"Examples to Follow" April 10, 2016

John 21:1-19 Acts 9: 1-20 There are two Primary Issues in this morning's Scriptures, the first is that there are always Witnesses. Peter's concern for the Beloved Disciple, the other disciples on the beach, Saul's companions on the Road to Damascus who heard God but could not see, Ananias. Who have been the witnesses in your life? The ones who observe and provide you faithful counsel, who challenge you to see a circumstance differently? Who are the people and circumstances, you have been witnesses to? And what kind of witness are you? Do you see things without context, or as they fit a preconceived pattern, do you offer advice, or only listen? Is it a High School or College Friend? Your Spouse? Your Parent, your child? Among my greatest frustrations, is my witnesses are retiring. For years I developed trusted colleagues, one of whom regularly checks in to compare circumstances, the other who described having “Porch-time” discussing all the problems of the world, and both are leaving the ministry, moving away. Never offering advice, each was a sounding board, who gave me permission to say what was on my heart, for me to figure out what was going on by speaking to a witness, in that way holding self accountable. The Second Thing I hope you will remember this morning, is that we cannot control life. As much as we try to be in control, as much as we live in a consumer driven society where we can have our way, what we want, when we desire, there are events and circumstances outside our control. That “God loves us,” we cannot prevent. We can fight against it, we can deny it, but God is still here, and God still loves us – unconditionally. Peter attempted to save himself, to hide from association. There are times when being associated with Jesus is inconvenient. Being a Christian means different things to differing people. The piece hard for us as 21st Century North Americans to believe, was that on the night of Jesus' arrest, being associated with Jesus was dangerous, you could be arrested and put to death for being a Christian. Instead of being the loving Good Shepherd, instead of being the Teacher and compassionate Healer, Jesus was a Criminal, guilty of claiming to be God. I was lucky when I went to Kenya and South Sudan, because as much as these were at the time Warzones, wearing a BlackShirt and Clerical Collar was more protective than a Bullet-proof Vest. Given ISIS killings, I do not know if it would be wise to wear my clericals today, but I think I would have to. Three times in one night Peter was cornered regarding being a Christian, and each of those three times, the last of which while warming himself before a fire, Peter claimed “I do not know the man.” That Peter was a Christian, that he was identified by others as such – he had no control over. Whether he chose to respond and how – were his choice. Paul did not choose to be a Christian. Far from it, he hated Jesus and what the Church represented. The Way of Christ as it was first called, was a cult within Judaism. In the culture of Plato and Aristotle, when the world was enamored of all the latest ideas, theories and philosophies from the Empire of Rome, Judaism was tradition, simple and straight forward all you needed to do was follow the Law and custom. You did not need reason. You did not need to deductive or inductive thinking, simply follow the Levitical Law of Moses. Christianity is messy, it does not follow Laws. Christians associated with sinners, ate with unwashed hands. Christianity did not make sense, at least Philosophy was logical. Helping those who could not help themselves, taking the lowest place in public affairs, not trying to win and get ahead, is subversive. Here in Acts, months after the Resurrection, Jesus chose Saul of Tarsus. To paraphrase Flannery O'Conner, “I reckon God knew the only way to make a Christian out of Saul was to knock him down to the ground and prevent him from being able to see as he had done.” There are those who identify as having always been part of the church, who have difficulty with conversion; I recall someone in the community coming to me in the days after 9/11 questioning why others had suddenly found religion, and where they had been before the crisis... I wonder if we might understand Paul's conversion, if we changed his context, from religious persecution to: The Professional working so hard at business, they lost their family; the Teen who could not forgive their parent's mistakes; the Parent who dared never give their child a break; the Sports fan who cannot be a good sport; the Political leader incapable of compromise; the vengeful Lover who would rather do harm than be vulnerable to love again; the Enabler who so accommodates their spouse's addiction as to destroy their own life and their children. We each have our blind-spots, where as hard as it is to admit there might be another side, it seems impossible to believe that the Other could be right. And to consider that change might be an act of faith seems hard to believe, seems life-changing, it did for Saul of Tarsus. Were our young Attorney turned Associate Pastor here this morning, I think he might tell us that the most convincing Testimony in a Court of Law is not of a Witness for the Defense, or of a Witness for the Prosecution, but when a Witness for the Prosecution or Defense is changed to become a Witness for the Other. Although they came from opposing perspectives, both Peter and Paul had to be