Sermon 04/11/10
Gospel of Peter 14
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"Easter faith is no more or less a mystery than any other faith, but it did not start on Easter Sunday. It started
of Jesus himself." - Dominic Crossan I hope that you were all able to watch the PBS documentary on the Buddha last Wednesday evening. It was a wonderful introduction to Buddhism and the life and teachings of the Buddha. Watching it, I was reminded of one of things I love about Buddhism: how even though they have their share of fantastic legends and miracle stories about the Buddha's birth and life, they never allow that to become the point. They don't turn it into dogma and let it dominate their religious identity. I think there is much that Christianity could learn from this. Our reading from the Gospel of Peter today was pretty much a tease. They are the last words we have of this fragmentary gospel. We do not know what happened after Peter, Andrew and Levi decide to go fishing. But this gospel is an important and controversial part of the puzzle of the history and development of early Christianity. Some scholars place it in the second century CE, others, like Crossan, place it earlier in the first century and believe that it was the original passion narrative the accounts in our canonical gospels were based on. It's dating remains a controversy, though if it were established to be the literary foundation for the other accounts, its value would be immeasurable. Since it doesn't give us much of a story to work with, let's add to our discussion another reading from THE UNCOMMON LECTIONARY for today: John 21:1-13. Some time after these events, Jesus again appeared to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. This is how he did it: When Simon Peter and Thomas, the one known as "the Twin," were together, along with Nathaniel from Cana, Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples, Simon Peter says to them, "I'm going to go fishing." "We're coming with you," they reply. They went down and got into the boat, but that night they didn't catch a thing. It was already getting light when Jesus appeared on the shore, but his disciples didn't recognize that it was Jesus. "Lads, you haven't caught any fish, have you?" Jesus asks them. "No," they replied. He tells them, "Cast your net on the right side of the boat and you'll have better luck." They do as he instructs them and now they can't haul it in for the huge number of fish. The disciple Jesus loved most exclaims to Peter, "It's the Master!" When Simon Peter heard "It's the Master," he tied his cloak around himself, since he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the water. The rest of them came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. They were not far from land, only about a hundred yards offshore. When they got to the shore, they see a charcoal fire burning, with fish cooking on it, and some bread. Jesus says to them, "Bring some of the fish you've just caught." Then Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net full of large fish ashore - one hundred fifty-three of them. Even though there were so many of them, the net still didn't tear. Jesus says to them, "Come and eat." None of the disciple dared ask, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Master. Jesus comes, takes the bread and gives it to them, and passes the fish around as well. I think it is no accident that this story brings to mind other "Fish Stories" of Jesus and his disciples. Fish Stories: Loaves and Fishes: eating together, sharing together, and experiencing the abundance of the Kindom of God. The fish was the earliest symbolic representation of Christianity that we have found. It represented the sharing of food, healing and teaching found at the open table. Calling of disciples ("Come, and follow me, and I shall make you fishers of people.") This brings us full circle, back to the beginning of Jesus' ministry and the call to follow. This sometimes involved a miraculously large catch of fish (Lk 5:1-11). Post-resurrection appearances (authorizing leadership). This is not the only appearance linked to the sharing of table fellowship. How my interpretation of these stories has changed . . . . I resisted interpreting this merely as a story of authorization for leadership because it was only recently that I have been able, in my own mind at least, to pass the "So What?" test with it.
Context: power and authority in the emerging church. This story isn't creating a leadership role for Peter, when this story was written Peter was long gone and his leadership was a thing of the past, rather it's validating the authority and legitimacy of Peter and those who are continuing to follow Jesus in the way he taught them to. Crossan writes, The risen apparitions in the gospels have nothing whatsoever to do with ecstatic experiences or entranced revelations. Those are found in all the world's religions, and there may well have been many of them in earliest Christianity. But that is not what is being described in those last chapters of the gospels. It is questions of authority that are under discussion there. Is there a leadership group in the community? Is there to be someone in charge of community and group? What type of person is it to be? Who is it to be? The answers come from what the risen Jesus says and especially to whom the risen Jesus speaks. Crossan, WHO KILLED JESUS? p. 208 How would authority be validated and power authorized within the community? Appearance of Jesus Commission given by Jesus to a group or individual Continuity of Jesus' teachings and practice: particularly shared table fellowship The real mark of authority and power, the sign of continuity with Jesus, was the practice of the Kindom of God in the open table that brought together rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, male and female, the disenfranchised and oppressed as well as the respected elites and invited them to share their resources and themselves with one another, and in that sharing to find wisdom, healing and divine presence. It was still about the empowerment of the community. Crossan writes, The historical Jesus did not send others out to speak about himself or bring others to him. He told them they could do just what he was doing. They could heal one another, share their food together, and thereby bring the Kingdom into their midst. The God of that Kingdom was one who empowered people, unlike Caesar, whose kingdom dominated people. The Kingdom movement, in other words, was not the Jesus movement, and to remove Jesus was not to remove the Kingdom. . . . What they found, even after his execution, was that the empowering Kingdom was still present, was still operative, was still there. Crossan, Ibid., p. 209 The earliest vestment of authority and power was in the ones who continued to empower the community. And they were both women and men. The notion that Christian authority and power should be vested in an institution with an exclusively male hierarchy came later and is not representative of the practice of the historical Jesus. There is a powerful reminder in all this that when we as a community stray from the inclusive practice of the Kindom of God that our rabbi Jesus taught through word and deed, then we stray from the source of our own power and authority. When we practice the open table fellowship of Jesus and his followers then we have the opportunity to discover the true mystery of the ongoing presence of Jesus within and among us. Still today as long ago, our brother Jesus is most clearly recognized in our breaking bread together. Hallelujah! Introduction The gospel of Peter was preserved only as a fragment discovered in a monk's grave at Akhmim, located along the Nile in Upper Egypt, about fifty miles north of Nag Hammadi. In its original form, the Gospel of Peter may have arisen in the second half of the first century CE. It contains a passion narrative and a resurrection-ascension story which may be earlier than those in the Synoptics. It became known as the Gospel of Peter due to the fact that Simon Peter is presented as its author. Gospel of Peter 14 Now it was the last day of Unleavened Bread, and many began to return to their homes since the feast was over. But we, the twelve disciples of the Lord, continued to weep and mourn, and each one, still grieving on account of what had happened, left for his own home. But I, Simon Peter, and Andrew, my brother, took our fishing nets and went away to the sea. And with us was Levi, the son of Alphaeus, . . . . |
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