Preached 1 May 2022 at Christ church, Billericay
Redemption Sunday
I was talking to my daughter, Liz and explaining the passages I was preparing to preach on this morning, and she said ‘Redemption Sunday’. It is from the point of view of the main protagonists in our readings this morning. Both Peter and Paul needed God’s forgiveness for the things they had done before they could move into the ministry they were being called into.
Foundation Sunday
You could also call it Foundation Sunday. Without the events reported in today’s readings, the birth of the church at Pentecost could not have taken place, and there would be no-one to take the message out from the Jews to the Roman world.
Peter then Paul
I’m going to look at each of these stories, to see what we can learn from them, I’ll start with Peter and then move on to Paul.
Peter – Background
You will remember, I hope, that on Good Friday, we heard the story of the arrest and trial of Jesus. Peter has quite a part in that, and shows us that he really hasn’t absorbed much of what Jesus has been trying to teach him over the preceding three years. First of all he cut off the High priest’s servant’s ear. That was bad enough. Then he broke a promise to Jesus.
Matthew 26 (v31) Then Jesus told them, “This very night you
will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:
“ ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock
will be scattered.’
33Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account
of you, I never will.”
34“Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this
very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three
times.”
35But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with
you, I will never disown you.”
It’s a promise that we all implicitly make when we give our lives to Jesus and accept him as Lord and saviour.
Peter Tested
For Peter, the test of his promise came all too soon. After the arrest he was frightened, and when asked if he was with Jesus, he denied it. He was asked three times during that evening, and each time his own safety came first, so he denied knowing Jesus.
Our Test
We, too, will face that test at some point. There will be a situation where we will be asked in some way, “Are you with Jesus?” If we give the truthful answer, there will be negative consequences, perhaps not as severe as being arrested and put to death. Maybe just some awkward embarrassment, or perhaps they will make fun of you. You might lose a job or a job opportunity, or you might lose friends. We have to decide very quickly at that point which way we are going to respond.
Too much for Peter
The waiting around had got too much for Peter. He is a man of action, and quite impetuous. So he decides to go fishing – back to his old job. Fishing is a nighttime activity. Peter is joined by the other disciples. They spend a night working hard in the boat, but catch nothing.
It’s the Lord
Morning comes, then someone on the shore asks about their catch. They’re not sure who it is. He says, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” They do, one last try won’t hurt, then they can get some rest. But, it works, and they get a very good catch. Maybe John remembers that something like this has happened before, whatever it was, something triggers the recognition of Jesus on the shore, and as soon as John says “It’s the Lord”, Peter is on his way over the side of the boat, swimming to the shore.
Jesus provides breakfast
Jesus already has a fire going, and asks them to bring some of the 153 fish. He invites them to breakfast. Then in v12 it says, ‘None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.’ Jesus, now with a resurrection body, must have looked subtly different in some way – just enough for them to be uncertain.
Jesus Reinstates Peter
Even Peter must have known that he couldn’t just get away with denying Jesus. He must have known that at some point there would be a reckoning. He must have known that he can’t live up to Jesus’ promise to him having denied Jesus. Remember what Jesus had said:
“you
are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church;” (Matt.
16:18).
Here comes the reckoning. I like to imagine that Jesus took Peter a little way away from the group before this conversation started.
Jesus asks “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”
It’s an ambiguous question, does He mean the boats and the fishing life or the people?
“Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
It’s an incomplete answer too, but that doesn’t seem to matter.
“Feed my lambs”, Jesus says.
One denial down, and a partial re-instatement has happened.
Jesus repeats the question and Peter repeats his answer, but this time Jesus’s response takes Peter a step further. “Take care of my sheep.”
Now Jesus has made Peter the shepherd of the flock that he was always intended to be.
Third Question
The third question seems like a downgrade “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
In the first two the word translated ‘truly love’ means Gods love for His people, in the third the word translated ‘love’ is a more personal love – affection and high regard.
This third one touches a nerve with Peter, no doubt as it was intended. His response shows it “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
“Feed my sheep” Jesus says, and the restoration and redemption of Peter’s denial is complete. He is back in the role that was intended for him.
Reminder
It is immediately followed by a reminder that Peter will still have to face his fear that led to the denial in the first place. He will still have to die for his beliefs. It may be a long way off, but it is definitely there. Then there’s the final command “Follow me”, which applies to us as much as to Peter.
God’s Plan B?
