"Feed My Sheep, Feed My Lambs" - Sermon, May 5, 2019

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Community UMC, Quincy
“Feed My Sheep, Feed My Lambs”
Rev. Andrew Davis
May 5, 2019
Acts 9: 1-20
John 21: 1-19

            Almost two weeks ago after Easter Sunday, it was nice to take a day off and go fishing with my dad.  While catching a fish here and there is nice (after all, there is nothing like fresh fish for dinner on the grill with some asparagus and red potatoes) it doesn’t really matter if we catch anything or not.  It’s just nice to be outside and near water, even if the wind is blowing and white caps are forming.  There’s something renewing about being around water.  We decided to give Frenchman Lake a try and to our delight, the lake is once again full to the brim, even roaring over its spillway.  With the lake so full, it’s nice not having to hike a long way to the water (unlike the year I began serving here in Quincy).  While I did hook a nice trout that early afternoon, my line snapped and didn’t even get to have a look at the fish.  Fortunately for my dad, he was able to catch a couple landlocked king salmon at Lake Almanor when he was out with guide Bryan Roccucci that Tuesday.  So we did get our grilled fish dinner.  
            It’s no wonder that I tend to feel empathy for the disciples as  Peter decides to get in his boat and go fishing, only to come back with nothing.  After Peter comes back with no fish, Jesus shows up incognito and like a good fishing guide (which there are many of here in the Sierras), shows them where to drop their nets resulting in a massive catch of fish.  Of course, a good shoreline breakfast is good with the fresh fish, so Jesus invites the disciples to have breakfast with them, in which they recognize him, and their eyes are opened and they see the risen Lord.  This encounter is the third of Jesus’s post-resurrection appearances in which the disciples won’t recognize him right away, only to have their eyes opened at some point in the story.  But, it’s Jesus’s encounter with Peter that is most telling of where Jesus’s ministry will continue on after his resurrection and ascension.
            Throughout the Gospel accounts, Peter is a fascinating character.  He often acts impulsively, can have a quick temper, and is good at opening his mouth and inserting his foot.  Yet, his heart is always in the right place in his devotion to Jesus.  In the late professor, J. Elsworth Kalas’s book, The Thirteen Apostles chapter about Peter, Dr. Kalas refers to Peter as the “Man of Action.” Dr. Kalas explains that “Peter was always doing something.  He was always in action.  The action might be ridiculous or sublime, but there’d be action.  While others in the group were still pondering, Peter was usually speaking or doing.”[i]Which explains why Peter is who is he in the gospel stories.
            Inthe gospel readings during Holy Week, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times after Jesus had been betrayed and arrested.  As Jesus encounters Peter in this post-resurrection appearance, Jesus is now giving Peter a command to feed his lambs, and tend his sheep instead of chiding Peter for denying knowing him, although Jesus foretold that it would happen . After he denied Jesus (although I do like the little cartoon of Jesus and Peter playing basketball and Peter blocking Jesus’ shots three times), Peter has this opportunity for redemption, a second chance, and an opportunity to accept the love and grace Jesus is offering by feeding Jesus’ lambs, tending his sheep, and feeding his sheep.  It’s ‘a counterbalance [of] Peter’s three denials of Jesus.’[ii]
            Imagine that you encounter Jesus telling you to feed his sheep three times, even after saying how much you love him three times. Like Peter, it’s something that Jesus is calling upon us to do today. After all, it was Peter who would become “the major spokesman” of “the early Christian church.”[iii]Jesusessentially tells Peter to carry on the work ahead after Jesus has ascended.  2000 plus years later, it’s up to each of us to feed Jesus’s lambs, tend his sheep, and feed his sheep. Jesus’ command to do so means caring for everyone we encounter, sharing our love with everyone, because we as followers of Jesus should ALWAYS be known by our love.[iv]  
When we respond to Jesus’s invitation to discipleship and make the decision to follow Jesus, feeding Jesus’s lambs and tending his sheep means that we have to go into places we don’t always want to go. That includes encountering things we don’t like seeing, such as illness and injury or speaking up and out against injustices and violence in our world.*  Yet so often, there is a tendency to “continue in Peter’s style. We are always trying to re-route the way of the cross into a path of comfort, of superficial achievement, of frothy popularity.”[v]Such as when early in his ministry, Jesus knew what he was facing and that he would die on the cross.  When, Peter wanted to protect Jesus from the gruesomeness, he only got to be rebuked by Jesus.  
As a pastor and someone who is continually learning, I’m still trying to stretch myself and allow myself to be stretched, although I still fall short more than I care to admit, as I relate with Peter in this case. While we may want the comfort, achievement, and popularity, we need to keep in mind that there are many sheep out in the mission field we have a chance to feed and engage with, because all of us are Jesus’s sheep, along with those who we minister to.  Even today when we confess our love for Jesus, Jesus still says feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.  
            How are we feeding Jesus’s sheep in our community?  How are we as a church making a difference?  And how are you being fed, or not fed?  Oftentimes when I talk with people, whether they have come from another church, those who used to attend here, but not longer attend, one reason I will hear is “I wasn’t being fed.” Because we are all different from each other, our individual spiritual needs are different too and we are fed in different ways. The most challenging part of trying to feed our flocks is to realize that are times where our personal preferences may get in the way of the mission.*  Yet amidst such differences or our preferences or needs, we’re still called to follow Jesus; we’re called to tend his sheep, feed his lambs, just as he cared for the disciples and fed them on the beach that morning.  Amidst Jesus calling us to tend his sheep, feed his sheep, and follow him, 
sometimes we are so preoccupied, we miss the movement of Jesus that is right in front of us. Maybe it is because he doesn’t look the way we think he would.  Maybe it is because we don’t expect to see him work.  [Like the disciples after the resurrection], we don’t always recognize Jesus, but Jesus knows how to make himself familiar to his disciples.  It isn’t the same for everyone, but he knows us so well that it can be custom-made.[vi]

            That’s how well Jesus knows each of us whether we follow him or not, and is willing to feed us and listen to us.  It’s up to us to continue feeding his sheep and lambs today.  Likewise, we never know who might be Jesus in our midst, such as the person who comes to the office seeking a listening ear or spiritual guidance during the week, someone seeking assistance from our community which results in creating new relationships while seeking the appropriate resources, the many who gather each week at community supper, the voices of our children and youth, or in the voices of our elder members.  We never know when we may be directly asked to feed Jesus’s sheep and lambs or when we will have the opportunity to feed his lambs and sheep. 
             And so, this morning, we are celebrating Brittney’s decision to follow Jesus as we celebrate the sacrament of Holy Baptism, followed by the reception of new members including Brtittney, Aileen, Barabra, Angela, and Joshua.  As the gathered body of Christ here in the church, we too remember that is our calling to feed Jesus’s sheep and lambs everywhere we go, and especially as we nurture our newest members in the faith, encouraging them each step along the way, and picking them up when they fall.  Let us continue to open our eyes to the risen Christ in our midst as we feed Jesus’s sheep and feed his lambs. 
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, let the church say, AMEN!!  

[i]J. Elsworth Kalas, The Thirteen Apostles (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002), 17.  
[ii]Study Notes in The New Interpreter’s Bible, NRSV (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002), 1951.  
[iii]Kalas, 22.
[iv]Annie Lockhart-Gilroy, “Commentary on John 21: 1-19” in Discipleship Ministries, accessed 1 May 2019, https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship/easter-2019-part-1-worship-planning-series/may-5-third-sunday-in-easter-year-c/third-sunday-in-easter-2019-year-c-preaching-notes
[v]Kalas, 21.
[vi]Annie Lockhart-Gilroy

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