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The
Cathedral Church
of Saint John
Ten Concord Ave.
Wilmington
Delaware
19802

voice: (302) 654-6279
fax: (302) 777-5789

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Dean’s Sermon
3rd Sunday in Easter
18 April 2010

by the Very Reverend William B. Lane

To serve the world as the outward and visible sign of the kingdom of God,

Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)
Psalm 30
Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-19
Click the above links to see the scripture readings.

Link to National Gallery of ArtWe have been following the story of the Resurrection of Jesus as presented by John, this week from what is really a second ending to his Gospel account. It is almost as though John, having thought he had said as much as needed, decided, no, wait a minute, there is a little more I want to say. I want to tell you about a resurrection experience in Galilee at the Sea.

The previous revelations of the risen Lord had taken place in Jerusalem, but now John takes us to the Galilee, to the home territory of Jesus and many of his disciples. And especially to the Sea, were Jesus had first met some of them. So it seems that these disciples had gone home, back to what was a part of their lives before Jesus. They were fishermen, so they went fishing.

It was after a night of futile fishing, the disciples met Jesus. He feeds them with bread and fish, just as he had feed the multitude with bread and fish. They know that they are with Jesus, the risen one.

It was after breakfast that Jesus turned to Peter, and through Peter to the Church. Peter, who had denied Jesus three times, is reminded of this as Jesus three times presses him on his love. And three times, growing increasingly frustrated, Peter affirms his love for Jesus. And three times Jesus commissions him to exercise that love as a living sign of the presence of the kingdom of God: feed my lambs … tend my sheep … feed my sheep.

In so doing, Peter will indeed be taking up the cross and Jesus informs him of that. There is often cost to faithfulness, you need to know that. And then, simply, Follow me.

Feed, tend, feed, follow. Words for Peter, and words for the Church, thus words for us. The kingdom of God made known by the community of the resurrection. Made known, not by the means so often used by other kingdoms, not by sword, not by might, not by oppression, not by fear. No, made known by feeding and tending, by following the risen Lord, the one in whom God has, does, and will feed and tend God’s creation.

As Peter, so the Church has the commission, and the commission is not to serve the Church, the commission is for the Church to serve the world as the outward and visible sign of the kingdom of God, giving witness that the behavior so prevalent in the world is not the behavior God wills for His creation. Indeed it is unhealthy in all ways, it leads to spiritual, physical, and emotional sickness, even unto death. The prophets of Israel understood this as they cautioned the nation not to emulate the great powers, not to live as the kingdoms of the world. Their caution was ignored, and the consequence was destruction, captivity, occupation.

The Church has often forgotten or ignored its commission to serve the world by following Jesus. Rather than tend and feed, it has grasped for, competed for, and destroyed for power on the world’s terms. It has been self serving, too often at great cost to itself and to those who should see Jesus when they see the Church. When the goal becomes protecting the institution, not serving and seeking the truth, come whence it may, cost what it will, the Church has strayed from the way of Jesus, and hardened itself against the work of the Holy Spirit.

Why is it so difficult for the Church to be faithful, faithful to its Lord, and faithful to its commission? Tend, feed, that is love and nurture, yes even the least of all for the least may well be most in need of that love and nurture. Not because they are least in the eyes of God, but because the world has made it possible for them to be least. Humans are made slaves, children are abused, women are marginalized, those who live in loving and faithful same gender relationships are still all too often denied the respect and affirmation that such love and faithfulness are worthy of. All of these have been either condoned or practiced by the Church in the past and in some cases even today.

But that is not the Church being faithful. The Church when it is faithful, when it is giving life to the kingdom of God, when it witnesses an alternative behavior to the prevalent behaviors of the world, that Church is the incarnation of the resurrected Lord. That is the Church which repents of its failure to tend and feed because of greed for power, and through that repentance finds life, finds its soul, knows its Lord. Medical doctors take an oath to do no harm. So the Church must do no harm, no harm to the spiritual, physical and emotional welfare of those whom it encounters.

Of course there can be cost to such faithfulness, remember Jesus informs Peter that there will be cost to following him, to tending and feeding. But even if that cost is the life of the Church, far better for that life to be given in faithfulness to the Kingdom of God, than to have maintained a life that betrays that kingdom. Throughout scripture the people of God are reminded that they need not fear to be faithful. N. T. Wright, the Biblical historian, says that the most mentioned commandment in Scripture is do not fear.

When the Church overcomes fear with faith, it does witness to the kingdom of God. Finally in the latter portion of the last century, it broke its own silence and even complicity in racism and at lunch counters, in board rooms, and on the streets of American cities identified with the oppressed and named the evil that was the oppressor. At least some of the Church opened its eyes to the heresy of sexism, and came to the amazing understanding that is as old as creation, that women are fully children of God. And, finally in this century, some of the Church has seen that in Christ one is not judged by the gender of the one she or he loves and is in relationship with, but by the faithfulness of that love and relationship.

So the faithful Church, the faithful community of Jesus, the faithful people of God need not be burdened by fear but rather can sing the victory song of the kingdom of God as rehearsed in Revelation:

"Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!"
"To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"

Tend, feed, and follow, the early Christians were called the people of the way, and the way is the way of Jesus, who is nothing less than the Lord of life. Once Saul whom we know as Paul was convicted by this, the scale like cause of blindness fell from his eyes. He who had been blind could see, see the way of the Lord. That is amazing grace, the grace that God gives to the Church and the Church commissioned to make known to the world.

Faithfully,
The Very Reverend William B. Lane

The above image is Jacopo Tintoretto's "Christ at the Sea of Galilee" (1575/1580) from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Dean’s Sermons:

Cathedral Call Letters from the Dean

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