Easter III, Cycle C

"Jesus and Breakfast by the Sea"

April 18, 2010

The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel

Saint Luke's Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs

Lessons: Acts 9:1-6; Revelation 5:11-14; St. John 21:1-14

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

How attentive are you to the lessons we read in church week to week? I suppose if you're here, week to week, you may notice some things. But if you're here one week, and miss the next, you're surely not going to pick up on the continuity of the Biblical texts—because most often, there is continuity—they follow week to week, as we read through a particular book from the Bible. And this is intentional. If you are here week to week, you notice things. For example, if you were here last week, heard the Gospel read, and then heard the Gospel reading this week, you might be a bit perplexed. Last week, we heard about Jesus appearing to the disciples, behind closed, locked doors on Easter Sunday, saying to the twelve, or rather, the twelve minus Judas, "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." Many scholars believe this is John's account of the Great Commissioning—Jesus sending his disciples forth to spread the Gospel and save the world. And yet, what do we see the disciples doing this week? John tells us that after they were commissioned to be sent out by Jesus last week, now, they've gone fishing! This is the great value in worshiping each week—because you get to hear the biblical texts as they are intended, normally going verse by verse in the Bible. And yet, as we hear the one passage following the other today, it strikes us as humorous, if not ironic, that just after Jesus had told the fellows to go—out—to serve—they went fishing! I think of this myself some Sundays as one of our assistants at the end of the service gives a rousing and heartfelt, "Go in peace, serve the Lord!" And then, we have coffee. Now, I'm not opposed to coffee, it just seems a little disjointed. Maybe we'd be better having the sending as, "After coffee, go in peace, serve the Lord, later this week", or some such altered wording. Of course, either way, we get the message. The question is, do we go and serve, at all—or, like those first disciples, do we not really get it? After being sent at the end of our worship service each week, do you go and think about serving the Lord—or do you go about your daily tasks with nary a thought about serving, or witnessing, or sharing the good news of Jesus during your week? In this sense, maybe we're not all that different from the disciples who, though they were sent, didn't really know what that meant, so instead of getting busy with ministry, they returned to what was comfortable, and familiar. For most of them, it was fishing. As they were fishermen, they returned to their boats. For us, it may be work, or school, or the day to day grind of our daily existence, whatever that might be. But the point remains—when we are sent by Jesus, do we go to serve? Or do we return to what is comfortable and familiar?

Because the disciples, and we, aren't always quite sure what it is we're supposed to be doing, Jesus appears to the disciples in our Gospel lesson today, to teach them and us, some valuable insights about this ministry to which we are called, and sent, now that our Lord is risen and ascended. And what then is Jesus teaching us?

First, we see that Jesus comes to the disciples where they are—as they are busy at their regular, daily tasks. As was common in that time, the disciples had gone out to fish at night, because the fish would be drawn to the surface by a lighted torch, often increasing the catch. But we read that after fishing all night, they still have caught nothing. And Jesus hasn't sent a messenger to fetch them, to bring them back to Jerusalem, to gather them once again in the Upper Room. Instead, Jesus comes to them where they are—by the seaside, where they are still out in their boats. And there, Jesus teaches them something about how they are now to be fishers-of-men, as He instructs them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat, whereupon they had such a catch they couldn't haul it in, because there were so many fish! And this teaches us that just as Jesus came to the disciples as they were fishing, so also Jesus comes to be with us where we are, where we work, and play and spend our days. And as Jesus is with us, we are to listen to Him. We are to follow Him, as He guides us—not just in our own lives, but as He directs us and advises us how it is that we are to serve Him. After fishing all night, the disciples, by themselves, had caught nothing. But following Jesus' lead, they have a great catch! And that's the first thing we learn from this experience of Jesus and His disciples. Plainly put, we can do nothing without Jesus. We can try with our best efforts and most eloquent arguments and most devious attempts to get others—our kids, our acquaintances, our family members, our neighbors, to come to Jesus—but if we're doing it on our own, we will ultimately, catch no one. Instead, we are to be constantly listening to Jesus, being open to Him, and seeking to hear His voice, with regard to how we are to reach out to those in our lives who don't know Jesus, or believe in Him. Surely, we all have people in our lives who are unbelievers, skeptics, agnostics—people who need Jesus in their lives. And yet, reaching such people is not about our efforts or ability to argue them into the kingdom—rather, we need to follow Jesus' lead, as sometimes, He might speak to us and say, "try casting your net on the other side of the boat". In other words, try a different approach. Sometimes, what we are trying, what we are saying to our un-churched friends and family may be precisely the wrong way to go about reaching them, because pressure, and argumentation, and beating someone up with the Bible, is not necessarily the best way to help them experience God's love in Jesus Christ. And so, first, we need to be open to Jesus, and to be listening to Jesus, who encourages always, love—love for neighbor as the most godly way to reach out to those who are lost, seeking and in need of a Savior. "Love one another, as I have loved you" is the New Commandment Jesus gives at the Last Supper—and those are the words of Jesus we are to hear and heed, as we consider how to share the Gospel with those who are hurting, lonely, and unaware of Jesus, the Son of God. As St. Francis put it, "Preach the Gospel at all times—and if necessary, use words." When you are listening to Jesus, seeking guidance from Him about how to share the Gospel with those who need to hear it—what He will be saying most often is, "love your neighbor". That's the instruction Jesus offers, when we need to know how and where to "cast the net", as fishers of men—and women and children!

