Easter 3c - Conclusion

Acts 9:1-20; Psalm 30; Revelation 511-14; John 21:1-19
By Easter 3 the lilies have left the building and its back to the familiar for the faithful. Of course the Easter season continues to Pentecost but for all practical purposes the season is all about a day and that day is done and gone. So what now? Those who make their pilgrimage to the pews twice a year return to sleeping in on Sunday. Those who come every week are glad for a parking space and their regular seat in the sanctuary reserved for them again. Those who preached or presided or played the holy week and weekend take some time off to recover and then get back to work. Another Easter put away and it’s back to business as usual because we don’t live with trumpets and tympani in our day to day. But the lessons of Easter 3c point us to something else for while nothing has changed everything is different. Ananias wakes up one morning and finds himself on Straight Street baptizing the one who the day before was breathing murderous threats against him and the apostle who calls himself the least is unleashed on an unsuspecting Gentile world. The psalmist weeping through the night wakes up in the morning to deliverance and hope and healing and puts on a tuxedo and gets to dancing. The lamb who was done for good comes back to life and the world wakes up to angel choirs too numerous to count singing the eternal future. And Peter gone fishing is caught by Christ and confessing, “You know I love you Lord” is forgiven for being a coward in the courtyard, “Feed my sheep and follow me.” So if you think Easter is just a day think again and you might just wake up to the season that lasts forever.