April 10, 2016 - Third Sunday of Easter - Catching Fish and Feeding Sheep

Sometimes sanctuary names not only the place where we worship.  The word also encapsulates the essence of refuge and rest.  This is possible because of a trust in the engagement and regard that is shared by everyone gathered together.  To borrow the language of the St. Teresa poem that we heard at Easter; each of us can feel the embrace of God through Christ who now has no body on earth but ours.

There are other times that cockpit might be a more appropriate word to describe how this building on Sunnyside can feel, at least for me.  This is the place where we are thrust into new spaces and new understandings; moved by the word, music, sacrament or others. Worship at these times takes us to our next point of arrival, the places where we most want or need to go.  These are individual points of arrival and a miracle is that each of us is moved to our individual futures by the same worship.

Blaise Pascal once wrote "Finally, let us recognize that there are two kinds of people one can call reasonable; those who serve God with all their heart because they know Him and those who seek God with all their heart because they do not know Him".  I would add two things to this quote.   One is that this can be true within one person as well.  The other is, despite how contradictory this may seem on the surface, these differences must be brought together as one.

St Peter Penitent

Today's Gospel - John 21:1-19 and The Blessing of the Transition Team brought the differences together.  The Gospel was about Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of Fish and when Jesus Reinstates Peter.

Pastor Michelle told the story in her sermon this way:

Peter appears to be uncertain of his purpose after his denial of Jesus.  He, with other disciples, try to go back to fishing, unsure what they can or should do next.  Going back to their old way of being is unsuccessful and Jesus affirms to them later that this is true.

After being guided by his wisdom to the miraculous catch, they recognize Jesus.  He invites them to breakfast to be fed.  Jesus "reinstates" Peter by asking him "Do you love me?" in three different ways reminiscent of the denials right down to the questions and answers being given in front of a charcoal fire (which now is contributing to how they are fed).

After Peter affirms his love three times Jesus says to him, "Follow me".  We know Peter will serve God with all his heart because of what he learns here again.

After the Sermon and before The Prayers of the People - The Blessing of the Transition Team vividly, personally moved what I usually see as an "either / or" question to a "both / and"answer.  The answer to the question "Should worship be a refuge or a revelation?"  is yes.  Did I experience a profound embrace of the congregation that I'm rooted in and gives me refuge from the world in the Blessing?  Yes.  Was there also a strong sense of suddenly stepping out of an old way of being and into a future God is preparing for Creator?  Yes.  A beautiful convergence.

This was centered movement and not stasis.  The Blessing passed to the team the congregation's trust and permission.  With that the team gained a needed affirmation for laying the foundation.  Moving forward the team can help take Creator to the place the congregation wants to go.

At the heart of this blessing my trust and permission also passed to the team and to the congregation. There was a confidence, not necessarily that this work would be easy or everyone would be in agreement as we discern, but that we were bound together on the right journey for this transition.