Sermon - Six impossible things before breakfast

Breakfast at Dawn, Mike Moyers, 2012

A sermon preached at St George’s Bloomsbury on Sunday 1st May and at St Stephen Walbrook on Thursday 5th May (Year C, Easter 3) based on readings from Acts 9.1-6 and John 21.1-19.

"Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things." "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

Start:Stop - Nevertheless believers

From 'Panel 11' by Jacob Lawrence, 1955

Hello, my name is Phillip Dawson, welcome to our Start:Stop reflection from St Stephen Walbrook, when we stop for a few minutes and start to reflect on a passage from scripture. You can hear an audio recording of this reflection here. During Lent at our informal discussion group, we are exploring the Gospel of John - do join us via Zoom on Thursdays at 7.30pm if you can. 

One of the distinctive features about the gospel of John is the number of ‘asides’ or ‘stage whispers’ if you prefer, often shown in the text in brackets, which add explanatory detail or insights to the narrative; like those moments in plays or on television when the ‘fourth wall’ is broken and an actor steps outside the world of the production to speak directly to us, their audience, in our time.

Drawing on the tradition that the author of the fourth gospel lived well into old age (Clement of Alexandria claimed John lived until he was around 100 years old), many like to see these asides or whispers as answers to the most common questions and comments that John encountered over a long and difficult lifetime teaching people about the love of Jesus; what it means to be the ‘Beloved Disciple’ – a vocation which is been distilled into the beautifully crafted text of this Gospel.

The passage we are about to hear is one of the longer ‘asides’. Here, the Beloved Disciple addresses us in his own voice at the end of the first half of his Gospel, known as the ‘Book of Signs’. In doing so, he offers his explanation as to why, despite all the signs that Jesus has performed – beginning at the Wedding in Cana and ending with the Raising of Lazarus amongst many others – the people still do not believe - and even the few who do are afraid to publicly proclaim their faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.