This week’s Readings and Sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Easter
The Collect for this Sunday
Almighty Father, who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples with the sight of the risen Lord: give us such knowledge of his presence with us, that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life and serve you continually in righteousness and truth; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 30
I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me. 2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. 3 O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit. 4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger is but for a moment; his favour is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. 6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, ‘I shall never be moved.’ 7 By your favour, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain;
you hid your face; was dismayed. 8 To you, O Lord, I cried, and to the Lord I made supplication: 9 ‘What profit is there in my death, f I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? 10 Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!’ 11 You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, 12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you for ever.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and shall be forever. Amen
The New Testament Lesson for this Sunday is from the book of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 9 verses 1 to 6 (and 7 to 20)
Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ 5 He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’
(7 The men who were travelling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ He answered, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ 11 The Lord said to him, ‘Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.’ 13 But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.’ 15 But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; 16 I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.’ 17 So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’)
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The 2nd New Testament reading for this Sunday is taken from the Book of the Revelation of St John, Chapter 5, verses 11 to 14
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 singing with full voice,
‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!’
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing,
‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might for ever and ever!’
14 And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And the elders fell down and worshipped.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel according to St John, Chapter 21, verses 1 to 19
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Luke Glory to You, o Lord !
After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ 6 He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. 8 But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.
9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.’ 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ 16 A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ 17 He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.’ 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord Praise to You, o Christ !
The sermon this week is delivered by Rev Laura Brinicombe
This week I could not decide between John 21:1-19 and Acts 9:1-6, as both readings speak so keenly into a topic that I think we all need to hear about regularly: FORGIVENESS!
I’m hoping hearing that ‘God forgives you,’ isn’t a surprise to anyone here, but if it is, then you’re about to have a brilliant morning! I’ll get to you in a moment!
Those among us who have been travelling with Jesus for a while might think we’ve heard the good news of forgiveness over and over. Perhaps we think Jesus’ messages to Peter and Paul, who were at the start of their journey of faith, don’t really apply to us anymore. I want to challenge you today, as I think it is precisely to those people who are struggling day-by-day to walk in the way of forgiveness, that God has words of healing and life to speak this morning.
Let’s think about Peter first (John 21:1-19)
Jesus asks ‘Simon [Peter] son of John, do you love me?’ Three times…
Each time Peter replies that he loves Jesus and Jesus then tells him to feed his lambs,
The first time, Peter is a little shocked that Jesus even needs to ask about his love for his friend, but by the third time, it is starting to sound quite insulting…
Peter is feeling quite hurt by Jesus’ apparent doubting of his love.
Though, we must remember, it has only been a few days since Simon Peter denied Jesus three times (John 18:15-27).
I can only imagine the feelings of guilt and shame that Peter was being overwhelmed by. He had abandoned his friend at the hardest and most painful moment of Jesus’ life. Surely, it would seem logical for Jesus to doubt Peter’s love… and to hold his lack of love against him!
We soon learn that God’s forgiveness does not follow so-called human ‘logic.’ Jesus forgives Peter, simple as that, because he died for Peter! Surely, this is ‘logical’ in a new way - why would Jesus die to save somebody and then want to hold him at arm’s length?
Jesus not only restores the previous relationship between himself and Peter but creates a new one. He entrusts Peter with the care of ‘his sheep,’ those whom God loves. Here, we see that God’s forgiveness does not just repair and heal, it transforms and grows!
Next, let’s take a look at Paul (Acts 9:1-6)
Paul was a zealous, respected and faith-filled Jewish man. He honoured the traditions and legacy of his people
He was well regarded by all at a young age and recognised as a scholar and teacher among scholars and teachers. Paul was the ‘golden boy’ of the Jewish faith.
It’s no surprise then, that Paul should be at the forefront of efforts to keep Israel pure, and deal with threats from those who would pervert the teaching of the law, to which he was so committed.
Paul was determined to rid Isreal of the new, heretical sect that Jesus had started. In fact, it’s very likely he was one of the ringleaders encouraging the crowd when Saint Stephen was stoned to death.
Soon after this horrific, violent event, Paul heard there may be more followers of Jesus’ way in Damascus, and so off he went.
Paul killed Christians and was the enemy of Jesus Christ… because he knew that he was right!
He was absolutely convinced he was right, until he realised that he wasn’t! Until he saw that everything he was doing was hurting, not serving his God!
I can only imagine the feelings of guilt and shame that Paul was being overwhelmed by for persecuting Jesus, when he realised that Jesus was God.
Surely, it would seem logical for Jesus to doubt Paul’s love… and to hold his lack of love against him!
We soon learn that God’s forgiveness does not follow so-called human ‘logic.’ Jesus forgives Paul, simple as that, because he died for Paul! Surely, this is ‘logical’ in a new way - why would Jesus die to save somebody and then want to hold him at arm’s length?
