Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

Peter must have done it for most of his life, but from this point on, fishing was just never going to be the same for him. What an experience that he and all the disciples and other followers of Jesus had gone through! Betrayal, mob-arrest, illegal trial, the crowd shouting for crucifixion, Pilate complaining but going along with it, the bloody moments, the darkness, the earthquakes, the running back to an empty tomb, the bewilderment, the sudden appearance of the Lord and then He’s gone again. The Gospel accounts of what happened after Jesus’ resurrection all tell the story of disciples constantly in shock, which confirms these documents’ historical authenticity even more. Of course these ordinary men were not making up a new religion, patterned after a fantasy in their minds! But it’s also true in this time following Easter, but not yet Pentecost, that these disciples have to recover a bit. And so, probably for only a handful of times after that first Easter, Jesus appeared in His human body, but He fully used His majestic glory in what is termed His state of exaltation. He always could do anything, and after the greatest miracle of the Resurrection, what other miracle could ever top that? But whatever Jesus does, it’s always for the benefit of His disciples, and for you listening to His Word today, it is a benefit to you as well. Put yourself in the skin of one of those seven disciples sitting in the fishing boat for a few moments…

Here we are in Galilee. Jesus said to meet here. Soon enough we’ll go back up to Jerusalem, but now, Peter says to us, it’s time to go fishing. It was what we’ve done all our lives. But this time, it was pretty hard to talk about anything all night. And it wasn’t getting any easier to pass the time away because we were catching nothing. All we thought we knew what to do, we tried, but it still isn’t getting us anywhere. Then as light was beginning to grow at daybreak we were able to catch a glimpse of the shore about a hundred yards off. We could barely see a figure walking among the rocks, but crystal-clear His voice rang out over the still water: Hey boys, you caught nothin’, did ya? He was expecting the answer to be No! How was He so sure? What did He know that we didn’t? “Cast out the other way, on the right side, and you’ll find some.” Now things were clicking off in our minds. This all is starting to sound familiar to us. He’s no random shore-spotter giving us a suggestion. We haul in a big load, and we’ll know for certain Who He is.

You might have thought we hit a rock or threw our anchor! The fish themselves were keeping us from getting ashore. And, splash! There goes Peter again! The last time this great catch of fish happened, Peter implored Jesus, Go away! For I am a sinful man. But this time it happened differently. He who took a step on these same waters during that one storm and started sinking down, crying out to Jesus, he now puts all his clothes back on, then dives into the water to swim to land! John must have told him who He was, because he was really excited. It is the Lord! You see, He’s no longer just Jesus to us, but rather our Lord and God who by His death on the cross paid for our sins and rose again to fulfill His promise to us of everlasting life. We’ve got to get this boat to shore, because we don’t know how many times we’ll get to sit down and talk to Him. Maybe He has some more things to teach us. Back in Jerusalem we saw Him twice, and He just appeared there in the room! He proved to us He wasn’t a ghost, but rather He had real flesh and blood.

Now that we got our boat to the shores of Galilee, we notice that we’re back at the place where He first called disciples to follow Him. The nets are bulging and swarming with fish, but not one of them is lost and we get to our work. I wonder how many we’ll bring in this morning. The fire is already set. Some fish already prepared, and bread ready for a long-awaited meal after an even longer night. It turns out there were 153 fish in one net, and it didn’t break! Breakfast winds down, but still no further teaching from Jesus. Could He have thought we now know all we need to be His sent Apostles? Now that He is risen from the dead, we’re finally catching on! We’re actually ready to learn now, and boy, it seems like there’s so much to learn!

Now Jesus and Peter are walking off together to talk. John is going to follow after them, just a little ways back. Three times Jesus asks him, calling him by his full family name each time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? The third time it chokes him up. Could it be all that horrible night coming back, and that early morning when Peter denied Him, also three times? Each time, Jesus answers Peter back saying, Feed my sheep, tend my flock, feed my lambs. He told us before that we would be fishing for and catching men; now, instead of teaching us anything more, our Lord has in mind to make us shepherds. I can hear the words still ringing in my ears: Follow Me! …

And so, the first words those disciples heard when they originally met Jesus years before, are the same words they hear from Him now, in this final scene before the Gospel of John comes to a close. The Evangelist writes the account precisely to bring you into the story! He wanted you to walk in the skin of these eyewitnesses for these poignant moments. You could almost smell the fish cooking and the squawking birds flying overhead trying to get a quick peck at anything left in the nets. But most of all, you hear the comforting words of the risen Lord Jesus. He is ever-patient with these overcome followers of His. When He was walking unrecognized with those disciples to Emmaus, He played dumb for a while and asked them, What happened? Little suspecting it was a pop-quiz, those two men recalled perfectly all the vital facts of the Gospel, including the news of the Resurrection. The problem was what Jesus pointed out to them right there on the road: How foolish and slow of heart you are! You don’t believe that’s what needed to happen to the promised Messiah? Here it is, laid out in the Scriptures that you already know…

You have all of the facts. You have heard the Gospel message of salvation. What you are tempted to do is turn it all into just a moral lesson for your life. You make it all about how you need to do something for Jesus. And all along, it has all been about what Jesus came to do for you, to give to you the true, lasting blessings that sin and death can never take away. And your Lord is patient, just like He was with those fishing disciples, and just like He was with dripping-wet, weak hearted Peter. He may soon be ascending into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, filling heaven and earth with full use of His divine glory, but He will not back away from His lasting promise: Lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.

Here we are. Not in Galilee, but in Yucaipa. Here we are in Church. Jesus told us to meet Him here. Soon enough we’ll see Him face-to-face in eternal glory, but for now, we have our Christian calling, we have our vocation. It’s time to go fishing. Or go to school, or go to the office, or workplace, or to our multi-faceted vocation called retirement, and to our families, however your calling works out in particular for you. It doesn’t seem to be easy these days. The disappointment we sometimes face makes it hard to think about anything else. Sure in Church services or other bright moments of our week we see a faint glimmer of our Lord, but what comes across crystal-clear is His Voice. That voice is unmistakable because it comes to us from His Word, the Bible, and it travels over the waters of Baptism to reach our ears and invigorate our faith.

Instead of a miraculous catch of fish and a lakeside breakfast, Christ’s miracle with you is a meal of His own Body and Blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. (The table is already set.) You don’t need to wonder or ask, is it really Jesus? You know He’s here, because He has promised to be here. Wherever two or three are gathered in My Name, there am I. Now things should be clicking off in your minds. For to be sure, He has nothing new to teach you, but there is within His Holy Word the same old story that unfolds ever-new in your heart by faith. Some days, the way your Lord works in your life will shock you. But at all times, He is no longer just Jesus to you, but He is your Savior, your kind, wise, heavenly Friend, your Lord and King, your Redeemer who lives and will never die again. Washed by water and the Spirit you come, dripping-wet in your Baptism, and He has a simple question for you: Do you love Him? He has already forgiven all the times when you acted as though you didn’t, so don’t let that sway or discourage you anymore. You are His sheep, His beloved lambs who have been fed by the Apostles and the Apostolic doctrine that has founded the Church and enriches you with life everlasting. Your sin and the fear of death that lies ahead of you have lost their grip and you are free. The Christian journey will still not always be easy, but there is nothing to fear when you have none other than your Savior giving you comfort and saying, “Follow Me.”

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Acts 9:1–22 “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
Psalm 30 Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.
Rev. 5:1–14 the voice of many angels…Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
John 21:1–19 Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?