1.
Grace,
mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word this third Sunday
after Easter is taken from John 21.1-14.
Today we see in Jesus’ third resurrection appearance that He is
concerned about each of us. He gives us
the right advice, and He provides abundant help. The message is entitled, “Put Your Faith in the Risen Lord,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
Several
years ago a well-intentioned member of a Lutheran church said to his Pastor, “Pastor, what we really need in the church
is more miracles. Then more people would believe.” What he had in mind was
not more Baptisms, but rather a leg or two lengthened, a person cured of
cancer, or a resurrection from the dead.
3.
A
miracle did happen. It was the miracle of God’s grace. The one crucified on
Friday was alive on Sunday. The payment made on Friday for the sin of the world
was accepted by the Father. Jesus was alive. Many saw him, talked with him, and
ate with him. His resurrection wasn’t a figment of the imagination of those
grieving the loss of a close friend. Jesus was alive. But, life continued for
the disciples, it was returning back to normal for them.
4.
They
were fishermen, so they fished. After a night of uneventful fishing, catching
nothing, a voice called from the beach. “Friends,
have you caught any?. . . Shoot
the net to the starboard, and you will make a catch” (New
English Bible). Jesus wasn’t recognized, but the lone voice gave
instruction, and they responded. It makes no sense that simply casting the nets
on the opposite side of the boat would produce a catch, but it did—a miraculous
catch of 153 fish that normally would tear the nets, but this one does not.
Then Jesus is recognized. “It is the
Lord!” His presence seems to be a surprise.
5.
The
disciples locked in a room following Jesus’ death certainly didn’t expect him
when he suddenly appeared in the room. Neither did the two followers on the
road to Emmaus. Even after the disciples have seen him, they really aren’t
expecting him. But in real life, to real people with real problems, our Lord
Jesus comes.
6.
That’s
how it is with Jesus—in the routines of life he comes to his disciples—even
when they don’t expect him. The routine
was fishing. It was their vocation. They
see him in the glory of his resurrection, doing the miraculous. The 153 fish caught their attention—and ours.
This was miraculous as experienced fishermen had come up empty-handed. But, the real miracle is that Jesus is alive. The resurrection was denied by some at the
time this text was written—so Jesus has a third appearance to his disciples. He called His disciples to put their faith in
Him raised from the dead and He does the same for us today!
7.
The
resurrection of Jesus our Lord is even denied today. I once read a Norman
Vincent Peale Easter sermon. He talked about springtime, flowers blooming, and
the symbolism of the resurrection, but not a word was said about Christ’s
victory over the grave. Jesus is alive, and he is with his friends.
8.
The
second miracle was that Jesus called them “friends.” Peter, who had openly denied Jesus three times
in the courtyard. Thomas, who had denied
the possibility of a resurrection unless he could personally see and touch
Jesus. All of the disciples, who had sat
behind locked doors in fear for their own lives, denying by their actions the
instruction of the Master (Jn 12:20–36).
Jesus’ death paid for the sin of their denials. And, for the times in our own lives when we
have denied Jesus through our words and actions.
9.
That’s
how it is with Jesus—in the middle of the routine needs of life, Jesus comes to
us. He calls us to put our faith in Him
our risen Lord! The routine need may be
in our jobs, family, illness, personal struggle, or failure. Jesus is there. Jesus says in Matthew 28:20, “Behold, I am with
you always, to the end of the age.” He never leaves us alone. This is his promise—no circumstance is too
severe or routine for him.
10.
Stuart
Briscoe writes in his book, “The Apostles’ Creed”
[Wheaton, Ill.: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1994] 95) about the story of Nien
Cheng, a Chinese woman in her 50s. She was the widow of an oil executive who
was educated in the West. Because of her tie to the West, the Red Guard of
China accused her of spying and arrested her. She was kept in solitary confinement
for 6 1/2 years. She was tortured. They demanded she confess. She refused, so
they handcuffed her hands behind her back and left the handcuffs on permanently.
The guards also murdered her daughter while she was in prison. They brought food to her, but her hands were
handcuffed behind her back. She put her face in her drink and lapped it up like
a dog. To eat her food, she put a rag on the floor, turned her back to the
table, and knocked the food onto the floor with her hand cuffed hands—hopefully
onto the rag—and ate it from the floor like a dog. Cheng wrote, “I never prayed, ‘O Lord, get me out of this place.’ I felt it was up
to me to fight the battle, but the Lord would be with me. I never felt
abandoned.” Cheng had faith in Jesus
her risen Lord!
11.
We
see Jesus in the glory of his resurrection.
He calls us his friends and his children—a part of his eternal family. The condition of sin is the reality of our
hearts, and yet Jesus laid down his life for us. Jesus says to us John 15:13, “13Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down
his life for his friends.” We, too,
have betrayed Jesus, and yet as were the disciples, we were restored by his
grace. We’ve been reinstated to the
family of the Father as his dear children (Lk 15:11–31). Every time we eat the bread and drink the
wine in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, we receive his forgiveness and mercy.
12.
In
response to Jesus’ love, we are invited, in the midst of the routines of life,
to share his grace with others. We call
us others to put their faith in Him, the risen Lord! To show with our lives what we profess with
our lips (Introit). To have the courage
of Ananias to embrace the fallen and call them brothers (Acts 9:17).
13.
That
parishioner said years ago in a Lutheran church, “Pastor, we need more miracles—then more people would believe.” It
was a well-intentioned statement born from the desire to see people come into a
relationship with Jesus. But, the reality is that we experience miracles daily
as we receive grace and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. This miracle is
greater than 153 fish in a net. Amen.
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