Pastor Michelle usually begins prayer time at Central United Methodist by asking, “Where have you seen God this week?” The task of the preacher or study-leader is to constantly remind us that God is in the business of clearing away those things which may obscure our vision of the ongoing Creation and Incarnation. God continues to call us to High Places where we can observe the Spirit at work. Today’s readings have a common thread of new vision and new recognition.
We begin with a pivotal portion of the Acts of the Apostles, 9:1-20, the “conversion” of Saul into Paul. After the drama of the Damascus road, v.18 tells us that “his sight was restored” through the intercession of one Ananias. What is the point of renewal that turns on an interior light, that scrapes the barnacles from the eyes of the soul? Paul speaks often in his letters of the changed vision by which he now views others, even (and especially?) those who’ve somehow fallen off the radar. Hearers of today are encouraged to understand more deeply how this works in their own lives.
We continue our Easter exploration of the Revelation to John in 5:11-14. The passage is loaded with recollections of an enthusiastic crowd of saints singing praise throughout the universe! Yet I’m drawn to the very beginning, where it says “then I looked…” When I’m looking for car-keys or a certain book, and I find the object right under my nose, someone is sure to say, “You didn’t look hard enough!” Is it true that heavenly splendor can be visible if we just look? Again, our task is to help the visually impaired to eliminate the tawdry filters through which they may now look: how beautiful are others made in God’s Image!
The Gospel lesson of John 21:1-19 is “one more story” after the climax of the preceding chapter. In this epilogue, the disciples try to sort things out by going fishing, something they used to do. You probably remember the incongruity of the Stranger on the Beach finally being recognized by John, and the subsequent net-full of 153 fish. (Somehow I think of Jesus slapping his forehead and saying, “The other side! The OTHER side! Oy!”) I guess that they hadn’t expected to see Jesus on the beach. Clouded with cynicism and disappointment, their eyes like ours needed to be re-focused.
Kathleen Norris helps wind us out: “When a place or time seems touched by God, it is an overshadowing, a sudden eclipsing of my priorities and plans, But even in terrible circumstances and calamities, in matters of life and death, if I sense that I am in the shadow of God, I find light, so much light that my vision improves dramatically. I know that holiness is near.” –AMAZING GRACE, a Vocabulary of Faith, p.31
God Bless Us, Every One Horace Brown King
My encounters with lectionary passages for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this space on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com
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