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| When Jesus asked Peter if he loved him on a beach, Jesus was modeling reconciling love for us. |
This Sermon was preached at St. John’s Church, Decatur, AL during the Healing Eucharist on July 17, 2018. The sermon was inspired by the following passages from Holy Scripture:
Jesus says, “Do you love me?” And how do we reply? Countless times each day Jesus whispers in our ear, “Do you love me?” If we reply by echoing Peter’s words, what will Jesus say to us in return? Jesus tells us what he told Peter: feed my lambs, tend my sheep, and feed my sheep.
This story of a Jesus having breakfast on the
beach with his disciples lies very closely to the heart of the Church. In
John’s Gospel account alone this passage unfolds. Here Jesus untangles the web
of guilt that wrapped around Peter—a knotted mess he created by his three-fold
denial of Jesus on the night between Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. This
story hits at one of the most foundational pillars of our Faith. Namely that
even denying Jesus and betraying him at his death cannot counteract God’s
reconciling love.
Truly, there is nothing that can undo God’s
powerful forgiveness. But, what does this look like when it is not just an
individual person dealing with guilt or disconnection? Like for example, what
does this sort of reconciliation look like when churches are feuding,
denominations are breaking away, or countries are warring with one another? The
saint whom we celebrate today shows us what God’s reconciling love looks like
during times of national upheaval.
After the Revolutionary War the Church of England
in America did not quite know what to do with itself. Our predecessors wondered
what would become of the Anglican Church here in the newly founded United
States. Before the war there were no bishops because the Brits did not want to
give a colony that kind of power. During the Revolutionary War the New England
states had felt a pinch as their clergy people were almost exclusively from
England and so they often had their loyalties split between Church and colony.
In the Mid-Atlantic and Southern states the clergy’s allegiances were more unified
against the British. Many removed King George’s name from their prayers. Then,
after the Americans’ surprising victory it was even more uncertain how the
English Church in America would proceed.
This was the first time in the history of the
Church of England that a colony had gained its independence. How would the
Church grapple with this developing reality? How would this messy web be untangled?
How would the wounds inflicted upon fellow children of God be healed across the
Atlantic Ocean? Well, one way was to stay united in Church structure or polity.
After the Revolutionary War the first American
Bishop consecrated was Samuel Seabury, who through the Church of Scotland
received his episcopate. He made some promises about the first American Prayer
Book being created. Seabury said that he would follow the Scottish form of the
Eucharistic Prayer in which there is an invocation of the Spirit or Epiclesis.
This was unlike the Eucharistic Prayer in the Church of England. And, quite
often Seabury’s remembrance overshadows our saint for today, William White, who
served as the first bishop of Pennsylvania.
White was unanimously elected as Pennsylvania’s
first bishop and he was ordained in England by the Archbishop of Canterbury and
York as well as the Bishops of Bath and Wells and of Peterborough. His
theological background may not have been as astute as others in his generation,
but his ability to build consensus and heal divisions was rivaled by no one in
his era. White served as the Presiding Bishop during the organizing General
Convention. He was the chief architect of the Constitution of the Protestant
Episcopal Church in America. To put it precisely, he was a born leader who
through his Spirit-given gifts brought about healing and reconciliation during
the years after the American Revolution.
Christ Jesus empowered Presiding Bishop White to
feed lambs, tend to sheep, and feed them. But, when we see such a profound witness
of Spirit-driven leadership we may believe that we cannot accomplish what White
did. God’s Truth though challenges that notion. All of us have a ministry. Each
one of our stories fits together in the story of Christ Jesus—the Good News of
God’s Beloved. We may not be the Presiding Bishop at the first General
Convention, but we are called to be like Peter and Bishop White who heard
Jesus’ call to feed and tend to God’s flock. Let us also be part of God’s
reconciling work in this world!
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