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The two primary stories that we hear today from the readings, Saul on his way to Damascus in Acts to persecute Christians and the appearance of the resurrected Jesus to the disciples by the Sea of Galilee in John, seem, on the surface at least, to be very different stories. One is dramatic, the other more commonplace. The story of Saul is about a firebrand going off to put people on trial for believing in Jesus as the Messiah. Saul had been at the execution of Stephen and now, as this new faith spreads, he is determined to stop it. He is blinded on the road to Damascus and hears the voice of God speaking to him. The story of the disciples is about some guys who decided to go fishing and were catching nothing. They hear an apparent stranger asking them about fishing and suggesting how they might make a better catch. But there are some significant similarities in the stories as well. Both Saul and the disciples were off doing their own thing. Saul had decided that God needed protection from this new threat of believers in Jesus and he was going to defend God from these infidels. He was going to protect God whether God wanted it or not. Peter had also gone off on his own. He had decided to go fishing and the disciples had decided to go along. They had all seen the resurrected Jesus on Sunday in Jerusalem and were told that he would meet them in Galilee, but in the mean time Peter would go back to doing something that he was familiar with; getting in a boat and trying to catch fish. The next similarity in the two stories is that neither one of them recognized the voice of God. When Saul was on his way to Damascus a light blinded him and he heard a voice speak to him. He didn't recognize that voice and asked, "Who are you?" It was Jesus talking to him, the very same Jesus whom Saul had been persecuting. Saul was told that he was to go into the city and wait for instructions. When the disciples were in the boat they saw a man on the shore at about dawn and he called out to them, asking how the fishing was. They said that they had caught nothing. They didn't recognize the voice of Jesus calling them from the shore even when he gave them a suggestion about where to look for fish. Saul and the disciples both followed the instructions of the voice they didn't recognize. Saul went into town and stayed there waiting for someone to come to him. The disciples threw the net in the water when the stranger told them to put the net in on the right side of the boat. Following the instructions or commands is at the heart of both of these stories. The Most Reverend William Temple, the great Archbishop of Canterbury in the middle of the last century, said of this story in the Gospel of John, "What is done in obedience to the Lord's command, even though he who gives the command is not recognized, results in overwhelming success." That too, the success of their ventures, is a similarity in both of the readings. When Saul follows the command of God he is healed of his blindness by a man he had come to put in jail, then he is baptized. When the disciples throw the net over the right side of the boat and it fills with fish one of the disciples, likely John, recognizes the man on the shore as Jesus. As soon as Peter hears that it is Jesus he puts on clothes and jumps into the water to swim to shore. The other disciples barely keep the net from breaking as they haul the net behind them in the sea. Jesus speaks to Saul and to the disciples and gives them instructions about what to do from where they are at the moment. They follow the instructions and experience overwhelming success, Saul with his eyesight in a very dramatic moment and the disciples with a large catch of fish in a more common way. But what is helpful to go back and remember at this point is one of the dissimilarities in the two stories. Jesus spoke to Saul in a way that few of us have ever experienced, being blinded by a heavenly light and hearing a voice that others around can hear even though no one can identify where the voice is coming from. Saul was astounded and could not help but stop and take notice. He knew that this was something big and that he should listen. The disciples were spoken to by a man asking how the fishing was going. In other words, just asking about their daily lives. Even after they recognized Jesus and came ashore he spoke to them in ways that were fairly common to all of us. He asked them to share breakfast, to bring some of their fish to cook on the fire. Not many of us have been blinded by heavenly light, but all of us have experienced a friend asking us to dinner. Jesus may speak to us in different ways, but it doesn't always have to be dramatic. He spoke to the disciples by simply suggesting that they change they way that they were working a little bit. We may also hear the voice of God from someone we don't recognize and it may be the voice of Jesus. We may be asked to change how we are working a little bit, or the way we do things with our family. Remember the words of Archbishop Temple, "What is done in obedience to the Lord's command, even though he who gives the command is not recognized, results in overwhelming success." Whether we are working in our professional lives or our volunteer lives we have the opportunity to hear God's call and respond. We may be building children's lives by teaching, or building people's bodies through work as a healthcare professional; we may be building houses or portfolios as carpenters or financiers, we may be building for Habitat for Humanity or creating healthy places for the mentally ill and the poorest among us. In all of these ways, and many others, we can hear God's voice calling us to reach out and help one another. Jesus calls us to care for one another in whatever situation we are in at the moment. The voice of Jesus can come to us like a friend asking us to eat with them. It's not always dramatic, but it always loves. Archbishop Temple had another interesting point about this story in the Gospel of John. When the disciples came to shore they saw Jesus beside a fire cooking fish and bread. He asked them to bring some of the fish they had caught to put on the fire and share for the meal. Then Jesus acted as the host, or perhaps as the servant, and gave food to everyone. When we bring our gifts of abundance, gained from our obedience to God's commands, God adds his own grace to the fruit of our labor and gives us continued strength and refreshment to continue on with the work he has given us to do. It is all a gift from God, even the fruit of our labor, says Temple. As we go about our lives we can listen for the voice of Jesus. If you hear a voice but see no one speaking and are blinded by a heavenly light; please do as the voice asks and we'll all pray that someone is sent to pray that the scales fall from your eyes and that God makes clear what your work is to be. But don't hold your breath for that kind of dramatic calling from God. But do listen as friends ask you to eat with them, as someone suggests that you try something a little different in your work or change the way you help your family to grow together. It may be the voice of Jesus coming to you in a common, everyday sort of way. "What is done in obedience to the Lord's command, even though he who gives the command is not recognized, results in overwhelming success." May you have overwhelming success as you hear Jesus in your life. † |