Easter 3C
May 5, 2019
John 21:1-19
INTRODUCTION
As I mentioned
last week, during this season of Easter, seven Sundays in all, we will be
hearing from the book of Acts, the book of Revelation, and the Gospel of John.
I want to give you some context for the Acts reading and the Gospel reading.
Today from Acts we hear the fabulous story of Saul’s conversion. Right before
this story, Saul has overseen the killing of Stephen, the first martyr of the
church. Saul is one bad dude, a top-notch persecutor of the fledgling church.
And yet here in this story, God takes this most unlikely candidate and turns
him into Paul, the foremost promoter and planter of new church communities.
Paul would of course go on to write much of what is now the New Testament.
In John, we
have just heard the story of the resurrection, and his appearance to the
disciples in the locked upper room (we heard those stories last week and the
week before), and now we’ll hear this one more appearance Jesus makes in a very
ordinary setting: he shows up at the disciples’ “office,” so to speak. Both
stories show us how Jesus shows up in all sorts of places we would not imagine,
and they beg us to keep our eyes open for that in our own lives, too. Let’s
listen.
[READ]
Alleluia, Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia! Grace
to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Well, it’s been a pretty wild couple of
weeks for the disciples, huh? After following Jesus around for the past few
years, being challenged and fulfilled by his teachings, having their eyes
opened to ways of understanding God that they had never before experienced,
they all watched in fear and horror as he was arrested and hauled off, tried,
and tortured before their very eyes. Not knowing what to do, they fled the
scene. Peter tried to stick around, but in his own fear and uncertainty he had
denied even knowing this man he’d pledged never to abandon. Then of course
there was that crazy morning a couple weeks ago, when the women went to the
tomb only to find it empty, and then Mary Magdalene came running to say she had
seen the Lord, alive and well, in the garden. This was all getting very
strange, and frankly, pretty scary.
Not knowing what to do, that night the
disciples had locked themselves in a room… but lo and behold Jesus appeared to
them there! And rather than getting on their case about all the ways they had
messed up the past few days, he breathed his peace on them. Remarkable! Now
they, too, had seen the Lord! And then, just in case they had not gotten the
message, he showed up again in that room, this time offering his wounded hands
and side for Thomas, who had missed out the first time.
If the
disciples were being honest, this was all a lot to process. They were still
quite afraid, you see – even aside from fearing the Jewish authorities who now
might be seeking them out, they were afraid because their entire world view had
been shaken. Sure, they were happy to see Jesus again, but what kind of world
was this where dead people don’t stay dead? What could they count on anymore?
What was real? How would the world view them in light of what happened? What
sorts of responsibility, if any, did they bear as a result of these events?
And, what on earth were they supposed to do with this new reality that Jesus
had brought about?
I can’t blame
the disciples for what they did next: they look at each other, shrug their
shoulders and say, “Welp, I guess we’ll just go back to what we’ve always
done.” Unsure of what the future or even the present held, it made sense to
them just to go back to where they were, back to a life before Jesus, before
everything got turned upside down. Sure, it was an unenlightened life, but it
was simple, it was straightforward, it was known. And there was a certain
comfort in that.
No, I can’t
blame them for that at all… because I would do and have done the same thing.
I’m going to start an exercise regimen, I say, or a new prayer practice, or
organize my meal planning, and I’m great for a week, maybe two… but I quickly
revert back to the way I have always done things before, because that is so
much easier. And no, it doesn’t feel great, physically or emotionally, to fall
victim to old habits, but it is easy, and easy so often wins out. Easier to
stay put than to move or change anything.
I know I’m not alone in this – how
often do we see a need for change in our lives, yet still just cling to the
past, or the present for that matter, cling to old patterns, cling to what is
familiar even if there is no chance of it ever coming back or working again,
simply because doing anything else seems impossible. We do it with the little
things, like exercise. We do it within our communities, like in the church, or
in our jobs. And we do it as a society, in which we are continually plagued and
even held hostage by systemic issues, like racism and poverty. It is really,
really hard to change what feels safe and comfortable.
But then along
comes Jesus. And as we have repeatedly seen from Jesus – from the wedding at
Cana, his first sign when he turned water into wine, to the resurrection, and
everything in between and everything since – when Jesus shows up, things cannot
and will not stay the same. Jesus does not allow us to fall back into the old
ways, because he is always pointing us toward a new and better way. And that is
precisely what he does in today’s story. “Hey, guys!” he calls from the beach.
“You haven’t caught any fish, have you?” I imagine him with a twinkle in his
eye – perhaps even one that could be seen from about a hundred yards off as
they were – a twinkle that says, “How many times and ways must I show you that
going back to the way things were is not the right direction?”
Caught in the act of returning to
ways that do not bring life, the disciples respond with what I imagine is an
embarrassed, “No.” And then Jesus calls out, “Hey… Do it the exact opposite way
you are trying now. Throw the net on the other side. Flip your whole view
around, and then you’ll see what I’m really about.”
To their
credit, they do it. And what they find is that what Jesus is really about –
always has been and always will be – is abundance and life. A huge catch, and
in the light of the morning, no less, when fish don’t usually stay near the
surface! So much abundance and life, that they scarce can take it in. So much
abundance and life that they know it can only mean one thing: “It is the Lord!”
They did not
expect to see him there that day. They did not expect to be once again set upon
a path completely unlike that with which they were familiar. They did not
expect to have to change their ways – again! And yet there, on a regular day
“at the office,” Jesus shows up. There, around a campfire having breakfast,
they experience a comfort beyond what any past habit or way of life could ever
provide, as Jesus offers grace, companionship and sustenance for this bunch of
deniers and abandoners, rather than the shame and correction that they likely
deserved. There, sharing a meal with the very embodiment of God’s light, love
and life, they receive a new call, a new direction, to be shepherds,
care-takers, providers and sustainers of God’s sheep, and then they receive the
oft-repeated command to, “Follow me.”
With Jesus
around, things never stay the same – Jesus is always calling us into something
new, out of death and into life. Where have we missed that call, or overlooked
it, or convinced ourselves that that isn’t really Jesus calling me, so I’m just
gonna ignore it? When or where has Jesus showed up, and we didn’t even notice,
and just kept going about our business, same ol’, same ol’? When have we missed
the chance to shout, with the disciples, “It is the Lord!” and, hauling with us
all his abundance and promise, eagerly sought to go where he directs?
I see so much
of my own story in this encounter the disciples have with Jesus, and I hope you
can too. Jesus always has this way, doesn’t he, of drawing us into things that
are new and different and not what we’re used to – in fact, “new and different
and not what we are used to” is kinda Jesus’ jam! But then who knows what sort
of life we might find there?
I see so much
of my own story in this encounter the disciples have with Jesus, and I hope you
can too. Today after worship, you will have a chance to find other ways that
Jesus might be showing up in your daily life and activities. We will engage in
a synod-wide event called, “Learning Together Across the Synod” – we’ll set up
stations around the church where you can engage in this story through playing
games, art, conversation, and prayer. It might be very different from what
you’re used to – but as we’ve seen, “very different” is kinda Jesus’ jam! I
hope you will come and try it out, and discover where Jesus might be appearing,
even unexpectedly, in your life, and asking you to throw your nets on the other
side of the boat – and then perhaps we, too, might find ourselves crying out,
“We have seen the Lord!”
Let us pray… Present God, you appear to us at times and
in ways we do not expect, and call us into something new. When we resist change
and crave the familiarity of yesterday, give us courage to trust you and walk
forward in faith. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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