Sermon: Having Breakfast with Jesus
Scripture: John 21: 1-19
Good morning.
Cracker Barrel, Denny’s, McDonald’s, Beiderman’s or just right at home…there’s nothing like a good breakfast. Sometimes laying in bed sleeping soundly, the next breath and your nostrils fill with the pungent aroma of frying bacon or sausage…coffee…and it’s all so good!
Just talking about breakfasts like these, reminds me of when I was growing up and the smell of toast and bacon came into our rooms and we would get up and dressed and go down to meet everyone else in the family and eat breakfast together...while my Mother would read the daily reading from the Upper Room.
It was a good time…a time of fellowship and I believe, learning…learning how to be a Christian through the stories that were read to us over hot chocolate and buttered toast.
This dedicated routine that continued through most of my high school years, I believe, actually became the basis of my beginning faith…even if it was by the process of osmosis.
Today, I would like to look at what was happening with the Disciples of Jesus this first week after His Crucifixion and Resurrection, because I believe they too were learning slowly what being a Christian really meant...and I believe this time in the lives of the Disciples can speak to us just as powerfully as the events of Holy Week.
You see, this was a time that the Disciples needed help more than ever. Just like us, they needed help...and I believe they needed help in at least three ways.
Ø Their Faith had been shaken to its core
Ø They had been privy for the last three years to live next to the God-Man, Jesus, and all His power and they believed that it was over.
Ø They were now alone in the world and had lost their direction.
1.Yes, their Faith had been shaken.
Just days before they had watched as their teacher, their friend and their Messiah had been taken, judged, horribly tortured and crucified and entombed. I still don’t think they understood the immense meaning of it all. Even after Jesus had risen from his own death and after seeing him several times since he had risen, I really don’t believe they knew what this would mean to them.
2. Yes, they had been privy to Jesus and his miracles for three years. They saw and did miracles themselves through Jesus’ divine power. And yet, now, they thought themselves helpless, their way of life had been crushed. They had returned to business as usual...they had returned to their old way of life, accepting the fact that the Roman Empire and the Jewish establishment had returned to living life as it was before Jesus had come.
3. Yes, and they were feeling as if they were alone in the world. Their great following had vanished. They thought their leader and guide was not going before them any longer. Anyway, they had denied him...they all had run away from him. They had sinned against him. They had turned their backs on him during his greatest hour of need...how could they call themselves Disciples after that? They felt the fantastic times of the previous years with Jesus was over...it was back to business as usual....back to fishing, again.
Their commitment was gone...their spirits sagged in lethargic guilt. Their life’s direction and purpose was dead in the water. Their faith’s journey had been inconsistent and faulty at best.
In a sermon by Barry Robinson, he tells this story…a story that, I think, depicts where the Disciples were in their faith and how they felt.
It goes like this...
“During a Pastor’s meeting, an older pastor stood up to testify to his faith. His testimony was rather surprising to a number of people in the room. The Pastor stood up and looked at the group and said, “I am a lay pastor of a small church. I am not ordained. I am not seminary trained. I was asked to leave both Bible colleges I attended. I am divorced and remarried. On any given day I am capable of being a jerk to those closest to me. I am terminally insecure, which causes me to compensate with bouts of arrogance. At times people irritate me, and I hide from them. I am impulsive, which causes me to say things I shouldn’t and make promises I cannot keep. I am inconsistent.
My walk with Christ is a stuttering, stumbling, bumbling attempt to follow Him. At times His presence is so real I can’t stop the tears, and then, at other times, without warning, I can’t find Him. Some days my faith is strong, impenetrable, and immovable – and some days my faith is weak, pathetic, helpless, knocked about like a paper cup floating on the ocean in the middle of a hurricane.
I have been a Christian for 45 years, I am familiar with the vocabulary of faith, and I am often asked to give advice about matters of faith. But I am still a mess myself. I am light-years away from being able to say with Paul, “Copy Me”. I am 56 years old and still struggling – a flawed, clumsy, unstable follower of Jesus. I am a bona fide failer”
This little story might depict some of us. Have you ever felt that your journey with Christ is like this man’s…sometime Strong, Impenetrable, immovable? And then at other times, you feel alone and weak, pathetic and helpless
In John 21, verses 1 through 19, I believe this how the disciples were feeling as they spent the night fishing...throwing out their nets and dragging them in to find nothing in them. I’m sure they were tired and hungry and frustrated.
Now when I go fishing, I never get tired and frustrated...of course my idea of fishing is to set up camp...put out the hammock...throw in my line...and then fall asleep.
But in our scripture today, we find that the Disciples were fishing a couple hundred yards off shore...And a man on shore called out to them, ”Have you caught any fish?” and they replied, “No.” The man on shore then yelled back, “Throw out your net on the right side of the boat and you’ll get plenty of them.” So they did and they couldn’t draw the net in because it was so full of fish.
It was then that the Disciple John realized, “It is the Lord!” That’s all it took for the impetuous Peter to jump in the water and swim to shore to see His Lord once more.
I’ve titled this sermon...”Having Breakfast with Jesus”, because once the Disciples were ashore and the catch was brought in, Jesus had prepared fish and bread for them to eat over a small fire. While they sat around the fire that morning, Jesus served them. After breakfast, Jesus began to teach them again...He began to give them new direction and purpose.
He first asked, Peter...”Do you love Me”. He asked Peter three times, “Do you love Me? Because you see, Peter had denied him three times...Jesus wanted Peter to reaffirm three times his commitment to Him. Today, Jesus is saying, not only to Peter, but also to us...”Do you love Me...Do you love Me more than anything else?
