time regularly to pray for His guidance and presence in our daily lives… putting into practice His way of life… following His teachings in all we do… trusting that, when we do, that Jesus our Lord is leading us where we truly need to go… and helping us become what we need to become… and working through us to help others in our distressed and uncertain world come to know His saving love as well. Amen.

Today people all over our country are celebrating Mother's Day: remembering and honouring the mothers who have loved, cared for, guided, and raised them up. For many of us, this is a day of thankfulness and joy, and we do well to give thanks along with them for those who truly embodied the gift of motherhood.

For some of us, today is much more complicated, and indeed painful... perhaps due to difficulties or losses in our parental relationships. We remember too, and grieve with those who's experience of the pursuit of motherhood has been one of sorrow, pain, and disappointment. Along with them, we acknowledge that family life is often a challenging road, and open our hearts and ears to listen to and honour their stories and their sufferings, which are also known and shared by our loving God, as well as many others. 

Whether today is a day of joy for you, or a day of pain, or some mixture of both: may you receive God's blessing today exactly as it is needed. May God surround you and those you love, as well as all those who have loved and nurtured you, with peace, hope, fellowship, kindness, and understanding. ​

​Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, and Sermon this week can be found here:

​And our Songs for this week can be found here:

Scripture Readings: Acts 9:1–20 | Psalm 30 | Revelation 5:11–14 | John 21:1–19

“Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.” (John 21:5-6).

This passage holds a special place in my heart, and it also played an important role in my decision to move to the Maritimes and become an Anglican.

As some of you know, I grew up in the Free Methodist Church, a branch of the Christian Church that’s more concentrated in Ontario and further West, and that would have some similarities to the Wesleyans. And when we moved to Toronto so I could study at Wycliffe College, an Anglican seminary, I was in the process of pursuing ordination as a Free Methodist pastor. But as graduation approached, a challenge was becoming apparent: there did not seem to be any Free Methodist pastoral positions available for me to serve in. At the same time, I had come to really appreciate the Anglican Church throughout my studies at Wycliffe, and some of my classmates and professors encouraged me to consider pursuing ministry as an Anglican. 

As I prayed and wrestled with all this, I spoke to a wise leader in the Free Methodist Church, and they reminded me of this story, and that sometimes God leads us in surprising directions: “Try casting your net on the other side of the boat”, they said to me “and see what God brings up.” And to make a long story short, here I am with you at St. Luke’s. 

I can honestly say I would never have imagined that my path in life would lead me to where I am now. But I am so glad that it has, and I thank God that He knows how to get us where we need to be.

God often calls us to do things that seem very different from what we had expected. It might seem strange, or risky, or frightening… but if we will listen… if we choose to do what He asks of us… if we will let His will take charge, and change us… and place our lives completely in His hands and trust Him, that’s when all sorts of new and surprising possibilities begin to arise.

And that’s what our Scripture readings today are inviting you and I to do: to place our trust in the Risen Jesus… to let go of our own expectations for what comes next, and to follow His life-changing lead.

In our reading today from the Gospel of St. John, we hear about the final appearance of the Risen Christ to some of His closest disciples. This story takes place sometime after Christ appeared to Thomas, and the others, convincing them that the resurrection was real… that their Master really was God’s Messiah… and that He had been raised to new life in a way that would change the world forever.

But now what? 

I mean, what happens now for them? What were the disciples themselves supposed to do now that Jesus had done something so world-changing? In John’s Gospel, it’s not quite clear what the Risen Jesus expects Peter and the rest to do. 

And so, in this moment of uncertainty, Peter speaks up: “I am going fishing.” He says, and the others follow his lead. Peter goes right back to what he was doing before Jesus called him. Ever wonder why? 

Well, we don’t know exactly. The text doesn’t say. But as this episode unfolds, it might be worthwhile to remember what happened the last time that Peter and Jesus had spoken face to face in John’s Gospel: that is, the night of the Last Supper, just before our Lord was betrayed, arrested, and crucified.

That night, Jesus had told His disciples that He would soon be leaving them. 

John 13:36-38, “Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered, ‘Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward.’ Peter said to him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.’”

