homily recap 2.1.09

This Sunday we returned to theme of redemption. We have continued to benefit from David Kelsey's insights gleaned from his wonderful book, Imagining Redemption. In this book, Kelsey talks about what redemptive difference Jesus can make to a family scarred by horrific events (see the last homily recap for context and the summary of what happened to this family). Kelsey uses the illustration of the reversal of foreground and background in a painting to describe the difference that Jesus can make to this family. "In the scene defined by Sam's family, after Sam's illness, his family's situation is the background. It both defines and frames the scene, that is, the context of each of the people in it. Within that context, Jesus' presence is accented or foregrounded as God's promise. At the same time Jesus is present in the scene as one person among many within one-and-the same context..... that context is profoundly unpromising, a living death constructed in part by Sam's family out of illusions and half-truths. However, if Jesus' presence in the family's life is indeed God's eschatological promise (by this Kelsey means that the risen Lord Jesus Christ brings the promise of the world to come to this family in the present, embodying the already of God's coming Kingdom in the midst of the not yet of this family's life) background and foreground are reversed. As God's promise of the imminent in-breaking of God's eschatological kingdom, Jesus' presence places Sam and his family in a new and profoundly promising context. Quite apart from anything else changing, we now must imagine the social institution that is created by God's performative utterance. That is, God's promise to all humankind is the context into which the terrible situation into which Sam's family is relocated." With this theological framework in mind we turned to the Gospel of John (21:1-17) and Jesus' third resurrection appearance to his disciples.

We find the disciples returning to fishing. Called by Jesus to be fishers of people these men had returned to being fishermen after the crucifixion. Into their midst the risen Lord Jesus comes and places their lives in a new context - the same new context that Kelsey refers to above. Within this new context Jesus gives Peter (and through him the rest of the disciples and us) a redemptive challenge: love the sheep, practice the Christian faith. Peter is being challenged to live into the blessings of grace and spirit animated life in the community called into existence by the risen Lord Jesus Christ, what Kelsey refers to above as the "social institution that is created by God's performative utterance".

While preparing this homily I thought about Jesus' redemptive challenge to Peter in light of an essay I recently read by Amy Plantinga Pauw, "Attending to the Gaps between Beliefs and Practices". In the essay Pauw observes that when thinking of spiritual formation it is always tempting to look at and emulate models of what she calls "exemplary discipleship". She suggests, though, that there are problems with that approach. Here is Pauw: "In exemplary cases of discipleship, the coherence of belief and practice is so impressive that it masks the extent to which beliefs and practices underdetermine each other. By contrast the ordinary struggles of religious people lay bare the ligaments that hold beliefs and practices together. Their struggles reveal how easily these connections become strained and broken when admirable beliefs fail to nurture admirable practices, or when vibrant practices fail to stimulate vibrant belief. The recurring gaps between beliefs and practices reveal that these two components do not by themselves comprise the religious life, and point us to the significance of the affective dimensions of faith. Desires and dispositions play a key role in connecting beliefs and practices". Pauw goes on to point out that it is by attending to the gaps where we discover "wanting to want" to serve and love God is what keeps us on track. Pauw: For us, as people of faith who want to want to love God, the communal setting of proclamation, sacraments, and confession frame our hopes for closing the gaps between beliefs and practices. In those settings we can reaffirm the truth about our dependence upon the richness of God's grace. Freed by God's assurance of forgiveness, we can dare to probe the corruption in our beliefs and practices, and our failures to connect them. Filled with thanksgiving and gratitude, we can pray for a creative and fruitful integrity between our beliefs and practices."

Questions for discussion:
1. Do you find yourself looking at those you consider to be exemplary followers of Jesus and feel that you come up short? Does this cause problems for you as you think about your own journey of faith?
2. What is masked by looking at those we consider to be exemplary disciples of Jesus as our models for our own journey with Christ?
3. What is revealed when we consider why we have gaps between beliefs and practices? What does Pauw mean by affections, desires and dispositions?
4. What can you glean from John's portrayal of Jesus' interaction with Peter as it relates to this discussion? Specifically, how is Jesus' challenge to Peter a way of inviting him to attend the gap between his belief and practice?