Jesus was the master teacher.  One of the important tools he used to teach was parables.  A parable is a simple story that talks about everyday people doing everyday things.  But, the interesting thing about the parables that Jesus used is that sometimes they would sneak up on you.  They would seem like simple, almost child-like stories, but then when you started thinking about them, you would see all kinds of meanings that slipped by you the first time you heard it.

So…One of the parables that Jesus told was about a missing sheep.  The shepherd had 100 sheep and all of a sudden one was missing.  Instead of saying, “Oh, well, what’s one sheep?  I’ll just take the other 99 home and get a good night’s sleep and maybe the missing will turn up tomorrow,” the shepherd drops everything to go look for that one missing sheep.  In that moment, that missing sheep is the most important thing in the whole world for the shepherd. 

You’ll be reading this parable and think, “Oh, yeah, he’s talking about taking care of the sheep.”  Everyone knew about sheep.  Sheep were important in Bible times, they were used for food and clothing, so everyone who was listening would have known all about them.  Sheep are mentioned more than any other animal in the Bible.  People also knew that sheep are really dumb animals!  They have to be taken care of, all of their needs have to be met by the shepherd.  So, it makes sense that Jesus would tell stories about the shepherd taking care of sheep. 

But, then, it hits you – Jesus isn’t really talking about sheep!  I mean, it makes sense to take care of the sheep, but the sheep Jesus is talking about are US. 

In our scripture today, Jesus told Peter three times to take care of his sheep.  Three times he told Peter to take care of his sheep.

Let’s look at what happened in the Bible right before the scripture we read.  Jesus appears to the disciples after they had just spent the night fishing and had caught nothing.  Jesus tells them to let their nets down on the right side of the boat. With the help of Jesus, they were able to catch so many fish that their couldn’t even pull the net back in the boat. 

Let’s look at verse 9 – When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it and bread.  Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.  So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 

Do you see what he was doing?  Jesus was still taking care of the disciples.  He helped them catch the fish and now he was serving them - with a meal. 

Let’s look at verse 12- Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.”  Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord.  Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.   This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Even though this was the third appearance of Jesus to the disciples, when Jesus and Peter are talking in today’s scripture, it is the first time Peter talked to Jesus since his resurrection.  Remember that three times Peter had denied being a disciple or even just being a friend of Jesus, so you know that just seeing Jesus had to be painful for Peter, much less to eat a meal with Jesus and to try to talk with him. 

In our scripture today, Jesus asked Peter if he loved him three times, the same amount of times that Peter had denied his friendship with Jesus.  Each time Jesus asks, Peter is really adamant that he does truly love the Lord.  You see, with these questions, Jesus is going about the business of restoring his relationship with Peter.  He is letting Peter know that his discipleship is not over.  In fact, it really has just begun.  Peter is no longer going to be a fisherman because his business will now be shepherding people. 

Jesus is telling Peter that he will now be trusted with something very important to Jeus.  Peter is going to be tending Jesus’ own beloved sheep.  But, again, Jesus is not really talking about sheep.  He is talking about his true flock, all of US!  We don’t look like sheep, but we are all part of Jesus’ flock.

A couple of weeks ago I told the children in the Tradtional Worship Service that I love today’s scripture because I feel it is like a love letter that Jesus wrote to me way back in Bible times.  A long time ago Jesus was making sure that I knew he loved me.  He was putting in motion way back then his plan to take care of me, and, all of us, today.

Jesus was compassionate.  For the first-century Jewish world, purity was the most important way to be holy and to live a religious life.  The sinners or the outcasts were the people who were not able to follow these laws of purity.  Instead of avoiding those who were seen as unclean – such as lepers, the maimed, the mentally ill, gentiles and women, Jesus mixed comfortably with what was considered the sinners of society.  He showed them compassion.  He touched them, visited them, ate with them, and made them feel loved and important.  This went totally against how people of that time thought people with disabilities should be treated.  Jesus challenged the politics of purity and advocated a system based on compassion and inclusion.  He used dramatic public actions to show his vision of how to love our neighbor and how to conduct our lives. For Jesus, living a life that was centered on God meant being compassionate.

Jesus was compassionate and Jesus was humble.  He showed many times that serving others is usually not an experience filled with glory and prestige.  A casual read by the modern day person does not really show how humble it was for Jesus to wash his disciple’s feet.  This was a job assigned to the lowliest servant or to the wife if there were no servants.  Since the roads were not paved, the sandals that were worn at that time would not protect the feet.  So, when Jesus washed the dirty, smelly feet of the disciples, he took on the role of the lowliest servant.  When Jesus washed those feet, he served as an instrument to reveal God’s grace.  I am sure that each disciple was uncomfortable for their king, their leader, their messiah to lower himself in this role.  Yet, this action was an important statement for the disciples and all that would follow.  We are to search for ways to serve others, even if it means we have to get dirty or be uncomfortable.

Jesus was compassionate, he was humble and Jesus inspired people.  By challenging the thinking of many people he encountered, he encouraged them to change their way of living, to share what they learned with others.  When we seek a relationship with God, we are called to be the arms, hands and feet of God.  Jesus modeled a life of servant-hood and we should strive to make service to others a central part of our lives here on earth.  Jesus showed how important compassion should be in the life of a person striving to be holy.