And as Jesus predicted, Peter denies His Lord three times. Overcome with shame, he then hid himself and wept bitterly. And the next time we hear of Peter, he’s racing to the empty tomb… and then, he’s in the upper room at Easter when the Risen Lord appears beyond all hope!

But where does this wonderful turn of events leave Peter himself? His story has been left hanging.

At one point, he had been pretty confident that he could be a faithful follower of Jesus. He seemed sincere when he claimed that he would willingly lay down his life for his beloved Master… but then he had failed. He had backed down. Three times he had denied that he even knew Jesus. Now what was in store? There’s no resolution of Peter’s failure… that is, until the Risen Lord Jesus Himself brings home to him the power of God’s life-changing love.

As we heard, Peter goes back to his old ways catching fish… but with no luck at all. Then a voice from the shore calls out for those in the boat to do something new: 

John 21:4-6, “Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.” 

Doing things their own way got them nothing. But simple obedience led to a miracle. The nets were so full of fish, they could not even bring them into the boat. 

Peter eagerly swims to shore, and finds Jesus preparing a meal for them to share, over a charcoal fire. I mention this detail because the only other time that charcoal is mentioned in the New Testament is when John’s Gospel describes the fire that Peter and the soldiers were warming themselves by when he denies Jesus. Imagine what was going on in   Peter’s mind this time, warming himself beside another charcoal fire made by the very Master he had let down. 

After the meal, the Risen Lord Jesus addresses Peter directly, and He gets right to the heart of the matter. John 21:15-17, “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’  A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’  He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’ ”

Three times Peter denied that he knew Jesus when our Lord was facing the cross. Three times the same crucified and now Risen Jesus looks at Peter and asks him: ‘Do you love me?’ Three times Peter replies ‘Lord… you know that I love you.’ What is going on here?

In a word, Jesus is confronting Peter with an opportunity to be reconciled. To receive His forgiveness for what is most likely Peter’s biggest regret of all time. Christ doesn’t heap shame on Peter for denying Him, or make harsh demands upon him. No, our Lord gently but directly invites His less than faithful disciple to draw near to Him again… to reaffirm his love for His Lord, who not only wants to forgive, but to also transform those who trust in Him.

Each time Peter responds to Christ’s question, our Lord tells him to do something: to feed Christ’s lambs, to tend Christ’s sheep, to feed Christ’s sheep.

And in doing so, He’s giving Peter exactly what he needed: a new purpose, and vocation. Out of renewed love for His Risen Lord, Peter was being called to care for the rest of the flock… the rest of Christ’s family. His devotion and love for Jesus was being reinforced, and directed towards the new Church community. Jesus takes his faltering follower, and turns him into a shepherd. He forgives him. He reaffirms him. And He entrusts him with a high calling. But He also warns Peter that this new life will also come at a cost. 

John 21:18-19, “‘Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.’ (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’”

Peter had a choice to make here: he could have once again gone back to fishing. He could have said no thanks to the high calling our Lord had entrusted him with… knowing that, if He accepted it, that would mean sharing in the sufferings of His Lord… surrendering his own independence, and in time following Jesus His Lord by faithfully facing death as well. 

Peter had a choice. And we have a choice too. When we falter and fail… when we don’t know what to do… we can just go back to our old ways… and keep on casting our nets the ways that make sense to us…or we can draw near to Jesus, and receive from Him the forgiveness and new life that He offers us all.

Yes, Peter had messed up, but Jesus had not given up on him at all. And thankfully, Peter listened to Jesus’ voice, and answered His call to follow Him. And in that moment, over breakfast by the shore, Peter’s life changed forever.

In our reading from the book of Acts, we see two more people that the Risen Jesus confronts, and listening to His voice changes both of their lives too.

Our passage tells the story of Saul of Tarsus, an infamous enemy of the early Church. He was a devout Pharisee, who saw Christians… or members of “the Way”, as they were called at the time… as a dangerous threat to God’s faithful people, and so Saul tried his best to get rid of them.

His zealous persecution of Christians caused most of them to scatter… to leave Jerusalem, and set up new church communities all across the eastern Roman Empire. Fully convinced of the rightness of his cause, Saul gets permission from the higher ups in Jerusalem to head to Damascus and have any Christians there thrown in jail.

