Fishing Tips from 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 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.”

When you don’t know what to do, go fishing!  If there is a better piece of biblical wisdom, I have yet to find it!  Jesus was dead and the disciples were next.  Jesus shows up in person and the disciples couldn’t EVEN!  So they went fishing!  And what did they catch?  NOTHING!  Same problem they had at the beginning of Luke’s Gospel.  In that story a mysterious man told them to put their nets back in the water and, BAM!  A ton of fish.  Now, on the other end of a different Gospel, Peter hears another mysterious man on the beach say with some snark, “Hey kids!  You don’t seem to have any fish.  Try on the other side” and, BAM!  A ton of fish.  I think we all know what it feels like to not be able to “EVEN” and when we find ourselves not being able to “EVEN” we know that it’s long past time to get in the boat and GO FISHING!

In our Baptisms we were all taken aboard the Fishing Vessel named “The Church.”  Contrary to many people’s thinking, it’s not a flag waving battleship, nor a billion dollar super yacht, nor a sport fishing charter, or even an “all about you” Carnival Cruise.  “The Church” is a nitty gritty commercial fishing vessel where the hard work of casting God’s net of infinite love into the world goes on night and day.  This net transforms the world… from dark to light, from scarcity to abundance, from death to life.  That is the mission of this boat, and following the fishing tips of that snarky guy over there on the beach is the key to fishing success!  We need to set our nets, our hearts, and minds on the Jesus side of the boat!  Without Jesus it’s dark, and we just row around in circles catching not one fish.  BUT, with Jesus, the Son shines, the darkness retreats, the Spirit blows, the sails fill, the boat goes where there are fish and the nets come up full.

It’s also worth paying attention to the guy on the beach for another excellent reason… FREE BREAKFAST!  In a not-so-subtle nod to the Feeding of the Five Thousand, Jesus invites the disciples to eat breakfast on the beach.  They use fish fresh out of the net, a net by the way, that didn’t let ANY… NOT ONE… get away!  Jesus gives them grilled fish breakfast sandwiches so that they might both be refreshed from the work they’ve already done and also given what they need for the work still ahead.  Through locked doors, down deserted roads, out onto a beach, and into our lives, Jesus comes to us wherever we might be.  We don’t find Jesus, Jesus finds us, directs us, sweeps us up in an unbreakable net, and gives us ALL we need to have an abundant life and to share abundant life with the world around us.

If I was writing this story, THAT’s where I would have ended it.  All of us found, fed, full, fat, and happy, lying on the beach in the Sun.  Boom.  Done.  The End!  But lying on the beach in a blissful food coma is not where we are left.  Found, fed and filled with all that we need as a gift from God, Jesus asks Peter (and all of us) a frightening, terrible question.  “DO YOU LOVE ME?”  It’s frightening and terrible because Peter and all of us know that really loving Jesus isn’t about statements of faith or religious sounding words.  Loving Jesus is about getting up after breakfast and walking back into that “I can’t EVEN” world with our feet and feeding the lambs… caring for the least, the lost, and the last of our world with our hands. 

Loving Jesus, casting nets, feeding lambs and tending sheep… these are the things that our little dingy named Christ Trinity Church calls “creating corners of kindness.” THAT is our calling… day in and day out regardless of the state of the world around us and that really is a daunting call…  But don’t loose sight of the Good News in the enormity of that call.  We have spot-on fishing tips from Jesus on the beach and we are always loaded up with a free breakfast that gives us all we need to do this work!  We really have been, and are being constantly given, all we need to continue fishing, continue feeding, continue tending, continue creating corners of kindness and continue to change the world from what it is into what God intends it to be.  

So my fellow disciples, here’s the take home message:  When the world makes you feel like you “Can’t Even”… Gather here with the crew.  Thankfully receive the generous gifts God continually showers on us.  Get in the boat together and go fishing.  The world will advise you to fish on the selfish, vengeful, and violent side of the boat, but the world doesn’t know JACK about fishing!  Instead, take the advice of the guy on the beach!  Set your nets on the side of kindness, compassion, and love.  Because THAT’S where your nets will haul out abundant life by the ton!  Enough to change the world!   Amen. 

