BREAKFAST WITH JESUS
John 21:1-14
Rev. Paul Wrightman 4/24/22
OUR SCRIPTURE TEXT THIS MORNING
DESCRIBES JESUS DOING SOMETHING
THAT ONLY WOMEN IN HIS TIME AND PLACE WOULD DO:
NAMELY, COOK BREAKFAST FOR HIS DISCIPLES.
AND WE NEED TO REMEMBER THAT THESE VERY SAME DISCIPLES
HAD ALL ABANDONED THEIR MENTOR AND FRIEND
ONLY A FEW WEEKS BEFORE.
THE EXPECTED RESPONSE FROM A VANQUISHED LEADER
WHO HAD BEEN DEFEATED
BUT THEN MADE A SURPRISING AND VICTORIOUS COMEBACK
WOULD HAVE BEEN TO SUMMARILY DO AWAY WITH ANYONE
WHOSE LOYALTY WAS IN QUESTION.
JESUS, HOWEVER, HAVING MADE THE MOST SURPRISING
AND MOST VICTORIOUS COMEBACK IN ALL OF HISTORY,
DOES JUST THE OPPOSITE:
HE SEEKS OUT HIS DISLOYAL DISCIPLES
AND DOES THE ONE THING IN THAT CULTURE
WHICH WOULD LET THEM KNOW IMMEDIATELY
THAT ALL IS FORGIVEN -- HE SHARES A MEAL WITH THEM,
A MEAL WHICH HE HAS PREPARED WITH HIS OWN HANDS.
IF JESUS REALLY IS WHO THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
PROCLAIMS HIM TO BE -- THE HUMAN FACE OF GOD --
MEANING BY THAT PHRASE THAT SEEING HOW JESUS
THINKS AND ACTS REVEALS TO US
HOW GOD THINKS AND ACTS --
IF JESUS REALLY IS THE HUMAN FACE OF GOD
THIS LITTLE EPISODE ON THE SHORE OF THE SEA OF GALILEE
SPEAKS VOLUMES:
IT CLEARLY TELLS US THAT GOD HOLDS NO GRUDGES,
IS NOT INTERESTED IN THE LEAST IN GETTING EVEN,
BUT, ON THE CONTRARY,
SEEKS OUT THOSE WHO HAVE DONE THE BETRAYING
AND LETS THEM KNOW IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS
THAT THEY ARE WANTED BACK IN GOD'S FAMILY.
DO YOU REMEMBER ERMA BOMBECK,
WHO HAD A SYNDICATED COLUMN ON FAMILY LIFE
A FEW DECADES BACK?
I FOUND HER WRITING TO BE A FASCINATING COMBINATION
OF FUNNY AND PROFOUND.
THE WAY JESUS RESPONDS TO HIS WAYWARD DISCIPLES
IN OUR SCRIPTURE TEXT THIS MORNING
REMINDS ME OF ONE OF HER COLUMNS ON MOTHERS:
"EVERY MOTHER HAS A FAVORITE CHILD.
SHE CANNOT HELP IT. SHE IS ONLY HUMAN.
I HAVE MINE -- THE CHILD FOR WHOM I FEEL A SPECIAL CLOSENESS,
WITH WHOM I SHARE A LOVE THAT NO ONE ELSE
COULD POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND.
MY FAVORITE CHILD IS THE ONE WHO WAS TOO SICK
TO EAT ICE CREAM AT HIS BIRTHDAY PARTY…
WHO HAD MEASLES AT CHRISTMAS…
WHO DEVELOPED A HIGH FEVER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT…
WHO HAD AN ASTHMA ATTACK….
WHO HAD TO BE RUSHED TO THE ER…
MY FAVORITE CHILD SPENT CHRISTMAS ALONE AWAY
FROM THE FAMILY,
WAS STRANDED AFTER THE GAME WITH A GAS TANK ON E,
AND LOST THE MONEY FOR HIS CLASS RING.
MY FAVORITE CHILD IS THE ONE WHO MESSED UP
THE PIANO RECITAL, MISSPELLED COMMITTEE IN A SPELLING BEE,
RAN THE WRONG WAY WITH THE FOOTBALL,
AND HAD HIS BIKE STOLEN BECAUSE HE WAS CARELESS.
