Year of Character Development: Breakfast at the Beach

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 lake. 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 and 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.’

The film “Jesus Christ Superstar” came out when I was a kid. My first experience with the church youth group was going to the theater to see the movie as a 7th-grader. It was one of the very first albums I bought, and I listened to it again and again and memorized my favorite songs. So a couple years ago when John Legend and Sara Bareilles and others performed it as a live, televised concert on Easter Sunday, I couldn’t resist tuning in; and when they rebroadcast it on Easter again this year, I was there. The writers of the musical, of course, took some creative liberties with the story, but their interpretation draws me deeper into the Gospel accounts, and the music touches me on another level.

In this latest rendition of the musical, the song that sticks with me is one that’s sung by Sara Bareilles’s character Mary and the singer who plays Peter. With plaintive longing, they sing, “Could we start again please?” “This was unexpected — what do I do now?” Mary asks. And Peter pleads, “Before it gets too frightening, we ought to call a halt.” In the song, even before the crucifixion, Mary and Peter have a prescient understanding that they are crossing a threshold. The old world and life as they have known it is behind them; there is no going back. They imagine where Jesus is headed, and it’s not what they expected. “Could we just start again please?”

When we meet Peter in tonight’s story, his world has been turned upside down again and again. His disappointment at the crucifixion was as great as his hopes and expectations had been for Jesus as king. But after death came resurrection and the promise of the Spirit. And now the hours have turned into weeks. He’s stuck between an ending and a new beginning. No way to move forward, no way to move backward. 

We never would have imagined ourselves being in the kind of liminal space we live in now. Like Peter, we are stuck between an ending and a beginning. It’s a time of disorientation. There is grief and loss. Fear of the unknown. We have stayed home because of our love for the neighbor. We have set one foot into a wildly unknown future, and that very act has made the wilderness even more fierce for some of us. This place is not just uncomfortable for some but unbearably painful. There is desperation to get back to work. But the way forward is still unclear. We are only here in this moment. 

For Peter, doubts have crept in. He has never been good at sitting still. 

Always the schemer, always second-guessing. He wants to get back to work. And that is the place where Jesus comes to Peter. 

Peter and his friends have gone fishing, but their labors have yielded nothing. 

When they return to shore empty handed, Jesus is there, only they don’t recognize him yet. In that place between what had been and what was yet to come, Jesus shows up, and he gives Peter a sign. “Go back, and put your net on the other side.” 

They do, and guess what? Their net is filled to capacity, and then they know. 

If the backward motion of going back to the sea and casting their nets on the other side wasn’t enough, Peter put his clothes on to swim! Peter can’t contain himself. Jesus has met him right there where he was – in the midst of doubt and despair — and given him abundance: grace upon grace. “You are what I need,” Jesus says to Peter. “Just as you are… Lean into this moment, and use what you’ve learned from me. Tend my sheep. Feed my lambs.” 

The whole world is on pause right now. We have never experienced anything like this. Some among us are risking their lives to tend and feed and supply the needs of others. Many have been working strenuously to adapt to a new reality  — working remotely, retooling businesses, guiding their kids full-time, caring for their elders. Some are paddling hard to stay afloat. Indeed, it’s a time of disorientation. 

Human nature leads us to cast about for blame. Whose fault is it, we ask. As if knowing the answer would somehow satisfy the longing articulated by the song from Jesus Christ Superstar, “Could we start again please?” No amount of wishing or finger pointing will change the place where we find ourselves. We are here in this moment, in the space between what has been and what will be. Jesus meets us there — in the meantime. 

Kathryn Schmidt sent an email yesterday, and she has given permission to share her observations. Kathryn is struck by the goodness she sees in the world, by people’s kindness in gestures large and small. Whether they know it or not, she said, people are bearing witness to God’s love. 

This strange moment of social distancing opened her up to the present moment when she went to Papa Murphy’s yesterday to pick up a pizza to bake for supper. There were just two people on the customer side of the counter: a worker who had just finished his shift and Kathryn. He struck up a conversation with her and told her about some personal losses. Three people close to him had just died, not of COVID-19 but because of cancer and gun violence. Kathryn was moved to empathy, to connecting with someone whose world was so different than hers, and uplifted by his testimony of the things that were giving him hope. It’s not that the two of them wouldn’t have connected before. But there are more of these moments, and she is open to them.  “There’s still nastiness in the world,” she said, “but there is also an abundance of kindness and love oozing out all over!” Grace upon grace. She had eyes to see. 

Jesus meets us in this moment and says: “Cast your net on the other side.” Live in this moment, not always looking toward the future. See the abundant grace right here. Instead of clinging tight to what you have, release your grasp. Instead of keeping, try giving. 

Grace is that incredible gift of knowing that you are enough — that God has gifted you with dreams and talents and yearnings, and even when we are afraid and irrational and thick-headed, God loves us anyway. God says, “You are exactly what I need.” And just as he does to Peter, Jesus tells us how to lean into this time: “Tend my sheep,” he says. Feed the young ones. Protect the vulnerable. Guide my little ones. It’s part of God’s plan to redeem and reconcile all humanity and creation. Even the earth. There will always be those who seek to divide, but God’s mission is to reconcile and to heal. 

We are staying home right now for the sake for the other. We are caring for our neighbor. There are blessings in this moment, grace upon grace. So may God give us the eyes to see, wise leaders, and the courage to follow. 

Amen.