But as we heard, on the way the Risen Lord Jesus stops Saul in his tracks. He sees light from heaven suddenly all about him, and hears the Risen Lord, confronting Saul for persecuting Him by persecuting His followers. 

Now that’s something to think about, isn’t it? How we treat those who belong to Christ, is how we treat Christ Himself. I wonder how many disputes and divisions in the Church would happen very differently if we took this truth a little more to heart. But back to the story.

Saul is blinded, and led to Damascus. This was not at all how he had imagined his journey to Damascus was going to unfold. Waiting there for three days for news of what to do.

Imagine being in his shoes… or sandals, I suppose. One moment you’re eagerly on your way to arrest some dangerous troublemakers, and the next, you’ve lost your sight, and have been told to wait with no clue when that waiting would end… or what was coming next.

Then again, I know for some of us it might be pretty easy to identify with Saul. When something in life hits us hard, and suddenly we can’t see a way forward anymore. And we have no idea when all the waiting will come to an end, or if it will ever improve. To his credit, Saul’s response in that time was to pray and fast. Not to give up and give in to despair, but to direct his full attention to God… in the hopes that, in God’s time, the answers would be given.

And it was. But not to Saul. No, instead, God draws into the story an unlikely messenger to come to Saul’s rescue: a believer named Ananias… one of the same Christians in Damascus that Saul had been on his way to arrest. 
This is who the Lord wants to work through to change Saul’s life around… and to change Ananias as well. 

Acts 9:10-12, “Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ He answered, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ The Lord said to him, ‘Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”

This all sounds great for Saul. But understandably, Ananias is not too keen on the Lord’s plan. He protests that this Saul of Tarsus is not to be trusted. 

Acts 9:13-16, “But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
 
Despite Ananias’ misgivings, the Lord knew all about Saul… all about the harm he had done to His beloved followers. Jesus knew all too well the pain and the grief Saul had caused… as we already heard, when Saul was persecuting them, Jesus Himself was being attacked.

But even so, Jesus had plans for Saul… plans to change his life for good. And to work through Saul to change the world. 

But to be clear, the suffering that Jesus mentions is not meant as a punishment for Saul… but as a sharing in Christ’s own suffering for the sake of the Good News. Saul, or Paul as he is later known… becomes an incredibly devoted Apostle of Jesus, and in a letter to the Christians in the city of Philippi, this is what he will say about suffering: 

Philippians 3:7-11, “Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Like Peter, Saul would also come to see that following Jesus would mean facing hardship and suffering… but even so, Saul was convinced that it was all well worth it! 

And so when Saul receives his sight, he makes the choice to be baptized into Christ… to let go of his old ways, and devote himself completely to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ the Risen Lord.

But before we wrap this sermon up, there’s one more person who made a life changing choice in this story: Ananias. This disciple from Damascus was being asked to do something difficult and dangerous: to listen to the Lord’s voice, and extend help to his enemy. To trust that the Lord knows exactly what He’s doing when He tells us to bless those who persecute us… and to forgive those who trespass against us… to not seek out revenge, or let bitterness become a barrier keeping those around us from encountering God’s grace. To know that God’s saving love for us is meant to work through us as well… often in the most surprising ways. 

And thankfully, like Peter, and Saul, Ananias obeys the voice of the Risen Jesus… and suddenly the man he once feared and mistrusted became a beloved brother in Christ. 

And this is how our Lord loves to work: turning all our expectations upside down… lifting up those like Peter who falter and fail, and transforming them by His mercy and love to care for others… confronting those like Saul who are on the wrong track, and inviting them to take part in His own mission of sharing God’s love with the world… and calling those like Ananias, who are hesitant and fearful to be open to extending God’s hospitality and healing love even to our enemies.

Who knows what the Risen Lord Jesus has in store for you and I here at St. Luke’s. But whatever it may be, let us be eager to obey His voice. 

Let us be willing to cast our nets on the right side of the boat at His command… to be open to the unexpected challenges and blessings that He has prepared for us… to face days of uncertainty and waiting with patience, and confidence in His saving love. And may His life-changing love work through us to change His world for good. Amen.

​And our Songs for this week can be found here: