C Easter 3. 2010                                                          Christ Church , York

My wife tells me that I am obsessive compulsive…a dangerous comment coming from one who is a licensed clinical psychologist! I, on the other hand, like to think of my behavior as one of regular routine. I prefer to get up at the same time every morning, although perhaps some of you might think that 4:00 am does not constitute morning by any stretch of the imagination. I like to follow the rest of my morning in the same way – exercise, shower, prayer, breakfast - and I like to get to the church early to do my work at the computer. My mornings rarely vary and I take great comfort in this and other routines in my life. And if I asked, most of you could name your own routines, things that you do, sometimes because it is practical, sometimes because it is an escape from our other routines, sometimes because it just feels better to have a routine. With all due respect to Sally’s diagnosis therefore, for most of us our routines are the common sense solutions we have for coping with life in general, especially when that life gets a little crazy.

With our own routines in mind, perhaps we can appreciate these disciples that we read about in the Gospel this morning. At first it seems strange for the disciples to be going home at a time such as this. They had been given a great commission, a goal to achieve, a gospel to proclaim and they should have been out in the world doing it. But we can sympathize with these same disciples when we recall the nightmare that they had just gone through, seeing their Master arrested, tried and crucified, a horror that had shattered their dreams and left them alone floundering and lost. In light of all that, who can blame them for wanting to escape for a while, to escape into the routines of those things that they knew so well. So we find that they have gone home, gone back to doing that which they knew best, gone back to the very beaches from which Jesus had called them, gone back to fishing. Just as we often seek diversion and displace our anxieties by returning to the routines of our lives, so too did these disciples, as they try to escape from the despair and darkness that surround them. But then, as though to add insult to injury, they put their nets out into the water time and time again and still catch nothing. Even this most basic routine of their lives, fails to work its magic for them. But this was more than just an escape for the disciples, more than an immersion into the daily routines, more than a way to cope with the pain and the grief, for this was also a turning point for the disciples and the life of the Church. For here is a time when the vision had grown dim for the disciples, when day followed day in dull monotony. Their Lord had left them and there was nothing to do but to return to the old way of life. But that old life was yielding nothing and all they have is the dull, monotonous routines of their lives.

And for us, living in the ordinariness of our lives, living in those daily routines which govern us and protect us from our own anxieties, what is it that we see for our future? Our Easter has come and gone like the flowers that no longer adorn our sanctuary area. We try to recapture the thrill and joy of that morning, but all too soon it is over and we find ourselves back in the routine and the reality of our daily lives, where death and tragedies still stalk us and the long stretch of days ahead seem to hold little for us, only the uncertainty about what it is we are to do with our lives. And even our vision has grown dim in a world which is no longer filled with great hopes and dreams but is, instead, rent apart by uncertainty, division, a loss of faith and a lack of belief in our institutions.

But into what seems to be a dark and empty and hopeless scene, into the routines of their lives, a stranger appears, just as dawn breaks, to stand alone upon the shore. Who is this person that has come into the darkness of the disciples? Who is this one who steps into their routines and who dares to tell them how to fish? It is not until the stranger has instructed them, and their obedience ends in a spectacular catch, that Peter suddenly realizes that it is the Risen Lord. Now, in the midst of this normal daily routine, now there exists a new and vastly different reality, a bold new vision and a new direction for a believing community. For it is exactly in the midst of their routines that Christ chooses to appear. Here this is no mountaintop experience, no spectacular events. Instead here was only the ordinariness of life. But it was into that life that Christ came to change their lives forever. In the midst of a seemingly indifferent, darkened world, there is now proclaimed a living Lord, one who calls His followers to table fellowship, One whose word transforms, One whose fire is brought into the world, whose food and drink give nourishment and nurture. But Christ has not come just to socialize. Rather there is a reason for His coming, a call to be issued to His disciples, a call to once again leave the routines of their lives and prepare themselves for a task that will require more than all the energy that any one of them can bring to it, for this new task and this mission will call for the combined time and talent of the whole Christian community. And that, my sisters and brothers, is the reason we have also gathered here this morning. For like the disciples we are people who have busied and buried ourselves in the routines of our lives. We are a people who have tried to escape the frustration and anxiety of our lives by running away from its reality. But we are also a people who have been called out of the same daily routines in our lives to join the Risen Lord in table fellowship, to hear Him speak to us in His own words, to be strengthened by the fellowship of this community of faithful believers. For it is in the meal, in the Word and in the fellowship that Christ is always present, even in the midst of despair and the seeming hopelessness in our world.

For in spite of all the advances and improvements in our world, there is still despair and darkness, a darkness only heightened by tragedies such as earthquakes, violence and disillusionment. There is still war which we confront; famine, environmental degradation, illiteracy and homelessness; there is a lack of faith and an anxiety about the future; there is no sense of community in our communities and no desire to seek the common good but rather our own good. We are faced with a myriad of problems in our world and we cannot solve every one of them. But we can do that which Christ has called us to…engage the world with the promise and the proclamation of the Good News of salvation in that same Lord Jesus. It is a lot more comfortable to run off sometimes and hide in the routines of our daily lives. But our work is to proclaim over and over again the reality of the Risen Lord, for we are called, as individuals and as a community, to be that beachhead of life upon which the people of the world can come, to be that place where Christ’s fire burns and where Christ lays out His food.

The call to the disciples began on a beach when Jesus first called these fishermen and declared to them that He would make them fishers of men. Now He comes to call them again. Like the disciples we too have come full circle, from that time when we were baptized and offered the gift of life so that our light would shine before all men that they may give glory to our Father in heaven, to this point here today where we are once again being sent out from the routines of our lives into that dark, despairing world. Our work is to bring the power and the spirit of the resurrection to bear on those many problems that beset our world, for it is only with the power of that resurrection that we will be able to confront the many challenges that face us and bring healing and hope to those who have none.

Christ now stands on the beach before us, surrounded by the dawning light of the great day of salvation, offering us the life-giving presence of Word and meal. Like those disciples we too have been invited to eat with Him and listen to His words. Strengthened anew by this presence, let us also go out from here, to carry on the same mission with which the disciples were charged, to spread the Good News of salvation, to invite others to share this meal and hear this word, to bring others into our fellowship and, above all, to witness to the awesome presence of Christ who never fails to confront us, tearing us out, now and forever, from the routines of our lives into His own marvelous light and life. Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!