{"id":939,"date":"2019-05-06T00:55:36","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T00:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2019\/05\/06\/odd-commandments-based-on-acts-91-20-and-john\/"},"modified":"2020-02-15T18:21:03","modified_gmt":"2020-02-15T18:21:03","slug":"odd-commandments-based-on-acts-91-20-and-john","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2019\/05\/06\/odd-commandments-based-on-acts-91-20-and-john\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cOdd Commandments\u201d\tbased on Acts 9:1-20 and John 21:1-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Today
\nwe’re dealing with stories of 3 men who undergo changes. \u00a0The change
\nin Ananias is probably the least significant, and may be the most
\nfun. \u00a0Ananias is briefly described as \u201ca disciple in Damascus,\u201d
\nwhere disciple means student and implies student of Jesus or the
\nearly church. \u00a0Damascus was then, as it is today, a city in Syria
\nwhich is north east of Galilee, about as far northeast of Galilee as
\nJerusalem is south of it.<\/p>\n

Ananias
\nis my kind of disciple. \u00a0He is in the midst of a visionary experience
\nwith Jesus himself, and is told to go find Saul to fulfill a
\nconcurrent vision that Saul is having. \u00a0His response is EXCELLENT.
\nHe says, \u201cI’ve heard of that guy. \u00a0He has done a lot of evil, and
\nhe has the authority to do a lot more.\u201d \u00a0Which I take to mean, \u201cUm,
\nJesus, you sure you have the right guy? \u00a0Cause what you are telling
\nme makes no sense. \u00a0This is the guy killing us off, and thus not one
\nwho is likely to be invested in helping you out. \u00a0Also, I’d rather
\nnot.\u201d \u00a0I appreciate anyone who talks back, asks for clarity, and
\ndouble checks instructions that sound wrong. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In
\nthis case, as the story goes, Jesus was quite sure that Saul actually
\nwas the right guy, and Ananias was open to doing as he was asked, and
\nit worked out. \u00a0Thus, I don’t think that there was a huge change in
\nAnanias. \u00a0He was already a student of Jesus, he was wise enough to
\nask for clarity, and courageous enough to do what was asked. \u00a0When he
\nwas told to do something new, and convinced it was really on purpose,
\nhe was game. \u00a0However, he didn’t follow blindly. \u00a0Phew.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Saul
\nand Peter experience bigger changes. \u00a0I was reminded recently that
\nmost people have a lot of things to do and learn in the world that
\ndon’t have to do with the Bible and Christianity, and thus it is
\nparticularly helpful to say directly: \u00a0Saul is also Paul. \u00a0Saul is a
\nHebrew name, Paul is a Roman name, the same guy was called both,
\ndepending on where he was. \u00a0So Peter and Paul, two relatively huge
\nfigures in early Christianity, undergo major changes in today’s
\nstories. \u00a0I’m not sure which one is bigger \u2013 if you need extra
\nentertainment in this sermon, feel free to try to decide for
\nyourself.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

That
\nstory in Acts about Saul (Paul) and Ananias starts off saying,
\n\u201cMeanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the
\ndisciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for
\nletters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who
\nbelonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to
\nJerusalem.\u201d (Acts 9:-1-2) \u00a0in the previous chapter of Acts, Saul
\nwas introduced as standing in approval when Stephen was stoned, and
\ndragging disciples in Jerusalem to prison. \u00a0(Ananias had not been
\nexaggerating.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Saul
\nhad gone to all the trouble of getting special permission to
\npersecute early Christians outside of Jerusalem. \u00a0He was deeply and
\nprofoundly committed to eliminating the scourge of Jesus-following
\nfrom faithful Judaism. \u00a0Saul was from a committed Pharisee family,
\nPharisees at the time of Jesus were a sect of Judaism who were
\nparticularly careful in their observance of laws and traditions of
\nJudaism. \u00a0They were often the experts in Jewish law, and many were
\nscribes and sages. \u00a0At the time of Jesus, and of Saul, Pharisees were
\nnot the most common sect of Judaism, rather they were the \u2026.
\npopulous nerds, if that makes any sense, and around here it SHOULD
\n;). \u00a0After the destruction of the Temple, the Pharisees were the
\nstrongest sect left, and modern Rabbinic Judaism is largely based on
\nthe Pharisee perspective.<\/p>\n

