Don't Be a Duck
DON’T BE A DUCK!
There’s something you may not know about me. I collect rubber ducks. I do, I really do! I just love rubber ducks! I keep them on the shelves in the upstairs bathroom, at least most of them. I brought some of them to show you this morning.
You know, I heard a story a few years back about that involved rubber ducks. It seems that in 1992, a cargo ship that was traveling from China to Seattle was ran into a violent storm. As the ship was bounced around on the waves, some twenty containers of rubber duckies and other bath toys were tossed into the ocean. There were approxi-mately 29,000 of them! These rubber ducks survived the storm, and thus began their epic journey across three oceans and half the globe. These ducks stayed afloat for more than ten years. In 2004, some of them finally arrived on the East Coast of the United States. Beachcombers had been on the lookout for them, because the first person who found one of these lost ducks was going to be given a $100 savings bond from the company that originally ordered the things. Some of the ducks made it to Alaska, and others traveled as far as Great Britain. They just went wherever the current took them. That’s what rubber ducks do.
This story I read from the Gospel of John is all about NOT being a duck, not going with the flow, but having a specific direction in life, a plan, a purpose, a mission.
This story happened pretty soon after the death of Jesus. The disciples had left Jerusalem and gone home. They assumed that their mission was done now that their leader was gone back to heaven. Peter and his fishing buddies were out on the Sea of Galilee, trying to put their lives back together again after the events of Holy Week. They had been out there all night and hadn’t caught a thing. They were probably exhausted physically, emotionally drained, and confused. And Peter must have still been feeling more than a little guilty. After all, when his life had been on the line, he had lied about being a friend of Jesus; he had done it not once, but three times. Just like Jesus had predicted, Peter had denied Jesus.
Suddenly, the disciples noticed a stranger on the beach. It was just about dawn, when you can’t really make out the details of anything you see, especially from a distance. But this person shouted out to them, “Throw your nets over on the right side of the boat.” As if that would make any difference. But no one had any better ideas, so they did what the man said; they threw the nets over on the right side of the boat. And guess what? The net got so full of fish that they couldn’t even haul it in! John realized that the man on the beach must be Jesus. And then Peter recognized him, too.
Peter, impulsive as ever, jumped overboard and swam to shore. He got there before the other men could get the boat in. But within just a few minutes, they were all gathered around Jesus. While they brought in their catch of 153 fish, Jesus started a fire and began to cook some of those fish for breakfast. They ate together, a simple meal of fish and bread.
When they got through eating, Jesus and Peter had a strange but significant conversation. Jesus looked at Peter and asked him a very direct question: “Peter, do you love me?” And Peter answered without hesitation, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” And then Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” After a few moments, Jesus asked Peter for the second time, “Peter, do you love me?” Again, Peter answered, “Yes, Lord. I love you.” And Jesus said, “Tend my sheep.” And a little later, Jesus again asked, “Peter, do you love me?” Peter may have had his feelings hurt by this persistent questioning of his devotion, and he blurted out, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” And Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”
The theologians love this story. They focus on the detail of Jesus asking Peter the question three times. They see it as a symbolic way to cancel out those three times that Peter denied Jesus on Good Friday. Jesus had insisted three times that he was not a disciple of Jesus, and how he just declared three times that he loved Jesus. The slate was wiped clean.
But there is something more to the story that that. Jesus was giving Peter a job to do. Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep. He wanted Peter to be intentional about doing the work of following Jesus. Peter was given a mission. Feed. Tend. And Peter lived out that mission as the first leader of the church. On Pentecost, he spoke to the crowd and some three thousand people converted to Christ. He worked first in Jerusalem, but then traveled as far as Rome to encourage the Christians there who were facing persecution. He himself faced great opposition there. His wife was arrested and crucified, while he was forced to watch. He behaved in such a courageous way during this ordeal that his jailer became a Christian. Then Peter was led out to be crucified himself. He insisted that they put him on the cross upside down, because he said he was not worthy to die in the same way that Jesus had died. His mission was done. And his legacy, at least among Roman Catholics, is as the first leader, or pope, of the church.
The other disciples also had missions. Andrew preached in many countries, especially in Scythia, which was full of rough and dangerous people. In fact, the historian Josephus says that they were “little different from wild beasts.” Scythia was part of what is now Russia, and Andrew is considered the patron saint of Russia. He is also patron saint of Greece and Scotland. It was in Greece that Andrew was martyrd. Tradition says that the governor of Patras hated Andrew because he converted his wife and brother to the Christian faith. So Andrew was condemned to death. First he was beaten with rods, and then he was attached to a cross in the shape of an X. He was tied onto the cross, and died slowly of hunger, thirst, and exposure. His last words are supposed to have been, “Would, Father, that I had time to teach truth to my murderers.”
