Come and have breakfast

Come and Have Breakfast.

Sermon based on John 21:1-14.

For some people the greatest joy in the Christian life is to be miserable! They identify with the old anecdote of the little boy walking home from Sunday School with his dad. As they passed a field with a horse in it, the little lad said to daddy, "That horse must be a very good Christian."

"Why is that?" asked daddy.

"Why? Because he has such a long face."

Now there are times to be serious, and when we ponder subjects like the cross and the atonement it is hard to do it with a smile on the face. When we realise what Jesus has done, and is doing for us. And the disciples, it seems, were very sombre the days following the crucifixion, even when they had seen the risen Lord. Maybe they still felt a loss of direction and purpose. Things had moved so fast, and in such unexpected directions that their poor minds were having difficulty keeping up with it.

After three years of following their Master, learning, listening, even healing and teaching themselves, suddenly they had been confronted with one of their number betraying their beloved Master; with Jesus, who before seemed to have an amazing ability to disappear from crowds at the opportune moment, giving in to the crowd, allowing himself to be arrested, tried and tortured -- and then, greatest sorrow of all, allowing himself to be hung on a tree and crucified.

They just could not understand. Had all their hopes been dashed? And then, as they were wallowing in the bottom of the pit of despair, amazing things started to happen.

Mary Magdalene went to the tomb to anoint the body -- and finds He is not there. Peter and John race to the tomb, again confused, but with adrenaline fuelling their weary bodies, and find Mary is right. The tomb is empty, the burial clothes neatly folded. What has happened? They cannot understand it.

The disciples head back to Jerusalem . Mary stays at the tomb and has her first encounter with the risen Lord.

Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her. ‑JOH 20:11‑18

The disciples soon have the news confirmed -- on the same evening Jesus appearing to the disciples in the upper room, and a week later his putting in a special appearance once again for the benefit of Thomas.

But the disciples still seem very confused. Too much has happened all at once. Is this reality -- or are we hallucinating? Are we right in saying that we have seen Jesus, or are the bizarre rumours of Roman soldiers falling asleep on duty, and someone having stolen the body -- are those rumours, however far fetched, to be believed?

And so in John 21 we find the disciples in Galilee . A logical place for them to be. It is where they where at the time Jesus called them. Fishing by the lake side. It is where Jesus spent a considerable period of his ministry. And by the lake they would be reminded of his miracles -- the feeding of the 5,000, freeing the demoniac from the legion of evil spirits. Calming the storm -- and walking on the water -- No, Peter would never forget that incident in his life.

Galilee is also where they are supposed to be -- for the angels at the tomb sent the message to the disciples via the women, a message confirmed moments later by Jesus himself:

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ‑MAT 28:5

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ‑MAT 28:6

Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee . There you will see him.' Now I have told you." ‑MAT 28:7

Have you ever gone back to somewhere that you hadn't been for a few years? Maybe you go and visit a former employer, or a house that you used to live in, but had moved on from some years before. Last autumn I called on our former neighbour in Bracknell , and while in her back garden I looked over the fence to see what the new owners of our house had done to the garden. It gives you a strange feeling. You know the place. It has been your home. But it's not quite the same -- and you no longer have ownership. Things are never quite the same when you go back.

I suspect this is how the disciples felt as they sat at the lake-side. They'd been here before. Many times before. Mending their nets. Hauling in the fish. Preparing the catch for market. They knew the ropes. It was a trade that once learned was never forgotten. But it was a trade that they had not practised for over three years.

So they were sitting there on the beach. Sitting. Talking. Remembering. Waiting. Waiting for whom, for what?

For Jesus? He had told them to go to Galilee . They had followed the instructions. But where was he? What did he intend them to do? And what was the point now it was so clear that the Jewish leaders where so openly against them? Maybe Jesus had sent them back to Galilee with the suggestion that they should go back to their old lifestyle.

I imagine that the discussion went back and forth, to and fro. Often there would be long pauses. Silences as doubts and conflicts crossed the disciples minds. Every now and then the eyes would wander over to some fishing boats hauled up on the foreshore.

Maybe the old way is best. Maybe we should just forget the last three years. Maybe it was all a bad dream. Maybe they were just confused.

Whatever the case, Peter, forever the man of action, could sit still no longer.

"I'm going out to fish," he tells them, and the others follow his lead. (Jn 21:3)

I have the feeling that this is just what Jesus intended. That he kept them there waiting and thinking. That he wanted them to go back to their old occupation -- just for one night -- so that they could sharply focus their minds on the commission he was about to give them.

So, with borrowed boat, out onto the lake they go. Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

I don't know much about fishing. Either as a sport or in terms of employment. What I do know is that if I had gone out intending to catch fish -- I would really want to catch some.