MY FAVORITE CHILD SLAMMED DOORS IN FRUSTRATION,
CRIED WHEN SHE DIDN'T THINK I SAW HER,
WITHDREW AND SAID SHE WOULD NOT TALK TO ME.
MY FAVORITE CHILD IS THE ONE I PUNISHED FOR LYING,
GROUNDED FOR INSENSITIVITY TO OTHER PEOPLE'S FEELINGS,
AND INFORMED HE WAS A ROYAL PAIN TO THE ENTIRE FAMILY. . .
MY FAVORITE CHILD WAS SELFISH, IMMATURE,
BAD-TEMPERED AND SELF-CENTERED.
SHE WAS VULNERABLE, LONELY,
UNSURE OF WHAT SHE WAS DOING IN THIS WORLD --
AND QUITE WONDERFUL."
BOMBECK CONCLUDES BY SAYING:
"ALL MOTHERS HAVE THEIR FAVORITE CHILD.
IT IS ALWAYS THE SAME ONE:
THE ONE WHO NEEDS YOU AT THE MOMENT.
WHO NEEDS YOU FOR WHATEVER REASON --
TO CLING TO, TO SHOUT AT, TO HURT, TO HUG,
TO FLATTER, TO REVERSE CHARGES TO, TO UNLOAD ON --
BUT MOSTLY JUST TO BE THERE."
(END QUOTE)
JESUS WAS ACTING AN AWFULLY LOT LIKE THE MOTHERS
DESCRIBED BY ERMA BOMBECK
WHEN HE COOKED BREAKFAST FOR HIS WAYWARD DISCIPLES.
IF JESUS REALLY IS THE HUMAN FACE OF GOD,
WE SEE IN THIS SIMPLE GESTURE
OF FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION
THE WAY GOD ACTS TOWARD ALL GOD'S WAYWARD CHILDREN --
THEY ARE DEEPLY MISSED,
AND WANTED AND WELCOMED BACK HOME.
THIS IS PART OF WHAT WE'RE AFFIRMING
IN THE TRADITIONAL EASTER AFFIRMATION:
"CHRIST IS RISEN -- CHRIST IS RISEN INDEED!"
NOW LET'S TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT OUR TEXT.
THE GOSPELS GO OUT OF THEIR WAY
TO INSIST THAT THE RISEN JESUS WAS NOT A VISION,
NOT AN HALLUCINATION, NOT EVEN A SPIRIT, BUT A REAL PERSON.
THEY INSIST THAT THE TOMB WAS EMPTY,
AND THAT THE RISEN JESUS HAD A REAL BODY,
A BODY WHICH STILL BORE THE MORTAL WOUNDS
OF THE NAILS IN HIS HANDS AND FEET
AND THE SPEAR THRUST IN HIS SIDE.
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE TEXT CONTINUES THIS LINE OF TESTIMONY,
TESTIMONY WHICH WAS INTENDED TO COUNT AS EVIDENCE
IN A JEWISH OR ROMAN COURT OF LAW.
A VISION, HALLUCINATION, OR SPIRIT WOULD NOT BE LIKELY
TO POINT OUT A SHOAL OF FISH TO A PARTY OF FISHERMEN.
A VISION, HALLUCINATION, OR SPIRIT
WOULD NOT BE LIKELY TO COOK A MEAL AND SHARE IT OUT.
THE FIRST AND SIMPLEST AIM OF THIS STORY
IS TO EMPHASIZE THE REALITY OF THE RESURRECTION.
IT TELLS US THAT THE RISEN JESUS WAS NOT A VISION,
NOT THE FIGMENT OF SOMEONE'S EXCITED IMAGINATION,
NOT THE APPEARANCE OF A SPIRIT OR GHOST.
NO, IT WAS JESUS WHO HAD CONQUERED DEATH AND COME BACK.
FOR SEVERAL WEEKS JESUS APPEARED TO HIS DISCIPLES AS A GROUP,
TO JAMES, A MEMBER OF HIS FAMILY,
TO MANY OF HIS DISCIPLES INDIVIDUALLY,
AND THEN TO FIVE HUNDRED FOLLOWERS AT ONE TIME.
