John 21:1-14 After these
things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and
he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas
called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two
others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They
said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but
that night they caught nothing. Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach;
but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them,
“Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” He said to
them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So
they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so
many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When
Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was
naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat,
dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about
a hundred yards off. When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there,
with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that
you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore,
full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so
many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now
none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was
the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same
with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples
after he was raised from the dead.
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The
most intense and prescriptive season of the church year is the time between
Advent and Easter. It is completely
focused on the person of Jesus Christ, more than any other time of the
year. These are the months in which
telling the story is the most important thing we do – the story that defines
for us who we are.
And
then, once we get to Easter, it’s like we are cut loose … unmoored! We have
reached the end of the story, and the question that comes to mind is, “What now?”
Which
is also the question on the minds of Jesus’ followers – starting after his
crucifixion and into the weeks, months, and years that followed. What do they do now? They had to find their way into and through
life after Jesus – post-resurrection life, you might say.
The
followers of Jesus had to figure out what it meant to be disciples of a
crucified and resurrected Lord. They had
to come to terms with what it meant to be a resurrected people – and it didn’t
happen overnight. It was a reorientation
– to see that Jesus was a different kind of Messiah than they expected; to
understand that there was meaning in his death. His actions defeated death, showed us a life
beyond the life of this world, and invited us into the realm of God.
This
was big. And there certainly wasn’t an
instruction manual for this new way of life.
There were no scriptures yet to guide them. Just eyewitness stories, which they shared
and gathered together, and used to try to figure out the way forward. They all
needed to share what they had, lean on one another, and step by step, with the
predictable mistakes along the way, be co-creators of a new thing.
Letters
were extraordinarily helpful. The church
was spreading far and wide; somehow they needed to be in communication with one
another. When Paul, for example,
established the church in Corinth, but then moved on to Ephesus, letters helped
him to provide care and guidance for the Corinthian church. So we have 1 and 2 Corinthians, remnants of
the letters Paul wrote them. And we have the epistles to the Ephesians,
Thessalonians, Galatians, and others, to give ongoing guidance. God knows they needed guidance. Don’t we all need guidance in being the
church.
In
fact, every year after Easter I think about the astounding implications of the
resurrection for us. Christ’s
resurrection means we, as the body of Christ, are in some way a resurrected
people. Again and again we are confronted
with the question of how to live a resurrected life. I have to say it doesn’t really get any
easier. The church is faced with as many
challenges today as it was in the first century – they just look
different.
The
Epistles to the church help us, but yet I wonder: What would the apostles of
Christ write if they were writing to us today?
What would we say to them in our letters, asking for their
guidance? What do we need to hear, as
the church, to live life in Christ – the resurrected life?
I
have a letter that may help us get started.
Let me share the first chapter with you today.
To
all God’s beloved, who are called to be saints, grace and peace to you from God
our Father and Mother, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ
is risen. I know how shocking this idea
is. You thought that death was the end –
but no! It turns out that it’s not. It’s actually only the beginning. The death that Christ experienced opened up a
whole new life for you and me and everyone.
The truth is that we will all die someday – we know this. But now, through Christ, we share the hope of
eternal life in the joy of the Lord. Now
listen carefully: that is actually the easy part. This is also the good news: even now, in this moment, we have a share in
Christ’s death and resurrection. New
life in Christ begins today.
The
question on your mind, of course, is how does one enter into this new life in
Christ. You will sometimes hear it said
that faith is both personal and communal.
Our relationship with Jesus Christ is a relationship that each one of us
must experience for him or herself. And
to each one of us it will come differently – but we may learn from one
another’s experience – especially the more profound experiences.
There
are times in our lives, there are moments of – let’s say revelation! Instances when the light comes on and shows
you the outline of the path before you. It happened that way for Saul. Here was a man who was our chief persecutor, who
loved nothing more than destroying us and stopping the gospel. He was zealous about his work. Then one day this zealot was walking down the
road to Damascus, thinking about all the damage he would bring on the church
there, when he was literally blinded by the light – the light of revelation.
This
revelation turned his life around. Soon,
he was led to others who would guide him into the Way, as it was called then. The movement he had been so vigorously
persecuting, he was now to lead.
While
not quite as dramatic, there was a kind of revelation for the first disciples
when Jesus came to meet them on the lakeshore. It was early in the morning. They had been out all night fishing but there
was nothing – again and again, their nets came up empty. Then in the weak light of the dawn they saw
Jesus on the shore. This was a surprise,
because he was supposed to be dead. Of
course, this wasn’t their first encounter with the resurrected Jesus, so they
took it in stride (as much as you can take something like this in stride). He said, “Try the other side,” and the
abundance of fish threatened to tear their nets. With his mere presence, he turned them
around. What had formerly been empty was
now abundantly full.
It
was a moment of light … disclosure … that gave them a glimpse of what a
resurrected life is. Such a moment might
come to any of us. At times with the
drama of a thunderstorm, others as quiet as whispers.
The
important thing for you to know, though, is that it isn’t you. You didn’t think this up by yourself. It’s not your own inventiveness. It’s God.
More to the point, this revelation is a gift from God that you might not
even understand, but should simply accept.
It
just picks you up and sets you on a whole new path – that’s the difference
between revelation and just having a new idea.
When God turns the light on, you might find you are in a whole new
world.
Revelation is
meant to be shared, and we are fortunate to have these revelations shared with
us in the scriptures. The challenge for
us in the 21st century is to see that such moments of disclosure are
as critical now as they were then.
Perhaps it is
especially challenging because we’re Presbyterians. We don’t go in for dramatic experiences. The consensus at the roundtable was that
moments like these described in the scriptures seem very distant from our
experiences. In fact, we are not at all
sure we would care to have such an experience.
Because the very nature of having your life turned around suggests that
you were heading the wrong way.
Perhaps the truth for us to see is that, in fact, we
are. Every day we are heading the wrong
way. Every day we are given the chance
to see that we are naturally inclined to live for ourselves rather than Christ,
live in fear rather than love. Every day
we are offered a choice. Whenever we
choose the abundant life of Christ, even if we aren’t sure we understand it,
count it a victory of divine disclosure.
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