From as far back as Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, we know that night time was favoured by the fishermen as the ideal time to cast their nets. Peter and his friends must have known the good spots to fish in -- and maybe as they went out into the lake the smell of the water, the nets and the boat may have brought a peace to them that had been lacking for sometime. At least they were doing something -- and something they understood.

What they didn't understand was catching nothing. Had all their skills left them? Couldn't they pick up even a shrimp? As the long night hours stretched out towards dawn, and the muscles, now unused to this type of manual activity protested against the hauling of the nets, the adjusting of the sail and the boom, or the pulling on the oars -- as fatigue started to set in, and the nostalgia of the return to the nets turned into a realisation of all they had lost, they realised that fishing was not for them -- they needed Jesus.

And when we need Jesus, Jesus is always there. Standing on the sea shore he calls out to them, "Friends, have you got any fish?" (Vs 5)

Actually the word friends is not a very good translation. The KJV uses the word "children", but that is not too great a translation either. A better word to use would be "lads". It is a colloquialism and the only time in the Gospels where Jesus uses this term to address the disciples.

There are two reasons for this. Firstly, Jesus wanted to disguise himself from the disciples for a few minutes longer. Secondly, he wanted to use a term which indicated familiarity. "Hi lads!" indicates that you are approaching them on the same level as they are. It is not an employer/employee, master/servant terminology. Nor is it the formal greeting of a cautious stranger. Jesus was identifying with them in their struggle.

"Hi lads. Have you got any fish?"

"No," they answer.

And he tells them, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." (Vs 4-6)

I don't know why they obeyed him. Why should there be fish on the right when there were none on the left? Why should there be fish at all when there had been none all night? What did a stranger on the lake-shore know about fishing anyway?

But arn't you glad they did follow Jesus instructions? Don't you thrill when you read this story and find that a carpenter from Nazareth can catch more fish in one minute than trained and professional fishermen can catch in a whole night.

And the disciples are delighted too. Not just for the catch -- or even primarily for the catch. As the light dawns on the horizon, it dawns too in their minds. John calls out to Peter and the others -- "It's the Lord! It is the Lord! He has come! It's Him on the beach!"

Peter, true to type, forgets about the others -- forgets that he is captain of the boat, and deserts ship to go and worship his beloved Master. The others are left to drag the loaded net about 100 yards to shore.

And when they get to shore Jesus says, "Ok lads, come and have breakfast!"

Isn't that just like Jesus. He knows what the disciples have been through. He knows their doubts and fears. He knows what went through their minds on the lake-shore the previous evening and on the water during the night. He knows they have been weary and discouraged -- not knowing which way to turn -- and so he says, "Come on lads, let's have breakfast.

Isn't that the wonderful, hospitable God we have? And isn't there an important message there for the disciples -- and for us as well.

"Come on Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, James & John. Come on. You can try and go back. Try and feed yourselves. But look. Trust me! I've done it all for you. I've done it physically with breakfast this morning -- I've done it spiritually with my death on the cross. It is time now for you to understand."

This is why Jesus can give Peter his commission in the next few verses, "Feed my Sheep."

This is why he can say to the disciples in general in Matthew 28:19-20.

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

"I am with you always." Isn't that the good news for them and for us. Jesus is with us always. Whatever phase of discipleship we are in. Jesus is with us. Watching, waiting, seeking the opportunity to draw us in closer -- to make us "one of the lads".

I love the picture we gain of Jesus in Hebrews -- where he is pictured as the Creator of the universe, as superior to the angels, to Moses, to the High Priest, to the whole sanctuary system -- and yet he calls himself our elder brother. He says, "I know what you've been through -- I've been there before. I understand. I care. I love you deeply with an everlasting love. You're my little brother, my little sister. Come, have breakfast, and lets sit down, work it out, and work together.

In Hebrews 2:1-4 we are cautioned to pay careful attention so that we do not "slip back" and ignore so great a salvation.

Jesus allowed his disciples the challenge of slipping back for a time just so they could realise the dissatisfaction in anything else than service for him. But then he said, "Come and have breakfast. Lets sit down together lads and get on with the real business. Lets be fishers of men. Lets go and tell the world."

Where do we find ourselves in this story. Are we sitting on the lake-side wondering and waiting? Are we out on the lake straining every muscle for a catch that just isn't there? Are we in faith casting our net on the right side, trusting God to provide for our physical and spiritual needs? Are we a Peter, diving into the water the moment he recognises his Lord and Saviour?

Do we accept the Lord's invitation, "Come on lads, let's have breakfast."

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