Sermon: "The First Breakfast"

John 21:1-19  - Scripture Intro

There is some speculation that this last chapter of John’s gospel was not a part of the original manuscript but was added some time later, as an epilogue,

either by the original author or by an entirely different author.

If we look back at Chapter 20 we see that it already has a rather tidy ending that concludes the gospel as a whole.

The chapter begins with Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene outside the empty tomb, which is the story we read on Easter Sunday,

and continues with Jesus appearing in the locked room to all of the disciples and then finally to Thomas, which is the story we heard last week.

And then the chapter ends with a final paragraph, which most bibles title:

“The Purpose of this Book” – and which goes on to say:

 “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”

I’m not an English teacher, but that certainly sounds like a concluding paragraph to me.

But then we have Chapter 21 – Which weaves in yet another story of the resurrected Jesus appearing to his disciples –

this time he shows up on a beach and cooks them breakfast after they’ve spent a long night out fishing on the sea.

The story makes a good epilogue, whether it was intended that way or not, because it feels like it may have happened some time after the events of Easter week.

The disciples have returned to their work and their lives 

(as many of us do after we've lost a loved one...)

and oddly, they don’t seem to have been moved to go out and spread the news of the risen Christ – even after having witnessed him appearing to them in the flesh. Perhaps because they’re still carrying their grief and uncertainty.

Another thing worth noting about the post-resurrection story we’re about to read, is that it contains a number of unusually specific details that may have us wondering – why did the author choose to mention that? 

As you listen to the passage, see if you can pick out some of those details.

And as you listen, also ask yourself, why was it important that this story of Jesus serving up breakfast on the beach be included in John’s gospel,

preserving it for all time.

John 21:1-19

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 Rev. Maureen R. Frescott

Congregational Church of Amherst, UCC

May 5, 2019 – Third Sunday of Easter

John 21:1-19

“The First Breakfast”

So.

Did you catch the unusual details in this story?

The ones that may have you wondering why they were included?

Like the fact that the disciples were gathered by the Sea of Tiberius –

the same place where Jesus fed 5000 people with just 5 loaves and 2 fish?

Or, the particular disciples who were named as being present – Nathanial, Thomas, and Peter – all of whom had previous encounters with Jesus where they struggled with belief and then experienced a moment of conversion?

Or, the fact that the disciples were fishing at night – a time consistently mentioned in other stories that centered on confusion and questioning?

Some details in this passage from John have baffled even the experts –

as biblical scholars and theologians have spent centuries arguing over the meaning of particular references and their context.

Why did Jesus tell the disciples to fish over the right side of the boat?

Why are we told they caught 153 fish? That seems oddly specific, doesn’t it?

Why are we told that Peter had stripped naked, but then put his clothes back on before jumping in the water?

And why did Jesus ask Peter if he loved him – not once, but three times?

As any good storyteller knows, details matter. 

Some details are contextual – to help us plant a story in a particular place or time.

Some details are symbolic – to help us connect a story with another that came before.

Some details are metaphorical or allegorical – to help us think of a person, or place, or an event in a new way.

And sometimes the details of a story are just incidental or just plain wrong.

Which can throw us off – as we speculate and pontificate on a meaning that was never intended to begin with.

At times, there is humor to be found in some unintended or unclear presentations of details.

Just google ‘Church bulletin bloopers’ and you’ll find lists of announcements that have actually appeared in church bulletins and newsletters - shared by well-intentioned clergy and congregants whose choice of words created more confusion than clarity:

“Potluck Supper, Saturday at 5pm. Prayer and medication will follow.”

 “This Sunday, our Pastor will preach his farewell message, after which the choir will sing, Break Forth Into Joy.”

“The Low Self-Esteem Support Group meets Thursday at 8:30 p.m. Please use the back door.”

“We continue to pray for Barbara as she remains in the hospital. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of the pastor's sermons.

"Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It is a great chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands."

"Last Sunday the stewardship team unveiled this year’s campaign slogan: 'I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours.'"

Thankfully, Andrea, our church administrator, rarely allows such inattention to detail in our church publications.