Shecky, the 14th Disciple

John 20: 19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Patrick Sullivan’s family made nails.  His great-grandfather made them in a tiny shed by hand, his grandfather had automated the business, his dad had grown it and Patrick had built a brand new factory.  Now, Sullivan nails are the premier nail used in the construction industry.  One day Patrick was out for a drive and saw a giant billboard for rent.  He called up his ad agency and had them work up a cutting edge ad campaign.  A week later Patrick drove by to see his new billboard and nearly crashed his car.  There on the billboard was Jesus nailed to the cross with the caption, THEY USED SULLIVAN NAILS.  Mortified, he called the ad agency and told them to get Jesus off his billboard immediately!  Three days later Patrick went out to look at the revised sign.  The cross was still there but Jesus was gone and the caption read, THEY SHOULD HAVE USED SULLIVAN NAILS!  

Today is Bright Sunday or Holy Hilarity Sunday where priests and pastor tell jokes from the pulpit because Jokes and the Resurrection have something in common… They both have very unexpected endings.  The resurrection probably has the MOST unexpected ending of a story EVER… the biggest practical joke of all time!  The people in the first lesson, the people in Acts, they got the joke.  They believed as one.  They were of one heart and mind and everything they owned they held in common.  People don’t do that kind of stuff if they don’t get the joke.

Speaking of jokes, an atheist was spending a quiet day fishing over on Smiley’s pond when all of a sudden his boat was attacked by the Smiley’s Pond Monster. In one easy flip, the beast tossed him and his boat high into the air. Then, as it opened its mouth to swallow both man and boat, the man cried out, “Oh, my God! Help me!" And immediately, the scene froze. The boat, monster, and atheist all hung in mid-air, and a booming voice came down from heaven, "I thought you didn't believe in Me!" The atheist replied, ”Come on God, give me a break, two minutes ago I didn't believe in the Smiley’s Pond Monster either!"

You got that one.  Good!  But not everyone gets every joke right away.  The disciples at first locked themselves up in a room in fear.  They obviously don’t get the joke right away.  It was only when Jesus appeared and showed them the wounds that they finally got it.

How about this one?  Did you hear about the mistake the dyslexic devil worshipper made? He devoted his life to Santa.

Did you get that one?  Like I said, not everyone gets every joke right away but it’s so important to get THE joke... the greatest practical joke of all time... the Resurrection… that I’m going to break a cardinal rule of comedy and explain the joke to you.  

We’ll start with the punch line.  Are you ready? CHRIST IS RISEN!  Really and truly risen from the dead!  Not just woke up from a really deep sleep, he wasn’t just “mostly” dead.  He is totally and fully alive again after being totally and fully dead.  He had pulled the pin, was pushing up daisies, and had bitten the dust.  He had cashed in his chips, and given up the ghost.  Jesus was dead... BUT NOW… CHRIST IS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED! 

It's the best punch line ever.  But what’s a punch line without the set up.  The set up goes back to that time Jesus was tested by the Devil in the wilderness.  The devil wanted to give Jesus all the power, but there was a catch.  Jesus has to bow down and worship the devil.  Jesus sees this is not a great deal and tells the devil to go soak his head.  After that, the devil plots, schemes and plans to get Jesus the old fashioned way.  DEATH!  Good Friday comes around and the people and the devil are all laughing at Jesus.  “Should have taken my offer" says the devil, "then you wouldn’t just be hanging around!”

You see, the devil, Empire, sin, darkness, evil, death… whatever you want to call it… thought they had won.   BUT just when the devil, Empire, sin, darkness, evil and death thought that they had pulled a fast one on God… THOUGHT they had killed God’s only Son, it turns out the joke is actually on THEM!  With that one punch line... CHRIST IS RISEN!...  God took the horns off the devil, turned the world up side down, freed the world from sin, banished death, and shined the zillion watt light of Christ into every darkness, in every place, and every time.  With that one punch line... CHRIST IS RISEN... God not only gave Jesus new life, but with Jesus, God gave all of us, and all of creation, new life as well.  Life that starts now and goes on for all eternity!  And that's what makes this the biggest and best joke of all time.  Death and the devil snatched total defeat right out from the jaws of victory!

Speaking of the resurrection, you know why Jesus didn't replace the stone on the tomb when he rose from the dead?  He actually WAS born in a barn!

Once you get the joke it literally changes EVERYTHING.  I know there are still people who say you have to work your way to heaven.  But once you get this joke you can laugh at that silly notion!  That work’s been done!  HE IS RISEN!  There may be people who think that there is still a battle raging between good and evil, but once you get the joke you can laugh at that too because, as the song says, the strife is over, the battle is won.  The joke has been told and the punch line given. 

