Third Sunday of Easter C,
April 25
Texts: Acts 9:1-20,
Revelation 5:11-14, John 21:1-14
God’s
& Have You Got a Fish
Story to Tell?
Have you ever gone fishing
and not caught anything? Have you every worked hard at something and not achieved
anything? Like studied hard for an exam, but ended up just barely passing? It
can be discouraging. Sometimes I wonder whether my life is like the experience
of the disciples in our Gospel reading: They decided to join Peter in catching
some fish. They worked all night, but came up empty-handed. I wonder, is that how my life is going to end, with empty nets and
an empty boat? If Jesus had not come along that is how it most certainly would
have ended.
You see Jesus made you and
me His chosen instruments to work alongside with Him so that when we come to
the end of our lives and the morning of a new day, the resurrection of our
bodies, we will have some good “fish stories” to talk about. What kind of
stories? Well, that is what today’s message is about. Let look at our first
reading Acts 9 with the dramatic conversion of the apostle Paul. Not only is
Paul converted but he is also given a mission. God says, “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles
and their kings…”
Paul was on his way to
Initially Paul understood
God’s mission to be one of making sure all the Jews remained faithful to the
Laws God had given to Moses. But after his encounter with Jesus, Paul realized
that a new era had begun in God’s plan for the world. Through the death and
resurrection of Jesus, God had reconciled the whole world to Himself.
Take note of how God did
this: By taking on a human body—Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit of the
Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.
Once this work of reconciliation was accomplished, God in similar fashion chose
ordinary human beings as His ambassadors to carry this message of
reconciliation to the whole world. And as we have heard, God chose Paul as His
chosen instrument for this task. God also gave His disciples the same mission:
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I
have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19).
God’s great mission to the
world is to reestablish the rule of His kingdom over this world, a world that
has chosen to go its own way. This kingdom is not established by force but by
love, changing hearts and lives. It is not an earthly kingdom. It exists in
this world only in a hidden form. This kingdom can only be perceived by faith
and it comes through the hearing of the Word of God, as the water of adoption
is poured in the thrice, Holy Name, as bread and wine convey the presence of
the King and forgiveness of the Father. By these elements is God’s kingdom is
established among us. We can only perceive it by faith and it remains hidden to
the eyes of the world, but only until Jesus returns. Then
God’s kingdom will be
revealed in all its power and glory for everyone to see.
In the account of Paul’s conversion
experience we learn several important facts how this kingdom operates.
1. The enemy is not other people, but falsehood. Before his conversion, Paul was persecuting the
followers of Jesus. Why? Because he had a false notion of who
Jesus was. He thought he was doing a godly work by persecuting the followers of
Jesus, whom he thought was a false Christ. But once Paul met Jesus his
understanding was corrected. He was converted from an enemy to a friend and follower
of Jesus. So the first thing we learn about God’s kingdom is that the enemy is
not other people, not even those who hate us, but false ideas about Jesus that
need to be confronted with the truth.
2. Conversion is God’s work. Only God could make it clear to Paul who He really
was. Jesus had to show Himself to Paul in order for Paul to be able to believe.
That is why Jesus commands us to love our enemies and pray for those who
persecute us so that God would reveal His love to them (Matthew
3. God uses people to harvest the fruits of His work. Ananias is called to
visit Paul and to pray for God to heal him. Only as Ananias
lays his hands on Paul, does Paul regain his sight. God could have done it
directly without the involvement of Ananias, but God wants
to use people like you and me to bring in the harvest. How does God use us? The
key is prayer. As we pray for others and especially our enemies, God unleashes
His blessings upon them. There is a great harvest out there waiting to be
brought in. The problem is that most of the time we fail to see it. We are
missing out on some of the greatest “fish stories” that are waiting to be told.
Just think about all the people in our city, even in our own parish—30,000
people within one kilometer of our church, most of whom have no relationship
with Jesus. Jesus’ disciples pulled up 153 fish onto the shore of
4. God calls Christians to be in fellowship with each
other. When it comes to God’s kingdom, there are no lone ranger heroes. God
sends a reluctant Ananias to welcome Paul as a
brother into the Christian fellowship. How do you think God might use you to
welcome newcomers into the fellowship of His church?
5. God gives each Christian gifts
with which to build up the church. As Paul is baptized and receives the Holy
Spirit, he then spends time with the rest of the disciples, building them up in
the faith as he “began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of
God” (Acts
6. Following Jesus involves suffering. Jesus says about
Paul, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” As members of
God’s kingdom, we become enemies of those who practice falsehood and deception.
The Devil will try anything to make us give up our faith or to sabotage our
work in God’s kingdom. We can only stand
up to the Devil if we are willing to endure suffering and shame in this world.
That is what will happen to us if we remain faithful to Jesus and His Words of
promise to us. Remember, it is only through dying that we reach our final goal.
But if that were the case, why would anyone want to follow Jesus?
7. We follow Jesus because He has won the victory over
sin, death and the Devil. The apostle John in our Epistle reading from
Revelation 5 describes the throne of God surrounded by millions and millions of
angels singing, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and
praise!” (12). We follow Jesus not just because He is the victor, but because
He loves us so much that He gave up His life for us. He is the Lamb of God that
was slain for us. That Lamb is no longer dead, but alive, and rules with great
power and authority.
8. Finally, we do not choose to follow Jesus, but are
called by God. God not only converted Paul, He made him His chosen instrument
to carry His name before the Gentiles. We are thankful that Paul was obedient
in this calling he received. Let us also consider that each Christian, young or
old, has also been chosen by God for a purpose. Hear how the Bible talks about
us: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own
people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of Him who called you
out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9) And, “As God’s chosen
ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with
compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” (Colossians 3:12)
9.
You and I have been
chosen-set aside by God at Baptism to be special instruments, people chosen for
God’s mission and service in the world. Each of us have been gifted with unique
talents and abilities, interests, strengths, experiences, insight and knowledge
which God has given to us to use in some way for His divine purpose. In our
church language we call this “vocation” – our calling to be committed, active
Christians.
We use God’s gifts in what
we do for a living, and that is part of our calling, our vocation. Whether we
are pastors, teachers, lawyers, plumbers, secretaries, students, or even
retired folk, part of our task is to glorify God in whatever we do. We do this
primarily as we fulfill our vocations in a sincere, honest and conscientious
manner, as a service not done just for our pocketbook but as a service done to God and for others. For we recognize that God loves
all people and gave His Son to save them. That is why we must treat all people
with such honour.
Part of our task is also to
glorify God in what we do together here as members of this particular
congregation. Together we have agreed to support the work our gracious Lord has
given His church in this place with our prayers, time, treasure and talent. We
do this so that through loving actions and words God would enlarge His kingdom
among us.
You and I have been called
and chosen by our Lord Jesus and we take that calling with us when we walk out
of this service and this church and go to our classes, our meetings, our work
and our families. We remember that we have been chosen for a purpose—God’s
wonderful purpose!
Finally, I hope that you can
take advantage of today’s teaching on Spiritual gifts that can help you to
identify your unique spiritual gifts. Some of you may already know your special
gifts and many are already serving in various ways in the church. As many of us
have learned, exercising our spiritual gifts gives us greater fulfillment and joy
as we have the opportunity to serve as God’s chosen instruments within the Body
of Christ.
And may the Lord grant us all the
pleasure of telling truly amazing “fish stories” of the wonders He has done
among us, here in this corner of his kingdom. Amen.