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 on this 3rd Sunday of Easter, and also as we celebrate the Rite of Confirmation for our Confirmands, is taken from John 21:1-19. It’s entitled, “Don’t Get Too Comfortable.” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. The days after Easter are strange. We are slowly returning to our patterns of Church life and family life after the festivities of Easter. But, we need to be careful we don’t become too comfortable. June had been in St. Luke’s hospital for almost a week. They were treating her for pneumonia and trying to get her blood pressure under control. As June gained strength, she also gained perspective. If you walked into the room, she would tell you she appreciated the hospital staff. “They’ve done everything they can,” she would say, “to make me comfortable.” But what she wanted more than anything else was to go home. She wanted to sleep in her own bed. She wanted to sit in her favorite chair. She wanted to put this all behind her. There’s nothing like a hospital stay to help you appreciate the comforts of home.
3. Maybe it was something like that for the disciples and Peter, out on the Sea of Galilee, late at night, fishing here in John 21. It really didn’t matter that their nets were coming up empty. What they were doing was familiar. They were fishing. The strain at the oars. The splash of water. The sweat on your back. The roughness of rope as you handle the nets. It was all good. The comforts of home. Life had been strange for three years. Things had gotten out of balance. At first, Jesus stood on the edge of the seashore as they fished. Then, somehow, He ended up the center of their lives. Wandering with Him from village to village, watching Him preach and heal the sick, going out themselves, “fishing for men” Jesus called it, and coming into towns where they cast out demons and healed the sick. Their world had changed. It opened up to reveal the nearness and the power of God. What could you do but follow Jesus?
4. But then, just as quickly as it began, it ended. Their teacher, Jesus, died on a cross. In three days, Jesus, risen from the dead, appeared to them like a ghost. Except, He wasn’t a ghost. He was alive. He was with them... but not in the same way as before. Once again, they were faced with a question. How do you live in a world like that? Where Jesus has power over life and death?
5. Maybe this is why they were out on the water in the middle of the night. They didn’t know the answer to that question. How do you live with Jesus who has risen from the dead? So, as they were searching for an answer, they returned to something familiar. The splash of water. The roughness of rope. Fishing. The comforts of home. This is all speculation, of course. John doesn’t tell us why they decided to go fishing. But what John does tell us is Jesus had decided to reveal Himself to them. “After this, Jesus revealed Himself again,” John writes in John 21:1. So in that time between Christ’s resurrection and ascension, the disciples return home. For a while, instead of fishing for men they fish for fish. On this particular day, the disciples don’t catch anything until Jesus appears on the scene. On the same lake where the disciples had a miraculous catch of fish three years earlier, history is repeated. John recognizes Jesus, and Peter, who was in the boat at the last amazing catch, immediately swims to Jesus.
6. How strange it must have been for Jesus to see these men, men He had chosen and taught and fought and died for... fishing. It was like He was returning to the beginning, where He first found them on the seashore. So, He chooses to come to them again, through the comforts of home. “Children, you don’t have any fish, do you?” He asks in John 21:5. The question itself is revealing. Jesus uses a term for a small side dish, not necessarily fish. But in this context, talking to fishermen, one could assume it was fish. But, not a large catch of fish. No, this is a reference to a small side dish of fish. They don’t even have that. Jesus knows their need.
7. Not only does Jesus reveal their need, but He also reveals His claim upon their lives. He calls them children. This is the only time in John' gospel Jesus addresses them this way. With a word, He captures His deep affection for them. Finally, Jesus speaks as one who has already seen and provided for their need. As when He first called His disciples, Jesus tells them to cast their net on the right side of the boat and they discover a haul of fish they can’t pull in (John 20:6). When the disciples get to the shore, they find a charcoal fire is already ready, with a fish on the fire, and some bread, enough for a small side dish of fish. Jesus invites them to experience the mystery of His presence once again.
8. On the shores of this lake where Jesus had miraculously fed more than 5,000 people from a few loaves and a couple of small fish, He now provides a meal for His disciples. They eat and are satisfied, and more importantly, they know it is with their living Lord Jesus that they eat and drink. Three years prior at the first miraculous catch of fish, Peter was terrified and pleaded with Jesus: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). This time, he swims toward Jesus, even though he had denied Jesus only a few weeks earlier. What’s the difference?
9. When God confronts us with our sin, there are only two options—we can either run away from Him or run toward Him. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve hid when they sinned. Today, others run away from Jesus because they refuse to acknowledge their sin as sin. When Peter witnessed the first miraculous catch of fish, he knew he was in the presence of God and begged Jesus to leave. But this time is different. Peter is aware of his sin. He had wept over his sin. He knows that since he denied Christ, our Lord had every right to disown him. But Peter doesn’t stay away. He doesn’t make excuses for his actions. Instead, he swims toward Jesus.
10. And Peter is forgiven. Not only is he forgiven, but his ministry is also restored. He is to feed and tend the Lord’s sheep (John 21:15-19). He will serve as an under shepherd of Jesus the Good Shepherd. When we sin, the temptation is to flee from our Lord—to hide, to make excuses, to assume that our sin is too great to be forgiven. But there’s a better way—not separating ourselves from our Lord but coming before Him, acknowledging our sin, with full confidence that in mercy He will forgive, renew, and restore us.
11. This is my prayer for our Confirmands today on this day of the Rite of Confirmation. Remember this day is not your graduation from Church. This is not the end of your life in the Church. This is the beginning of the rest of your lives, living as God’s children. God has created, redeemed, and called you to be His child. Just as Jesus calls His disciples children in our reading today, so you are called His child. Your identity, security, and meaning in life are bound up in Jesus. You are baptized, you receive the means of grace in God’s Word and Sacrament to remind you of the forgiveness of sins Jesus has won for you. May you be like Peter today in John’s Gospel, coming to Jesus and receiving the promise of His forgiveness throughout all the years of your lives.
12. At the end of the night, at the edge of their emptiness, at the limits of their strength, Jesus reveals His presence. He enters into the comforts of home and there awakens his disciples to an even more comforting experience. The Lord of all creation lives and has come to care for them. No, they won’t remain in their homes. They will go out in mission to the ends of the earth. But they will be loved, and they will be led... by Jesus. He knows how to navigate this strange world. The One who died for them, now lives, and cares for them as He awakens them to His call.
13. The days after Easter are strange. We are slowly returning to our patterns of Church life and family life after the festivities of Easter. But, we need to be careful we don’t become too comfortable with the comforts of home. For what Easter has taught us is how this world is changed. Jesus has risen from the dead and rules over all things. He not only saves us from sin but leads us in life from the comforts of home to the call of His Kingdom. There, at the end of our strength, is the beginning of His grace. Jesus has risen to bring you, His child, into His mission in His Kingdom. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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