Here you can listen to the Mass Readings for the Third Sunday of Easter (my preaching below focuses on the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of John)
Close your eyes and think about a time when you’ve seen a young child helping—or at least mimicking—mom or dad while carrying out one of their adult tasks. The little boy pushing his toy lawnmower next to Dad or the little girl holding the dustpan for Mom to sweep into. Their glowing pride is as much a sense of agency that they are DOING the thing as it is a sense of love and solidarity with their adult accomplice. You see, we humans—at whatever age—are at our best when we’re learning, when we’re co-creating—when we strive to contribute to something bigger.
I remember as a young girl, taking interest in my mom’s work in the kitchen. Some of my fondest memories with her were taking direction and attempting to do whatever task she assigned me. At first I did things like sorting dried beans so there were no pebbles to break our teeth. As I got older and could be trusted with knives I became her sous chef and prepped the ingredients for her magic concoctions. She was a notoriously good cook and something in me knew that I would become one, too.
But that wasn’t why I did it. I did it because I loved to be WITH her and to support–in whatever capacity I could–her creation of something that I knew would be GOOD. It was just gravy that I could also got to enjoy it first hand. I can remember how delighted I was to sit down at the dinner table and know that I had had a hand in the good stuff that was coming our way!
That is what we see in the Acts of the Apostles. What’s left out of today’s reading is that, before they were released, the apostles narrowly escaped death and were severely beaten as the Sanhedrin attempted to shake their convictions. Yet it tells us they were “rejoicing”. Those beatings were inflicted on them for spreading the Good News of the resurrection. They celebrated that they were sharing in the passion of Jesus, for the punishment that they had endured was a clear indicator that they’re doing something right!
When we bring that kind of enthusiasm to be and to act more like Jesus, we can always be assured–like the Apostles were–that the Holy Spirit is right there to grace our efforts. Not only will our actions reflect divine love, kindness and mercy, but in the process we become just a bit more Christlike.
Now, in my early adulthood my Mom developed Alzheimer’s. I was fortunate to move back home for about a year to help out my parents during a key time in her decline. That year I lived into the reality of meeting someone where they are. I was the chef and she was the assistant chef–and she delighted in it. We had fun times in the kitchen, trying new dishes together and making Dad try them. But as her capacity to carry out tasks diminished, my goal became ensuring that she always felt valued for whatever she could contribute. It touched me deeply to witness her enthusiasm and joy in contributing to the evening’s creation–she lit up. I imagine Jesus sees us this way: a profound tenderness and love towards us–even with our shortcomings, failings and frailty.
As we look to John’s Gospel and Christ’s third appearance on the shores of Tiberius, Peter, as the overzealous, balls to the wall, first responder leaps out of the boat and rushes over to meet him first. Yet they are all only capable of watching in awe as they sit with the resurrected Jesus. While they somehow recognize the significance of what they are witnessing, they do not understand it and they do not know how to respond. Poor Peter does his best and his back-and-forth with Jesus is sometimes interpreted as a reconciliation–paralleling to his prior three denials leading up to the crucifixion.
But it’s important to understand the different Greek translations for the word “love” that’s used in their conversation. What appears in English to be the identical, repeated question “Do you Love me” actually changes through the course of the exchange. One word for love –“philia”--is what Peter is using. It connotes the affection, esteem and goodwill that is felt toward friends. Peter responds to Jesus each time saying “You know I philio love you”. But that’s not actually what Jesus is asking him…the first and the second questions Jesus asks Peter are “do you agapas love me?”. “Agape” in Greek is a different meaning of love, it is the all-encompassing, boundless love that God has for us, love that is prepared to sacrifice oneself for the other.
When Peter responds the second time, again professing his philo love, what does Jesus do? He changes his question to ask Peter if he philo loves him so that–when Peter’s tells him yes, he is, in fact, responding to the inquiry. This can be interpreted as Jesus accepting Peter’s weakness–his inability to fully step into his calling quite yet. Nevertheless, Jesus still asks him to tend the flock and predicts the time when Peter will, in fact, fully respond to the call and sacrifice himself–a time when his philia love will become agape love. Follow me, Jesus invites him.
And so Jesus invites us–always willing to meet us where we are. He continues calling us back to our passion for God’s presence and our longing to grow in Christ-likeness. And, thank God, he accepts our brokenness with warmth and mercy. Because God knows that it is from our mistakes, our follies, our pride, our failures…it’s out of these things, not our perfections, that we grow. This Easter, how have you been invited to follow Christ, to co-create something better? Are you responding with the enthusiasm of a child?