Jesus Comes A Calling - Again 5-4-25

Jesus Comes a Calling - Again

Acts 9:1-20; John 21:1-19

Acts 9:1-20

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

John 21:1-19

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, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 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!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 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. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “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 to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He 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?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Prayer – Still Seeking Jesus, we admit that the only reason why we are here this May morning, the only reason why we persist in being members of your church is because each of us have heard you say to us, “Follow me.” Even knowing our weaknesses and limits, you came to us and summoned us. We also admit that we have not always successful been successful disciples. We have our doubts. We are beset by fears. We have trouble staying focused and get tired of trying to be the people you have called us to be. And yet, you keep showing up to us, even to us, even here in our church. So here we are Lord, keep showing up to us, keep calling us, keep refusing to let our limits and doubts set the conditions for your love for us. Amen.

John opens his gospel by majestically declaring that Jesus is a “light shining in the darkness”. And yet John notes, as we noted on Palm Sunday a few weeks ago, that though Christ was the light, that light was refused and rejected. We haven’t told the whole story of Christ’s gift of light shining into the world if we don’t also admit to humanity’s bleak failure to comprehend the light shining out toward us. The light shines and yet, something about us continues to make us stumble in the dark. 

You may also recall that the gospels say that Easter occurred in the dark, in the early morning hours before dawn the followers of Jesus came to his tomb. In his resurrection, Jesus is the light before the dawn. In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus again appears to his disheartened, failure-at-fishing disciples just before the dawn after a frustrating night of fishing failure.

This fishing story reminds us of the fishing story in Luke. John’s story occurs later in Jesus’ chronology, post resurrection. Simon, Thomas, Nathanael, Zebedee’s sons, and two other disciples have spent the night fishing on the Sea of Galilee. 

No doubt, the disciples are still dealing with the trauma of having witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus. Some among them had reported having seen the risen Christ yet it’s difficult for them to believe such reports. So, they go back home and back to work, back to the humdrum duties of everyday life. Back to fishing. The humiliation of the cross overshadows any future possibility. End of the road for Jesus’ disciples. So, it’s back to the nets, back to what the disciples were doing for a living before they met Jesus. 

Peter, one who has actually gone to the cemetery on Easter morning and actually peered into the tomb, should surely be the one to say, “He is risen! Our time with Jesus isn’t over, it’s just beginning. Peter, lead disciple, the Rock, merely says, “Let’s go fishing.” Jesus appears to the failed fishermen who are not much better at fishing than at discipleship. He gives them instructions, urging them to go back out on the sea and give the fishing one more try, telling them to cast the nets on the right side of the boat. They follow his directives. This is the third of John’s resurrection appearance stories to his disciples. Jesus must not only appear, but return repeatedly for them to grasp the inconceivable truth of, “He is risen!” 

While Luke’s fishing story was clearly a call story, John’s story is a resurrection appearance story that results in a call. Once again, as with the other resurrection appearances, the disciples don’t recognize Jesus at first. Still, they obey the stranger on the shore and go back for one more try at fishing. Their nets are full. 

Peter still doesn’t get it. Only gradually, with the help of Jesus, does Peter figure out that it’s Jesus who calls to him from the beach and Jesus who calls him to continue in discipleship. The disciples have breakfast with the man whom they now recognize to be Jesus. During the meal, once again with Jesus at the table, this time at the beach, the disciples are commissioned by Christ. Christ reminds them that he has called them in order to utilize them in service to his mission. He challenges them to get back in the boat, so to speak, to resume following him, to try to be disciples once again. Jesus will not allow their failures to believe and to act like his faithful followers to deter him from enlisting them in his mission. So in a sense this is not so much a call story as a “recall” story.

Amid failure and frustration, the disciples are urged to drop their nets on the other side and to try again. In his resurrection, Jesus returns to his disciples and reassures, encourages, and calls them to join him on the other side of his crucifixion and to try again. 

Peter, the one who was not only called to be the Rock, is also the one who has difficulty comprehending and faithfully following. Now, in a sort of second act within this seaside drama, Peter is brought forward and put in the spotlight. Though just a few chapters earlier, Peter denied Jesus not once but three times during the trial and torture of Jesus, Peter is now commissioned three times to take care of Jesus’s sheep. Peter will be caregiver to the flock.

And so, I’m wondering if you are like me, having made similar promises of faithfully following Jesus. Promises that sometimes, I just haven’t lived up to. “I promised myself, heck, I promised God, that I wouldn’t do that ever again. And then, just one week later, I went and did it all over again. One week later! I’m the worst Christian ever.”

