Jesus Visits and Encourages His Friends

John 21:1–19 NRSV

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. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

The risen Christ meets us in the intimate, genuine moments of life. Fishing, breakfast, a garden. 

We should mourn a world that will not acknowledge the holiness of such times and things. Yet so many lack a proper connection or intimacy. So few hugs. So many awkward conversations at distance. 

Jesus meets us in these intimate places. 

At the table.  In our bed.  When we’re lying on the couch.  Out on our walk or run 

Tell the story about putting the yellow notecard with the letter P on your steering wheel. God in the little things, always.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

We lose site of these good, little, quotidian, mundane things. Sure, I’m not saying people don’t appreciate good things in their lives. A child’s smile. A good spring breeze. But we are so lost in our pursuit of boundaries and safety, unaware that it is the Wild, up close, sitting on the beach in nothing but a towel intimacy with God that we are missing.

We want God in the big stuff. Signs and wonders. 

But God shows up in the dawn light, not burdened by pretense or cynicism. Just simply to be with his friends — within his friends — to bless them and watch as they carried on the good work. 

There’s repair and reconciliation for Peter. He also gets his life back after he wandered away to follow Jesus. His nets are full. And he is going to lead the church now. 

And we must also look to the way these acts of intimacy are also mundane, earthy. Literally human, humus, of the earth.

If we’re going to see resurrection, we have to look to the earth. it was earth day about a week ago. A day strikingly close to Easter this year. 

If we are going to see resurrection, we have to look to the earth. Sadly, the earth is showing us so many signs of imminent death these days. So much is potentially dying off, melting, decaying. Yet if we are going to participate in preventing this collapse, we must look for real examples of resurrection.  Where are things growing still? What plants have died that make way for newer growth. 

I love lavender and we have a number of bushes in our front yard. They’ve gotten way overgrown from neglect. But a couple weeks ago I decided to really get in them and weed and prune and clear them some space. Got rid of so much dead stuff. Tossed a little homemade compost around the roots and let them be. Now, in the gaps are little bits of leaves and stems, making their own way into the light and growing. 

These dead and overgrown plants. Now coming back to life. Not with what was, but new buds of life. 

The earth teaches us about resurrection every moment. Cycles of the moon, changing of seasons, life and death. This is what the indigenous peoples of our world know. The rhythms of time are a part of these cycles of resurrection. 

Jesus visits his friends in their everyday. Making breakfast. Doing work. 

I suppose the punchline of this sermon is a bit anticlimactic. I think what Jesus is doing here is simply being seen in the everyday things. It’s there that we feel resurrection and witness it take place. 

Part of being in mid-life is this feeling that every day is the same, stagnant perhaps. Get up, coffee, wash up, off to school and work, home, dinner, screens, sleep. It can feel oppressive, like a Sisyphean loop. 

But what if Jesus’s big announcement here is simply to show up and remind them who they are and show them that resurrection is here. Peter, you denied me, but now go feed my sheep. Yeah. Do it. Yeah. We’re good. You’re my rock, man. 

Resurrected relationships. 

An abundance of fish. Like, a ridiculous amount. These guys are returning back to their old careers and need to get some income if they’re gonna keep surviving. So Jesus miraculously helps them get more fish. 

I wonder about this one in terms of our need for more financial commitments to our church and mission.

These guys have been working hard helping Jesus, but now they’ve got something else to do and they need to grow back into their old lives a bit. Jesus blesses this, sending them back to fishermen AND fishers of men. 

Restored standing in society. God’s abundance can restore them to where their next calling needs to be. 

What if, while we’re waiting for the resurrection of the body some day, we miss all these tiny and immense resurrections happening all around us. 

What if it’s in the earth. What if it’s in our careers? What if it’s in the ways we pass on our lives to the next generations? Christ lives in us now. 

Last week the disciples were blessed with the Holy Spirit. This week, we see them taking that spirit into their work. Using their work to build their community and life together. Figuring out how to share with each other and take care of each other. 

Sounds like the beginnings of a church. 

May this be an encouragement to us. We can live this way too. We’re not always very good at it, but we can be. We can be a people of resurrection. We can build new gardens and plant new trees. We can heal broken relationships and create new ones. We can welcome the stranger, who is no longer a stranger but a sibling in Christ. 

And we can meet together at Christ’s table, where he has prepared an abundant feast for us, his friends. May it be nourishing, sustaining, fortifying. May the simple act of receiving Christ’s body

It happens in the small things. The close moments. Remember, in those things, you are Christ’s body. 

Let us pray. 

The main point of this sermon is that resurrection and the presence of the risen Christ are found not in grand gestures or dramatic signs, but in the small, intimate, everyday moments of life—in shared meals, simple work, restored relationships, and the rhythms of the natural world.

The preacher emphasizes that God is encountered in the mundane—in beds, breakfasts, pruning lavender bushes, and long walks—and that recognizing this transforms the ordinary into sacred space. The resurrection isn’t just a future hope; it’s something we are invited to live into right now, especially through community, care for creation, and acts of healing and restoration.