Show Them The Rocks - Sunday Homily

A woman had just returned to her home from Church when she was startled by an intruder.  She caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables.  She yelled, “Stop! Acts 2:38!"

The passage she shouted reads: “Repent and be baptized…in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

When hearing the woman’s shout, the burglar stopped in his tracks.  She then calmly called the police and explained what she had done.  As the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar, "Why did you just stand there? All the lady did was yell scripture to you."

"Scripture?" replied the burglar. "She said she had an ax and two 38's!"

Our first reading from Acts, although from verse 3 and not 2, does in fact read: “Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.” This verse dovetails rather well with our Gospel reading that ends with: “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name.”

So I preach in his name and say on his behalf, “Repent!” By repent I mean let’s change our ways especially the way we deal with family and friends who in some manner we have harmed this Easter season.  By this, Jesus means sincerely ask for forgiveness, and by doing so we truly repent.

There’s also another kind of forgiveness we need, and believe it or not it’s due to the harm we have caused the Jewish people especially during Holy Week and every Easter season.  It’s harm that occurs every year, year in and year out.  It has for centuries. It’s our scripture that condemns the Jewish people for the death of Jesus.

Consider the first reading where we hear Peter say to the Jewish people that they and their leaders handed Jesus over, and they asked that a murderer be released by Pilate instead of Jesus.  Peter said the Jews put Jesus to death, and they needed to repent, and convert.

We all need to realize that this Gospel likely was written by one group of Jews or Jewish community that believed Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah.  They wrote about the other Jews who didn’t believe this. Those Jews were still waiting.  

As a result, the Jews believing in Jesus were expelled from the all-important synagogue.  They were no longer welcomed.  Being excluded and resentful, they wrote the Gospel condemning their Jewish counterparts who threw them out.  We Christians have been unaware of this history and have come to believe that our Gospels accuse every Jew of Jesus’ murder.  Such a tremendous and tragic misunderstanding!

We need to follow Pope Francis’ lead by doing what today’s Gospel instructs.  We need to break bread with our Jewish brothers and sisters that symbolically means we respect them and their beliefs.  And we know it’s foolish and arrogant to ask them to convert.

Speaking of the relationship between Jews and Christians, I offer this story.  A rabbi, a priest, and a minister were out fishing in the middle of a lake.  The priest told his two colleagues, "I left my fishing rod in the car; I'll be right back."  He got out of the boat, walked across the water to the beach, went to his car, walked back across the lake, and got back into the boat.  The rabbi stared at this in amazement. 

Shortly thereafter the minister said, "I need to go to the men’s room." He, too, got out of the boat, walked across the water, accomplished his purpose, walked back across the water and got into the boat.  The rabbi was absolutely dumbfounded! 

The rabbi kept thinking, "My faith is as great as theirs!" So he spoke up and said , "I need to get something to drink; there's a refreshment stand on the beach."  He stood up, put his feet on the water, and SPLASH, he went down under the water.

The priest and minister helped him back into the boat.  He was embarrassed and wet, but he knew he could do it if the other two could.  So, he stood up again, stepped out onto the water, and SPLASH!!  

He was dragged out and, again he decided to try it once more.  As he was going down for the third time, the priest turned to the minister and asked, "Do you think we should show him where the rocks are?"

We’re still in the Easter season.  It’s the season of resurrection and of rising.  Let’s act as if the tide has fallen and the rocks have risen from the depths to be seen and to serve as stepping stones on which we walk to ask for forgiveness, to forgive others, to display tolerance, and to show mercy. 

And let’s remember when we treat other people, such as the Jews – perhaps Muslims – with

unfairness, lack of concern or even contempt, we’re not telling them where the rocks can be found.  In other words, we just let them sink.

We’re people of the resurrection.  In the name of Christ we are to lift others up – not let them down or put them down.

Deacon David Pierce