Sometimes our expectations
are confirmed by our experiences and sometimes they aren't. For many Mondays when I was babysitting, I
placed my then 18-month-old grandson in his crib for an afternoon nap. Then I expected him to be in the crib
drifting off to sleep. When the nap was over he would call for me, and I would
come upstairs to pick him up. Then one Monday, to my surprise, he repeated his
newly learned skill of climbing out of the crib before I had even made it down
the stairs!
Our gospel readings for
Easter Sunday, last Sunday, and today told stories of expectations and
experiences full of surprise: Mary Magdalene thinking the tomb would have
Jesus' body, Thomas not trusting what the other disciples told him about seeing
Jesus, and finally today Peter, the beloved disciple and some other disciples
going out in the evening to fish and encountering the risen Christ.
I believe the gospel writer chose the format of
expectation--or lack of expectation-- and surprise to describe these
encounters, because he saw this as the way God reveals God's self.
Within the story we heard
this morning the risen Christ and Peter engage in a conversation that Peter
probably never expected to happen. After finding Jesus' tomb empty, he and the
beloved disciple went home. And we
remember that Peter had denied that he had been Jesus' companion the night
before Jesus' crucifixion.
Today's gospel reading tells
us Peter decided to go fishing and some of his fellow disciples decided to go
with him. Jesus—standing on the
shore—makes a suggestion that the disciples, who have nothing to show for their
night's work. They might catch some fish, he says, if they cast their net on
the other side of the boat. The beloved
disciple finally recognizes the risen Christ, and Peter reacts by jumping into
the water to reach the shore first. The gospel writer doesn't report any
immediate response to Peter by Christ until he and all the disciples had eaten
the breakfast of bread and broiled fish.
The gospel writer describes
the disciples' expectations in that moment: "Now none of the disciples
dared to ask him 'Who are you?' because they knew it was the Lord." But
what of Peter? What were his
expectations?
Whatever they were, Peter's
experience of hearing Christ's questions and answering them profoundly affected
the rest of his life. No more turning
away for home; no more checking out how his old occupation might work out if he
tried it again. His new vocation
involves caring for those who will follow "The Way," as we heard it
called in the account of St. Paul's conversion—and to follow Jesus in the way
of the cross.
The story we heard from the
Book of Acts about Saul's expectations and his experience on the road to
Damascus may be the most clear example ever of God's revealing God's self to
someone who seemed totally unprepared for that revelation. Where Peter had been
with Jesus for his entire ministry, Paul had been an enemy. A religiously educated man, Paul did probably
understand Jesus' messages to the religious authorities: loving God meant
discovering God in serving the outcasts of society, and loving God meant
putting people before the rules while keeping the spirit of the rules to the
nth degree. But he rejected (as
blasphemy) Jesus as the long-expected Messiah.
I doubt if Paul ever expected
to experience God, in following the way of the risen Christ. I doubt if he ever
expected to lead Gentiles to faith in the risen Christ, but his experience on
the Damascus road left him but one choice--to follow.
What are our expectations
this morning? We will have the opportunity to receive Holy Communion when
Christ has told us he will be with us.
We will have the opportunity to greet members of our community when we
pass the peace of Christ and when we share coffee (and breakfast) with them. We
will return to our homes . . . perhaps talk with family or neighbors . . .
maybe chat with the check-out person at the grocery store.
Do we expect to experience
Christ's presence among us at all these times?
Do we hope to know "the peace of the Lord"? Do we trust that in all these moments we will
find we are being cared for within our family or community--even when we come
from various perspectives and points of view?
I believe that bidden or
unbidden the Holy One is always present with us. We may expect to find the Holy One in “holy”
moments such when we pray and when we receive communion. But in ordinary moments, at unexpected times,
we may well encounter the Risen Christ—and find ourselves changed by that
experience.
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