Parables were a great way for Jesus to teach others.  And, parables are still a great teaching tool.  We do have modern day parables.  The way you tell if it is a good parable is if people seem upset after you tell the story.  I am going to tell you a parable that I told the staff one day when it was my turn to lead devotions.  I told this modern day parable from Megan McKenna’s book, Parables: The Arrows of God. After I finished telling the parable, there was a pause and then it did what parables do, it snuck up on people.  The staff began to listen for more than just the story and then Kelly said, “wait a minute, that’s not right!  I want to discuss this more!”  So, I’m going to share it with you and see what you think:

There was a woman who wanted peace in the world and peace in her heart and all sorts of good things, but she was very frustrated.  The world seemed to be falling apart.  She would read the papers and get depressed.  One day she decided to go shopping, and she went to a mall and picked a store at random.  She walked in and was surprised to see Jesus behind the counter.  She looked again and again at him and finally she got up her nerve and asked, “Excuse me, are you Jesus?”  “I am.”  “Do you work here?”  “No,” Jesus said, “I own the store.”  “Oh, what do you sell in here?”  “Oh, just about anything.”  “Anything?” she exclaimed with surprise in her voice.  “Yes, anything you want.  Was there something in particular that you wanted?”  She answered, “Well… I… this is so surprising… I just don’t know.”  “Well,” said Jesus, “feel free to walk up and down the aisles, make a list, see what it is you want, and then come back and we’ll see what we can do for you.”

The woman did just that, walked up and down the aisles.  There was peace on earth, no more war, careful use of resources, inclusion of all people, good healthcare, compassion and even insurance that was understandable by all!  She wrote furiously.  By the time she got back to the counter she had a long list.

Jesus took the list, skimmed through it, looked up at her and smiled.  “No problem!”  And then he bent down behind the counter and picked out all sorts of things, stood up, and laid out the packets.  She asked, “What are those?”  Jesus replied, “Well, these are seed packets.  This is a catalog store.”  She said, “You mean I don’t get the finished product?”  “No,” Jesus told her, “this is a place of dreams.  You come and see what it looks like, and I give you the seeds.  You go home and nurture them and help them to grow and someone else reaps the benefits.”  “Oh,” she said.  And.. then she sighed, turned around and left the store with an empty cart, choosing to buy nothing.

Each of us is responsible for planting seeds.  Seeds of care and compassion towards others.  Christianity teaches us that it is not primarily what we do for ourselves, but what we do for others, for the outsiders, the strangers, that reveals our belief.  Christianity is the seeds that have been planted in us, seeds that have been nurtured by many other people.  People like our Sunday School teachers, our youth leaders, our Pastors, our church friends, our parents – some who knew they would never get to see what would grow from their careful nurturing.  It is our turn to plant seeds, to be the nurturers.

We are all called to be looking for that one sheep who got away.  For us today, those sheep are the people in our society without power, some are children and some are adults. 

Today, we are celebrating Disabilities Awareness Day.  This is one of the special days that the Methodist church chooses to highlight.  I am sorry to say that our conference does not choose to put it on the calendar, but St Stephen has chosen to celebrate it.

Did you know that if it were possible to gather all the people with disabilities into one nation, that nation would number over 650 million men, women and children.  That nation would be the world’s third largest country, after China and India.

That nation would have the least access to education.  It would have the highest unemployment rate in the world and be the poorest nation on earth.  It would have the least access to any sort of transportation.  And, it would be the least evangelized nation with the lowest proportion involved in church.

Disability Awareness Sunday is both a celebration and a challenge.  We celebrate the lives and witness of those with disabilities who contribute to the faith community.  We also open ourselves and the church to the call of inclusion and full accessibility for those with any disability – physical and mental  This is an opportunity to raise awareness and to find solutions to the physical, architectural, communication and attitude barriers to those with disabilities.  People with disabilities want recognition of their values as children of God, worthy of unconditional love and acceptance.

I think most of you know that my son Jake has a multiple severe handicaps.  I can understand why people who have disabilities and parents of children with disabilities choose to stay at home on Sundays.  Life Monday through Friday can be a battle.  The thought of one more battle, one more day of trying to find acceptance can be absolutely overwhelming.  For me, I am so greatful for Metro School and for this staff and this church. 

Nancy talked to you earlier about the Autism Camp we are planning to hold at St Stephen this summer.  It is my dream that this will become an afterschool program we can offer during the year.  That we will be able to offer a church home to the families involved in this camp.  But, we have some serious thinking to do.  We will need to plan Sunday School classes that can meet the needs of children and adults with autism.  Some will be able to be included in our current classes, but the needs of some will be met the best with classes designed just for autism.  We will need adults willing to be trained to be buddies.  Can you imagine what a relief it would be for a parent to be able to worship and know that their child is not only being taken care of, but is also being taught about and shown the love of Jesus?  We will need to explore just how we can make our service open to the needs of those with autism and other disabilities.

Being open and actively seeking to make ourself open to all is not an easy thing.  I challenge you all to think hard about how we can work towards including everyone that walks through our doors in the life of our church.  We’ve planted some seeds already, but there are still many more seeds that need to be planted.  Jesus may have told Peter first, but he still has the same words for us today:  “Feed my sheep.  If you truly love me, feed my sheep.”

In the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, AMEN