Although earlier this week I did find her sighing over the final printed copies of the church's Annual Report. 

She said, “There are two typos in here…but it’s too late to do anything about it.”

We both agreed that it was unlikely the mistakes would even be noticed because how many of us actually read the annual report?

Now, we could spend a month’s worth of sermons and bible studies parsing through all the details of this one passage from the last chapter of John’s gospel.

So today we’ll focus on just one detail.

The last interaction between Jesus and Peter.

Where three times Jesus called Peter by name, saying,

“Simon, son of John, do you love me?” 

and three times Peter, responds,  

“Lord, you know that I love you.” 

Then Jesus says, “Then tend my sheep.”

It’s been said that this was Peter’s opportunity for redemption.

After he denied knowing Jesus three times on the night he was arrested,

here Jesus gives him three chances to make it right –

to ask for and receive forgiveness.

This could easily be a sermon about that.

As we ask ourselves in what ways have we denied knowing Jesus,

and how might we make it right.

But the problem with this interpretation of what’s going on here – is that in John’s gospel Peter never denied that he knew Jesus.

In Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s gospels Peter is asked three times –

“Do you know this man?” and three times he says, “I do not.”

Yet in John’s gospel, Peter is asked a different question. 

He's asked, “You are one of his disciples are you not?”

And three times Peter says, “I am not.”

It’s one thing to say that you don’t know a man…it’s another to say that you don’t belong to him – don’t follow him – or hold his teachings in your heart.

The difference here is found in the identity that Peter claims for himself.

For Peter, the first denial may have come out of fear.

John’s gospel tells us that Peter was standing outside the courtyard where Jesus was being held, warming himself by a charcoal fire with several members of the police, when he was asked if he too was a disciple.

Given where he was and who was listening, he nervously said, “I am not.”

And as the words left his mouth he must have realized he had spoken the truth.

What kind of disciple would deny his own teacher?

What kind of disciple would be so bold to claim to live by the commandment of love and at the first sign of risk choose instead to be driven by fear?

These thoughts may have been tearing at Peter’s mind when hours later, he is asked once again, “You are a disciple, are you not?”

And he said once again, this time likely in guilt and defeat, “I am not”  -

perhaps knowing that he no longer deserved to claim that precious identity for himself.

How many of us struggle with claiming this identity of disciple?

Denying that we are a true follower of Jesus – because we don’t think we’ve earned it.

Because we can’t seem to follow in his footsteps without taking a whole lot of missteps.

Because we struggle with loving our enemies, and forgiving our transgressors, and offering grace to those we think don’t deserve it.

Because we’re not even sure what parts of this Jesus story we actually believe and what we should believe to be able to rightfully claim the identity of Christian.

When Jesus called Peter by his given name, Simon, there on the beach,

and asked him if he loved him, he wasn’t testing him -

he was giving Peter the opportunity to reclaim the identity of disciple.

To recognize that he did not need to ask for Jesus’ forgiveness,

but instead needed to offer forgiveness to himself.

And understand that he had within him the love that was needed to not just be a follower of Christ but to also be a tender of the sheep that Jesus had left behind.

When we thought the story was over, 

when we thought the joy of the resurrection surely had overwritten the painful memories that Peter carried with him of the night of that last supper,

the meal where Jesus revealed he would both betrayed and denied,

and hours later Peter would stand around a charcoal fire and do just that…

Here we have Jesus stoking yet another charcoal fire,

and this time serving up a communion meal of bread and fish – 

a First Breakfast to heal the tainted memory of that Last Supper.

If we love Jesus, we are by default disciples of Jesus.

However imperfectly we express our discipleship in the world.

It is an identity we live into whenever we love and care for one another.

And it’s not an identity we lose, when we falter in our fear.

As Rachel Held Evans once wrote,

“This is what God's kingdom is like: a bunch of outcasts and oddballs gathered at a table (or around a campfire),

not because they are rich or worthy or good,

but because they are hungry, because they said yes.

And there's always room for more.”

Thanks be to God, and Amen.