8.02.09 "What Now, Lord"
WESTMINSTER PULPIT
The Rev. Dexter McNamara
August 2, 2009 “What Now, Lord?”
Deuteronomy 30:11-14 Psalm 30:11-12 Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:15-17
I’m pleased and honored to be with you this morning. I feel a real affinity with Westminster…for several reasons: First…there are people here at Westminster with whom I’ve shared warm, long-time friendships…some going back to when I first came to Sacramento 26 years ago. Second… the institutions I have served in Sacramento are children of Westminster. Fremont (where I served for 10 yrs) grew out of Westminster of Sunday school classes. The Interfaith Service Bureau (where I have been for 15 yrs) moved from being a Christian organization to being an Interfaith organization under the leadership of a Westminster Pastor – Bill Creevey. And this congregation and your pastors have continued to be key supporters and leaders of the ISB…including the strong leadership of Dr. David Thompson. Thank you for those connections. In many ways, I feel like an adopted son of Westminster.
There is another connection I feel with Westminster…particularly right now: That is the pain that can go along with being part of this often terribly dysfunctional family we call the Church.
Listen…Let me make it clear:
? I thank God for the moments of beauty and wonder and awe and joy I’ve experienced at times within the company of those who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
? I have seen amazing caring and compassion.
? I have seen people discover a whole new sense of grounding and belonging and purpose.
? I have seen joy surrounding births and I have seen gentleness surrounding deaths
ALSO… I have deeply appreciated how the Church has at times stood so resolutely for justice & equality in society…when the church has called for life & integrity & hope...and taken the lead in caring for the neediest among us.
I want to affirm all of that in the strongest way possible…and I hope you feel that way, too. There is so much about which we can say a big AMEN! Right?
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah…I know…That’s not very Presbyterian…But it’s okay to do that. Let’s try, okay?
There is much to be thankful for! AMEN? AMEN!
Pretty good…though I didn’t hear any danger of us becoming Baptists.
There are times I have wanted to say AMEN!
And times I needed to say…“OH…MAN”.
Because I have also seen the hurt and the pain that we can cause each other in the church. In Sacramento and before that in Denver, I have seen people feel betrayed and abandoned. I have seen pleasant smiles masking cold, hard hearts. I have experienced how devastating it can be when what we think should be a sacred place of love and acceptance becomes a place rife with suspicion, accusation and division.
Maybe a lot of you are feeling that way right now. This is a difficult time in the life of this congregation. No getting around that, is there? You are blessed to have Rev. Bob Fernández ministering to you.
There are times I have been terribly disappointed and discouraged about the church and that has sometimes led me to question my own faith: Was I just kidding myself? Did I really believe that God was creating a new kind of family? WAKE UP, BUSTER! Can any of you identify with that?
Well…this is a really happy sermon, isn’t it? You might want to say: “Hey, thanks for lifting our spirits.” Bob…you may get some calls about why you invited Mr. Good News to preach this morning.
BUT the truth is that’s where we are sometimes, isn’t it? And what do we do when that happens? Where do we turn when we feel we’ve been slapped in the face? “WHAT NOW, LORD?”
And we know there are no easy answers, no happy faces to make us feel all better, to make problems and hurts go away. And people who simply want a religion of joy and victory better not read the scriptures very carefully, better not look at Christianity very closely. I do not find any easy, “faith by the numbers” solutions.
BUT…there are touchstones that I find helpful. There are passages that allow me to say “OKAY”. God’s love and God’s grace is not all peaches and cream, but it can be a foundation upon which it is possible to stand. And this little post-resurrection encounter between Jesus and Peter is one of those touchstones. You know where this fits in John’s resurrection accounts: He recounted the empty tomb. Then Jesus had appeared to the disciples in the room where they were hiding (except Thomas, who was not with them) and in that room again eight days later, this time with Thomas. Later, after the disciples had gone fishing (a subject unto itself, of course) they saw Jesus standing on the shore, though they were not really sure it was him (which is another subject unto itself) and when they come in, he serves them a meal of fish and bread.
And now comes this three-fold exchange with Peter: “Do you love me?” “Yes I love you.” “Feed my lambs.” “Do you love me?” “Yes, I love you.” “Tend my sheep.” “Do you love me?” “You know everything. You know that I love you.” “Feed my sheep.”
This is a wonderful little drama…and there could be a number of ways to approach it. We could look at Peter having denied Jesus three times at the trial, now Jesus asking him three times whether Peter loves him.
But I want to approach this from another angle: The Greek words used in this exchange. Listen, I’m no Greek scholar…so I’m not going to go academic on you. But I think the words in this exchange can be reassuring for us, particularly if we are struggling with our own faith or with the church.
Jesus asks: “Do you love me?” The Greek word used there is “AGAPE”. You know that word, right? We usually hear that as the kind of love God has for us: unconditional, total acceptance, nonjudgmental love. “Peter: do you love me with all your heart, with no reservations? Are you totally committed to me? Are you with me 100%?” Peter says: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” But a different word is used: Not AGAPE—pure, unconditional love, but “PHILOS”—brotherly love, caring affection. “I love you as a brother.”
Again Jesus asks: “Do you AGAPE me?” Peter answers, “I PHILOS you.” Third time: Jesus asks; “Do you PHILOS me?” And the comment is that Peter was grieved that this time he asked “Do you PHILOS me?’ “You know everything. You know that I PHILOS you.”
What do you hear going on here? Some wonderful honesty, I think, and I thank God for that!
“Peter, do you love me with a pure, perfect, unconditional love?” “I can’t say that, Lord. I’ve got STUFF that keeps me from loving you as much as I wish I could and you know that. AGAPE? I don’t seem to be capable of that. PHILOS. I’ll try to give you the best I can and I’ll probably fail at that sometimes.” I can relate to that. Can you? And isn’t that where the church is so often? Not able to be what we wish we could be, what we pray that we could be
And what does Jesus say to Peter? Does he say PHILOS is not good enough? Does he criticize him? Does he say you need to go back to discipleship 101? NO! He says: “Feed my sheep. Tend my lambs. Go about caring for this needy world. Be my disciples and work to create a just and compassionate society. Do the best you can and be as honest as you can. And my spirit will be with you.”
Isn’t that where we need to end up?
Admitting to ourselves and to each other that we are not really capable of AGAPE (or, not for long), and then being willing to do the very best we can to reach out to others; to care for creation; to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless and tend to the sick and comfort the lonely… knowing full-well that we will sometimes disappoint ourselves and each other, and thru it all—trusting, hoping that God will use even the likes of you and me in the Work of the Kingdom.
Are we willing to believe that? Are we willing to love and are we willing to serve…the best we can?
By the Grace of God…may it be so!
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