I had the privilege of being with God’s people gathered as Grace Lutheran Church in Lexington, Nebraska on Sunday May 4, 2025. It was a joy to be with the congregation, part of the Holy Trinity Parish. Thank you Pastor John Strackbein and to the parish’s vitality team for the invitation. It was a joy to be with God’s people this past weekend. I was invited to lead in worship and preach, and in so doing, I shared some learning, observations and ideas out of the parish’s journey through the Nebraska Synod’s Vitality Initiative for Congregations. I was also with the congregation as part of an area synod “On the Road Together Again” weekend, as synod staff were in many area congregations this past weekend after having gathered with disciples and congregation members together to imagine and wonder about big questions and listen and share stories together in Axtell on Saturday May 3. What follows is the majority of the manuscript I preached from. It was based on the appointed readings for the Third Sunday of Easter (Year C): John 21:1-19; Acts 9:1-20; Psalm 30; and Revelation 5:11-14. In addition to the sermon, I also brought greetings from the Bishop and synod staff as well as the whole Nebraska Synod, and shared words of gratitude for the congregation’s continued participation in mission share and all that the congregation is a part of by being part of the larger church.

Grace and peace from God in Christ, who is with you, for you, and who loves you. Amen.

Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed! Alleluia! The joy and peace of this Easter season be with all of you! And thank you again for having me join you today. It’s a gift to be with you, Grace Lutheran, and Holy Trinity Parish. Over the past two years I have had the joy of journeying with you as your parish has participated in the Nebraska Synod’s Vitality Initiative for Congregations. Through that journey with your siblings in Christ across the synod, you have pondered big questions. Questions like: Who are we? Who are our neighbors? What might God be up to? And what might God be inviting us to be a part of next? These are deep questions of faith that call for wrestling and discernment. They invite experimentation and learning, things that you are all in the midst of, right now. These questions are also questions of discipleship. They are Easter questions, for on this side of the Resurrection where we find ourselves, we are wondering and imagining what God has done for us, and what that might mean for what God is calling us to be a part of next. They are questions which help us to each follow Jesus and share God’s love as Jesus calls and commands. This week’s stories might help us explore this a bit.

God’s Word for Us this Day
Our stories this week are rich and familiar. From the Book of Acts, we again find ourselves hearing the story of Paul’s conversion. It’s dramatic. At the beginning of the story it’s like hearing or reading the narration of a Law and Order television episode or something. “Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord..”[1] But we know the rest of the story. Saul will become Paul. He will go from breathing threats to asking questions like, “Who are you, Lord?”[2] To being equipped by Ananias, to then preach and proclaim that Jesus “is the Son of God.”[3] This is one of those stories that stays with you. It may not be the easiest to preach on, but as we think about all of the stories we hear today, this one makes abundantly clear that God is active and up to something. As we’re in the Easter season we know that God will bring new life out of death, and death no longer has the final say. But in a story like this, we also know that God will act- even to the point of finding the most hardened of hearts and to change them. To change our perspectives. To change our understandings. To help us learn and grow. To move us from judgment to curiosity. To move us from complacency to action, or in Paul’s case, from being the biggest prosecutor against the faith to its biggest proponent. God is active and up to something. And God invites us to follow, wonder, and join in.

As we follow and join in, we are called to respond. The psalmist this week calls us to sing with joy. I have this worship song that comes to mind when I think of Psalm 30, it goes like this, “You’ve turned my mourning into dancing again, you lifted my sorrows. And I can’t stay silent, I must sing, for your joy has come.”[4] With the psalmist we sing praise to the Lord and give thanks for what God has done.[5] With the psalmist we know that weeping may linger, but it won’t last forever. Joy is real. With the writer of Revelation, we also join in. Together we proclaim, “Worthy is the Lamb…”[6] And we join in as the writer describes with all who witness the goodness and love of God through the song, “To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”[7] Amen! Together with those witnesses of the faith, we respond by giving our thanks and praise. And we then respond too by following Jesus’ invitation and call to follow, and to join in with God in some of God’s on-going work, now, today.

