"A New Beginning" (John 21: 1-17)

I imagine that, before they went fishing, the disciples were standing around, and one of them said: “So, uh, what are you gonna do?”

Someone sighed. Someone else kicked a pebble.

And after a moment of silence, another one said: “I dunno. What are you gonna do?”

Is that how you picture it?

Maybe we should back the story up a bit…

For the past several years, this group of disciples had left their old lives behind to follow Jesus. Every so often, someone comes along who gets everyone all excited, someone who appears to have what it takes to really change the world, to start a movement for change, perhaps even a revolution.

Jesus was such a person, and more. So much more.

On the road with him, it must have been an exciting time. Every day brought some new incredible event: Turning water into wine. Miraculously healing the son of a royal official. Miraculously healing a lame man at the pool of Bethzātha. Feeding thousands of people with – what? – just a few loaves of bread. Walking on water! Restoring sight to a blind man! Even bringing a man named Lazarus back from the dead!

Then he went to Jerusalem. The disciples knew Jerusalem was a dangerous place for a man who had challenged the status of the Roman government. But Jesus was no ordinary man, obviously. Maybe he would be the one to bring about a new kingdom, a new empire!

But then, just like that, it was over. He was arrested without due process or just cause. He was tortured by the state and executed for a crime he did not commit. They were only in Jerusalem a few days, and the time from his arrest to his death on the cross was just a few hours.

Justice, if you can call it that, was swift.

In the minds of the disciples, those days blurred together. Their entrance into town, with hundreds upon hundreds of people waving their palm branches, shouting hosanna! Hosanna!...

The banquet they shared together, during which Jesus spoke about the bread and the wine being his body and blood… and how he then took a towel from one of the servants, wrapped it around himself, and began to wash the disciples feet…

And then, praying in the garden… it was late, but Jesus would not sleep. The disciples couldn’t keep awake, but Jesus did, deep in prayer, praying with such intensity. They saw this between their own drooping eyelids, but when Judas returned with the soldiers, they were jolted awake just in time to see Jesus arrested and forced away.

They had all said they would stand by Jesus until the end, but when the time came, they all deserted him. Jesus had said that Peter would deny even knowing him, not once but three times, and Peter had insisted that that would never happen… and yet it did, just as Jesus had predicted.

They had all let him down.

They remained in hiding after the crucifixion. Mary Magdalene – a follower of Jesus – had reported to them that she had seen him alive, three days later. And then they themselves saw him. They rejoiced at his appearance, but it was a fleeting appearance, and they weren’t sure what to make of it.

As soon as the immediate danger seemed to have passed, they came out of hiding. They had left Jerusalem and had returned to Galilee, and were trying to figure out what to do next.

“So. What are you gonna do?”

*Sigh.*  “I dunno. What are you gonna do?”

Then Peter said, “Well… I’m going fishing,” and all the others jumped up and said, “Hold on! Wait! We’ll come with you.”

They went back to what they knew. Before they met Jesus, they were fishermen. Now that Jesus was gone, what else were they going to do? Go back to being fishermen!

They fished all night. I’m not a fisherman, but apparently that’s when the fish are biting. I always thought the best time was around dawn or dusk, but what do I know?

Maybe they just didn’t care. Maybe it wasn’t the right time for fishing; but they couldn’t just sit around doing nothing any longer. The waiting, the doing nothing, all the wondering and reflecting on recent events, all the regrets and disillusionment – it was going to drive them crazy, unless they found something to do to take their minds off of it all.

So they fished all night, and they caught nothing. As dawn was breaking – Let me say that another way: as darkness was giving way to light – they looked toward the shore and saw a man standing there, but they couldn’t tell who it was.

The man called out to them: “You have no fish, do you?”

“No,” they called back. The whole thing was utterly ridiculous. Apparently now they couldn’t even fish… the one thing they knew that they knew how to do, they couldn’t even do.

“Well,” said the man on shore, “cast your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.”

The disciples did what the man on shore said. They cast their nets one more time, on the right side of the boat, and now it was so full of fish that they couldn’t even haul it in!

That’s when Peter recognized the man on shore. He yelled out: “It is the Lord!” And he put on some clothes and jumped out of the boat into the lake, ran out of the water onto the shore and was then standing, dripping wet, in front of Jesus.

Now what?

What is the appropriate way to greet someone you thought had died, someone whom you had denied even knowing three times?

