A word for bored frustrated disciples
'Come and have breakfast'
THE RISEN LORD CAN ANSWER OUR BOREDOM AND FRUSTATION
One of the most pressing problems for our society is boredom.
That isn't a problem for people in poorer parts of the world.
People struggling for a living aren't bored
people cowering in a basemen in Bethlehem aren't bored
but we can find time heavy on our hands
and we are not sure what to do next.
Perhaps like the disciples
we have had some profound and traumatic experiences
an operation, a change of job, a bereavement
but the immediate 'excitement' has gone.
Or maybe it's just a back to school feeling.
I said to our 10 year old neigbour the other day
talking about the school run starting again on Monday
I said 'it'sback to porridge' and she made a face.
Porridge, the everyday routine, is not very exciting is it?
Yet Jesus can meet us and inviteus to something better
Peter at the beginning of John 21 is saying: 'Back to porridge'
He should not be faulted for saying that.
Jesus has died and is risen,
they are back in Galilee where he had asked them to go
but nothing seems to be happening.
So Peter as a man of action cannot stand hanging around doing nothing.
He leads a fishing party.
And the other disciples respond.
Fishing is what they know. They can do fishing.
But it is one of those nights fishermen know so well.
Not a bite.
Did it remind them of a time a couple of years earlier
when they had toiled all night and got nothing?
Then Jesus had said to them to launch out into the deepand try again.
Peter had protested a bit about that but they had done as Jesus asked
and their nets began to break and the boats to sink
so big was the catch.
Peter had been overcome with how sinful he was in the presence of someone
who,to say the least, was so obviously in touch with God.
This time when the stranger on the shore tells them to try the other side
they don't complain
(perhaps they joked among themselves 'Maybe it's Jesus)
And then the beloved disciple catches on when he sees the amazing catch.
'It is the Lord'
Yes, it is the Lord, the risen one and he invites them to
COME AND HAVE BREAKFAST
Into our rather humdrum lives, when we do the 'boring' routine
Jesus can come with amazing, transforming results
and invites us to spend time with him in close fellowship.
Is that right?
Let me be honest with you.
I am privileged by God's grace to know something of close fellowship with Jesus
but a lot of my time seems to be fishing all night and catching nothing.
Don't many of us seek to pray and work and witness and serve and love
The result? Perhaps not so much nothing, as we don't know.
More may be happening because of our prayerful service than we actually see
but it is difficult isn't it?
A soldier was dying in the trenches in the First World War.
He gave a last message for his old Sunday school teacher at home.
'Tell him I am able to die because of what he taught me.'
The message came back to the Sunday School teacher
who said: 'If only I had known. I gave up Sunday School teaching
I thought I wasn't achieving anything.'
Let's not get discouraged because of few visible results
but let's make it a focused prayer request for the rest of this spring
before we get distracted by the summer holidays
to ask the Lord: Am I fishing on the right side of the boat?'
Is there something we should be doing that we are not doing?
Is there a better way of doing what we are doing?
Let's expect an answer. He is the risen Lord
John 21.15-22
A word for failed, superificial disciples
'Do you love me'
But let's also expect some tough questions
like the question repeated to Peter after breakfast
Simon Son of John do you love me?
Lord you know I love you.
Feed my lambs, feed my sheep
THE RISEN LORD CAN WELCOME AND RESTORE
AND ASK AWKWARD QUESTIONS
There is a lot of amazing grace and tough love in this conversation.
Notice,it takes place after breakfast.
Jesus feeds his friend before he challenges him.
Peter does not have to earn his breakfast by making a statement
to say that he is sorry for denying Jesus three times
and that he will do better in future.
No he is welcomed, accepted and nourished
and then Jesus discusses the future with him.
There is no long examination of the past misdeeds
as if Jesus would accusingly probe:
'Why did you do it Peter? Why did you flake out at the last moment?
Can you guarantee you will do better in future?'
It is not that Jesus ignores the past.
Teasingly he calls Peter by his original family name, Simon son of John
and not the name he had given of Peter the Rock man.
The three times he repeats his question matches the three times denial
but look at what concerns Jesus:
He is asking Peter to look unflincinglty at his heart and his future.
