I am so glad to have the Director of Mission and Ministry Development for the Diocese preaching for us this week. This is not only because Tellison is super fantastic and it is nice to have a Sunday off from preaching from time to time, but also because his presence serves as a reminder of the centrality of mission and ministry to our very identity as a post-Easter community. 

Today’s first reading is an account of the very first post-Easter community. If you haven’t read it yet, go do it! (Acts 3:32-35)

This story paints an incredible picture of a community sharing and supporting each other, patterning their very existence around mission and ministry. It wasn’t just one thing they did, but the core of who they understood themselves to be. 

It was risky. It was out there. However, in light of the resurrection, they realized that something was different and that they needed to live accordingly. This was their way of participating in that, in God’s dream for the world. 

I hope that we at St. John’s might similarly be inspired by this small community of believers to be courageous in patterning our lives in accordance with God’s dream. I pray that we might remember that mission and ministry is not only one of the things we do, but the very reason for our existence. I pray that in the light of the resurrection we might know that something is different, that we are different, and that we act accordingly in faith with great love.   

Thanks be to God, Alleluia!


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