Year C
John 21:1-19
The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn
Easter “Eye Opening” Experience
If we are willing, the events of Holy Week, Easter, and the post-resurrection appearances of the risen Christ, will take possession of us and change our lives forever. Take for example Simone Weil (1909-1943), a French social philosopher, religious thinker, mystic, and political activist, was considered the darling of intellectuals after her death. She identified with human suffering of every kind. She worked with women in an auto factory to be in solidarity with them, participated in French worker strikes, and even joined the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War though she refused to fire her rifle.
Her refusal to eat more than the ration of food allowed in German-occupied France contributed to her death. Born a Jew, she tells in her autobiography Waiting for God, an interesting book, how she never sought God, but was sought by God. It was while she attended services during Holy Week in (Saw lem) Solesmes, France, that the thought of Christ’s Passion and what it meant entered into her being once and for all. In the quiet of the French countryside, Christ came and took possession of her which changed her life. She began to see with the eyes of Jesus.
This week’s texts feature this dramatic kind of change in the story of Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, and in the epilogue from John’s gospel where Jesus cooks fish for the disciples and questions Peter three times about the depth of his love (recalling Peter’s denial of Jesus three times during Jesus’ trial). Christ’s possession of both Paul and Peter led them to experience the world and themselves in fundamentally new ways, and they are deeply changed. Today we see two leaders on whom the church is built accepting their commission. Which presents us with the question: are we willing to embrace a similar fundamental change in our own lives and accept our commission?
April 20, 1967 at 11 years old, I knelt before the Rt. Rev. William Hargraves and professed my faith in Jesus Christ. It wasn’t exactly an eye opening, blinding light moment like Saul of Tarsus had on the road to Damascus. No, my experience has been more like Peter, over time, but it was that moment, when I look back, that my life changed and I accepted the life of loving Jesus and loving my neighbor. Oh, believe me, there have been many detours and doubts along the way, as I’m sure there will be in the future, but I love God and I seek to love those people God places in my life, and love those I just hear about and need to pray and support. My journey with the Lord has been eye opening.
Paul’s life changing meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus, and Peter’s meeting with the risen Christ in the text today are very different. Some of us may have experienced a dramatic eye opening moment like Saul of Tarsus but I would imagine for most of us are journey of knowing the Lord has been more like Peter – over time. For Paul and Peter, this is not a very joyous occasion. Jesus’ words to Paul seem rather harsh. Nothing about forgiveness or love, but a forcing on Paul the understanding that persecuting his followers is to persecute him.
Paul’s experience, it seems, is the very opposite of Peter’s commission to love Jesus by loving and feeding his sheep. Peter had to learn, we hope at last, to let go of all the illusions of greatness that he believed when he started to follow Jesus, and Paul too, had to let go of all the things he thought he knew and start again. He had to let go of his own sight and learn to see with the eyes of Jesus.
In the time between Easter and Pentecost, the disciples eventually learn what it means to let go of their illusions and fear, and see with the eyes of Jesus. They are forever transformed and changed by the risen Christ and eventually burst forth, of which we read about in the Book of Acts, with a message of assurance that “God has made this Jesus both Lord and Christ.” Yet, we may not think that possible when we read the gospel today and find them returning to their old jobs of fishing as if nothing has changed. I’m sure in the aftermath of all the events that had occurred over the last week of Jesus’ life, along with the news of the empty tomb and the resurrection appearances, they were overwhelmed and needed some time to think about what they had experienced.
So they go back to what is familiar but what they find out is the ordinary and the routine will never be ordinary or routine again. Jesus is there, and he is waiting to serve and feed them. Of course, they have to have eyes to see, to recognize the presence of God and be willing to embrace the change and accept the mission placed before them, a mission of feeding and loving God’s sheep. The risen Christ still calls, feeds, and sends. As disciples of Christ, we are called to go to those children of God who may have gone back to business as usual. It is everyone’s responsibility to reach out, invite, and encourage the attendance of others at our family reunion each Sunday.
Today, this scene by the sea marks the turning point for Peter as Jesus points to his future role as shepherd of God’s sheep. His eyes are opened, as Paul’s eyes are opened on the road to Damascus to his mission of bringing the gospel to us, the gentiles. Let us pray that God will open our eyes to the new reality created by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The opening of eyes is for spreading the gospel and building up the church. May we be willing to continue the work of loving, feeding, and following with the eyes of Jesus. It will forever change us.