As you realize, this could nicely be the ultimate Sermon I supply from this pulpit, and will most without a doubt be the last sermon I deliver here in my current role as Acting Rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Dulwich Hill, which might also help provide an explanation for why I've taken the unheard of step of disregarding the scheduled Gospel studying for the day!
Yes, a number of you could determine to stroll out (or switch off) at this factor. Who would consider that I might be this sort of maverick on this very last fling, after thirty years of devoted adherence to the common lectionary, however, yes, the inner riot has ultimately emerged, and I've given 'doubting Thomas' the flick this year.
Yes, this Sunday, the first Sunday after Easter, is the Sunday were every yr we are given the studying from the Gospel of John, chapter twenty - the tale of 'Doubting Thomas' - and, to be pretty sincere with you, I'm sick of him.
It's now not that I dislike the man - actually. In truth, I feel a actual affection for him, and yet I without a doubt don't recognize why, where our readings are typically scheduled in a 3-every year cycle, we get this analyzing, not every three years however every single year!
I surely do not recognize it. Even the Christmas and Easter readings fluctuate from year to 12 months. Why is the tale approximately Thomas so crucial?
I can handiest assume that Thomas' 'doubting' is some thing that has been so near the coronary heart of the Christian network over the centuries that we sense a want to keep coming back to this tale over and over, and I'm not certain whether it truly is an amazing issue. I'm no longer suggesting that doubt is a awful component, however is it genuinely the sort of key aspect in the existence of the Christian church that we have to hold readdressing it like clockwork each yr at this time - a time while you may think we would be busy proclaiming the resurrection?
Perhaps it is that essential, and if you have been searching forward to finding power to your doubts these days, or confirmation of your doubts, now's the time to make a hasty exit (or switch Facebook or YouTube channels, as the case may be) and avail your self of any variety of other churches where there is a less rebellious priest within the pulpit!
At any fee, in preference to focusing on the Gospel of John, chapter 20, I've made the novel move of focusing rather on the following chapter - John, chapter 21, which does not find its way into the lectionary at all this yr, so I'm not stealing every person else's sermon. This studying simply takes place to be a personal preferred, and one that I've discovered to be mainly useful to me at the moment. It's the passage that offers with the reconciliation between the resurrected Jesus and his best friend, Peter.
I respect that Jesus does not use the time period 'fine friend' as regards to Peter, and a few would possibly argue that John (regularly called 'the disciple whom Jesus cherished') need to be given that name. Some might even argue that Mary Magdalene or a few others is probably similarly worthy of that name. Even so, I suppose the communicate among Jesus and Peter itself points to the deep and profound nature of their friendship.
I'm starting from verse 15 of John chapter twenty-one.
When that they had completed consuming, Jesus stated to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you adore me greater than those?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus stated, "Feed my lambs."
sixteen Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you like me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you already know that I love you."
Jesus stated, "Take care of my sheep."
17 The 1/3 time he stated to him, "Simon son of John, do you like me?"
Peter turned into harm due to the fact Jesus requested him the 0.33 time, "Do you like me?" He stated, "Lord, you recognize all things; you recognize that I love you."
Jesus stated, "Feed my sheep. 18 Very in reality I tell you, when you had been younger you dressed your self and went where you wanted; but whilst you are vintage you'll stretch out your hands, and a person else will dress you and lead you where you do no longer want to move." 19 Jesus said this to indicate the sort of dying by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!" (John 21:15-19)
We are familiar sufficient, I suppose, with the history of the relationship among Jesus and Peter to be able to make full feel of this talk. Jesus asks Peter three times, "do you adore me?", and it doesn't break out us, any extra than it might have escaped Peter, that this 3-fold question from Jesus paralleled Peter's 3-fold betrayal.
It turned into simply after they had shared the remaining supper together that Peter had stated to Jesus, "Lord, I am prepared to go with you both to prison and to demise." (Luke 22:33), to which Jesus had responded, "I let you know, Peter, the chicken will no longer crow this present day, until you deny three instances that you realize me." (Luke 22:34)
And certainly, Peter did deny Him:
A slave-female says, "This guy additionally became with him", however Peter replies, "Woman, I do no longer understand him." (Luke 22:57)
A anonymous man says, "You are also one among them", but Peter said, "Man, I am now not." (Luke 22:fifty eight)
"Still another insisted, saying, "Certainly this man additionally became with him, for he too is a Galilean." But Peter stated, "Man, I do no longer know what you are speakme about."" (Luke 22:fifty nine-50)
That unhappy story ends with Jesus turning and searching at Peter, and Peter strolling away and weeping bitterly. (Luke 22:sixty one-62)
We do not know precisely how long the distance turned into among Peter's betrayal and this assembly on the seaside wherein reconciliation happened. We know that it become at the least ten days, and it may had been drastically longer. We know too that this was never the primary time Peter had visible Jesus again after the resurrection.
