Holy and wonderful God, we come into your presence
cautiously, suddenly not trusting ourselves to say the right thing. Like Peter, we want you to know that we love
you. Show us how to show you and the
world. Like Peter, we want to say the
right thing, but we hesitate, wanting to be sure of ourselves. Help us to know that our sureness comes from
you, our confidence, your gift to us.
Let us hear, and let me speak your word.
Amen
You may
have noticed that we have a very long gospel reading this morning. So long that it took two people to read
it. And, at first, they seem like two
completely different unrelated stories.
But one phrase lets us know that we are to read these stories as
connected—intimately so—the first story taking place early in the morning and
the second “after breakfast”. After
breakfast, what a telling phrase. We
often divide our days according to meal times and the disciples did as
well. Let’s look briefly at what
happened before breakfast. I remind you
that we are in the portion of the gospel writings which take place after the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Peter is a
man of action—sometimes unthinking action, but action, nonetheless. You will remember Peter from the Transfiguration—wanting
to build a monument instead of simply enjoying the moment. Peter, the same man who jumped up and cut off
the ear of one of the soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane; and, Peter, who
claimed to love Jesus and, yet, just as Jesus predicted, readily denied that he
was one of the disciples when fear took over.
This Peter is not an easy going kind of guy. Inner reflection is, more than likely, not
his strong suit. And, yet, we all like
Peter; probably because in Peter we see a little bit of ourselves.
Several days have transpired since Jesus’
miraculous resurrection. However, not
much has happened that would give Peter a very good idea of what is supposed to
happen next. He has to do something—he
can’t just sit around and wait for things to develop. So, not so strangely, he goes back to what he
was doing before he met the man, Jesus.
He decides to fish—night fishing at that. Several of the other disciples, probably
other fisherfolk, also go with him. Now
commentators are divided on why Peter went fishing. Some have suggested that Peter and the
others, in their feelings of failure as disciples of Jesus went back to what
they used to do as if their years with Jesus had never happened. Others suggest that Peter, for once in his
life, was saying that now that Jesus was alive again, he was willing to wait
and see what happens next. In this case,
going fishing may have acted as a simple form of relaxation and peacefulness. A faith that has begun to allows Peter to
develop a more balanced approach to life.
This explanation seems to make the most sense. After all, they have all seen the risen Lord;
and, while they may be somewhat confused, they have no reason to desert the
movement once and for all.
They have fished and fished and
fished all night. Now, I am not a huge
fan of fishing although I like to fish occasionally; but, there is nothing more
boring and frustrating than fishing for hours and catching not a single fish. So these men are bound to be getting tired of
Peter’s ‘bright idea’ of a fishing expedition.
Suddenly, someone from the shore speaks to them just as we might speak
to those coming in from a fishing trip, “Catch anything?” or “How’s the fishing
in this spot?” They tell this stranger
that they have not caught a thing. “Don’t bother to stop here,” they might say, “There’s not a dang fish in
sight anywhere.” The stranger says, “put
your net in on the other side.” They do,
and lo, and behold, they catch so many fish their nets won’t hold them
all. Enlightenment dawns—this is Jesus
telling them where to fish! They cry
out, and impetuous Peter, jumps up, wraps
himself in a towel and swims off toward Jesus. The others, left to manage the fish, make
their way slowly to the shore. When all
arrive, Jesus has a fire going and prepares breakfast for them all.
Now comes our time shift—“after
breakfast” Jesus engages Simon Peter in a conversation that makes us all
nervous. Jesus says, “Simon,
son of John, do you love me more than these?”
Peter responds, “Yes, Master, you
know I love you.” Jesus says, “Feed my
lambs.” He goes on to ask a second time,
“Peter, do you love me?” Peter assures
him that he does love him. Jesus says,
“Shepherd my sheep.” Then he asked a third time, “Peter, son of John, do you love me?” Ok, Jesus had gotten to Peter now and Peter
was upset. With more than a little
frustration and hurt, Peter answered, “Gee, Jesus, you know everything there is
to know—surely you know that I love you. “
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” Then
Jesus makes a somewhat strange prediction about the end of Peter’s life which
many take as a forewarning to Peter of the way he was to die. Finally, Jesus said, “Follow me.”
I don’t know about
you, but I can feel the disappointment in Peter’s heart as Jesus seems to
question his commitment to him. Although
Peter clearly believes that this is the case, I’m not sure that it is. What if Jesus is merely giving Peter a
commission of sorts; that is, describing his ministry. The three responses are these: 1) Feed my lambs, 2) Shepherd my sheep, 3)
Feed my sheep. Now lambs are baby
sheep. For those of us who have never
seen the inside of a barn, baby sheep are called ‘lambs’ until they are 12
months old. So, in the first case, Peter
is to take care of the children—whether physical children or spiritual children
is not clear. Secondly, Peter is to
shepherd the whole flock—this includes all sheep regardless of age, gender,
color, or health. Finally, Peter is to
feed the sheep of this huge flock. Now,
at the risk of making too much of a metaphor, here is where the two parts of
the stories begin to coalesce and make sense to me.
Prior to their
encounter with God in the person of Jesus, Peter and the others are trying to
make it on their own. They accomplish
little to nothing even though they are skilled and experienced fisherfolk. All of a sudden, divine help appears—call it
insight or understanding or whatever feels right to you. Now you would think that experienced
fisherfolk would have thought to cast the nets on the other side all by
themselves. This has always bothered me
about this story. Why in the world did
they need Jesus to tell them to try the other side—this would have been as
natural as fishing itself was to them. I
don’t think they needed Jesus to tell them to fish on the other side of the
boat. I think that it was an encounter
with the divine that they lacked, even longed for. Jesus, in his simple suggestion, tells us
once and for all that his wisdom is about living and living in right
relationship with God. In my mind, the
appearance of Jesus is not at all about “The Divine Guide to Fishing”; no, it
is about being willing to change when an encounter with the divine calls us to
modify our paths or journeys.
Secondly, Jesus
prepares breakfast for them. Up and through
breakfast this story is all about Jesus ministering to the disciples. “After breakfast”, when all have feasted on
fresh fish and whatever else was to be had, then—and only then—did Jesus ask
Peter about his commitment to him. I
think that it is important to note that Jesus fed the disciples first and then
called them to care for all the people who would follow. The message is clear to us who are working in
the church. Allow daily encounters with
the divine to feed you and then feed others. This is an old truth; yet, few—including your
pastor—faithfully abide by it. We can
try; and like the fisherfolk, keep our heads down toward the water looking
there for signs that we are succeeding.
Or we can relax; maybe even rest in the boat—keeping an eager, yet calm,
eye toward the shore. As we age, both
physically and spiritually, we learn more and more that this is about God and
not about us—or to be more precise, there is no substitute for looking to your
encounter with the divine for help, guidance, and sustenance. And as we relax into the knowledge that the
Divine Source of all being will meet us when we look up toward the shore, we
will be far more ready to hear and act on the command to care for the people of
God—all the people of God. Amen and amen
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