The Apostles taught with power, healed the sick, and all but glowed in the dark with the light and love of God. Legend has it that if Peter's shadow passed over you as he went by that was enough to cure whatever ailed you.

Jesus had multiplied loaves and fishes to feed thousands when he was alive. The Apostles certainly remembered the bread and the fish that Jesus offered up, but also the bread and wine of that Last Supper and then the cross on which Christ was lifted.

The Apostles had seen the Resurrected Christ in a room of locked doors. They saw the holes in the hands that had once broken the loaves on the mountain. In this fuller knowledge and under the influence of the Spirit the Apostles went out to multiply not fish but the ranks of the faithful. Remember when Jesus first called some of them? Jesus said, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." Can we not see the fulfillment of those words in today's reading? Their catch was enormous and the nets are still being cast and drawn in, cast and drawn in.

We pulled another person out of the water at the Easter Vigil last Saturday and marked them, as Christ's own forever. The Holy Water basin we will dedicate this day commemorates the work of simple fishermen on fire with faith and the two children baptized lsat All Saints Sunday. This basin will be placed in the font just outside the Meditation Chapel to reminds us, Church and school, to go out into the world and be like the Apostles.

Signs and wonders speak. It is not hard to pay attention if you suddenly hear, in your own native language, the Good News of God in Christ. It is not hard to pay attention if you have been blind and suddenly see the light. God can be very dramatic when it suits God's purposes. God wants us to pay attention.

God has many ways of getting our attention, but not all of them are pitched at the tone of the overtly miraculous or dramatic. While it is true the Spirit can be manifest in the whirlwind, the earthquake and the fire, there are also times when God shows up as a small still voice. God shows up in the voice of a hungry child, in the silent wounds of the broken, in the cries of the poor. At every Baptism we promise to pay attention to these voices.

The world is full of needs of one kind or another. We may imagine that we do not have the ability to respond to challenges of such magnitude. But the last part of the angel's message to the Apostles rings in my ears, "…tell the people the whole message about this life."

And so I tell you that we live in the midst of abundance and it is more a question of willingness than ability. We have the ability to make quite a splash. Are we willing to wade into the deeper water? We have made a good beginning, but we can do so much more.

It is true that in the deeper water the current is stronger and the depths of the suffering and need may be frightening to some. But we are called to cast the net of Christ's compassion and presence as widely as we can throw it. How far can we go? How far are we willing to go, in the name of Christ?

As recently as last Saturday, we promised to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves. Jean Cushman is here this morning from ECSM with news from our nearer neighbors and opportunities to serve Christ. Tonight a group gathers at Michael Curley's house to talk seriously about international mission. There is a felt conjunction between the needs of the world and the gifts we have been given. Something is in the midst of happening. Can you feel a calling to deeper waters?

Last Saturday we stood in the dark. By the light of small candles we promised to strive for justice and peace among all people and to respect the dignity of every human being. And so I tell you the whole message: dignity slips away when there are no jobs for you and you cannot feed your children. Everyone deserves a decent place to live and clean water to drink. There will be no true peace without justice. Some are in tremendous need and we, for the most part, are in plenty.

So how shall we regard the needs of our neighbors in the light of the promises we have made? Shall we be satisfied with small candles in the dark on this hill or are we ready to be brighter lights in the world? We have a good beginning…we have begun to minister to others from this place, we have faithful volunteers and we have committed some funding. But there are many fish in the sea and we are still standing in the shallows. Are we ready to go deep-sea fishing?

Jesus lived and taught that we are to love God first and our neighbor as ourselves.
He died to save the whole world and us from the power of sin and death.
This is the message, and the gift, of Easter - freedom and new life.
This is the message that the Apostles preached in the Temple and in the streets.
This gift, this message is so valuable that they staked their lives on it.

If we commit to this journey of hearing the whole message we will be changed.
We will be more conscious of the suffering around us,
but we will also see the power of God at work in the world
We will have more opportunities to see the face of Christ in our neighbor.
This is the strength and the vision that Apostles receive.

Peter, who had once quaked in fear and denied Christ, now stands up and declares that God's work comes first. Peter states that God's authority trumps the power of the ways of this world. We too can move from testing the waters to working the depths, from the half-light of candles to the full light of the risen Son. Are we ready?

Talk to Jean. Talk to Jennifer Lindyberg the head of our Social Ministries Community. Talk to Michael Curley. Talk to your priests. Gather your neighbors and let us respond to the whole message of this life. Then let us move beyond talking to join more deeply with the work of the Apostles. Join Jean, your fellow parishioners and me, and lets go the extra mile for God and our neighbors.

AMEN