God’s plan is back on track. We talk a lot about God’s plan for our lives. Sometimes when we fail we fear we have lost the path that we were following. We talk, dejectedly, about following God’s plan B. I believe from looking at this story that there is no plan B. Everything that Peter has done, and the way the Jesus redeemed his failure is all part of plan A. Peter will be stronger for overcoming his failure, than if he had never failed. If nothing else he will have learnt something about the real nature of forgiveness.
For us, when we fail, sometimes it is not possible to restart the same work, that doesn’t imply that we are on plan B, simply that we never understood plan A. The experience will, if we listen to the Holy Spirit guide us in the path we should be taking.
Paul and his mission
Let’s now take a look at Paul’s story or Saul as he was then. Saul is a very different person to Peter. He is highly intelligent, highly trained, perhaps the greatest thinker of his generation. He is very enthusiastic, very dedicated, even driven. He doesn’t know when to stop. He didn’t need to get papers from the chief priests to track down and arrest the followers of the Way in another country. ‘The Way’ was what the disciples of Jesus called themselves. He was determined to wipe out this new ‘sect of the Nazarene’ as he would have called it. These believers in Jesus are a dangerous heresy and must be eliminated. He’s researched their beliefs, he knows exactly where they are wrong and how to bring them to trial and get them executed. That was Saul’s plan. So he gets a few supporters together and heads to Damascus, where he knows there is a large Jewish community.
Near Damascus
Four or five days later they are nearly there, the journey has been boring, no doubt, but the prize awaits! Suddenly he is surrounded by bright light from heaven and hears a voice “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
Saul has no idea, but recognises the power and authority of the voice, so responds “Who are you, Lord?”
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
That can’t be, Jesus is dead. Saul knows that the people he is after claim that Jesus is alive, but dead men don’t talk, do they?
Saul is led into Damascus by his colleagues, because he has been blinded by the light. Once there he has plenty of time – three days – to reflect on the experience and pray about it. He is not distracted by food, drink, or the ability to see, he is in his own dark world, with just his thoughts and the nudging of the Holy Spirit.
Ananias
We must give Ananias a mention even though we know nothing about him other than what’s recorded here. He was clearly a devout Christian, and spent a lot of time listening to the Holy Spirit. Wouldn’t it be lovely to hear from God as clearly as Ananias was able to, I bet that has taken years of practice.
He’s brave too. He walks into a situation, which, if he had misunderstood God’s message could easily have led to his death. Without his bravery and obedience, Paul would still be Saul, and the whole of Christian history would be different.
Saul recovers
After three days with no food or water Saul is weak. When Ananias lays hands on him, Saul is filled with the Holy Spirit. Saul’s priority then is to be baptized, which presumably was done by Ananias, as it does not appear there were any other believers present. A few days later, we read in verse 22 that Saul was getting “more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.”
Saul Redeemed
His murderous threats – his sin – has been redeemed by the power of the death and resurrection of Jesus, and he is on a new mission to bring the word of God to the Gentiles. Like so many that followed, Saul had set out to destroy Christianity, only to become one of it’s greatest proponents. Here are three others who tried the same thing (without the murderous threats)
Gilbert West (1703-1756)
Known as a poet, he set out to debunk the resurrection, instead he published ‘Observations on the History and Evidences of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ’ (1747). On the fly-leaf he had the following printed: “Blame not before thou hast examined the truth.”
George Lyttelton (1709-1773)
Educated at Eton and Oxford, he set out to prove that Paul was not converted as the Bible states. Instead, he wrote ‘Observations on the Conversion and Apostleship of St. Paul (1747)’. In the introduction, he writes that the conversion of Saul is “a demonstration sufficient to prove Christianity to be a divine Revelation”
Albert Henry Ross (Frank Morison) (1881-1950)
Albert was a lawyer, journalist, novelist and sceptic. He is the author of “Who moved the stone”, which most of us have heard of, I’m sure.
Lessons of Saul
None of us, I hope, will go through an experience similar to Saul’s. His story, and those of the other three people I have just mentioned tells us that if we can get to just explain our faith, we can have an effect on people that we may never realise.
How many people had spoken to Saul, Gilbert, George, or Albert about their faith, before they started their investigations? They had to get the information from someone, before they decided to try to destroy Christendom.
I firmly believe that any inquiry into the faith, whatever the motive, can be enough for the inquirer to let Jesus into their lives. Then they too can have their ‘Redemption Sunday’ - their sins forgiven and receive the gift of eternal life.
Amen.
