St. Luke’s in the Meadow Episcopal Church
May 4, 2025, 3rd Sunday after Easter, Year C 2025
Acts 9:1-6, (7-20), Psalm 30, Revelation 5:11-14, John 21:1-19
Homily preached by The Rev. Karen A. Calafat
One of the hardest hikes I ever went on called Old Rag in Shenandoah National Park. This was 9 years ago. Old Rag was a 10-mile hike with what the guide book described as “some boulder scrambling.” Now, I had done boulder scrambling for years and really enjoyed it, walking on top of large boulders and occasionally hopping from one to the next. What I wrote in my hiking journal was that it was a 1.5 mile “boulder battle.” It was not only walking on top of boulders, but literally crawling on hands and knees between boulders that were too low to stand up under.
There was also maneuvering between boulders that required taking off my day pack, shoving it through the slot and then working my body through. Did I mention this was a very hard hike?!? There were places I had to throw my pack over about a 2-foot opening between two boulders, where the land was far, far below and then jump over it myself. Scary! Not recommended! But then, I made it to the top of Old Rag! Well, almost. It was an incredible 360-degree view of Shenandoah, except there was just one more boulder, just a little higher, maybe 6 or 7 feet higher, and required only a little more climbing with finger holds and toe holds and just one more jump to get there. Human nature kicked in, and maybe a little adrenaline. I lost my mind and gained my determination, and I just had to reach the tip-top! So I tossed my pack on the ground and launched myself upward until I was on what seemed like the top of the world!
When I crawled in bed that night, my brain said, “What were you thinking?!?” It was one of those moment where human nature kicked in and I lost common sense.
The humanity of it all is what struck me in today’s readings. How sometimes we get caught up in the wrong things, and how sometimes we get caught up in the right things. People can be wonderful and amazing. People can also be dreadful, careless, misled, and faulty. The amazing thing is this: God loves us all! Christ lived and died and rose for all.
And the Good News is that if Christ loves the likes of Paul and Peter, there is certainly hope for you and me!
Saul was a bad guy, persecuting the people who followed Jesus. He embodies the worst of human nature. The Good News might also be, “At least we aren’t as bad as Saul!”
On the road to Damascus, in search of people following Jesus and his teachings, Saul saw a bright light, heard what he seemed to recognize as the voice of God, and then he lost his sight. Ananias, a follower of Jesus, did not want to take a message to Saul because he knew what a rotten scoundrel he was. But Ananias, too, heard the voice of God, trusted and acted.
I wonder if there are ways we are like Ananias, not wanting to take the Good News to certain people because we are afraid of them, or we just don’t like them. I wonder if we honor the call from God to do as asked despite our own reservations?
Paul’s sight was restored – his eyes were opened – opened to a new way of seeing – a new way of being human. Paul immediately began proclaiming “The Good News of Jesus” throughout the land.
Then we have the humanity of the disciples. Jesus told them to go and preach and serve. What did they do? They went fishing! It’s not unlike what we do after someone dies and the funeral has happened, we go back to what we know, we return to our lives, we carry on. The disciples returned to what they knew… they went fishing.
Peter’s actions in this gospel are interesting. I think he might have been caught up in the moment like I was on Old Rag. He seems to be so caught up in the excitement of seeing Jesus that he can’t think straight. His behavior is erratic. For some reason, he is in the boat without his clothes on – perhaps it was hot or perhaps it is easier to manage the boat and the fishing nets without the garments of the day interfering. But, oddly, he put his clothes on before he jumps in the lake to swim to ashore to meet Jesus. It seems those garments would weigh him down and make it harder to swim the 100 yards to shore. Peter is fueled by excitement, by adrenaline, and seemingly not by common sense.
Following Jesus’ instructions, the disciples ended up catching a net full of fish, so much that they couldn’t pull it into the boat, but Peter, in his frenzied excitement, goes out and hauls the net of 153 fish to shore single-handedly! (It’s funny that the number of fish is added to this story. When did they count them? Is this a fish tale? 153 is a curious number of fish! When my family fishes, they count – the first, the most, the biggest… Maybe that’s why we have a specific number reported here… fishers of all ages have counted!)
You know, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times before the crucifixion. He had to have experienced shame, guilt, and remorse. It makes one wonder if his actions today are driven by the discomfort of what he did to Jesus. Human nature, you know, when we do something we aren’t proud of, something we regret, it impacts our behavior.
I can imagine Jesus watching Peter from the shore, with a knowing smile on his face, at Peter’s humanity. Peter, always just shows up as Peter, blurting out suggestions like at the Transfiguration on the mountaintop, “Let’s build three tents and stay here forever.” Or taking a couple of steps walking on water until fear sank him. Or blurting out denials three times before the rooster crowed.
Most of us are much more like Peter than we are like Paul. We show up, we do our best, we fail, we show up again and do our best. And when we aren’t sure what to do, well, we go fishing! We return to whatever is familiar to us. And we wait… we wait for God….
When all hope seems lost, when the fish are not biting, when we fail at what we know best… we wait… we wait until the way is clear, until Christ makes his presence known. That is our resurrection hope, Jesus is always with us, even when we cannot see him standing on the shore.
That is why we are here, right here in this church – to be reminded of God’s love for us. Since God loves Peter and Paul in all their humanness, God certainly loves you and me. God calls all of us, scoundrels and saints alike, to hope and love.
Receive Christ’s love for you. Believe God’s love for you. For that is what empowers you to be a disciple, to be a beacon of hope and love to your neighbors.