SHORTLY BEFORE HE RETURNED TO GOD
HE CAME BACK TO THEM ONCE MORE AT THE SEA OF TIBERIAS,
THE ROMAN NAME FOR THE SEA OF GALILEE.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN IS QUITE SPECIFIC ABOUT THOSE PRESENT.
SIMON PETER WAS THERE AND WITH HIM THOMAS THE TWIN,
WHOM LATER GENERATIONS OF CHRISTIANS HAVE TAGGED
"DOUBTING THOMAS."
ALSO PRESENT WERE NATHANAEL FROM CANA-IN-GALILEE,
AND THE TWO SONS OF ZEBEDEE, JAMES AND JOHN.
TWO OTHER UNNAMED DISCIPLES ROUNDED OUT THE GROUP.
I SUSPECT THEY WERE WOMEN.
REMEMBER, JOHN IS PRESENTING THIS EVENT AS FURTHER EVIDENCE
FOR THE FACT THAT JESUS WAS, INDEED, RISEN,
EVIDENCE THAT WOULD BE ACCEPTED IN A COURT OF LAW.
SINCE AT THAT TIME THE TESTIMONY OF WOMEN
WAS NOT ADMITTED IN COURT,
JOHN NAMES ONLY THE MEN WHO WERE THERE.
ALTHOUGH THE DISCIPLES WERE NO LONGER BITTERLY GRIEVING --
THE RISEN JESUS HAD APPEARED TO THEM
ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS BY THIS TIME --
THEY HAD NOT YET REALIZED THE FULL IMPLICATIONS
OF WHAT IT REALLY MEANT THAT JESUS HAD BEEN RAISED
FROM THE DEAD,
ESPECIALLY THE IMPLICATIONS OF WHAT IT MEANT
THAT HE HAD BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD
WITH HIS WOUNDS STILL INTACT.
IN THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH OF THE EMOTIONALLY EXHAUSTING
EVENT OF THE CRUCIFIXION --
AND WHAT MUST HAVE BEEN THE EQUALLY EXHAUSTING EVENT
OF THE RESURRECTION --
SURELY THE DISCIPLES NEEDED SOME TIME AND EMOTIONAL SPACE
TO BEGIN TO ASSIMILATE WHAT THEY HAD EXPERIENCED.
LATE ONE AFTERNOON SIMON PETER ANNOUNCED TO THE GROUP
THAT HE WAS GOING FISHING,
AND THE OTHERS REPLIED THAT THEY WERE GOING WITH HIM.
THEY WASTED NO TIME IN GETTING THEIR TACKLE READY
AND LAUNCHING THE BOAT.
THROUGHOUT THE LONG NIGHT THEY CAST OUT THEIR NETS
TIME AFTER TIME AFTER TIME AND CAUGHT NOTHING.
DAWN IS BEGINNING TO BREAK,
JUST AS IT HAD ON THE FIRST EASTER MORNING.
THE FISHERMEN ARE HEADING BACK TO SHORE.
THEY SEE A MAN STANDING THERE, BUT IN THE TWILIGHT
THEY DO NOT RECOGNIZE THAT IT IS JESUS.
HE CALLS OUT TO THEM,
"CHILDREN, YOU HAVE NO FISH, HAVE YOU?"
IT IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE TO HEAR THE NATURAL, COMMON,
ORDINARY WAY IN WHICH THE RISEN JESUS SPEAKS TO HIS FRIENDS.
THIS IS THE SAME NATURAL, COMMON, ORDINARY WAY
IN WHICH THE RISEN JESUS SPEAK TO US IN OUR HEARTS AND MINDS.
HIS MANNER HAS NOTHING FORMAL OR STILTED ABOUT IT:
"CHILDREN, YOU HAVE NO FISH, HAVE YOU?"
AS A GROUP THOSE IN THE BOAT CALL BACK: "NO."
TO THEIR STRAIGHTFORWARD AND DISCOURAGED REPLY
JESUS SHOUTS BACK: "CAST THE NET TO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BOAT
AND YOU WILL FIND SOME."
