John 21: 2022
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Lord, may we hear your voice in the words spoken in your name. Amen.
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There’s an awful lot of dark in the world these days. Have
you noticed? I see it in the war in Ukraine that had its start
in Vladimir Putin’s dark ambitions. I see it in the racism
that is dying such a slow death in our own country. I see it in
global warming that found its start in the dark greed of industrialists
all over this world — who cared more for their profits that they
did for this fragile earth, our island home. So I’m glad
this morning that both our Epistle and our Gospel passages remind us
that no story that begins in the dark needs to stay there – that
God comes to enlighten our darkness and give anyone who wants it a
bright new future.
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Art historians call this juxtaposition of darkness and light chiaro
scuro. In fact, artists have learned that it is very
difficult to show light, to display light without using dark tones,
right alongside the lighter ones — to heighten the
contrast. So they use the dark tones to heighten our perception of
the light. And I think God does the very same thing.
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Saint Luke seems to know this as he shows us Saul, bound and determined
to eradicate every Christian he can find. But in his dark, angry
obsession, Saul is blind to the bright witness of Christians all around
him – as they preach good news to the poor, heal the
sick . . . and love people like him
who don’t love them back. So on the road to Damascus, where
Saul is once again about to persecute Christians, the Lord God knocks
him off his horse with a sudden flash of light – and commits him
for a couple of days to a different kind of darkness. That
darkness, that involuntary blindness does its work. And three days
later, when God sends Saul a Christian who has been instructed to lay
healing hands on this persecutor and bring him out of his blindness,
Saul is ready to receive it. As something like scales fall from
his eyes, Saul — soon to be Paul – suddenly sees the world
in a whole new light. Alleluia!! The Son has
risen. Easter has dawned again.
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And for Peter, of course, there is a special kind of darkness – the
dark grief of knowing he’d denied he even knew the Lord – not
once but three times on the night before Jesus died. No matter
that Jesus had come back to them all and wished them peace on the night
of the Resurrection. Peter’s sense of guilt and sorrow have
left him in an especially dark place.
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So yes, on that morning on the Sea of Galilee it was dark
indeed. For all of them. Nothing had worked out as they
had hoped it would. They couldn’t even seem to do what
they had all known how to do – before they’d even met
Jesus. Though they had fished all night, they had not hauled in
a single fish. So in the darkness of that dawn, when a voice
from the shore called out, “Children, have you caught any
fish?” John, at least, suspected right away that
this was the Lord. For this was the voice he’d been
longing to hear again — for weeks. He was even more sure
when that same voice advised them to cast their nets to
starboard – where, sure enough, an abundance of fish was
schooling. And as soon as John said as much to Peter, Peter
too realized that this must be the Lord. So as soon as he could,
he jumped into the water to swim to shore.
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And, lo and behold, when he arrived there, the darkness wasn’t
quite so deep — for there was a light glowing there on the
sand. It wasn’t a blinding light — like the one that
had knocked Saul from his horse on that trip to Damascus. It was,
instead, the softer glow of a charcoal fire – similar to the
charcoal fire that had warmed Peter at Caiaphas’ palace on the
night Jesus was brought there to be tried. But this reminder of
that shameful night wasn’t there to make Peter feel worse. No,
this fire – with fish and bread already roasting on its
embers —welcomed him. It drew him in – to the
warmth of Jesus’ forgiveness.
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In fact, the welcome of that glowing fire seems to have been the
message of that extraordinary morning. For no one actually said
much during that meal at all. They didn’t have to. It
was simply enough to be back in Jesus’ Presence once
again. It was simply enough to know that he was with them.
Alleluia!! The Son has risen!! And Easter
has dawned again.
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So this morning, even with bombs falling like rain on Ukraine, even
with racism rearing its ugly head in some of our political campaigns,
even with global warming on the rise all over the world — I have
hope. For the very same God who brought light out of darkness at
Creation . . . and life out of death
on Easter morning . . . who built a
charcoal fire for dejected disciples one dawn morning at the Sea of
Galilee . . . who used light to knock
Saul from his horse on the road to Damascus – but then, three
days later delivered him from blindness – this is the very same
God that we serve.
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Have we been delivered from all of our darkness, all of our confusion,
all of our blindness? Have we encountered the living Christ
in similarly life–changing ways? Maybe not. Maybe
not yet, anyway.
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But this, this is the promise of Easter – that one day we will.
Alleluia! The Son is risen!
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Amen.
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