First Breakfast

John 21:1-19

Breathing a sigh of relief last week I set about cleaning my desk to find the surface again, catching up on e-mails, cleaning laundry, shopping for food to actually feed my kids something other than fast food. Pastors are probably worse than anyone else in getting so caught up in Holy Week that everything else goes on hold. And, perhaps rightly, this week should get special attention and hold a prime real estate in our priorities for the year. Yet, here I am back in my routine.

Much like those disciples, when all else fails - it's back to the norm. The disciples had trouble recognizing Jesus on his first two appearances, but he spoke to them and charged them and sent them out into the world with the power of the Holy Spirit in John chapter 20 verse 21. This week, we are in the very next scene. Instead of doing something profound, inspiring and motivational to change the world, we find the disciples fishing.

Much like me, and I would guess many of you, after the celebration of Easter, not much remains to show the transformative power of this event in our lives other than maybe some leftover ham or Easter candy. The discpline of Lent is quickly thrown by the wayside or slowly being whittled back by the demands of daily life.

Take comfort in these passages from John. Here is Peter who is grilled by God but turns out okay in the end. Peter is that character in the plot who is enthusiastic, good intentioned, and jumps in with both feet - in this case quite literally. Maybe he should look before he leaps. He always seems to accompany that enthusiasm with awkwardness or to instinctively take wrong turns. He is the only disciple who is both charged to be the rock and foundation of the church and rebuked as Satan to get behind Jesus and quit tempting him.

I see us in modern society as Peters - bumbling along with good intentions but often taking the exact wrong actions. Our churches are perfect examples of this. We developped a system. It seemed to work for so many years. For us Presbyterians, if there is a problem we are willing to reform ourselves - yet decently and in good order with a few committees. That dreaded word change. Easter demands change of ourselves and our churches.

I would love to hide in my work with a task list, but Easter and the miracle of resurrection screams at me in its gruesome reality and amazing miracle to look at the world around me. We are sent into the world. Sent implies moving from my comfort spot behind my desk, or for the disciples away from their nets and boats. Jesus knows this is hard for us. His third appearance may seem tailored to Peter's need for forgiveness. Peter denied Jesus three times and is now asked if he loves Jesus three times. The parellelism indicates that this is an important place and necessary for Peter.

Yet, it goes beyond just Peter. In verse 12, even though Jesus asked them to join him for breakfast at the fire, the disicples don't join him there. The fish and loaves are like communion, followers feasting together. Yet, it has lost the comfort of the Last Supper during Passover. The disciples are no longer comfortable now that they are facing a resurrected Jesus.

Jesus sees our hesitancy after Easter and loves us still. Jesus asked the disciples to take a leap of faith, make a change and throw their nets off the wrong side of the boat - relying on left hands to drag in their catch. And they did, but the steps to the campfire on the beach felt longer and longer as the disciples approached. Jesus actually, in verse 13, comes to them. Jesus didn't abandon the disciples when their faith wasn't strong enough to carry them across the beach. He reached out to them.

Funny thing about Jesus coming to them - those Greek verbs in verse 13 are all present tense. Jesus comes to them, Jesus takes them bread, Jesus gives it to them. And again when Jesus is talking to Peter - there is lots of word play with the Greek words used for love and knowledge. Jesus stretches Peter to a new kind of love, a deeper love beyond just simple friendship. At the same time, he pushes Peter to a knowledge that is stronger and spritual rather than objective and basic.

We are comfortable with the simplified English translation that loses the depth of the original Greek, yet the message in verse 13 of active verbs is a powerful reassurance that regardless of where we are in our faith journey Jesus will meet us there. And then, the challenge - Jesus comes to meet us but doesn't stop there. He prods and pokes at our awkwardness and harnesses our enthusiasm. We are sent out of our comfort zones into the world to proclaim a deepened love and to share a spritual knowledge. We take comfort in the Last Supper, and

we are called to a First Breakfast - Jesus gives us sustenance to go out into the world empowered by the Holy Spirit to promote justice and change. He is Risen!