Often that is the manner reconciliation works. Often it takes time. We need things to be constant up speedy and to put the pain of the beyond behind us, however it would not constantly work that way. Genuine reconciliation can take time.
'Do you like me?', Jesus asks Peter? 'Do you like me?' 'Do you love me?'
It is widespread, I assume, that it is Jesus - the one who changed into betrayed - who takes the lead in starting up reconciliation. I do not know whether or not it is able to have worked the other manner around - if Peter have been the one to initiate the verbal exchange - "Hey, Jesus, I recognize I betrayed you 3 instances however I want you to realize that I still love you".
Maybe it could in no way work that manner? It's hard to recognize. In this case, at any charge, Jesus controls the process, and each act of betrayal is countered with an confirmation of affection - "Yes, I love you", "Yes, I love you", "Yes, Lord. You recognise that I love you."
What Jesus said next, as recorded in John, bankruptcy 21, verse 18, become unexpected, I assume, and it is this verse that honestly drew me to the passage nowadays.
You would possibly have anticipated Jesus to conclude this intimate moment of reconciliation with Peter by way of pronouncing something like, "permit's have a hug!", or maybe "have you got any beer?" Instead, Peter gets from Jesus something far more solemn:
"Very honestly I inform you, while you were younger you dressed your self and went in which you wanted; but while you are old you may stretch out your hands, and a person else will dress you and lead you in which you do not want to head."" (John 21:18)
We are told that Jesus gave this to Peter as a prophecy as a demonstration of exactly how Peter became going to die (John 21:19) but you'll be forgiven for thinking that it changed into infrequently the time! Why would you need to juxtapose these kind of intimate expressions of love with snap shots of violence and demise?
Even so, my studying of this verse has, for so long as I can remember, been heavily influenced via the knowledge of the late Henri Nouwen, who noticed this prophecy to Peter as being archetypal of the boom into adulthood of each follower of Jesus: whilst you are younger you get dressed yourself and go where you want, but while you are vintage you stretch out your arms, and someone else leads you in which you do not need to move'
Henri Nouwen, for any who aren't acquainted with him, turned into a Dutch Catholic priest and religious writer, and a man who struggled significantly in his life. He struggled with his sexuality, together with his friendships, and with the exact shape of his vocation.
For Nouwen, this picture given to us in John, bankruptcy twenty one, is the path set for every real believer. When we're younger, we do our very own component, we've our very own plans, we nurture our very own visions and ambitions. As we grow old, we loosen our grip on the hopes we had for ourselves, and in the long run, in religion, we stretch out our arms and permit others to lead us to locations wherein we do not need to go.
This, of path, is in which I locate myself nowadays - stretching out my arms and permitting others to pull me off to places in which I do not need to go. I do not need to lose my church network any greater than I wanted to lose my spouse and children. I don't need to lose my home or my vocation, and if I had it my very own manner, I might dangle on to all of this stuff.
Even so, I agree with Nouwen is proper in pointing to the phrases of Jesus on this example. This is not the manner for the disciple of Christ. When you're younger you get dressed yourself and you comply with your personal goals and your very own targets. Following Jesus means being wiling to let move of all of that and be led rather into places I do not want to go.
Of route, it is no longer as if I have not been to places that I failed to need to go already.
Despite what a few might imagine, I had no preference to begin with to go to Syria in 2013 in which I became surrounded with the aid of distress and loss of life and bombs going off.
I failed to need to go to Manus Island both, to be nearly drowned in a dingy, bouncing between coral reefs, while being pursued through the neighborhood military.
I didn't want to visit Jerusalem in 2004, to see my pal, Morde Vanunu, launched from jail, simplest to be mobbed and almost killed in a rise up.
And in terms of my thirty years here of ministry here in Dulwich Hill, did I in reality ever want to be led into so some of the matters we have performed right here?
