Easter 3 - Page 3 Where We Are Called

John 21:01-19

The Lord Be With You.

I usually start with a parable or a short story … 

There once was a stubborn old farmer who had two small fields. One was the standard field that sat in the sun, soaking up the rays, while the other was in an area that was blocked by a very large castle, forever without the sun. It was suggested that the farmer plant fruit trees there where the height of those trees would rise above the castle shade to reach the sun but the farmer refused because he was afraid of what the castle owner would say or think. The other field, the one in the sun, always produced a great amount of crops while the one in the shade always saw its crops wither and die. Then one day the castle owner met up with this farmer and asked him why he didn’t plant trees so that the amount of his two fields would be worth more since they would both be producing good crops. The old farmer was surprised by this and told the castle owner what he thought he would think. The castle owner then said to the old farmer, “Why do you assume how I would think or react to something you found to be worthy. You’re discounting your value when you don’t do something that’s good because you’re afraid of something which you have no basis for believing will be bad.”

Here ends the parable.

Jesus asks, “Do you love me?” “Feed my lambs.” He didn’t say, “If you think those you come across are hungry, feed them.” He said, “Tend my sheep.” They’re all hungry and need looking after. He didn’t say, “If you feel comfortable with my message, feed them.” He said, “Feed my sheep.” They’re all waiting for His message. He didn’t say, “Feed only the chosen sheep.” He used the imperative adjective denoting ownership, feed MY sheep. ALL the sheep are hungry and ALL the sheep are chosen.

The problem is that the very nature of the message of Christ is uncomfortable because it calls each of us to love God with all our hearts, our souls, our body, our minds. It doesn’t allow for ideologies that elevate humankind above that which God has already divined. It doesn’t allow for the current social trends to become the new norm. The problem is that many do not see themselves as chosen By God through Jesus the Christ because most people have an innate sense that they’re outside the purity of the very God who has asked that they be IN His presence and has given His only Son to ensure that that very thing WILL happen. And the problem is that most people don’t know they’re hungry until it’s too late and they’re on the brink of starvation. Not the physical hunger of starvation per se. Not the hunger that ALLOWS us to look at what we’ve done and continue to do and justify it. Not even the hunger that comes when we come to church on Sundays. But the hunger that exists deep down in the very pit of our being that’s always questioning whether we’re worth something. Whether what we do matters. Makes a difference. Whether how we treat ANOTHER makes a difference.

That’s the essence of what Jesus is saying to Peter when He says to go feed my sheep. He’s saying that the sheep out there, the people, are truly hungry for something because they don’t know what it is that they’re missing. They subjugate everything into a rationale that’s self-justifying. They walk around blind because they cannot see that the real truth of Jesus is that which yells at you from deep down, beneath all the minutia you and I create, all the justifications as to why we do what we do, and, thus ignore the truth that Jesus appeared not once, not twice, but three times and continues to this day for you and me just to be able to ask each of us whether we ARE feeding HIS sheep or are we content to sit by the side of the road and let the world go by. Saying that it’s not my problem. Not my responsibility. Not my gig.

But Jesus sat there with the disciples. He came to them in order that they have the light of truth. The light of renewal. The light that only comes when you’re in the presence of the one that gave up everything just so that we could have it all. This was the third time He appeared to them. But each time prior to this was to give a message. His message. His promise. Each time was to cement in the truth that each of them, each of us, are called to be a disciple to the world. This time it was different though. He wanted them to confirm what He already knew what was in their heart of hearts. Doesn’t He ask you and me the same questions too?

The passage starts out with them working through the night, through the darkness, to catch fish. They are dispersed from the others as foretold in 16:32 when Jesus tells them they will be scattered, each one to his home. No longer pursuing the calling for which they first met Jesus with. They are lost. They fish on the inner side of the boat. The shallow end of that Sea of Tiberias. Near the place where Jesus fed the 5000. Near the place where Jesus gave the Beatitudes. Near the place where He calmed the storm. Calmed the storms of people lives. Those who had demons in them. Those who were blind. Those that were ill. The disciples fished all night. In the darkness. With no success. They were no longer fishers of men. They had lost their purpose. They were, quite literally, in the dark.

Then the light. Jesus comes in the light. Jesus appears, reveals Himself, whenever and wherever He’s needed or the needy are gathered. He tells them to reach out into the deep end. The outer side of the boat. Take a chance. Believe in Him. And they do as He says and they’re successful. As He has appeared to them for the third time, He asks Simon three times. The number 3 is divine wholeness. Completeness. Perfection. Jesus tells them to come and break bread with Him. Return to the path that they should’ve stayed on. The catching of fish is symbolic of fishing for people. Without Jesus there is no longer a catch. The nets will remain empty. Our nets will remain empty too. Our efforts will be in vain. We’ve stayed in the shallow end of our own lives and never reached out into the very depths of our souls to look for the direction that only Jesus can give. Without Jesus, we’re all left without that compass that tells us which way to go. Without Jesus, there is no light at the end of our own very dark tunnels that we travel down each and every day.