I hope you get this joke, because like any good joke, once you get it, you’ve just got to pass it on.  In Acts they did just that… passed it on… with “GREAT POWER” and power here has the same root as dynamite!  That’s right, this story is Biblically “dynamite.”  So, on this Holy Hilarity Sunday, remember… try the veal, tip your waitress, and then go out there and live your life into the greatest joke ever told, never forgetting the best punch line of all time… Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!  Alleluia!  Amen.  

Evi-Dance

Luke 24:1-12

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

Two weeks ago a pastor friend of mine went to do the interment of a member’s ashes in the Stockbridge cemetery.  It’s the road department who digs the graves in Stockbridge and that day it was raining, so the crew had covered the small hole with a large piece of wood to keep the water out.  When my friend lifted up the wood, he saw it was actually a road sign.  But not just any road sign.  This sign said… “Dead End!”  The family and my friend, thankfully all had the right sort of faith and the right sense of humor for that particular moment.  But all too often the world out there really does feel an awful lot like a real “Dead End.”

That’s what the world looked like for the women who watched as Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb on Friday.  That’s what the world looked like when they came out on Sunday morning to properly finish his burial and found what we read in today’s Gospel.  Luke lays it out all nice and neat, describing the stone rolled away, the body missing, the shining young men, and the linen cloths over in a corner… Luke does it so well you might be tempted to say, “See!  This is the proof that there's no Dead End.”  But here’s an awkward question for you on an Easter Sunday.  Where’s Jesus?  Look again at the story if you need to, but there’s NO Jesus!  Alive, dead, or any other way!  With no Jesus, is there even a case for the Resurrection?

Kelly’s dad, Fred, was a police detective.  One of his best stories was about a series of burglaries which all had the same, very well used MO of one particular, very well known, gentleman in town.  Fred brought him in, laid out all of the very familiar hallmarks of these most recent burglaries that perfectly matched those of the burglaries this man had been convicted of in the past.  Then Fred asked the man what he thought.  The man thought for a second and then said, “Well Cap’n Davis, that’s a good THEORY, but you ain’t got no evi-dance.”  Fred loved the way the man said “evi-dance” and it always made him laugh out loud.  Then, Fred would say, “He was right.  I didn’t have any hard “evi-dance” it was all just a THEORY.”

 

And really, that’s where we are with today’s Easter Gospel.  The open tomb, the shining guys and the linens in a corner make a good THEORY for the Resurrection, but if we’re honest, this story leaves us with no evi-dance!  Why in heaven or on Earth would Luke do us this way on Easter morning?  The women, you, me… we’ve all been left hanging since the Dead End sign of Good Friday… so why the tease, Luke?  Why not just give us Jesus in the flesh right here and now like John does?

I don’t really know why Luke chose to tell the story this way, but I do know this story, which is long on THEORY and short of EVI-DANCE, feels an awful lot like the world feels these days.  A pandemic that refuses to just GO AWAY once and for all!  Horrible legislation like the “Don’t say Gay” and anti-trans bills spreading throughout the county, and new discriminatory voting restrictions.  Not to mention the world teetering on the brink of World War III.  Like those women who came to the tomb on the first Easter, when we look out our window in search of hope, it just doesn't seem like there's a lot of EVI-DANCE.

But if Fred were here, and I suspect he is, he’d remind us that even though we don't have hard EVI-DANCE for hope in this story or in our world for the moment, we've actually got a lot more than nothing.  He’d say to us, “When you come out of your house in the morning and the road’s wet, the yard’s wet, the roof, trees, car, and driveway are wet, it’s true, you can’t PROVE that it rained last night… but you know it did.”  It’s not enough to close the case, but it’s enough to keep you walking down the road of the investigation.  Maybe that’s what Luke was doing with this lesson that’s big on theory and short of evidence.  Maybe Luke is reminding us that even in those times where there is not yet an air-tight case for us to have HOPE, if we look around, there’s always enough to at least keep us walking along the Way. 

