Readings from the Common Lectionary during the Sundays after Easter centralize the obligation of the Church to not only recognize the Risen Christ, but to point him out to the rest of the world, waiting fussily for some Good News (for once). Lessons to which we’ve attended lately acknowledge the amazement and delight of Believers when holy encounters occur. Scriptures for this Third Sunday continue to commission the congregation to herald what God is doing, even Today!
Perhaps the passage(s) from the Acts of the Apostles could be read at the top of the order of worship, a sort of vision statement, or a reason for us to be in attendance in the first place. This week we hear the famous story of the Conversion of St. Paul (Acts 9:1-6), where a blinding glimpse of Glory shut off his limited sight in order to prepare him for a more heavenly vision. “He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.'”(v.5) Full of the world’s traditions and expectations, most of us have come with the same question: “Who are you, Lord?”
What a quantum leap to Revelation 5:11-14! Here John the Divine/today’s observer sees the Christ just where one expects, on the Throne of God in the midst of adoring angels and saints. Even the eagles and the fish in the sea are singing his praise! Michael Pasquarello III says that this kind of attention “is the work of the whole church,which, drawn by the Spirit in response to the living Word, the risen Lord, offers itself in prayer and praise and so constitutes itself… as the body of Christ.” Also, “worship is central to our identity and mission as God’s people, since it is worship that shapes the human community in response to the God of Jesus Christ.”
And then one of the best tales in the Gospels, John’s account of Peter’s fishing trip! (21:1-14) Not knowing just what to do, some of the Disciples went fishing, a familiar job. You remember how they saw Jesus on the beach in the morning mist, and how he told them to be successful they had to fish on the Other Side. (“Oy vey, don’t these guys ever learn?”) With the huge catch again comes recognition for Peter & Co.: “Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord.” (v.12)
After the Resurrection, Jesus keeps coming back. Sometimes we see him just as we expect, in power and glory–but more often where we least expect him. The task of the Church, then, is to put aside the Old Sight in order that we may know the Christ more completely; and then to aid the rest of the short-sighted world in discerning Justice and Mercy where they make their brief appearances.
God Bless Us, Every One! H B King
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