But sometimes, the truth of the light evades us because our world is dead set on us following it and abiding in and with it. It becomes real hard to distinguish the real from the unreal. Real hard to find the obvious because we have prejudged, like the farmer in the parable, the outcomes before we meet those challenges. Sort of like the story I’m reminded of …

Upon entering a little country store, the stranger noticed a sign warning, "Danger! Beware of dog!" posted on the glass door.

Inside, he noticed a harmless old hound dog asleep on the floor beside the cash register.

"Is that the dog folks are supposed to beware of?" he asked the owner.

"Yep, that's him," came the reply.

The stranger couldn't help but be amused. "That certainly doesn't look like a dangerous dog to me. Why in the world would you post that sign?"

"Because," the owner explained, "Before I posted that sign, people kept tripping over him."

Folks, day and night, light and darkness, are both ends that we can exist in. But even if we consciously or unconsciously choose the darkness, Jesus says the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it for the life of Jesus is the light of all people. But Jesus also says, “Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. Believe in the light, so that you may become children of light."

The light of truth is sometimes right in front of you. You don’t have to walk around it or walk past it or walk over it. But walk through it and with it. The light that is Jesus is there to wrap around you and reach into you and grab your heart and fill it. It speaks to you with a truth that only your whole being can recognize. The light of Jesus is there to fill you in your calling so that the comfort you feel is the endless calm of the presence of Jesus feeding you breakfast on the shores of Tiberias.

Brothers and sisters, we’re called to the light continuously. We all ignore it from time to time. Our calling is not something we can define but is a gift from the one God who knew us even before we existed. Our relationship with Jesus, in today’s time, is much easier than the disciples. They followed Him around while He was alive and quickly dispersed, or hid, or denied him, or complained about Him not being there, or even doubted the promises that He would return. It was only after His death on that fateful cross and the resurrection that followed that the real relationship between Him and His disciples began. It’s ONLY through His resurrection that His relationship with you and me can become real and evident. Other prophets and religious leaders have died. Many have died a martyr’s death. It’s only the Son of the most High God that not only died but rose again to prove to the world that the words He says are truth. He is risen. He has risen indeed.

It’s not a huge leap to understand the reluctance of those guys after He came back because He was calling them to an earthly destination that would end much as His did. He said as much to Peter when He told Him, “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.” Peter knew that His immediate future was to suffer as His Saviour did. I wonder if any of us would have that same conviction and strength. To move forward with our calling even when we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it would end very badly. I wonder if any of us would be able to stand tall as Peter finally did and look death in the face. Gratefully, not many of us has that destiny here in this country but many, many others do in other parts of the world. Just for believing and professing the truth of the Christ. Just for following in the steps of those disciples over 2000 years ago. Many of us make that same choice as Peter and the disciples did, but many fail to make that choice due to what we perceive around us.

You see, a calling, of which I have often spoke about, is not necessarily being as radical as those disciples were or even casting off anything we currently have. Our calling is to listen, open our ears, hear what others are saying, and then responding. Many here already do that. Many do not. Like the farmer in the parable, many prejudge another’s reactions and hold back. Letting the best fields of our lives stay in the shade. Letting our true beliefs stay in that shade. Afraid that the other person will feel uncomfortable. I’m quite sure that the disciples had the same concerns.

But if each of us told just one other person of the beauty that’s in the truth of Christ, then greater things WILL happen just like they did after this passage when those disciples spanned out and told the story of the Good News. We know they did because those actions are spelled out right here in the bible and the very fact that you and me are in this house today.

This Easter season, let us renew our belief ON the faith that we already have and look square in the eyes that which will keep us in darkness bringing light to even those who are blind so they can finally see the truth. Let us accept that challenge of being fishers of men, reaching for the depths to gather all who are wandering and know that without Jesus guiding us that we’ll be fishing on the wrong side of the boat of life. Let us accept the challenge of Peter and begin to strike down the worldly castle walls that hold our own fields in the shadows of doubt about what the real truth of Christ is and why He came back then and continues to return to us thus raising our own field to produce fruit that will last and is good.

Let us pray …

Father in heaven. Thank you that you made all things new. Thank you for the victory and power in your name. Thank you that you hold the keys over death, that by your might, Jesus was raised from the grave, paving the way for us to have new life with you. Help us to overcome our own self-doubt as allow us to spread your good word to the world.

And all God’s people said – Amen?!