I mean, how awkward would that be?

Peter turned and looked back at the other disciples, and saw them trying to drag the net full of fish. Jesus said to Peter: “Go, bring some of the fish you just caught.”

So Peter did. Then Jesus took some bread, and gave it to the disciples; and he took some fish which he had cooked, and gave it to them as well.

Then they finished eating, and…

Now what?

Another awkward silence.

Then Jesus said, “Peter.” Actually, he didn’t say that. He didn’t use the nickname that he himself had given him. Instead, he used Peter’s real name, the name he had before he met Jesus. He said, “Simon, son of John… do you love me more than these?”

I’m not sure what Jesus is referring to when he said “More than these…” These what? These fish? The other disciples? What do you think Jesus meant when he said, “Do you love me more than these?”

Whatever he meant, Peter responded, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”

Then Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Then Jesus said again, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

What, did Jesus not believe him the first time he answered? Again, Peter said, “Yes, Lord. You know I do.”

Then Jesus said, “tend my sheep.”

Then Jesus said a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” And Peter was hurt. He was completely torn up inside. Jesus had now asked him three times, matching the three times Peter had denied knowing him.

Peter replied, “You know everything, Lord. You know that I love you.”

And Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

Peter had thought that it was all over. When Jesus was arrested, tried, and crucified, all of his hopes and expectations came crashing down. Even the hopes he had for himself, and the expectation that he, Peter – the “Rock” – would stand faithful to the end – were destroyed.

But when Jesus asked him three times if Peter loved him – and when Jesus told Peter three times to “feed my sheep” – Peter realized: this wasn’t the end. It had certainly looked like the end, like it was all over, but in fact, this was just the beginning.

Thinking it was the end, Peter and the other disciples had been standing around, wondering what they were going to do. They were wringing their hands.
They went fishing, but their heart wasn’t really in it. They didn’t catch anything. I don’t think they were even really trying to.

What was the point of trying, of doing anything, really, when everything was over and the movement was dead?

But it wasn’t dead. And they had work to do. Jesus told them they had work to do: “Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep. Your work is just now getting started!”

Now, I think that we in Bixby Knolls Christian Church – along with just about every small congregation around the country – know exactly how the disciples felt standing around, wondering, “What are we gonna do?”

Because we’ve seen the empty nets. We’ve seen numbers decline. We’ve seen the membership go down. We’ve seen the deficits grow bigger. And we’ve heard people say, “The movement is dead. Everything we stood for has come to an end.”

And we go about doing our work, casting our nets, but our heart isn’t in it. We’re just going through the motions. We don’t know what else to do.

And when we pull the nets in, they’re empty.

And all is dark.

But there is a dawn coming. For those who have faith, darkness gives way to light. And standing there on the shore is a man telling us to cast our nets again.

What’s different about casting our nets this time? This time, our hearts are in it. This time, we put in our full effort. This time, we’re not just going through the motions.

And as the first rays of morning light shine down, we tug on the nets, only to realize that they are too full to haul in.

The movement is not dead. We are not at an end.

One thing I’ve realized lately is that we are, in many ways, a new church. So much has changed at Bixby Knolls Christian Church in just the eight years that I’ve been here. Eight years, and I’ve already been here longer than half of you.

I think I might start calling this a “new church start,” except that we do have a wonderful 70 year-history, and I don’t want to make light of that.

But I do hear Jesus saying to us: this is not the end. This is the beginning.

And I hear Jesus asking: Do you love me? If so, feed my sheep.

Do you love me? If so, recommit yourself to the work of the church.

Do you love me? If so, show me that you care enough about the movement to give it your all. I want you to pray for the church, I want you to tell others about the church, I want you to give to the church.

Stop denying me by how you live. Stop denying me in what you say. Stop denying me by how you spend your money.

Because ONLY if you love me and tend my sheep and commit yourself to the work I started will this movement thrive.

I hear Jesus saying: you need to love me more than these. “More than these” what? … You need to love me more than your own wealth. You need to love me more than your ambitions. You need to love me more than your possessions. You need to love me more than the expensive status symbols that you show off to your neighbors.

You need to love me with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.

The church, the body of Christ, depends on that kind of love, that kind of commitment.

Peter said yes, and he meant it. He became a great leader in the church. He followed through on his promise, and committed himself totally and completely. He gave his all.

Jesus asks you: Do you love me?

And he’s waiting to see how you respond.