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April 22, 2007 Don Evans John 21:1-19 Encountering Christ Greetings to the faithful saints of Bethany United Church of Christ; I bid you the peace that Christ so loving bestows on all of us. Last week we saw the disciple's first encounters with the risen Christ. We also learned that even though Christ could transcend the locked doors of a dwelling, we must guard against locking our hearts to his presence. The scripture today is a continuation of the story of those encounters with the risen Christ as he appeared to his disciples. But as Emeril would say "lets kick it up a notch". This brings us to the place where we not only have to unlock our hearts to Christ but where we can more readily recognize Christ in our lives. The scripture is also calling us to move beyond that recognition to a life of obedience and service. It appears that last weeks scripture was the original ending of the Gospel of John and that the last chapter we are discussing today was written sometime later. The purpose of the additional chapter seems to be twofold. First, it is a written documentation of another miracle, which was the catch of 153 fish in one cast of the net. Only this time it was done by a resurrected Jesus. Second and more important, this chapter was written to clear up any misunderstandings of about the future of Simon Peter, the beloved disciple, and to restore his unique responsibility to the fledgling church. I always find it rewarding to rediscover truths we already know in a scripture. I am even more amazed at the new truths that can be discovered in the rereading of familiar passages. Let's see if anything new emerges for you as this discourse continues. Did you ever wonder why Jesus told them to catch more fish when he already had fish on the fire for them or why he asked Simon Peter three times if he loved him? Or, is there any significance in the three responses; feed my lambs, tend my sheep, and feed my sheep? And, why did they catch so many fish? This was the disciples third encounter with their risen Lord and they were much less startled than in the first two appearances. They recognized him almost immediately even though he was over a hundred yards away. That is a whole lot better than when they did not recognize him when he was in the same room with them. They had returned to doing what they had done before Christ called them to discipleship. How many of you do much fishing? On a day when the fish were just not biting, did you ever think of fishing off the other side of the boat? Okay, I'll admit it. I did try that on Lake Erie and it didn't help one bit! Fishing in a large lake, in a small boat, one wouldn't think changing sides would make much of a difference let alone a miraculous difference. Nevertheless, we find here the disciples did just that. The key here isn't that it made sense, but that they quickly and completely obeyed the risen Master's directions. By following Christ's directions the miraculous did occur. But why were so many fish needed? We can rely on the fact that 153 fish were caught as it was the custom to count the fish, especially in such a large catch. My bible commentary mentioned that there were several theories as to the significance of the number 153. While the theories may be a possibility, the more important aspect is the reward for their obedience. And they may have very well needed the fish for their families and for income to sustain their ministries. My faith journey has sure had some ups, downs, and detours but I cannot imagine what these founders of the Christian faith endured. Just imagine the emotional events that all took place in a matter of days; terror at the prospect of being crucified with Jesus, total despair at his death, surprise and jubilation at his rising from the dead, to the now uncertainty of what lay ahead for them. But through their obedience, they are being guided again by God in the flesh. Jesus is showing them the path he wants them to follow. By his resurrection and time spent with the disciples, he is assuring them that they will not be alone. The path they are to follow is clearly stated to Simon Peter; "feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep". As I read this I wondered if there was any significance in the subtle differences in the three phrases. Apparently though, this was just Jesus' way of reinforcing the importance of what needed to be done. It was important to Simon Peter as this really emphasized his importance to the beginnings of the Christian church. It was important to the rest as they were to move forward in their preaching, teaching and healing missions. It is important to us now. God is still speaking to us now as we hear the message anew. Our mission is to carry the truth and love to all those who will listen. The disciples encountered God in Christ in the flesh. Where do we encounter Christ? Unless the second coming is soon to pass we will never have that the opportunity to meet Christ as the disciples did. So really, where can we encounter Jesus? We know our God is a God of love, a love that is beyond our comprehension and is everlasting. The love of God was present with the disciples then. The love of God is present now. Where we find love in our humble human lives there too will we find the love of God. This does not mean we only have the love of God at happy times. God is present when someone is holding the hand of a sick loved one. God is present with the comforting words and hugs at a funeral. God's love is present when a child fetches a drink of water for someone who can not get it themselves. The love of God is never more present than when we are tending his sheep or feeding his lambs. We are reminded in Matthew 18:20 " For where two or more are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of them". Bethany United Church of Christ is being very faithful in this regard. Your commitment to IHN and Miller Ave church are but two wonderful examples. I have visited people at home, in nursing homes, and in hospitals over the years in my roles as licensed minister, family member and friend. But I never had an experience quite like the one I had this past week. I had the privilege of delivering a prayer shawl made by the loving hands of your prayer shawl ministry. God's love was abundantly present in that simple gift. I know that for a few minutes I was a vessel being used to deliver God's love that came from your loving handwork. I am indebted to the gifted women of that ministry. To see how God's love can impact us in our day to day existence we might reflect on an historical call/conversion story familiar to many of us, that of John Newton, the slave-trader who later became a pastor and hymn writer. Newton is famous, of course, for composing "Amazing Grace," but most of us have at least a vague recollection of a dramatic conversion at sea, after which Newton stopped participating in the great evil of the slave trade. We might think that Newton, like Paul, had an experience very unlike our own, a sudden turnaround in the most remarkable of circumstances. But closer study reveals that Newton took his time with this turnaround, and continued his slave-trading even after it dawned on him that God was at the center of his life. We live our lives in circumstances that may be dramatic at moments but are mostly everyday and common, and God's amazing grace is present and sufficient in every one. And even if it takes us some time, God is with us all the way, in every moment of our lives. Lord knows how long he has been calling me to ministry. He has kept at it loving me all the way. I would like to share with you a way that you may be able to encounter Christ on a very personal level if you are ever in pain. This was taught to me by my former pastor at Edinburg. Try this when, as she put it, "you have a pain where a pill can't reach". Sit or lay quietly in silence, close your eyes and get a picture of Jesus in your mind. Any image of him will do. Most of us have a favorite picture of him in our memory bank. Picture a warm beam of healing light coming from him and flowing to the top of your head. Picture that healing light then flowing down through your body and settling on your place of pain and let that light ease your pain. It works. In fact when I tried it one night in the hospital several years ago, it lead to an amazing experience. When I first tried it, I failed. The pain was just too much for me to be able to concentrate. Later in the evening, I tried again after I had had more pain medication and I was able to concentrate better. The pain left and when I opened my eyes Jesus was standing beside the bed. That vision only lasted a few seconds. It was a two dimensional image much like a life sized painting and it was an image of Jesus I had seen before. It took me 6 months before I was able to share that experience with anyone for fear they would think I was nuts and I could not recall where I had seen the image before. At first I thought it was just because of the drugs but finally realized God came to me when I was able to receive him. The medicine simply helped me get to that point. Needless to say, it changed my perspective on the power of the Holy Spirit! I had never had a vision before that nor have I had one since. That precious experience will be with me the rest of my life. If you want to know, the picture of Jesus was from the stained glass window of a church we attended in Wooster. Since I am a school teacher by trade, I occasionally assign homework. Are you ready to learn your assignment for the coming week? The lectionary companion reading to the Gospel of John's message is Acts 9:1-20. As time permits, read and reflect on this story of Saul's conversion experience and how two people, Saul and Ananias encountered and responded to Christ. See if you find any new truths revealed to you. That is Acts 9:1-20. Now that you have listened to the entire sermon, I would like to sum it up in one sentence. Go and obey the directive of Christ, using your God given gifts to tend his sheep and just maybe the miraculous will happen for someone. AMEN |
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