Latest / Belin Memorial UMC / Rev. Dr. Sandra Stevens Poirel - "The Ongoing Feast"
Transcript
- Belin Memorial UMC: Well good morning and welcome to World Communion Sunday. You hear me say this on this day each year, the first Sunday in October, we celebrate this special day in the life of the Universal Church. During a 24-hour period, when God's table of grace wraps around the entire world, there are people gathered at any given time celebrating this meal. There are hundreds of what we call bread. or feeding stories in the scriptures. But today we're going to share one from the gospel lesson that seems appropriate for us because it's about breakfast on the beach. So I invite you to stand as we share God's word. After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the twin, Nathaniel of Cana and Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, I'm going fishing. They said to him, We'll go with you. They went out and got into a boat, but that night they caught nothing. And just after daybreak Jesus stood on the beach, but the disciples did not know that it was not. Jesus. And Jesus said to them, Children, you have no fish, have you? They answered him, No. He said to them, Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some. So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord. And when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he had taken it off, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the full net of fish, for they were not far from land. When they had gone ashore they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it and bread, and Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish that you have just caught. So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled a net ashore full of large fish, and though there were so many the net was not torn, and Jesus said to them, Come. And have breakfast. Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, Who are you? Because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. And when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He said, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Jesus said to him, Feed my lambs. A second time he said to him, Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said, Tend my sheep and Jesus said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, Do you love me? So he said to him, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. Jesus said, Feed my sheep. This is the word of God for the people of God. You may be seated. Well, the disciples of the risen Christ are going back to their normal lives. They've been through a lot. They have seen Jesus arrested. They have seen him crucified. They know that he is resurrected. And they're about to encounter him again. But for this moment in time, they need some normalcy. So Peter said, I'm going fishing. And he does. And the other disciples go with him and they return to what they know. After all, this is who they were. They were professional fishermen. And there was some comfort in returning to the normal, tedious life. And most of us can understand that. Sometimes when we have been at a frantic pace, isn't it good just to return to the normalcy of life? Even if it's It's the normal tedious life. Well John gives us the details. We have professional fishermen, they've been up all night, zero catch, sun breaking through, and now there's some mysterious stranger, an unrecognized fishing guide, shouting instructions to them from the beach. The miracle here is they followed the instructions and they came up with nets weighed down. So Peter, who has just been told who this is, acted on impulse as he did more often than not. He just jumps into the water heading for Jesus and he left the others to deal with and handle the work of the catch. And then there it was. Breakfast on the beach. The meal. Fishing bread over a charcoal fire, prepared and ready for tired and hungry fishermen. Now there's really nothing unusual about that particular element in the story. It was not uncommon when the professional fishermen came in from overnight that there would be breakfast prepared on the beach when they came in after a long night of fishing, except this This time the risen Christ was standing right in front of them, right in the middle of their exhaustion, in the middle of their disappointment, in the middle of their discouragement, in the middle of their lives, making sure they had everything they needed, including Plenty of fish, plenty of bread, but even then Jesus didn't exclude them, nor did he let them off the hook. He gave them another instruction. Bring some of the fish you caught. Now they clearly see. That there is plenty of food. Breakfast is there, cooked, smelling pretty good, ready to go. Don't you know somewhere they were thinking, why can't we just eat that? But you want us to bring raw fish. But Peter did. Well, the reason Jesus instructed them to bring some of their fish. Is because this was not just an ordinary meal. This was communion. Now Jesus did care about their being fed, being healthy, and having what they needed, but he also was not a genie in a bottle just dispensing wishes. He is the risen Savior right among them, reminding them again that following Him meant. Being fishers and feeders. So then Jesus, and it's important to know the tone here, Jesus was not rebuking them for having abandoned their mission and gone back to their normal, tedious lives. He was not punishing them. He was graciously inviting them into the fellowship meal of grace as he said, Come and have breakfast. And then that's when it happened. Every one of them unmistakably recognized their fishing guide, breakfast chef, and provider. They recognized him because they saw him do what they had seen him do hundreds of times before in a way that only he could. He gave thanks, he took bread, he broke the bread, he gave it to them, and he did the same thing with the fish. And now they absolutely know. This Is the risen Christ, feeding them as he always has, body and soul, communion. And that was great, and everything was good, and Peter was probably like, This is really good. The rest of them are good, but Jesus didn't stop there. Peter at this point. Probably was relieved, but when breakfast was over they are still gathered around that charcoal fire. That is a significant detail. There is only a charcoal fire mentioned twice in all of the gospels. This is one. There is another one that Peter is remembering, and there was already some uncomfortableness for Peter. That charcoal fire on the beach, as Jesus begins to have a conversation with him, would painfully provoke a memory for Peter around that other charcoal fire. The one that Peter stood beside when he denied Jesus three times as Jesus was being tried. But again Jesus is meeting Peter not in punishment. He is providing a moment of grace at his table, and he is reversing the the guilt. He is eradicating the past actions. So Jesus asked him three times, Peter, do you love me? Jesus waited for his answer. Peter responded affirmatively twice. Jesus said, feed my sheep. Now, when we hear this, we hear feed my sheep. But in the Greek language, the way it is worded here, it is very gentle. It's like be grazing, my lambkins. It's a very, very comfortable, very easy, very caring and compassionate statement. Only once does Jesus then say, Tend my sheep, he's saying, don't just feed them, but care for them. So it's a combo. It's nourishment and mission, it's spiritual growth and generous service. Do you love me? You know I do. Then feed my sheep. Tend my sheep. The meal at this charcoal fire. is the table of grace. This is the communion table. Jesus was very aware of Peter's history. He was very aware of the history of every one of his disciples. He is aware of all history. He chose that moment to restore him to community, to restore him to service, and he entrusted the care of his church to him, to them. And he does to us. Jesus still stands in the middle of our exhaustion, our disappointment, our discouragement, in the midst of our lives, together and individually and corporately. And in light of it all, Jesus called on Peter. And by extension, he called on all of the disciples. And by further extension to all of us, as he continues to say to us, we come to his table and we are renewed, we are forgiven, we are strengthened, and we are equipped to feed and to tend and to care for and love one another.