Jesus’ Call to Follow
That brings us to the gospel. Have you ever just said, after a very busy few days or weeks and an emotional whirlwind of chaos, “I am going fishing”?[8] To be honest, I haven’t. Seafood and fish don’t generally agree with my stomach, but, if you have, this might be the story for you. Or if you are like me, maybe imagine declaring, “I am going to go for walk, or play catch, or watch a baseball game.” Anything to go clear your head and ground yourself. To try and find your center. That’s what it seems like the story today starts with, with Peter and the disciples going out fishing. Kind of like in another story, elsewhere in the gospels, they don’t have any luck. And then it all changes, again, when Jesus shows up. They didn’t know it was Jesus right away. You’d think by now, they would come to expect Jesus just showing up unexpectedly. But they figured it out, when, like before on the water, the nets became overwhelmingly heavy because there were “so many fish.”[9] Once that happened, they figured it out. One exclaimed, “It is the Lord!”[10] The disciples might be a little slow, but they are learning about Jesus’ presence and promise. They know that God is active and up to something, and with God all things are possible. After having journeyed with Jesus for three years, and through the highs and lows of the days we now know as Holy Week and Easter, they know that God can and does bring new life out of death.

So together on the beach that morning they have an abundant breakfast of fish. Together, they celebrate and catch up, in what is Jesus’ third appearance to his disciples after his resurrection. The conversation turns a bit deeper though once they finish eating. And Jesus turns toward Simon Peter. Jesus asks him question after question. Questions like we might be asked in our baptisms or confirmations- to declare our faith. To commit to this life together as God’s people. Jesus asks, “Do you love me?”[11] And each time that Peter responds, Jesus gives a direction. “Feed my lambs.”[12] Tend my sheep.”[13] “Feed my sheep.”[14] “Follow me.”[15]

These were instructions for Peter, but they are also instructions for us. This is the work of discipleship and stewardship. This is the work that we commit to in our baptisms, and in our life together as God’s beloved people with and for one another. Think about the promises we make and affirm in baptism. Together we commit, “to live among God’s faithful people, to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper, to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.”[16] These promises are made by each one of us, but they are also the promises we make to work and live together for the sake of all of God’s beloved, near and far.

As Peter can attest, the life of being a follower of Jesus, the life of being a disciple and steward, is deeply meaningful and makes a difference. But it’s not an easy one. It’s a hard one, we know this. At its center is the cross. There will be times where we are challenged, and we’ll find ourselves having to make hard decisions and stand alongside those at the margins who society around us will try and make us lose sight of. But that’s what Jesus calls and commands us to do. To meet God’s people where they are. To live with one another. To journey with one another. To work and share God’s love, not for our sake. God in Christ has taken care of that. But we do this, for the sake of our neighbors. So that through all that God might entrust us with, we might show through all that we have and all that we are, that God’s love is real, and that God is indeed for you and for me. People of God, we’re called to follow and to do likewise.

What might this look like?
We’re called to be disciples. I think we have a good handle on this. But we’re also called to be stewards of the mysteries and promise of God’s love. This word might need a little unpacking. Stewardship, this “old, churchy word,” but at its heart is all about response. It’s our joyful and grateful response for all that God has done, will do, and promises to do for us. In Psalm 24, the psalmist proclaims, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it. The world and those who live in it.”[17] Put another way, all that we have, and all that we are, is God’s. You are God’s. I am God’s. We are all God’s own beautiful and beloved children. And all that we have is what God entrusts to our care. All that makes you the unique and beautiful Child of God that you are. Think about it. All means all here. Your health, body, soul, heart, mind, and relationships. Your time, talents, treasures, and finances of all kinds. Your stories, strengths, passions, dreams, ideas, questions, and your vocations. And all of God’s good creation that surrounds us and we’re a part of. All of this and more, is God’s, and which God entrusts into your care.