And then I remember this resurrection story “Well, if you have disappointed yourself and the Lord by your failure to live up to your good intentions, then keep looking over your shoulder. What you consider your discipleship flop, Jesus may consider to be a grand opportunity.

With this Sunday’s gospel lesson, we come to the very end of the Gospel of John. And as far as the disciples are concerned, it’s the end of the road for them as disciples. Their grand hopes for the inauguration of the Kingdom of God by Jesus have been dashed as they stood forlorn at the foot of the cross. Now, they have lapsed into doing what they were doing before Jesus called them to be his disciples. They are fishing. 

“It was a good campaign while it lasted,” they may have muttered to themselves. “Now, it’s over. The authorities were threatened by Jesus and his message. The people turned against him. It’s finished.” As it turns out, the disciples are not much better at fishing than they were at discipleship. We know from the post resurrection stories that Jesus returned to his despondent, discouraged, frightened disciples as they cowered behind locked doors. He fully revealed his resurrected, triumphant self to them.

Well, not exactly. Here they are, even after that dramatic appearance, back to the ordinary, everyday tasks they were performing before they met Jesus. Their empty nets must have seemed to them like a symbol for just how they felt. Empty. Failures. Defeated. The failures of Peter could be taken as an image of all their failures. Peter had promised to remain steadfast and to stand with Jesus, even when the going got rough. You know how long Peter’s declaration of fidelity lasted. Peter denied Jesus three times and broke into tears because he couldn’t make good on his declaration.

The disciples still don’t get it, still fail to believe their eyes when the risen Christ stands before them, still fall away and resume their lives before they had met Jesus. “I knew I was no good as a missionary,” one of them must have mumbled.

“I told Jesus that I was an introvert and didn’t like talking with others about spiritual matters.” “I wanted to stand up for Jesus, but when I saw those soldiers and their swords, well, who wouldn’t have cut and run?” said another. 

And how does Jesus respond to these discipleship failures? He returns to them. Goes to where they are. Shows up to them, not in a service at the Temple, but while they are fishing (not “catching,” but “fishing”). Jesus speaks directly to Peter whose failure to live up to his commitments is most striking. Did Jesus say to Peter, “Let me apologize for calling you to follow me in the first place. I misjudged your capabilities. Sorry. Fishing is a better fit for you than discipleship.” No! Jesus goes to Peter and re-calls him. Even though Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus will not deny him. Three times Jesus calls him to love him and then Jesus gives Peter a job to do. Feed my beloved flock. Care for the ones I care for so much.

Three times Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” It’s an appropriate question to put to a person who has publically declared his love and yet three times, when the going got rough, failed to live up to his promise to love. And yet, here on the beach, three times Peter answers, “Yes! Yes! Yes I love you!”

Is there anything these disciples can do to convince Jesus that they are not the most steadfast of followers. It appears there’s no betrayal, no failure that they can commit that can keep Jesus from returning to them, speaking to them, revealing himself to them and assigning them work to do for him. 

We began this journey with Jesus, with Jesus’s invitation, “Follow me!” We now see that we end this journey (or is it really a new beginning?) hearing Jesus say to Peter, even amid all of his disappointments and failures to follow, “Follow me!”

Jesus, it appears, refuses to let us let our failures have the last word on our relationship with him. He comes to us. The risen Christ appears. He not only appears to us, but he also calls to us. He assigns us his work to do. “Feed my sheep” could be interpreted in a number of ways. I think that’s how Christ’s vocation is. What he expects us to do varies, but each of us is here under his invitation, his command, “Follow me!”

I hope that in our times of failure, when we aren’t the follower of Jesus we intend to be. When believing in Jesus is difficult for us, or when we are disappointed by our faithless following, or facing some failure in our own ministry, that we will remember this story, this post-Easter story and take heart.

Our failure does not negate his vocation. Even in our failures to follow, he keeps showing up to us in our ordinary lives, he keeps encouraging us, and keeps saying to us, even us, “Follow me!” Therein is our hope. Today’s word is for the stumblers, the bunglers, doubters and failures. And it’s a word of good news. When we fail to live up to our intentions and expectations, when we feel you’ve disappointed the Lord, be especially vigilant. In the dark, just before dawn, that’s when Jesus loves to show up to those who’ve had difficulty sticking with him. Thanks be to God – amen.