Second, Jesus teaches the disciples that there is room in the kingdom of God for all people—regardless their background, their age, their skin color, their socio-economic status. Have you ever noticed that boats in the New Testament often become a symbol for the Church, and in this instance, having just sent the disciples out, Jesus is now teaching the disciples who it is that they should be working to bring into the boat, the Church. And the answer is, "everyone"! Why does John tell us specifically that the net was full of 153 fish, and that though there were so many, the net was not torn? Some scholars point to the theory that in the ancient world, there were 153 known kinds of fish—so that the message here is that people from every tribe and nation in the world can be in the Church—and still, there will be room—the net will not be torn—the Church can hold all the people we can squeeze into it. Other scholars suggest other meanings for the number 153—the church father Ammonius suggesting that the 100 refers to the fullness of the Gentiles; the 50 refers to the elect of Israel who have been saved, and the three points to the Holy Trinity, adding up to 153. However it was originally meant, or understood, this number is intended to point to the universality—the catholicity of the Body of Christ, that the Church is for everyone, and everyone can be welcomed into the Church, without concern for who should be in, and who should be kept out. In the kingdom of God, all are to be welcomed—and the net will hold—even though it may take all of us working together, to get the net into the boat, and then, to the shore!

Which brings us to the third and final thing Jesus teaches His disciples, then and now, about this work, this ministry to which we have been called, and sent: we can't do it without nourishment! While many Christians throughout the ages have pointed to the Last Supper as the time and place of the institution of the Lord's Supper, there are some who have suggested that in addition, we can see our Holy Communion pre-figured at what's been called, "The First Breakfast". You see, as we have the Last Supper, we also have the First Breakfast. Here, as Jesus met with the disciples in the midst of their work as fishers of men—here, as they had only just been fishing all night with nothing to show for it, and then, in response to Jesus had a record catch, all working together to drag it to shore—here, now, Jesus offers them a simple meal, inviting them to "Come, have breakfast!" And some Biblical scholars see this as connected with our Sunday morning simple sacramental meal, as Jesus invites us week in and week out, saying, "Come, have breakfast!" Granted, it's not bread and fish, nor eggs and bacon, but each week, Jesus offers to us what we need to be able to continue to be fishers of men, as Jesus offers Himself to us, for strength, for courage, for stamina, for unity, for the ability to leave here refreshed and ready to return to our daily activities, ready to indeed, "Go in peace, serve the Lord!" We cannot do the work that our Lord would have us do without this spiritual nourishment, our daily bread, feeding us with the very presence of Jesus, so that His Body and Blood, in our body and blood, will empower us and encourage us to go and love and serve our neighbor, our co-workers, our families and friends, that through us, they might hear and see, Him—Jesus Christ, in us and with us. That's how we are to spread the Gospel, that's why we need Christ's presence in us—and that's why Jesus feeds us—every week. And that's why we ought to hear Him calling us, each week, saying, "Come, have breakfast!" As you lay in bed, or sit in your easy chair each week, as you read the funny papers on Sunday morning, lounging in your flannel jammies—hopefully, you will hear Jesus inviting you, saying, "Get up, get ready, and come, have breakfast!" And then, hopefully, you will come—because you need Jesus present in you—to do the work you are sent out to do. You need Jesus present in you, to carry on—as disciples of Christ, sent out to be fishers of men! That's what Jesus teaches us today, as we read the account of the disciples, gone fishing, so soon after the resurrection. That we need Him—that we need Jesus in our hearts, and in our lives, as we go in peace, to serve the Lord. So, come, now, and have breakfast!"

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.