I’m
\nexplaining all that because I’ve often wondered why Saul was SO angry
\nabout the early Jesus-movement. \u00a0He seems to have taken it
\npersonally, in that he made it his personal mission to root it out
\nand kill it. \u00a0The Pharisees, from my perspective, didn’t have a
\nparticular reason to be threatened by the early Jesus-movement. \u00a0The
\nruling sect, the Saducees, did, because they were responsible for
\nkeeping things quiet and under control and the Jesus followers didn’t
\nhelp with that. \u00a0But the Pharisees existed quite peaceably with other
\nsects of Judaism, and I really think early Jesus-following could have
\nbeen understood as just another sect before Paul started his
\nmissionary work.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It
\ncould be that Saul\/Paul was really upset about the ways that Jesus
\nthreatened the value of the Law, particularly about strict Sabbath
\nobservance, but I don’t quite believe that. \u00a0There were far more
\nimportant violations of Jewish law happening, and Paul wasn’t stupid.
\n From all accounts he was incredibly faithful and very intelligent.
\nPerhaps one of Jesus disciples had really annoyed Paul. \u00a0Perhaps one
\nof the stories or teachings he heard drove him particularly nuts.
\nPerhaps he noticed the power of the fearlessness of the early
\nfollowers, and noticed that the nascent movement was a bigger threat
\nthan others noticed. \u00a0Perhaps he was just doing his job, and his job
\nhappened to be to root out THIS threat, and he thought it needed to
\nbe done in Damascus too. \u00a0Try as I might, I can’t quite get my head
\ninto his thought pattern to figure out why he was rushing to arrest
\npeople and approving even of murder.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But,
\nhe was. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And
\nthen this \u2026 something happened. \u00a0He became blind. \u00a0He heard a voice
\nhe attributed to Jesus. \u00a0He prayed and fasted for three days, then
\nAnanias came and healed him, he could see, and he became a part of
\nthe very movement he’d been trying to kill.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

That
\nPaul guy. \u00a0He didn’t do things in half-measures. \u00a0He was 100% against
\nyou and then 100% for you, and he did both with complete devotion and
\npassion. \u00a0It is a bit scary. \u00a0I guess it also makes sense. \u00a0A
\ncapacity for passion can be harnessed in a lot of different ways.
\nAlso, when someone who has stood VEHMENTLY in one position manages to
\nchange their mind, they are sometimes just as VEHEMENT on the other
\nside afterwards. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I
\nwish I could see the bridge though. \u00a0I suspect it would be very
\ninteresting. \u00a0Something about how Paul valued his faith and
\nunderstood God had led him to think that the Jesus-followers were a
\nthreat to what mattered, and Paul was willing to do anything to
\nprotect God and God’s people. \u00a0After the change, Paul was still
\nwilling to do anything to protect God and God’s people, it is just
\nthat his conception of God’s people had expanded. \u00a0I suspect the same
\nmotivation was there all along, but his interpretation changed. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It
\nseems to me that this may be a helpful tool to remember when we are
\nface to face with people with whom we are on ENTIRELY OPPOSITE SIDES
\nof things. \u00a0There are a few such examples in our society (and
\ndenomination) today, and I know you are aware of some. \u00a0The irony is
\nthat there is often a shared value in our positions, but a difference
\nin interpretation. \u00a0If you’ll allow me to admit it, I suspect that
\nthe VAST majority of people in the United States care about our
\ncountry, care about the people in our country, want people to have a
\nchance to thrive, and want our country to be a leader and positive
\nexample in the world. \u00a0There are some incredible differences in how
\nwe think those things can be accomplished, but if you look at it that
\nway, we’re seeking the same thing. \u00a0One of the ways we can meet
\npeople with whom we disagree, if they are willing and we want to keep
\nbeing in connection, is to keep digging deeper and deeper until we
\nfind shared values underneath what appear to be radically different
\npositions. \u00a0A game can be made of how deep two people have to dig to
\nfind shared values.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Paul
\nis an example of an extremist, but one who shows with his life that
\nthe same passion can be expressed in polar opposite ways, and that
\ngives us a chance to remember that those with whom we most
\npassionately disagree may be people with whom we \u2026 well, share
\nfundamental values. )<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

