Easter 3 - One More Time

Scripture: John 21:1-19

John 21:1–19 NRSV

1 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2 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. 3 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. 4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” 6 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. 7 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. 8 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. 9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 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. 12 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. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. 15 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.” 16 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.” 17 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. 18 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.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

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Going Fishing

Somewhere in my youth I watched the movie Mary Poppins and discovered that any work you do goes faster and better if you can make a game about it. I took that to heart and would often try to make games out of chores at home. It made cleaning my room and taking out the trash a lot more enjoyable. It also made doing the dishes a lot messier, which required a shower following some of those tasks.

There was a point where that idea of making work into a game really started to break down though. One evening mom left my brother and me home to mop the kitchen floor while she went out to get groceries. She got out the mop and bucket for us, put soap in it, and helped fill it with hot water. All we had to do was clear the floor, sweep, and mop. It should have been a simple ten-minute job.

Unfortunately for my mom, I had an active imagination and I very quickly found a much more fun way to mop the floor. Rather than using the mop to pick up the dirt, I decided we could do it all at once by dumping the bucket of soapy water on the floor directly and skating around in our socks, which were basically mops for your feet anyway. There was a distinct change in attitude when mom returned as she changed from pride in her boys taking responsibility and helping out to the panic of how to clean up the bigger mess, and my brother and I went from the joy of inventing this new game called “mopping the floors” to terror at the look on mom’s face. Having a half-inch of standing water on the floor will do that for you. That was the day that I discovered there is a solid line between getting work done and just playing.

This is a problem for those of us who follow Jesus, not just kids with big imaginations. Paul wrote in his letters, John wrote in Revelation, and Jesus Himself told parables recorded in the gospels that the Son of Man is coming back and He will want to know if we’ve accomplished the work He gave to us or if we have just been playing and making a mess. Thankfully we can learn and grow from our mistakes, choosing not to repeat them over and over again, because God guides us, and His patient love surprises and transforms us.

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Called out of the water - Remember your baptism

After the initial crazy moments of seeing Jesus alive again after His Crucifixion and death, things changed in the upper room where the disciples had huddled together. Jesus had given them a mission - to go share the grace of God, which is the forgiveness of sin and the power to live as a disciple of Jesus, with the whole world. In their ears, as they feared for their lives, I am sure this did not sound like a naturally “fun” job. They knew, once they started down that road, they would end up on a cross too. So what did these most dedicated disciples do? They went fishing.

Peter went back to the boat because that was what he knew. Yes, the world needed preaching and teaching, but he needed a real job, and his family needed him to bring home food. Jesus was not doing the miracle potlucks anymore. Perhaps he could make disciples among the other fishermen out on the lake. He could make it the best of both worlds. But it was not what Jesus asked them to do and Jesus came to call Peter out of the fishing boat, out of the water, the same way He did the first time they met.

Many preachers have debated over the years whether it was sinful or disobedient for Peter to go back to fishing. I’m here to tell you I don’t know. Jesus didn’t say. Others might point to their failure at fishing that day as a sign that you can’t experience success outside of your calling - but I don’t believe that at all. If that were the case then anyone rich and famous would be bound for heaven and those who were poor, sick, and struggling would be lost. Jesus taught that the opposite is usually true. Success looks differently from the eyes of Jesus.

One thing we can know for sure is that the risen Jesus gave Peter a job and Peter decided to go fishing for fish instead of fishing for people, and Jesus called him out on that.

Mom called us out of the water, just as the spirit of God calls us out of the waters of our baptism. We may not get the “You are my beloved child, with you I am well pleased” kind of response from God the way Jesus did at His baptism, but God clearly shows us that there is a letting go of the past and taking up a new life following Jesus for us. The water is just a symbol of a spiritual baptism that we are made to walk in daily, with the Holy Spirit fire burning away the chaff that covers us and keeps us from glorifying God in all we do.

There was some education that happened there as well. This is not the way to do things. Just because it seemed more fun, more convenient, more time-saving, or whatever other reason we had, did not right, and the “rightness” of how to do it was not based on personal preferences. It was based on the end result. I did not understand at the time that the more fun way actually left the floor dirtier and damaged the floor around and underneath the linoleum.

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Remember your Mission

Your mission is not a catchy statement, it is what you are doing. The disciples did not have a mission statement like businesses do today, they had instructions given to them as our parents gave to us when we had to do chores. Different children need to be taught in different ways, and Jesus, knowing that Peter was a leader of the disciples, wanted to make sure that Peter would pass on that teaching accurately. I say accurately and don’t mean literally because Jesus often taught things more accurately by describing them in a roundabout way.

Jesus asked Peter three times if Peter loved him, and three times, Peter said yes. It’s not a repetitive conversation because the word for love changes. Here’s a really quick translation of how it may have sounded in the original conversation.

“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than the others?”

“Yes Lord, you know I like you a lot."

"Feed my lambs."

Then again:

"Simon, son of John, do you love me?"

"Yes Lord, you know that I like you a lot."

"Tend my sheep."

I wonder what our church would look like today if Jesus had given Peter the mission to go fish for sinners? Maybe we would focus our efforts on pulling people out of their comfort zone like fish out of water, into our boat, where we would get what we could out of them, and pray that God would send us more fishermen and women. That call to fish for people got Peter out of the boat the first time, but as he grew in his faith, his mission changed from fishing to shepherding.

Why did Jesus give Peter his new mission with Shepherd metaphors?

Because our mission is not about getting more of ourselves into the church, it is about getting more of Jesus into ourselves. There are going to be things that Jesus calls us to do that are outside of our experience and expertise. We have to be willing to learn and to grow into new life, not just do the things we already know how to do. We have lots of talent, resources, and ideas when we collaborate together as a team, as a community, and as a family. But even on our best days, we fall short of the work that Jesus has for us. We can accomplish earthly tasks with natural gifts, but it takes gifts given by God's Spirit, trained up by disciple-makers of Jesus, for us to accomplish the life-changing work of Jesus that is our purpose as His Church.

Jesus put it rather plainly for Peter.

The third time:

"Simon, son of John, do you like me a lot?"

"Lord, you know everything; you know that I like you a lot."

"When you were young, your life was your own, but as you grow old you will be led to places you do not want to go."

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Remember your love

Peter couldn't tell Jesus he loved him. Jesus was asking for the self-sacrificing love that he showed Peter on the cross, but the best Peter was willing to promise was the love shared in family. He didn't want to be like Jesus, he still wanted to be Simon, son of John. Jesus had other plans for him though. He was making him into Peter, the rock on whom the rest of the church could rest. Not a fisherman, not the Messiah, the first under-shepherd, who would be known by his love.

Peter would raise up new lambs and he would tend the sheep. He would not pull others out of their comfort zone into his boat, he would leave his comfort zone and join them in the pasturelands, raising up new families of faith right where they lived - in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and on to Rome, and through Peter, people would come to know Jesus all over the world. Peter would grow to one day be able to say, Yes Jesus, I love you with all that I am and all that I have, and he would lay his life down as proof of that love.

If Jesus asked you if you loved him, could you honestly say yes?

If Jesus asked you to show your love for him, would you do what he asked?

Are you willing to love others the way Jesus loves you?

Are you willing to follow Jesus wherever He leads you?