OUT GOES THE NET.
THEY BEGIN TO HAUL IT IN AND ARE SUDDENLY STRUCK
WITH A POWERFUL COMBINATION OF RECOGNITION AND AWE.
JOHN, TRUE TO CHARACTER,
AND TRUE TO HIS EXPERIENCE ON EASTER MORNING,
IS THE FIRST TO MAKE THE RELATIONAL CONNECTION.
HE REMEMBERS THE MIGHTY CATCH OF FISH THEY HAD BROUGHT IN
WHEN THEY FIRST MET JESUS.
JOHN EXCITEDLY SAYS TO PETER, "IT IS THE LORD!"
THIS STATEMENT IS ALL IT TAKES TO ENABLE PETER
TO RECOGNIZE FOR HIMSELF WHO IT IS
CALLING OUT TO THEM FROM THE SHORE.
IT IS PART OF JEWISH LAW THAT TO OFFER A GREETING
IS A RELIGIOUS ACT,
AND TO CARRY OUT A RELIGIOUS ACT A PERSON MUST BE CLOTHED.
SO WE ARE TREATED TO THE EYEWITNESS DETAILS
OF PETER HASTILY THROWING ON SOME CLOTHES
IN ORDER TO JUMP INTO THE LAKE, SWIM TO SHORE,
AND GREET THE PERSON STANDING THERE.
THE OTHER DISCIPLES BEACH THE BOAT,
TOWING THE NET FULL OF FISH BEHIND THEM.
A CHARCOAL FIRE IS BURNING WITH SOME FISH AND BREAD ON IT.
MORE IS NEEDED IF THERE IS TO BE ENOUGH FOOD FOR ALL,
SO JESUS TELLS THEM:
"BRING SOME OF THE FISH THAT YOU HAVE JUST CAUGHT."
PETER, STILL DRIPPING WET, DRAGS ASHORE THE NET
BULGING WITH FISH, ONE HUNDRED FIFTY THREE OF THEM.
HAVE YOU EVER KNOWN SOMEONE WHO LOVES TO FISH
WHO DID NOT KEEP AN EXACT TALLY OF THE NUMBER
OF FISH CAUGHT?
JESUS NOW SPEAKS ONE OF THE MOST TOUCHING SENTENCES
IN ALL OF SCRIPTURE: "COME AND HAVE BREAKFAST."
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL EXPRESSION OF MOTHERLY LOVE
ON THE PART OF JESUS!
BACK THEN, AS IS STILL LARGELY THE CASE IN MANY PLACES
IN THE WORLD EVEN TODAY, IT WAS CONSIDERED "WOMEN'S WORK"
TO COOK AND SERVE.
REMEMBER THE STORY OF MARY AND MARTHA,
AND MARTHA'S BEING CAUGHT UP IN PREPARING A MEAL
FOR JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES.
IN THIS SCENE, JESUS HIMSELF DOS THE COOKING AND SERVING.
THE TENDERNESS AND HUMILITY OF THIS ACT,
REMINISCENT OF THE FOOTWASHING
RECOUNTED EARLIER IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN,
DEFINES GOD'S MESSIAH NOT AS SOME CONQUERING HERO,
BUT AS ONE WHO HAS COME TO SERVE,
INDEED, AS ONE WHO DELIGHTS IN SERVING.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO EMPHASIZE
THAT JESUS, WHO IS EMMANUEL, GOD-WITH-US,
HERE DEMONSTRATES THAT GOD'S LOVE ENCOMPASSES
SO-CALLED MOTHERLY DIMENSIONS OF LOVING,
SUCH AS HUMILITY AND SERVICE,
AND NOT JUST SO-CALLED "FATHERLY" DIMENSIONS OF LOVING,
SUCH AS THE COURAGE TO SUFFER IN THE PLACE OF THE BELOVED.
JESUS THUS FREES ALL HIS DISCIPLES, MEN AS WELL AS WOMEN,
TO LOVE IN THE FULLEST WAY POSSIBLE,
NOT LIMITING ONE'S EXPRESSION OF LOVE TO GENDER STEREOTYPES.