I idea I'd finish these days through sharing some of those studies right here in Dulwich Hill that I in no way anticipated to have, and normally failed to need to have. I thought I'd restrict myself to 3 studies out of many thousands, in any other case I'd be right here all day. These 3 though are among the most memorable for me.
The first incident happened in our children centre, which become in which we saw a lot joy and unhappiness and so many miracles and additionally so crime and dying, and in this particular occasion there was a risk of actual violence (which was now not uncommon).
We had a woman young people employee managing the centre that day and she or he had to ask one of the younger boys to depart. I do not remember what the boy had completed wrong, and I do not think it become all that critical as he changed into only banned for the day, but the problem was that his father located out, and his dad changed into a neighborhood thug who I didn't know properly however who I did understand had a few horrific connections in what become then a terrible neighbourhood.
The dad stood for a while out on the street in the front of our Youth Centre, loudly threatening our teenagers worker and all the youngsters who were along with her, and announcing that he was going to go back in a touch at the same time as with some of his friends and they had been going to educate us all a lesson. I asked our teens employee to call the police and explain what become occurring, which she did, and in the meantime I got all the children (I think there had been among 20 and 30 of them) interior and close the door in which they played pool.
Half an hour later the daddy hadn't returned, which became god, however the police hadn't shown up either, so matters were nevertheless worrying. Then one of the Samoan boys got on his phone, and a few minutes later came over and instructed me no longer to sweat. Within ten minutes a sequence of small vehicles showed up. Perhaps the vehicles weren't virtually that small, but what I recollect is that the size of the Islander boys who emptied themselves out of the automobiles gave the look of they couldn't have possibly equipped interior of them.
Within approximately 10 mins we had a group of sizeable younger Islander men - at the least a dozen of them, all milling approximately in the front of our Youth Centre, like a football group searching for a playing subject. Most of them had been Christians too, because it became out, and one among them had a guitar, and it didn't take lengthy before they have been making a song choruses together on the street. I nevertheless have a photograph of this that I treasure.
The father and his gang never showed (or it they did, they failed to make themselves obvious) and neither did the police. I enquired down on the Local Area Command tomorrow why the police hadn't spoke back and was informed that they had showed up however could not see a trouble. In other phrases, they noticed a dozen or so tremendous Islander guys on the street and decided to keep riding. All's properly it ends nicely.
The second incident that sticks out in my reminiscence regarded one of the human beings our church placed up in one in all our apartments. Years ago, before development work turned into achieved, we had small flats along the rectory, and I had every other room at the back of the rectory that turned into called 'the rehab room', and we had extraordinary human beings live in those apartments and in that room over the years, and it become a real gift so that you can provide that service to so many in need, but in some cases it got us into real problem too.
I don't want to discover the individual that precipitated us the maximum trouble as a resident in a single of these residences but suffice it to mention that we needed to get the police concerned on a number of activities, due to criminal activity on the part of our visitors, and this usually resulted in the guest shifting on. On one event even though we found we had been managing someone who had experience in understanding how not to get evicted from locations where they desired to say, and this person prompted us a variety of grief.
In the middle of this catch 22 situation I obtained a past due-night time visit from Ray Hawkins, who become one of the most colorful characters I've ever recognized and who turned into, among other things, one in all Australia's best Elvis impersonators.
I knew Ray through Morna Molesworth, who some will keep in mind as a liked member of this parish and who lamentably did a prolonged prison term for the duration of her years with us right here as well, and I most effective mention that to suggest that she herself had some very colourful connections in her life, and Ray become, I suspect, the most colorful of all!
Ray showed up at about middle of the night and invited himself in. I offered him a drink and we had a quiet beer and talked trivialities for a while, after which Ray asked me whether he ought to deliver his mate in. I said, "You've were given a pal ready in the vehicle!?" It become mid-iciness at the time. Ray stated, "Oh, he's OK, but can I bring him in?" I said, "of direction!"
Moments later Ray reappeared on the door with a man who had the soma-form of a gorilla - brief, with significant trunk and fingers - who turned into looking at the floor, and muttering, and it became right away obvious that this guy had a mental illness.
Ray stated, "Dave, that is Nick. Nick is a debt-collector. He's a excellent debt-collector. Nick has come to have a phrase to that character you have dwelling in your church flat next door that you're trying to put off".
I had no concept what to do, besides to offer each Nick and Ray some other drink. Meanwhile, Ange known as me into the kitchen and informed me in no unsure phrases that, in her opinion, I ought to now not make use of the offerings of Nick, the debt-collector.
