It was a swan dive, straight into the sea.

Although it may be that “swan dive” is not the best description. “Duck dive” is closer to the truth, since the divers were rubber duckies. Twenty large containers of rubber duckies, to be exact – containers of bath toys that were riding a cargo ship from China to Seattle. When a violent storm struck the ship back in 1992, these twenty containers of toys were tossed into the ocean.

Feared to be lost were almost 29,000 rubber duckies, frogs, beavers and turtles.

But don’t cry for these critters. They survived, miraculously, and embarked on an epic journey across three oceans and half the globe. So tough are these toys that they have stayed afloat for more than a decade, enduring the assaults of winds and waves, and probably spending several winters frozen in an arctic ice floe.

Through it all, they have endured, although constant exposure to the elements has caused their bright yellow skin to become bleached, white as a bone.

Over the past year, their voyage is thought to have brought them to the East Coast, causing beach-combers to be on the lookout for squeaky-toys on the shoreline. Anyone who finds one of the refugees in North America earns a $100 savings bond from the toy company that originally ordered the playthings from a Chinese factory.

Last July, a faded plastic beaver was discovered after it washed up on an Alaskan island. But oceanographers who study the movement of flotsam and ice from the Pacific to the Atlantic are confident that the duckies have left that region and are now cruising down the East Coast, with a breakaway flotilla headed for Great Britain. (Vincent P. Bzdek, "Critters' Journey a Lesson in Currents: Duckies Expected to Hit East Coast," The Washington Post, August 31, 2003, A1)

These toys are certainly tough, and I have to admire their endurance. But our attention today needs to be focused on another character who took a duck-dive into the sea: The apostle Peter. Although he was once as yellow as a rubber ducky -- denying Jesus not once, not twice, but three separate times (John 18:15-27) -- he now shows a different color as he leaps at the chance to be close to his resurrected Lord.

The story is set on the Sea of Tiberias, not the Pacific Ocean. Simon Peter and his fellow disciples are out fishing, trying to put their lives back together after witnessing the simultaneously awful and awesome events of Holy Week. They fish all night and catch nothing, an experience that leaves them feeling fried and thoroughly frustrated.

Then a mysterious man appears on the beach, and calls out that they should “Cast the net to the right side of the boat” (John 21:6). As if THAT will make any difference. You can just imagine what is going through the minds of these veteran fishermen – “Right side of the boat? As if. Listen, bud, if we want your opinion, we’ll give it to you.”

But the sun is rising, the day is getting hot, and no one has any better ideas. So they cast the net to the right, and wouldn’t you know – the net is so full of fish that they cannot haul it in! One of the disciples points to shore and shouts that the stranger is the Lord, and Simon Peter becomes so excited that he scrambles to put some clothes on his naked body.

Then he performs a duck dive, straight into the sea.

Within minutes, all of the disciples are on the shore with Jesus, and he is offering them a breakfast of fish and bread around a charcoal fire. When they finish eating, Jesus turns and says to Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” Peter says to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” And Jesus says to him, “Feed my lambs.”

Without missing a beat, Jesus asks again if Peter loves him, and after Peter says that he does love him, Jesus says, “Tend my sheep.”

Then again, as though the question had not been asked, Jesus inquires about Peter’s love. Peter is hurt by this persistent questioning, and he blurts out, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”

Jesus commands him, once again, “Feed my sheep” (vv. 15-17).

Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep. What is Jesus driving home in this dialogue with Simon Peter? On one level, he is giving Peter the opportunity to cancel out the three cowardly denials he made during Holy Week. Although Peter had insisted three times that he was not a disciple of Jesus, now he affirms three times that he loves his Lord. Three denials, three affirmations. The slate is now wiped clean, and Peter turns from yellow to true-blue.

But there is something more significant going on here, and it has to do with the work of tending Christ’s sheep. Jesus is laying out the challenge of being a disciple, a person involved in the day-to-day work of caring for the people of God. It’s not quite enough, you see, to do an enthusiastic duck-dive into the water after you see your Risen Lord. You have to wade ashore, roll up your sleeves, and dig into the work of discipleship if you want to demonstrate that you truly love the Lord.

So, what are we? Rubber duckies floating to and fro, drifting through the Bering Strait and bobbing past Iceland as we aimlessly make our way down the East Coast of the United States? Or are we behaving more like Peter, who embraced the challenge laid out by Jesus and pointed his life in the direction of discipleship? There were huge numbers of Christians who made a duck-dive two weeks ago, on Easter Sunday, the day of resurrection. They felt uplifted by the promise of new life, and enjoyed being part of the armada of worshipers that sailed through the service that day.

But where are they now? Our numbers in worship tend to sink like a stone after Easter Sunday. Are the people who passed through this place now acting like dedicated disciples … or are they behaving like drifting duckies?

And how about us? Are we serious servants of Christ …

Or squeaky toys on the seashore?

The answers to these questions can be found in our response to the command of Jesus to feed his sheep. If we rise to this challenge, we will create a true Christian community in this place, one in which we love one another as intensely as Jesus loves us (John 13:34). Howard Snyder, a professor of mission history and theology at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky, warns us that Christian community is not mere cordiality, courtesy or sociability. It’s not a least-common-denominator fellowship along the lines of a neighborhood potluck.

In other words, it’s not a fellowship of floating froggies.

Instead, true Christian community makes demands on its members, and expects a high level of commitment. Regular worship attendance is essential, as is hard-edged discussion of theology and Scripture. Churches should not pander to the feel-good demands of low-commitment members, writes Snyder in Christianity Today (October 2003) – that’s a fatal mistake. It’s much better to have high expectations, and to maintain a discipleship direction. Churches that find a way to do this are faster-growing, longer-lasting and more vital than congregations with a relaxed view of community life.

Feeding Christ’s sheep also means looking outward, beyond the walls of our Christian community. Feeding the vulnerable lambs that Jesus has entrusted to our care means putting time, energy, and money into the concerns of the community around us. Just yesterday, Sal Sparacino and a team of volunteers spent a day rehabbing a house for a low-income neighbor in Alexandria, through the Christmas in April program. Rising to such challenges is critical component of being a disciple, a true Christ-follower.

As we do this, we’ll find that, in an unexpected way, this outward focus has an internal advantage: It results in a more vital congregation. Jesus wasn’t kidding when he said that those who lose their lives for his sake will actually save their lives, as they discover the new life that comes through service and sacrifice (Mark 8:35). It seems that a community orientation not only benefits society, but makes the church itself more appealing. People are attracted to congregations that put faith into action and set out to make a difference in the world. They sense that they can experience inner growth through outer action.

So, where are we today, on our Christian journey? Floating like duckies, to and fro, or steering ourselves in the direction of discipleship?

It’s time to hit the beach, and feed some sheep. Amen

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