I THINK IT OF TREMENDOUS IMPORTANCE
THAT JESUS REVEALS TO US A GOD
WHO IS IN NO WAY INTO REVENGE OR GETTING EVEN,
BUT A GOD WHO CONTINUES TO LOVE WAYWARD PEOPLE
EVEN AFTER THEY HAVE DONE THEIR VERY WORST
AND PARTICIPATED, ACTIVELY OR TACITLY,
IN PUTTING TO DEATH GOD'S PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE,
THE MESSIAH.
THIS IS, AFTER ALL, THE VERY MEANING OF "UNCONDITIONAL LOVE,"
THE REALITY THAT THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO CONDITIONS
UNDER WHICH GOD WOULD CEASE TO LOVE. (PAUSE)
NOW GO BACK WITH ME TO THE NIGHT OF JESUS’ TRIAL.
PETER HAS FOLLOWED THE SOLDIERS WHO HAD ARRESTED JESUS,
AND IS WATCHING AT A DISTANCE AS EVENTS UNFOLD.
EARLIER THAT EVENING HE HAD BRAGGED TO JESUS
IN FRONT OF THE REST OF THE DISCIPLES:
“EVEN IF ALL THE OTHERS FALL AWAY ON ACCOUNT OF YOU,
I NEVER WILL.”
BRAGGADOCIO TO WHICH JESUS HAD REPLEID:
“TRULY I TELL YOU, THIS VERY NIGHT, BEFORE THE ROOSTER CROWS,
YOU WILL DISOWN ME THREE TIMES.”
PETER’S DENIALS TOOK PLACE IN THE COURTYARD OF THE PALACE
OF THE HIGH PRIEST – AROUND A CHARCOAL FIRE.
THINK BACK TO THE HEAT OF THAT FIRE
WAFTING THROUGH THE CHILLY APRIL NIGHT AIR.
HEAR THE ROOSTER CROW AND SEE PETER RUNNING FROM
THE COURTYARD IN PROFOUND SHAME, FURIOUS WITH HIMSELF.
KNOWINJG THAT JESUS KNEW.
KNOWING THAT THE SELF-DESIGNATED “BELOVED DISCIPLE” KNEW.
KNOWING THAT GOD KNEW.
AND HEARING THE NEXT DAY THAT JESUS HAD BEEN CRUCIFIED.
NOT EVEN THE RESURRECTION ITSELF COULD WAVE A MAGIC WAND
AND GET RID OF THE MEMORY OF PETER’S DENIAL.
NOTHING COULD, EXCEPT REVISITING IT
AND BATHING IT IN THE LIGHT OF GOD’S OWN POWER TO HEAL.
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT JESUS IS UP TO IN THE SECTION
FROM THE GOSPEL OF JOHN THAT IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWS
THE TEXT THAT YOU HEARD.
JESUS WANTS TO SEE PETER HEALED,
AND KNOWS THAT THE CHARCOAL FIRE WILL BRING PETER BACK TO THAT FATEFUL NIGHT OF HIS THREE DENIALS,
AND SET THE STAGE FOR HIS HEALING.
SO WHEN JESUS AND THE DISCIPLES HAVE FINISHED BREAKFAST,
JESUS GOES UP TO PETER AND SUGGESTS THAT THEY WALK ALONE
BY THE SHORE OF THE LAKE.
PETER MUST HAVE BEEN BOTH GLAD AND ANXIOUS
TO HAVE THIS TIME ALONE WITH JESUS.
GIVEN THE FACT THAT THERE IS NOT A SINGLE INSTANCE
IN ALL THE GOSPELS WHERE JESUS –
IN AN ACTUAL ENCOUNTER WITH A PERSON IN NEED –
WITHHOLDS FORGIVENESS, PETER KNEW THAT HE WAS
ALREADY FORGIVEN – BY JESUS.
THE DEEPER QUESTION HERE IS –
HAD PETER BEEN ABLE TO FORGIVE HIMSELF?