Some weeks ago, I was in Wellington waiting for one of my renters to return and in order to kill some time; I went to Wal-Mart to buy something to read while I waited. I found the two-volume set of “Jesus Freaks”...stories of committed Christians throughout history and the world, who have literally given their lives for their faith.
What struck me was what it said on the cover of the book...
“There are more Christian martyrs today than there were in 100 AD...According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, there were close to 156,000 Christians martyred in 1998 and it is estimated that 164,000 were martyred in 1999.
Have you committed yourselves...have you responded to Jesus’ question? Because if you have and you know you have a personal relationship to the Lord that’s living and breathing and alive in your heart, then I want to impress on you today what Jesus continued to say to his Disciples that day on the shores of the lake of Galilee around the glowing ember of that small fire...I want you to know that your Lord and Savior is willing to do at least four things for you.
He’s willing to seek you out.
He serves you.
He teaches you.
And He commissions you.
Seeking Lord
Jesus seeks you out...
I believe the Triune God is with us always, from beginning to the end, whether we recognize Him or not...He’s there...just like the air we breathe...just like stars in the sky...just like to continual changing of the seasons. He’s there. All we have to do is to open up to Him and let Him come into our lives...come into our everyday lives.
Sometimes you can feel His seeking touch...maybe this morning you can feel Him asking you to let Him come closer to your heart, because maybe you feel just like that older pastor...that you haven’t led a very committed life...maybe you don’t pray much...maybe you don’t read the Bible. And maybe you don’t know his word and His Will for you. Maybe today He’s seeking you to be a better Christian...maybe He’s seeking you out to do more for your fellowman and your Community
Serving Lord
Jesus is a serving Lord. As Jesus went around that small fire, many centuries ago, He was serving his Disciples breakfast. You know, Christ came to us as a servant. In Second Corinthians, Paul said of Jesus,
“...though he was so very rich, yet to help you he became so very poor, so that be being poor he could make you rich”.
And in Matthew 23: verses 11 and 12...
“The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
It was this position of servanthood that Jesus showed us and that we find so very unnatural in our own human nature...but that we all, if we are to be called Christian, must learn as we mature in our faith.
Christ exemplified this servant attitude in three ways....
Ø He first came in Humility
Ø He then showed us how to surrender ourselves to the Will of God through the Submission of our spirit
Ø And finally, He exemplified for us Obedience...obedience to God’s Will, even unto the Cross.
Teaching Lord
As Jesus was serving the Disciples that morning, He was also feeding them...feeding them the Word of God.
Today, Jesus continually teaches us through the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. Haven’t you felt sometimes, the warming of your heart...haven’t you felt you could talk to Him...haven’t you known that it’s possible to ‘Walk’ with your God and ‘Talk’ with your God and Savior, Jesus Christ...and have a real relationship with Him...if you will just allow him to come into your heart, he will guide you...he will show you your sins...and he will ask you to give them up. He wants you to become strong, impenetrable, and immovable in the Faith...as a “Tree planted by the water”. So, let Him feed you with His Living Water.
Commissioning Lord (the sending out)
Finally, Jesus says to Simon-Peter...”Then take care of my Sheep.” You see, Jesus was restoring Peter. Jesus was giving him a new direction...a new purpose. Jesus was sending Peter and His other Disciples out into the world. Peter had answered the first question...”Do you love me”...He had been humbled and he had surrendered himself to his Lord. Now, Jesus was commissioning Peter to become the ‘Rock’ on which the universal church would be built...Jesus was a Commissioning Lord.
And Jesus wants to use you to do His work, too...He wants you to ‘Go and Tell’...Tell His Good News to everyone. In your families, He wants you to be an example for your children. In your work, He wants you to be an example of Christian fairness and honor and justice...He wants you to ‘Show and Tell’ about His Ways. In your community, He wants you to exemplify the Best that the Christian Way has to offer...He wants you to become mature in the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’. He wants you to take the lead...He wants you to be ‘Fishers of Men’.
How can people tell if you’re Christian, if you don’t show it...how can they tell if you’re a Christian if you don’t act like it...how can they tell you’re a Christian if you don’t love like it.
Jesus is seeking you out. He wants to be with you and to serve you. He wants to teach you a better way to live and He wants you to help him by becoming good ‘fishers of men’.
Vernon McGee in his commentary “Thru the Bible” says that, “Our Lord takes Simon Peter and calls this faltering, failing, fumbling disciple to service. We learn one all-important lesson from this scripture...and that lesson is...“Love for the Savior is the prerequisite for service.” In other words, we need to answer the question He asked Peter...”Do you love Me?” and then we need respond, “Lord, you know I do”...and then we need to let Him truly touch us.
In the words of our first hymn this morning...
.
“He touched me, O He touched me,
And O the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened and now I know,
He touched me and made me whole.
Once He has touched you...once you feel that “strange warming in your heart”, just like John Wesley did...you need to surrender to it...surrender to Him...and let Him come in.
The song, ‘I Can Only Imagine’ have the words, “when your face is before me”...well, when we meet Jesus face to face...I know He will ask each one of us one other question...
“Did you catch anything?”
Amen!
Scripture: John 21: 1-19
211Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: 2Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3"I’m going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We’ll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
5He called out to them, "Friends, haven’t you any fish?"
"No," they answered.
6He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
7Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, "It is the Lord," he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. 9When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
10Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught."
11Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. 15When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "You know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
16Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
17The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. 18I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." 19Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"
