With You Always
2nd Sunday of Easter
April 15, 2007
John 21:1-14
1 After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We are going with you also." They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. 4 But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Then Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any food?" They answered Him, "No." 6 And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. 7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish. 9 Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish which you have just caught." 11 Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. 12 Jesus said to them, "Come and eat breakfast." Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, "Who are You?" -- knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. 14 This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.
It's an odd scene: a night of dismal fishing turns into a dawn of remarkable fishing; impetuous Peter hurls himself overboard but only after he first puts on his overcoat; Jesus helps the disciples to catch a load of fish but then it turns out that they aren't really needed—for Jesus already had breakfast cooking, including some fish. But the oddest facet of all is what is not spoken here. The story ends in an awkward silence. None of the disciples dare say much. But Jesus' words are the most startling. His speech here is limited to fishing instructions and an invitation to eat. With cupped hands He yells out "Catch anything?" "Want some breakfast?"
Jesus is the resurrected Lord of life in John 21. His living, bodily presence on this earth is nothing short of the grandest of all miracles. And this week the church continues to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Yet we dare not forget that Jesus is also the one who, on Good Friday, died on a cross, taking our place, having our sins heaped upon Him. Those pierced hands now hold the power of life and death, the victory of God, victory over sin, death and the devil. In those hands is the hope of every last creature who has ever lived, all accomplished by Him, (by Jesus) for us.
That's who the post-Easter, resurrected Lord Jesus Christ is. So what is He doing fussing with fish and cooking a breakfast on the beach? Why in the world would this man take time to help out some discouraged anglers and then also do the work of a cook, poking at a charcoal fire with a stick, frying up some fish, baking some pita bread?
Generally speaking in life, the higher up a person ascends in power and prestige, the less likely it is that he or she will have either time or desire to deal with life's mundane details. Powerful corporate executives don’t brew their own coffee. No one in the D.C. area is likely to bump into Laura Bush at the local Safeway picking up eggs and raisin bread for the president's breakfast. I once read that like most presidents, during his years in office Ronald Reagan never carried a wallet, keys, or anything at all beyond a handkerchief. He didn't need credit cards or cash, a driver's license or keys: everything was bought and provided for him, other people opened doors for him, and he hadn’t driven a car in years. The further up one goes in life, the more ordinary chores fall to other people.
Yet John 21 shows us Jesus as the giver of fishing tips and as chief cook and bottle washer for His friends. Makes you wonder doesn't it? There are many things that can be said about this passage. A great many commentators in history have perceived here a kind of acted-out parable for the church. If we "fish" in those places where Jesus directs us, then we will bring in a large harvest of souls, making us true "fishers of men." The net that stands for the church will never burst. So we go where our Lord directs us, we witness of His gospel, and then we rely on the Lord to help us haul in ever-more citizens of the kingdom of God.
Probably there is something to that line of thinking. But that angle on this story, like so many other interpretations, tends to elevate this ordinary account to a higher, more spiritual, and ethereal level. As a noted Christian writer (Frederick Buechner) once wrote, "the church has always faced that temptation to be more spiritual than God himself." When we make this a parable about witnessing the gospel and being fishers of men, we remove ourselves from what makes this story so precious: namely, its ordinary nature.
So this morning I invite you, to use your imagination, just to be in this story. I want you to hear the crackle of that little fire on the beach, to smell the smoke, to hear the sizzle of the fish, to delight in the fragrance of just-baked bread. I want you to see the rough-hewn faces of the disciples, their bloodshot eyes after having been up all night, the vaguely uncertain looks on their faces as they steal glances at Jesus when they think He's not looking in an effort to make sure it's really Him. I want you to see the soggy disciple Simon Peter and hear the plop-plop of water dripping off his wet clothes and onto the sand. I want you to hear Jesus not saying "I will make you fishers of men," but rather what the text actually says, "You hungry? Well then have a seat, breakfast is served!"
Just allow this story to be as ordinary as it appears. Because only then can the extraordinary presence of Jesus smack dab in the middle of all that is familiar and typical, have resonance with your life. After all, why is it that the resurrected Lord of the universe takes time to dabble with cooking? Why is it that, with a world still full of evil and the like, Jesus takes time to play waiter to His hungry friends? I want you to hear this so please listen: it's because real life--your real life, my real life, each person's real life--is where we meet Jesus otherwise we're not going to see Him much at all. If encounters with Jesus, if the sense that we are in His divine presence, is limited only to mountaintop experiences of ecstasy, brilliant visions and dreams, or the comparatively rare occasion when we can say with certainty that the Lord has revealed something big to us, then much of life is going to look dreadfully unspiritual.
Jesus meets us where we are, and He always has time to join us in whatever it is we're doing. And when He does, then our every moment has the potential to become sacred moment, our every meal becomes a meal with our Lord. I love Luther's table prayer because he reminds us of that. "Komm Herr Jesu, sei unser Gast, und segne was Du uns bescheret hast. " "Come Lord Jesus, be our guest and let thy gifts to us be blest." Some theologians comment, that although there was no wine served at that breakfast on the beach, although we do not have recorded here any words of institution to make this breakfast a clear instance of the sacramental meal, even so when Jesus takes bread and fish, gives thanks, and then distributes it to His friends, it may not be the Lord's Supper but it is a meal with the Lord. It's a living encounter with the living Christ. Not in the temple, not in a synagogue but right where they were and it's sacred event.
This morning we come to the table of our Lord, and it is of course a unique a sacramental sacred moment. But when you walk away from this table, when you exit this sanctuary, when you tomorrow pick up again with your weekly routines, you must not think you have left your Lord behind at this table and church. As if He could only is here and simply waits for your return to dine with Him again. As the Lord of Life, Jesus is never too busy to attend to the daily things of your life.
Unlike the powerful of this earth that leave to others the daily details they no longer wish to be bothered with themselves, Jesus takes on the small things as well as the big things of your life. If it seems strange to you that Jesus should trouble to ask how fishing was or strange that He would busy himself with the baking of daily bread, then that may be because Jesus Himself is strange to you in the average run of the average day. But Jesus desires to be near to you, endeared to you. That's why He placed His Holy Spirit within you. In a few moments I hope you hear Jesus speaking to you through His words "Take, eat, this is my body given for you." But sometime this week I hope you hear Jesus speaking also through those who ask things like, "How was your day? Have you eaten yet?" And maybe for a moment you'll be taken back in your mind to the Sea of Tiberias the smell a wood fire the sizzling of fish, fresh bread and the presence of Jesus. As Jesus said in Matthew 28, "and, lo I am with you always even to the end of the age." Even in your everyday life. In Jesus name, Amen!