Reading of the holy gospel according to Saint John. When Jesus manifested himself to his disciples and they had eaten their meal, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? Yes, lord, Peter said, you know that I love you. At which Jesus said, feed my lambs. Second time, Jesus put his question, Simon, son of do you love me?
Yes, lord, Peter replied. You know that I love you. Jesus replied, tend my sheep. Third time, Jesus asked him. Simon, son of John, do you love me?
Peter, at this, was hurt because Jesus had asked the third time, do you love me? So Peter said to him, Lord, you know everything. You know well that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. I tell you solemnly as a young man, you fastened your belt and went about as you pleased.
But when you are older, you will stretch out your hands, and another will tie you fast and carry you off against your will. What Jesus said indicated the sort of death by which Peter was to glorify God. When Jesus had finished speaking, Jesus said to Peter, follow me. And this is the gospel of the Lord. In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, amen.
We go back this morning once again to this to the illustrious and dramatic story of Paul's, imprisonment, the charges against him, and how eventually he wound up in Rome. It's a very curious, mysterious story. Just take the excerpt today. How many different people, completely independent people, played their role in getting Paul to Rome. It's a fantastic story.
And if there's anything comes out and Paul, he doesn't know what's happening or what is going to happen next. It's all out of control as far as Paul is concerned. These things just happen to him, but they are all pushing in one direction. It's an amazing story. People don't read the Acts of the Apostles much, but remember it's the one and only and the most primitive history we have of Christ's Church in its earliest days.
And it's it's dramatic. It's a it's it's just a wonderfully good story if you look at it just that way, extremely dramatic. In today's reading, and in several previous readings, you see how clearly it's brought out how the Romans were firm to in their law. And remember Paul, he's a Jew from Tarsus, but Tarsus had been was a city taken by the Romans and given the rights of Roman citizenship. Now I'm not saying everybody in the days of our lord or subsequent to him under the Romans that everybody was treated as a Roman citizen.
They weren't. Because to be a Roman citizen was to be somebody, and you got very special treatment as a Roman citizen. And believe me, there were plenty of people who were not Roman citizens. So Paul is is a Jew. He starts out as a Jew in Tarsus.
He he's not only a Jew, but he's a Pharisee, and a very well educated Pharisee, and a most zealous Pharisee, zealous right up to here. And when the situation developed that he what appeared to be a serious attack upon the law, it was Paul who, above all the others in Jerusalem took it upon himself to do what he could to preserve the law, to safeguard the rights of God against these upstart people of what is called the new way. Then came this wonderful change, whatever. It was in a very abrupt, a very startling experience that Paul had, no doubt about it. Whatever it was, it was startling, it was abrupt, and it was dramatic, and it was consequential, and it had very positive consequences.
It changed his entire life. Entire life. But it didn't change him entirely. It just showed that he was on the wrong track. He was seeking the right objectives, the honor and the glory of God.
But now he understood as he had not understood, through no fault of his own, that the honor and glory of God was in the new way, in the new way. And just as zealous as he had been on the one channel, so when he switches tracks to reach my metaphors, he's just as zealous, he's just as earnest, he's just unselfish, he's just as God fearing. Now this is all action. Plenty of it. Plenty of it.
But Paul, he's accused by his own people, which was within their right under the Romans, when he was accused of certain crimes. We're it's not clear what they accused him of because in our previous reading, you remember how he got the Pharisees and the Sadducees to go at each other's throats. They forgot about him except to try to pull him apart. And it was a Roman it was a Roman ruler there who who had to save Paul from the from the from the his accusers, who were much more interested in killing each other than in getting at him. He was just incidental.
So today we see where the Roman says he does he doesn't know how to deal with this thing. Because the charges that he expected to be made against Paul, they weren't made at all. And you see how fearful he is, Festus is, that he's going to slip, that he's going to be guilty of an infraction of Roman law. He's walking a tight rope, and he's very careful. And all of this, you see, is happening without Paul's having anything to do with it.
And everything is pushing him from the farthest eastern point of the Mediterranean almost to the farthest western point, the capital of the empire at that time, Rome. It's a fantastic story, and it's so applicable to each one of our lives. It is so applicable. Without confidence in God's governing hand, which doesn't mean we understand what's going on, it doesn't mean that we have to explain what's going on, it doesn't mean that we have to make sense out of what's going on, because lots of times what's going on seems to be senseless. Let's face it, it looks like it's crazy.
There's no question about it, that's the way it appears at times, and let's admit it. But who says? Who ever told us? What assurance have did we ever get that I am going to understand everything that's happening? Where did I ever get that idea?
Why I don't understand the simplest things of life, even the simplest things. Just ask yourself, why does soap clean your hands? Why? We don't think about anything, but supposing somebody would have the affirmative say, Look, what are you doing there? Say, I'm washing my hands.
What are you using? I'm using soap. Oh, and that soap cleans your hands? Sure it does. How does it do it?
What would you answer them? You have got to be a very advanced and well informed chemist to answer that little simple question of how soap tape cleans your hands. That's getting down to pretty simple things, isn't it? And yet we assume that in our great arrogance that I'm going to encompass and understand all that's going on in my life. We're crazy.
We're absurd. We're silly. What we have to do is to be sensible Christians, sensible Christians, with faith in God and that God is running the show that in one way or other, I will get to Rome. In the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit. Amen.