OK,
\nonto our final changer \u2013 Peter. \u00a0I’ve always thought Peter was set
\nin up the Gospels to be a bit of an idiot so we’d feel better about
\nourselves when we are being idiots, but John Dominic Crossan thinks
\nthat the Gospels are rough on Peter because they reflect some
\nambivalence about his role as church leader. \u00a0In any case, Peter
\nusually looks like an idiot.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This
\nis no exception. \u00a0After Easter, Peter is sitting around, aimless and
\ndecides to go fishing. \u00a0Now, fishing for Peter is not like fishing
\nfor any of us. \u00a0(I’m unaware of any commercial fisher-people in this
\nchurch. \u00a0If I am misinformed, please let me know.) \u00a0Peter, at least
\naccording to the Synoptic Gospels, had been a fisherman before Jesus
\ncalled him. \u00a0(John doesn’t share this information, in fact this story
\nsounds shockingly like the call of Peter in the Synoptics.) \u00a0A
\nfisherman was a commercial position. \u00a0Peter had likely fished the sea
\nof Galilee, as his means of making a living. \u00a0Scholars seem to argue
\na bit about fishing \u2013 they agree that a large profit was being made
\nat this time from fish, as demand for it was high in the Empire at
\nthat time. \u00a0Scholars don’t seem to have clarity about whether or not
\nthe fisherman were able to actually keep any meaningful portion of
\nthe wealth they produced. \u00a0Based on how the world works, I’m leaning
\ntowards, \u201cnope.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In
\nany case, if Peter had been a fisherman, and then left fishing to go
\nfollow Jesus, then going \u00a0back to fishing after Jesus’s death was
\ngoing backward. \u00a0This was AFTER Easter, so after the disciples were
\nsupposed to have GOTTEN IT, that they could keep on sharing Jesus’s
\nmessage, that they could empower others as he had empowered them,
\nthat the work wasn’t done but it was now theirs to do.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But
\nin this passage, they DEFINITELY don’t get it, and so they go fishing.
\n They revert. \u00a0They pretend away the past year, INCLUDING Easter, and
\njust go back to what they knew.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I’ve
\ngone fishing. \u00a0I’ve found wonderful new ways of life, \u00a0new
\npossibilities, transformations, and then let them slip away. \u00a0I’ve
\ngone to anti-racism trainings, and committed to attending to my own
\nprivilege, and then come home to be immediately distracted by all
\nthat is normal in my life. \u00a0I’ve gone away on retreat, found my
\ncenter, remembered how much I NEED to spend time in connection with
\nthe Divine to be my whole-self, and then allowed myself to be
\nimmediately pulled into things that aren’t whole-self inducing. \u00a0Or,
\non a SUPER practical level… on a regular enough basis that it is
\nembarrassing, I notice that I get a little bit overwhelmed, and am
\nnot sure which way to turn in the midst of too many options, and I
\nturn to my phone to do something ENTIRELY meaningless rather than
\nexist in the uncomfortableness of not knowing.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I
\ngo fishing.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I
\ngo back to what I know, what I have been, what comforts me, EVEN when
\nI know better.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I
\nthink, maybe, we all go fishing. \u00a0But Jesus called the disciples away
\nfrom the fishing, in this story he does it AGAIN. \u00a0He didn’t let them
\nrevert, he kept on prodding them into the fuller life they needed and
\nthe ways they could gift the world around them. \u00a0He commands Peter to
\nfeed and tend his sheep and lambs… which is NOT fishing. \u00a0The story
\nsays that when Peter first saw Jesus he leapt into the water to swim
\nto where Jesus was. \u00a0That is, he KNEW that where he was supposed to
\nbe wasn’t fishing, it was in the new life Jesus had called him to.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I
\nthink that’s true for us too. \u00a0Rather than breath threats and murder,
\nwe’re called to work with those who God loves (ahem, all.) \u00a0Rather
\nthan be afraid, we’re called to speak love to those who scare us.
\nRather than revert to what is comfortable, we’re called to new life
\nand new possibilities. \u00a0They can feel like odd commandments, but
\nwe’re called away from fishing and into taking care of vulnerable
\nsheep \u2013 including ourselves and each other. \u00a0Thanks be to God that
\nGod doesn’t make peace with the status quo, or leave us in our
\ncomfortable places. \u00a0Amen\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rev. Sara E. Baron
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she\/her\/hers
http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a>
\u2028https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

May 5. 2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today we’re dealing with stories of 3 men who undergo changes. \u00a0The change in Ananias is probably the least significant, … Continue reading \u201cOdd Commandments\u201d\tbased on Acts 9:1-20 and John 21:1-19<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[34,38,28,39,33,196,199,197,195,56,185,57,198],"class_list":["post-939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons","tag-fumc-schenectady","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-rev-sara-e-baron","tag-thinking-church","tag-umc","tag-changes","tag-feed-my-sheep","tag-going-fishing","tag-peter-paul-and-ananias","tag-schenectady","tag-season-of-easter","tag-sorry-about-the-umc","tag-why-is-peter-an-idiot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=939"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1154,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939\/revisions\/1154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}