What We Believe as Followers of the Way of Jesus

Passage: John 21:1-14    

  Description: Come and have breakfast. It’s a beautiful invitation to a bunch of young fishermen who spent the night catching nothing and then, after following a rather quizzical instruction to fish on the other side of the boat, end up catching a net full of fish. It must have taken lots of hard work to pull that catch in not to mention their amazement that the net didn’t break. I wonder how many fish that net could hold—153 apparently. Any fisherman would want to know. A disappointing night, an amazing morning catch and now a simple, satisfying breakfast of fish and bread on the shore of the sea of Tiberius—AKA the sea of Galilee. There is an echo in this story that takes us back to a much larger event involving fish and bread—you might remember the story of feeding the multitudes with loaves and fishes. While no one can really know for sure, I wouldn’t be surprised if that meal didn’t happen just a few paces away from this intimate breakfast over a charcoal fire. Again, just like feeding the 5,000, this is a story of holy presence, provision, and promise. Again, it’s on the beach by the waters of the Sea of Tiberius. The narrative is so plain speaking. After these things… says the first verse of John 21, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberius. I assume the disciples are trying to establish some kind of new normal in their lives. They go back to what they know best… fishing. But it’s not quite normal. Their lives have been changed. They pass the night in the doldrums, but at the day’s new light they find themselves in the presence of the resurrected Jesus surrounded by abundance. They are in orbit around the holy presence of God made known in the risen Christ. They are slow to realize this, but once the penny drops they recognize it and eventually, they trust it.

Passage: John 20:19-31    

  Description: Guest preacher: Bob Gibennus

Passage: Mark 14:1-50    

  Description: This is the first part of the recording of most of the service in which the children dramatized the story of Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem. (Look for Part 2 below) Palm Sunday conversations were the way we imagined street corner conversations in Jerusalem. The African American spiritual, "Were you there?" formed the inspiration for these conversations and was played on flute by Rev. David after every conversation.

Passage: Luke 10:25-37    

  Description: Jesus always found a way to twist and turn a phrase in order to help his followers learn. This is what parables do best and why I think Jesus used them a lot. The parable of the good Samaritan is a great example of Jesus’ teaching tactics. Honestly, the lawyer answers well. He knows the law and he knows that the heart of the law is to, “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength and your neighbour as yourself.” The whole transaction would have sufficed right there if the lawyer hadn’t fallen into his need to be clever. But Jesus entertains the lawyer’s coy approach and digs in. He goes after the definition of neighbour and advances it. I’m not sure it was the answer that the lawyer expected. He would have expected: love the neighbours that you know, that bring casseroles when you’re sick, that look like you, that make the same amount of money, that are members of the firm. I think the parable about the Samaritan would have surprised the lawyer quite a bit, because the most respected ones in this parable are the least effective and least helpful. The one who showed mercy is the one least trusted and the furthest away from being liked. Strangers and neighbours, respected ones and disrespected ones are all mixed up in this story. I imagine the lawyer having to reconfigure his thinking as he walks away from this exchange with Jesus. It is a very human thing to distrust differences and fear what we don’t know or understand. In the early stages of our development as humans, these traits served human survival. Embedded in our human DNA like all creatures, is a cautionary gene that serves up distrust and fear in the presence of danger or the unknown. This gene is normal and is designed to move us to caution so that we stay safe. Makes sense. This gene helps us navigate the dangers of life whether that be cross walks, grizzly bears, dark alleys, and lightning storms. It helps us be cautionary and reduce the risk of danger. It’s a good thing. It helps us survive and evolve. The shadow side of this cautionary gene is that it spawns fear between humans. The worst expression of this fear leads to genocide and war. It still does. However, now we are globalized and never before have humans had so much capacity to move around the planet bringing with them culinary, dietary, cultural, social and spiritual practices. This also creates numerous fears around immigration and economics that give rise to racism and populist politics. It seems we can’t help ourselves. The cautionary gene is powerful.

Passage: Mark 1:16-20    

  Description: Rev. Susan & Rev. David speak about what it means to follow the Way of Jesus, the challenges, the joys, and the compelling nature of Jesus' command to love neighbour, stranger and enemy. They explore what being born again means from a United Church point of view (it's not a one time event), and talk about salvation - which means healing and wholeness. Jesus says to the disciples, "I will make you fish for people." How are we reeled in by God's love and how do we go out to share God's love and reel others in?