Do you love me? Feed my sheep.
It is said that a preacher once presented a sermon
simply made up of the question repeated again and again
'Do you love Jesus?' 'Do you love Jesus?' 'Do you love Jesus?'
repeated until everyone was weeping.
It is a good question, isn't it? Do you love Jesus?
What will you do for someone you really love?
Will you go anywhere, do anything, lay down your life ...?
That's a bottom line question.
Jesus is not really interested in the length of our prayers
or the amount we give to the church
or the often vain promises we make about such things.
He wants us to face up to our inside attitude:
Whom do we really love? What do we really care about ?
Peter cared about feeding the flock of God.
It looks as if he never forgot this command of Jesus to feed his sheep
1Peter 5 reveals his passion to be a good shepherd to feed Jesus' lambs.
He did not parade himself as the master pastor
but as one forgiven and restored and commissioned by Jesus.
Something we all need to do more than maybe we do
is to be clear about our true attitude to Christ - Do we love him --
and then to be confident in our particular calling, whatever it is.
It may not be to be a pastor or elder or leader.
It may be seemingly humdrum and everyday
but if we would do everyday things in the confidence
that Christ is with us in those activiities
we could be surprised at the results.
A word for experts in other people's discipleship
'You, follow me'
THE RISEN LORD CHALLENGES US TO STOP LOOKING AROUND
AND TO FOCUS ON HIM
Notice what Jesus says twice to Peter in v 19 and v 22
Jesus has just predicted a cruel end for Peter
he will be bound and helpless
just the sort of death Peter had avoided by denying Jesus
but the only comfort Peter has, is the repeated command 'Follow me'.
So Peter indulges in a bit of 'what aboutery'
'What aboutery' appears in nearly every edition of 'Morning Ireland'.
Listen to David Hanley tomorrow and when he presses someone hard
maybe a loyalist leader or Sinn Fein spokesman in N Belfast
or a representative of the Palestinians or Israelis
I guarantee you will hear the phrase 'what about'
There will be an attempt to avoid an uncomfortable truth
by trying to refocus on the wrongs of the other side.
Jesus will not let Peter do a 'what about' on John the beloved disciple.
In the end, it doesn't matter about other people
the only person we answer for is ourself.
Jesus tells Peter it is none of his business what will happen to John
'You, follow me'
One of my favourite reads of the week
is the Daily Telegraph Motoring Supplement on Saturdays
(Yes my children think that's really sad.)
But in it there is a column on better driving technique.
Paul Ripley wrote this recently,
addressing a correspondent complaining about other drivers:
'My advice to people
who drive around with numerous 'pet driving hates' in their head
is to get to grips with this attitude straight away
as the root cause of the problem is usually self inflicted.
Does it ever occur to you that your own driving
might occasionally leave something to be desired?
Is it not the case that your annoyance is itself a symptom of aggression?
Get your own act together.
Think more about your behaviour rather than that of your fellow road users
All that matters is your performance
which requires every observational and palnning skill at your disposal
to ensure safety
You are unable to fully control the behaviour of others
much less to make them change their ways,
so why get upset about it?'
As with safe driving,so with safe and right living for Jesus Christ
what matters is how you follow Jesus and how I personally follow Jesus
and it's more difficult isn't it to think about your own life
than about other people's?
a word for the bored, 'come and dine'
a word for the failure or the superficial disciple 'do you love me?'
a word for the expert in other people's lives 'you , follow me'
What is the risen Lord saying to you?
Lord Jesus, what are you saying to each of us today?
We thank you for the amazing good news that you are risen
but this means that you want to meet us
and that is both wonderful and uncomfortable.
Wonderful because you will be our friend
and whatever we've done we can be forgiven
Uncomfortable, because you will ask about how our heart is before you
and call us to service which can be difficult and dangerous
Let us hear your voice this Easter season.
Let us hear your guidance
if we have been fishing in the wrong place or in the wrong way
Let us each be focused and resolved to hear you and follow you.
God is able to make all things abound to you
so that in all things at all times having all that you need
you will abound in every good work
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