James, son of Zebedee, was the first of the Twelve to die. He had been ministering in Jerusalem. In the year 42, King Herod began persecuting the church. He arrested James and several other disciples. He had James killed by beheading. The story goes that a man named Josias accused James of being a Christian, and so he was arrested and condemned to death. Josias was so moved by the faith and character of James, that he became a Christian, and the two of them were led away to be put to death together.
James the Less also had a mission in Jerusalem. The tradition about his death was that he was asked to renounce Christ, but instead he shouted, “Jesus is the Son of God!” He was thrown off the heights of the Temple, but survived the fall. He began to pray for those who had harmed him. Then they started to stone him and he finally died. His body was sawed into pieces before it was buried.
Philip became a great missionary preacher in Asia, where he was joined in the city of Hieropolis by Nathanael, also known as Bartholomew. They were arrested there and condemned to death by crucifixion. They were nailed opposite each other so that they could see each other’s suffering. Tradition has it that Philip prayed for Nathanael’s release, and his prayer was answered. Nathanael then went to India and Armenia. He was later put to death there, being flayed until dead.
Thomas preached through much of Asia, and was especially effective in India. He was martyred in a suburb of Madras on a mountain now known as Mount Thomas. He was killed by being pierced with a lance. He is the only one of the Twelve to have a denomination named after him, the Mar Thoma Church in India.
Thaddeus, also known as Jude, traveled to Edessa. While he was there, he performed a miraculous healing for the king, which led to the king’s conversion. He also preached in Persia and Armenia, where he was martyred from the wounds of arrows. He is known as the patron saint of the desperate and despairing, and the saint of lost causes.
John at first carried on his work in Jerusalem, working closely with Peter. He took care of Mary, the mother of Jesus, until her death. He was arrested during the persecution of Christians and was banished to the island of Patmos. He later settled in Ephesus, where he died of old age.
Simon the Zealot preached in Persia, and was most likely martyred there. All we know of Matthew is that he traveled to various countries preaching, and was martyred for his faith.
Each of the original disciples had a mission, a purpose. And we also have a mission. Our overarching mission is to make disciples, to teach, to baptize, and to serve others. But we have to find our own individual mission within that greater purpose. That takes time, because we have to figure out what our gifts are that we can offer in service to Christ, and then we have to find ways to use those gifts in the most effective ways. It might be through serving on a committee or team at the church, or it might be volunteering at a mission in town, or it could even be making a change in career in order to serve others with the talents God has given us. Sometimes a mission can take us by surprise.
A man named Greg Bullock wrote about a day when he was sitting in front of Radio City Music Hall in New York City, on the wall of the fountain, while he was on his lunch break. He decided to buy a hot dog from a street vendor. The sidewalks were crowded with people, hurrying about their business. Greg noticed a man leaning against a nearby wall, dressed well enough, probably in his mid-30s. Greg figured that the man must be waiting on someone.
When Greg paid for his meal, he turned and walked away with his hot dog. All of a sudden, the man he had noticed earlier sprang at him and grabbed his food. The two men began to tussle. As the man tried to take the hot dog out of Greg’s hand, he kept screaming, “Feed me, feed me!” Finally, Greg gained control and stepped away. He said, without thinking, “Go get your own food.” The vendor was shouting, “Leave my customer alone! I’ll feed you!” “No,” the man said, “I want HIM to feed me,” pointing at Greg. Then the man just turned away and disappeared into the crowd.
All of a sudden, Greg just fell awful. He had never been more disappointed in himself. He had more than enough money in his pocket to feed twenty people hot dogs, and all that man had wanted was just one. Acting on basic human instinct, Greg didn’t want the man taking something that was his. When he went back to his seat on the wall, Greg’s friend asked, “What was that all about?” “I don’t know,” Greg answered. “I’m not really sure.” He has relived that scene over and over in his mind, and he says that it still haunts him.
You can go through your life like a rubber ducky floating in the ocean, just riding the current, going with the flow, acting on basic human instinct, behaving like the crowd. You can bob aimlessly without any direction or plan for your life. Or you can ask Jesus to tell you what your mission is. You can go in the direction Jesus sends you. You can choose not to be a duck.