changed in order to be of use; both are told by Jesus that they had to submit to being vulnerable, both were led by another, rather than lead; both Peter and Paul must question whether their desire is to be in relationship or to be isolated. What happens for each, but differently, is making connections in remembering. That is the role of a Witness, not only to see, but “to be able to accurately re-member and witness to others what we have seen.” In 8th Grade Chemistry and Geometry, we learned the Scientific Method, that from known fact you postulated theory, which you operationalized as an Hypothesis, you tested the hypothesis, you observed results, and drew conclusions. All through High School, College, Seminary that methodology was accepted; when suddenly in 1984, a new theory was accepted. Where earlier, we always made a disclaimer about there being spurious data, now Education claimed you could never actually “prove” anything, you could only describe your experience, serving as a witness to the truth as you know it, and the reader of your article would have to determine for themselves if your conclusions fit their circumstance. In this way, Truth in our world became relative. Saul being knocked down and blinded by the light, spent days reflecting on his faith, what he knew to be true, now represented differently: where he had been the oppressor persecuting Jesus. That there is a God, that this life is God's Creation, all these continue to be true, but what if Israel being “Elect,” does not mean chosen to be better, but chosen as a vehicle for God's love and justice? What if Jesus was not a Criminal but was and is the Christ? What if saying He and God were of one was not blasphemy, but because he was God's Son? Other than Mark's Prologue & the Centurion in John, the 1st to name Jesus as “The Son of God” was Paul here in Acts 9. Simon Peter had denied Jesus three times. One evening, despondent, Peter says he is going fishing, so several others go along. Have you ever been in a bad mood, where you cannot cook? Where fishing, it seems the fish know to stay away? All night long they caught nothing, when a figure on the shore says “Try the Other side.” They do and now the abundance of fish is so large they cannot bring in the net. This passage for Peter, connects memories of everything before. In Luke, Peter and James and John had been Called by Jesus, telling these fishermen to cast their net of the other side. There had been another meal of fish and bread and super-abundance where Jesus had fed thousands. It is unclear why, when Peter was stripped for fishing, and learned Jesus was on the shore, Peter put on robes to jump into the water? As heavy as this would be, perhaps so he was robed as a Disciple, not stripped as a Fisherman? Sometimes memories come to us by touch and smell, more than by thought, and when Peter had denied Jesus there was a charcoal fire Peter had been warming himself before, as now on the beach. Where according to Luke, at the empty tomb Peter had wondered, now every memory confirmed he could serve as a Witness to loving Jesus, he could be responsible for serving others. For years, I have tried to come up with words to describe this community. Somehow the common: “A People that works hard and plays hard” seemed too common. The Chamber of Commerce mottos: “A Stress Free Zone.” and “Relax You're in the Village” never measured up. The T-Shirt, that recognized the four central letters of Skaneateles, are N-E-A-T, is new and clever. The water bottle that proclaims: Skinny-At Last water. But this week, witnesses remembered a story from 50 years ago, a story I knew only by the sign in front of our church that reads “In memory of Chipper.” This week in April in 1966 three lifelong friends in the 8th grade had spent the day together. Because they were on the Eastside of the lake, and the girl lived on the Westside, the boys took her home by canoe across the lake. They had one paddle and an old board they used as a paddle. The lake at this time of year is between 35 and 37 degrees. At dusk, the father of the girl became worried and stopped the State Police Trooper John Angyal, asking he search. Their canoe washed ashore at Charlie Major's. This was on Monday, April 11; for the next seven days, Scuba divers and Firefighters from this and every neighboring town, went back and forth from Jones Beach to the Country Club. The water was so cold, in a wetsuit, with double gloves, the divers could only stay in for 30 minutes at a time. Every evening, Chipper's father went down to the dock searching the horizon for his son to come home. The Newspapers re-membered: over the week Betsy was found, then Chipper and finally Russell. Of worshiping God on that Sunday morning, Chipper's sister wrote, “I feared everyone would stare. I feared everyone would ask questions. I feared I would cry. But instead nobody stared. Nobody asked questions. Everybody cried.” There were 3 separate Memorial services, that the families of each all went to, where everyone present caught themselves not only praying for the one the Memorial was for, but also for their own loved ones as well. I think I finally found the witness to describe this Village, who re-member, who stand together in grief, who do not stare, do not need to ask questions because these are our own. And as we gather in worship, in memorial, in baptisms, in weddings, and confirmation, we make connections with all those of our lives, connected through Jesus Christ.