The Third Sunday of Easter, 4 May 2025, Eldroth, Clapham
Their stories are well-told, how Simon and Saul became Peter and Paul.
How fisherman Simon, journeyman of the waters of Galilee, became Peter, first leader of the Christian Church in Jerusalem and the archetypal Pope, the first bishop of Rome.
And how Saul, a zealot on a mission to annihilate as many followers of Jesus as possible, became Jesus’ greatest ambassador, a much travelled missionary establishing churches throughout the Mediterranean.
The stories we know of Simon and Saul tell how both men changed after meeting Jesus first-hand:
Remember Jesus calling Simon from his fishing nets to become a fisher of people; setting Peter on a slow journey of change in which, bit by bit, he grew in understanding of the role which Jesus had chosen for him, and, stage by stage, he grew in stature as a leader of the people of the Jesus Way.
Saul’s transformation was far more instant, as we’ve heard again today. In just three days, beginning with a blinding flash of light, Saul went from breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, to joining those disciples in Damascus, proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues as ‘the Son of God.’
Now, these two men may seem very different from ourselves, separated as they are from us by centuries, by differences in culture, and quite possibly also by temperament: for even before they encountered Jesus they were each in their own ways zealous for God – Simon keenly anticipating the coming of the messiah who would save the people, Saul applying the full force of the law to keep those same people from drifting into heresy.
But despite our differences, we share with them, and every other follower of Jesus, a common calling: which is, in Jesus’ words, to ‘go and make followers of all people in the world; to baptise them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and to teach them to obey everything that he has taught us’. [1]
This calling – to take the Gospel to the nations – is yours and mine just as it was Simon’s and Saul’s. It is something we do, and something we say. We’re called to talk about the gospel message, and to show it to people by our actions.
Now, the practical part of this may come easier to us – you respond to the good news of Jesus by being kind and generous and helpful to people in need.
The other bit – talking about the difference which Jesus makes to you, and to the world – some of us may find that that doesn’t come so naturally. All very well for bold characters and born leaders like Simon and Saul to transform into missionary evangelists and preach the message to all and sundry wherever they went. Less easy for us to find the words to describe to others something which may be hidden quite deeply in our heart.
Is the gap between Peter and Paul, and ourselves, too wide to breach? Or is there common ground?
There’s one small detail in both the stories we heard today, and it’s one which I love: that after the encounter with Jesus which transformed each of these men, and before launching off into their missionary activities – they both sat down for breakfast.
The risen Jesus cooking fish for his followers by the lakeside is a lovely scene: picture it, smell it, taste it, in your imagination, if you can. It was one of the very many meals which Jesus hosted to bring together those who sought to learn from him, to follow in his way. And it is where Jesus commissioned Peter to ‘Feed my sheep’ – by which he meant, to nurture the disciples, to build the church.
And in an almost throwaway line in the story of Saul’s Damascus conversion, we read that, having had his sight restored, he got up and was baptised, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. He was with the disciples in Damascus when he did this, which means that his mission to proclaim Jesus as the Son of God, began around a meal table with them.
And right there is the common ground which we share with Simon and Saul who became Peter and Paul. The help and strength they needed to go out and spread the good news, they gained around a meal table they shared with the other followers in their community. And week by week or month by month, this is what we do too: we gather around this meal table with the other followers in our community, opening our hearts and minds for God to strengthen us in our own task of going out and sharing his good news with the world outside.
Simon and Saul became Peter and Paul at breakfast-time. That well-known philosopher of the TV kitchen Jamie Oliver, once said, “Breakfast is a beautiful, elegant thing; a meal to be savoured and embraced.” [2]
We become the people God wants us to be for the week ahead, when we eat together at the communion table. It’s a meal in which God’s Holy Spirit fuels us for our gospel work. That’s a beautiful, elegant thing, too; that is something we can savour and embrace.
Notes
[1] Matthew 28.16-18.
[2] Amanda McNamara, 75 Best Breakfast Quotes and Captions. Toast online.