JESUS KNOWS PETER WELL ENOUGH TO KNOW
THAT HE HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO FORGIVE HIMSELF,
AND THAT WITHOUT HIS GOING BACK IN TIME
AND RELIVING THIS EXPERIENCE WITH PETER,
PETER’S DENIALS WILL EAT AWAY AT HIM FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.
JESUS KNOWS EACH OF US WELL ENOUGH TO KNOW
THAT IN CERTAIN AREAS IN EACH OF OUR LIVES
WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FORGIVE OURSELVES,
AND THAT WITHOUT GOING BACK IN TIME
AND RELIVING THESE EXPERIENCES WITH US,
THESE EVENTS WILL EAT AWAY AT US FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES.
SO JESUS RELIVES THAT FATEFUL NIGHT WITH PETER,
ENPOWERING PETER TO FULLY FORGIVE HIMSELF
BY HEALING THE MEMORY OF THE THREEFOLD DENIAL
WITH A THREEFOLD DECLARATION OF LOVE.
IF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS WAS A REAL EVENT –
IF IT REALLY HAPPENED MORE OR LESS THE WAY
THE GOSPELS SAID IT DID –
THEN JESUS IS JUST AS ALIVE TODAY AS HE WAS BACK THEN,
AND JESUS CAN BE JUST AS PRESENT WITH EACH OF US TODAY
AS HE WAS PRESENT WITH PETER ON THAT MOMENTOUS WALK
ALONG THE LAKESHORE SO LONG AGO.
IF GOD REALLY DID RAISE JESUS FROM THE DEAD,
IT FOLLOWS THAT, CAUGHT UP IN THE SPIRIT OF JESUS,
WE ALREADY HAVE A HOME IN GOD’S ETERNAL PRESENT.
THIS ETERNAL PRESENT MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO GO
BACKWARDS IN TIME WITH GOD FOR THE HEALING OF MEMORIES.
I WOULD LIKE TO CHALLENGE YOU – AND TO CHALLENGE MYSELF –
TO TAKE ON AN EXPERIMENT THIS COMING WEEK.
WHAT I’M ASKING US TO DO IS THIS:
ALLOW YOURSELF TO GO BACK IN TIME
TO A NEGATIVE EVENT IN YOUR LIFE,
AN EVENT THE EFFECTS OF WHICH HAVE NEVER QUITE WORN OFF,
AND ARE STILL IMPACTING YOUR LIFE IN NEGATIVE WAYS.
THIS TIME ALLOW YOURSELF TO RELIVE THE EXPERIENCE
WITH JESUS AT YOUR SIDE, KNOWING THAT HE IS UNCONDITIONALLY
LOVING, UNCONDITIONALLY FORGIVING,
UNCONDITIONALLY DESIRING THE HEALING AND WHOLENESS
OF EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THE MEMORY
WHICH NEEDS TO BE HEALED.
EACH OF US HAS OUR OWN UNIQUE SET OF MEMORIES
WHICH NEED TO BE HEALED.
I’M NOT SAYING THAT RELIVING THEM WITH JESUS IS EASY.
IT’S A LOT LIKE GOING TO THE DENTIST.
BUT IT’S SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN
IF WE WANT TO FULLY EMBRACE LIFE.
AND IT’S SOMETHING THAT CAN HAPPEN NO MATTER
WHAT WE DO OR DO NOT HAPPEN TO BELIEVE ABOUT JESUS.
AFTER ALL, OUR PERSONAL BELIEFS OR LACK THEREOF
DO NOT DETERMINE THE REALITY OF GOD.
IF GOD IS REAL, GOD IS REAL.
AND GIVEN GOD’S NATURE OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
AND ACCEPTANCE, GOD WILL MEET WITH US
EVEN IN SPITE OF OUR LACK OF FAITH.
SO I CHALLENGE US TO BE LIKE PETER THIS COMING WEEK.
LET US WALK WITH JESUS ALONG THE LAKESHORE,
GIVING HIM PERMISSION TO GET STARTED ON THE
HEALING OF MEMORIES THAT EACH OF US NEEDS
TO BECOME THE WHOLE AND HEALED PERSON
THAT EACH OF US NEEDS AND WANTS TO BE.
AMEN.