God does this because God loves you and God wants life to go well for you. God does this too because God wants life to be meaningful and filled with purpose. In part, through inviting you to follow and to use what God entrusts to meet your neighbor’s needs in some ways in daily life- here, now, today.

With all of this in mind, we are stewards- called to serve and share. Knowing that when we do this, we don’t do it alone. We do it with God. With our God with whom there is always enough. With our God who can take a few fish and a couple loaves of bread, and feed thousands. With our God who can call the disciples to cast their nets on the other side of a boat and then catch 153 fish.[18] With our God who shows daily that abundance is real, and scarcity is not- that abundance is the way of following Jesus in life together, and scarcity is the product of lies and sins the world and powers that be, might have us perpetuate and believe.

Friends, you are living signs of the truth of God’s abundance. Your story as Grace Lutheran is rich with abundance. It’s rich with being bearers of welcome for one and all in your community. It’s rich with asking questions and coming alongside your neighbors near and far, by being part of the Nebraska Synod and larger ELCA. It’s rich with an openness to trying new things, which over time has led you to collaborate and partner with neighboring congregations, and even helped you follow an instinct, idea, and question to form a deeper relationship as Holy Trinity Parish with your partner congregations in Bertrand. God’s abundant love and life is real with, for, through, and in you. Thank you all for your deep faith, discipleship, and generous stewardship of God’s love.

What Might Be Next?
Jesus ends the gospel story today with two words. “Follow me.”[19] And so we do. Which brings us back to the Vitality Initiative. The last questions that congregations ponder as part of their vitality journey, is what might God be up to and inviting us to be a part of next? As Jesus calls and invites us to follow, we do so. Not knowing always where we are going, but trusting and knowing that Jesus is with us and leading us every step of the way. As we follow, we learn, wonder, ask questions, and meet our neighbors. We engage in conversations and explore. Together we take our next most faithful step, and then a next one, and a next most faithful step after that. This is what life together looks and feels like. It’s what the life of following as Jesus calls might look like.

Sometimes we’ll be walking in circles. Sometimes we might be running. Sometimes we might feel like we’re hitting our heads against a wall. And other times we might be singing joyfully, crying mournfully, or using our voices to work for justice and peace as signs of love for our neighbors. All of this and more is part of our life as disciples. All of this and more, are all the more important now today, on this side of the resurrection and in this time and place in the world that we find ourselves in. I don’t know what might be next. I have ideas, much like you might too. But I do know that we’re not alone in taking these steps and in following as Jesus calls us. We’re in this together as God’s people, and even more so, we’re in this with our God who is with us, for us, and who loves us. Always. Keep on following. Keep on serving. Keep on loving. Because that is what Jesus calls us to do. And because we can’t do anything else, if we’re being honest, because we know that Christ is Risen. Christ is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia! Thanks be to God. Amen.

---

Citations and References:
[1] Acts 9:1, NRSVue.
[2] Acts 9:5, NRSVue.
[3] Acts 9:20, NRSVue.
[4] Tommy Walker, “Mourning into Dancing,” © 1991 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music, as found in  Worship & Praise Songbook, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 1999).
[5] Psalm 30:4.
[6] Revelation 5:12, NRSVue.
[7] Revelation 5:13, NRSVue.
[8] John 21:3, NRSVue.
[9] John 21:6, NRSVue.
[10] John 21:7, NRSVue.
[11] John 21:15-17
[12] John 21:15, NRSVue.
[13] John 21:16, NRSVue.
[14] John 21:17, NRSVue.
[15] John 21:19, NRSVue.
[16] As found in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2006), 236.
[17] Psalm 24:1, NRSVue.
[18] John 21:11, NRSVue.
[19] John 21:19, NRSVue.