If you have spent years learning something, it can be annoying when someone with little to no training starts offering suggestions. This is especially true when it is your job, your career, where you have some level of expertise.

You’re a physician with a difficult medical case, and the computer person suggests a diagnosis.

You’re a Information Technology worker struggling with a networking issue, and a physician suggests a possible problem with subnetting.

There’s a phrase for this: “Stay in your lane.”

It’s even worse when they’re right.

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Let’s go to God in prayer.

God of wisdom, may the words that I speak, and the ways they are received by each of our hearts and minds, to help us to continue to grow into the people, and the church, that you have dreamed us to be.

Amen.

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The ends of the gospels have stories where people who know Jesus well don’t recognize Jesus.

• In the tomb.
• On the road to Emmaus.
• In the upper room.
• And on the beach.

Well, at least until Jesus repeats the Divine Fish Finder miracle he did when he called Peter, James & John in the Gospel of Luke.

It’s interesting that each of these stories is only in one gospel. Maybe it’s the same story remembered differently. Maybe they are different stories. Either way, maybe there’s something to learn.

In both miracles: the one in Luke at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and this one at the end, seasoned fishermen are having trouble finding fish.

That’s not entirely surprising. It’s not always easy to find fish.

But in both miracles, a carpenter’s son on the shore tells them to cast their nets and they find fish.

That’s…

…miraculous.

And that’s how Peter recognizes Jesus.

In the story in Luke, Jesus calls Peter to fish for people.

In this story in John, Jesus calls Peter to feed his sheep.

What’s the difference?

Fishing for people is evangelism: telling people the good news.

Feeding the sheep is caring for those who already have heard the news.

There is a tradition that Jesus made Peter the first Pope, the person at the head of the church. The tradition is that every Pope inherits the authority from the previous Pope.

Not through having the previous Pope as his father of course.

Even though Popes are called Father.

Anyway…

When priests are ordained, it’s by laying on of hands. This is a symbolic passing of the blessing from one priest to another, a blessing that has been passed down from Jesus through Peter.

This same laying on of hands is used in the ordination of clergy in other denominations. Some, like the Lutheran and Episcopal churches, are clearly connected to their history with the Roman Catholic Church. Others may have a less clear link.

So the responsibility to care for the sheep – the believers – is passed down from Peter through Popes and priests and other clergy.

This works pretty well in a hierarchical system such as these denominations with episcopal polity – episcopal polity is just church for “governed by bishops.”

But what about churches with congregational polity like ours? Congregational polity is church for “governed by the congregation.”

All Christian churches – including the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches – have a concept of “the priesthood of all believers,” though the depth of that concept varies.

For example, in the United Church of Christ only ordained clergy can preside at communion, while in the Disciples churches lay persons – people who are not ordained – may preside.

Most governments restrict officiating at a marriage ceremony to clergy (or approved civil officials), although it’s pretty easy to get ordained online these days, (without the laying on of hands).

Even so, the priesthood of all believers puts some responsibility on all baptized Christians. So when Jesus says these words to Peter, he’s not just speaking to Popes, or just priests, or just clergy.

He’s saying these words to all of us:

¹⁵When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

¹⁷He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

– John 21:15-17, NRSVue

Jesus asks us “Do you love me.”

We answer “Of course we do!”

Jesus tells us to care for his sheep, his disciples, hos believers.

Jesus calls us to care for each other.

We don’t get to delegate our care for one another to a Pope.

Nor do we have to rise to the office of Pope to have responsibility to care for each other.

Especially in a congregational setting, such as in the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), we are called to care for each other.

It’s one of the reasons I like to have people serve communion to each other when we are sitting at tables in the social hall on fifth Sundays or on Maundy Thursday: our congregation is stronger for having these bonds between us, a holy partnership.

Jesus said it so many ways: If you love me, love one another.

So my challenge to all of us this week is to appreciate the care we do for each other.

That means not only being willing to care for each other, but being willing to accept care from other when we need it.

Especially in times of trouble and uncertainty, we are called to follow the example of Jesus, even over our lives’ wild, restless seas.

Amen.

* Scripture quotations marked NRSVue are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. https://www.friendshippress.org/pages/about-the-nrsvue

* Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James version of the Bible.