Jesus not only restores the previous relationship between himself and Paul but creates a new one. He entrusts Paul to become a ‘shepherd of his people,’ those whom God loves. Here, we see that God’s forgiveness does not just repair and heal, it transforms and grows! Paul is sent, so that the whole world might hear that God loves and forgives people.
God offers forgiveness to us
How often do you find yourself feeling guilty about something that you have brought to God before?
Do you perhaps encourage others that God can forgive anyone anything and everything… but hold onto things in your heart that you believe Jesus would never forget?
How much do we really believe in the forgiveness of God?
That when you repent and God has forgiven you… your sin is forgotten!
The God, who holds the whole universe together, actually forgets that you did anything wrong!
Forgiveness can be very complicated for us but it sits at the very heart of the gospel. When Jesus died on the cross, He made, once and for all, a perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
God provided the way for us to be totally forgiven and to be welcomed back into relationship with him. This incredible gift of grace, which cost Jesus EVERYTHING, is totally free to us and it is open to everyone.
By now, you can probably guess where I’m going with this…
Jesus forgives YOU, simple as that, because he died for YOU! Why would Jesus then want to hold YOU at arm’s length?
So we offer forgiveness to others
What is true for us individually is also true for the body of Christ together, the church.
Do we find ourselves holding on to resentment?
Or holding onto the past, rather than embracing the present and future?
Just as God forgets our sins, we can too - with God’s help! God can restore and make all things new.
Jesus calls his followers to live lives that reflect his radical kind of forgiveness, to forgive others, as we have been forgiven by God.
But perhaps too much forgiveness is something we find off-putting, maybe even offensive? Our world certainty finds it offensive! Perhaps all of us quite like getting to play the judge and keeping score?
How then, might we learn to live lives of forgiveness? Not just on the day we start out Christian journey but as we travel on and come up against all that is wrong in our broken world.
The Christian life in many ways, is about practicing forgiveness (receiving it and giving it).
In order to forgive others, we need God’s help…and so we pray to God for help to forgive.
Tell me, if I came up to you out of the blue right now and said, ‘I forgive you,’ would you be offended or delighted? Offended right? What did you ever do wrong to me?
C.S. Lewis in his essay on forgiveness said: To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.
This is hard. It is perhaps not so hard to forgive a single great injury. But to forgive the incessant provocations of daily life - to keep on forgiving the bossy mother-in-law, the inconsiderate husband, the selfish wife, the cruel daughter, the deceitful son - how can we do it? Only, I think, with God’s help. Saying ‘forgive our sins’ in our prayers each day helps remind us where we stand with God. Meaning the words, ‘as we forgive those that sin against us,’ signals to us that we are offered forgiveness on no other terms. To refuse it is to refuse God's mercy for ourselves.
Forgiveness is truly the most radical aspect of the gospel, so practicing it needs to be a regular occurrence, not a one off!
Bitterness can creep back into our hearts again and again as new circumstances come up.
When this happens we must go back to God, so that we can be healed of it over and over, until we are able to hand judgement over to God and not hold onto it anymore.
This practice is difficult BUT learning what it is like to truly forgive others is the only way we can really appreciate the depth of God’s love and mercy towards us.
The application for this week’s sermon is really simple and really hard!
Step one: Remind yourself that God has forgiven you of absolutely everything, for free…and so you are free! ENJOY IT!
Step two: Forgive someone something that you don’t want to forgive them for!
It will help to heal you. Letting go of judgment, vengeance and bitterness is healing for the soul.
This doesn’t mean opening yourself up to being taken advantage of, it might not even mean physically contacting the person concerned, it means letting go of the pain and giving it to God.
If your heart is long way from forgiveness, that’s OK. It doesn’t mean you’ve reached a dead end. This week, simply pray to God to move your heart. Ask Him to help you hand over the burden of judgement to Him, rather than continuing to carry it yourself.
We try to be judges, and clearly we are not very good ones. In fact, we are all as corrupt as they come.
Always ready for a bribe. Always willing to let our friends off. Always eager to pass judgment before all the evidence comes in. Once we let go, and let God be the judge, trust that God has control…so we can get on with living for Christ.
I just want to close with a warning. As we walk with Jesus in the way of forgiveness, we will find ourselves coming to God for grace, again and again, and receiving it again and again -because God is always ready to give it. As you experience Jesus filling you up with grace, do not be surprised when you become more and more challenged to do the same for others!
Eventually, you might find you can say this to somebody:
‘I forgive you, simple as that, because I’d be willing to die for you! Why would I then want to hold you at arm’s length?’
The Post Communion Prayer for this Sunday
Living God, your Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: open the eyes of our faith, that we may see him in all his redeeming work; who is alive and reigns, now and for ever.. Amen