For this Easter, that’s what I needed to hear.  Hopefully it’s what you needed to hear as well.  I needed to hear that even though the world is not yet as God created it to be, there are clues along the way to give me hope.  Like the laughter of that family and friends gathered for the interment in Stockbridge.  Like the open tomb, the shining men and the linens in the corner.  Like the little corners of kindness we create in our community, the small acts of caring we do for one another when we’re down.  Like the food we share with each other, which in church is an absolute expression of love! What Luke does for me with this story is to keep me walking and noticing and gathering up all those clues.  Clues that I know for now only give me the THEORY that a better world is possible.  But those clues are enough to keep me walking, seeing, and gathering those clues all down the road, because in Luke's Gospel, it's a little place just down the Emmaus Road where the theory we're holding onto now, evolves into the solid evi-dance we all so desperately need!   

In our world today, hope often feels like "Just a Theory." The fear, anger, hate and suffering we see all around us does not give us much in the way of hard "Evi-dance" for hope.  But the promise of Easter is that as we all walk together in love as Christ loved us, the hard evidence will unfold before us as we walk the Jesus Way of living with love, compassion, generosity, and peace just like it did for those disciples on the Emmaus Road in the very next verse that follows the lesson we read for today.  

May we walk together on this road, because at times it is truly overwhelming to walk alone.  May we encourage each other along the way to live our lives as Jesus did... with love, compassion, and peace.  And may we all continue to collect and share with each other even the smallest bits of evidence that there is absolutely reason to hope.  And may we all do that for one another until we are met in person by the risen Christ along the Way.  Amen. 

Love and De Feet

John 13:1–17, 31b–35

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Tonight, whether you know it or not, you have entered into the first episode of a Trilogy greater than The Original Star Wars movies, The Lord of the Rings, and The Godfather series... COMBINED!  The first episode of our Trilogy is called “Maundy Thursday.”  It’s the opening… where the characters and the conflict are introduced.  In tomorrow’s episode, called Good Friday, we encounter the cruel plot twist which results in a seemingly inescapable horror as everything that could go wrong, goes completely wrong.  Then on Saturday, in the final episode, called the Great Easter Vigil, we pick up the story in its darkest depths and witness the impossible, yet world changing conclusion!  

Because the ancient church didn’t have George Lucas, Peter Jackson, Francis Ford Coppola, or film for that matter, they shared this epic Trilogy in worship, rather than on film.  ONE incredible story… ONE incredible worship service… told every year for over 2000 years, and always told in these three parts over the course of three days.  Each piece… so emotionally packed, it had to be told over three days so that each part had a chance to fully sink in before moving onto the next.  It was, and still is, too enormous, too overwhelming, too life changing to fully absorb in just one sitting.  

And while this trilogy does contain incredible, edge of your seat drama, action, and horror… it really is, at its core, a love story.  It is the story of Christ’s PASSION.  Now, Christ’s Passion is NOT, as you may have heard, Christ's betrayal, blood, suffering and death, dealt out by a violent God demanding satisfaction.  No!  All of that is what the world tried to throw in the way to STOP Christ’s Passion!  What Christ was and is most passionate about is sharing God’s love with us so that we might truly embrace it, wrap ourselves fully in it, and in so doing experience the Abundant Life in which God created us to live.  And then, having been changed by that love ourselves, we'd pass it on to the broken world ourselves!

In tonight’s opening episode Jesus gives us the Cliff Notes version of his passion.  “Love one another, as I have loved you.”  Now, if you know any of the Jesus prequel episodes, this Cliff Note's version shouldn’t be a surprise.  Literally everything Jesus said and did up to this point illustrated that love.  But in this opening night of the Trilogy Jesus takes all of the parables, all of the healings, all of the feedings, dinners, and miracles and binds them up into one, small, world changing, easy to carry package and gives it to us as a gift.  “Love one another as I have first loved you.”  People still, to this day try, to distort that gift.  Twisting it with hate, exclusion, discrimination and oppression… but none of that is what Jesus is about.  Jesus is about “LOVE one another, as I have first loved you!” 

Love, not hate.  Inclusion, not exclusion.  Freedom, not oppression.  And this Jesus Way of love is special.  It starts small like a mustard seed and grows into a tree with room for every bird!  It’s a love like a hidden treasure, worth selling all you have to buy the land in which that treasure is buried.  It’s a love that offers itself… every ounce of itself… in sacrificial service to the other.  It’s a love that makes sure the hungry are fed, just because they are hungry!  No questions asked!  Jesus’ love is about giving water in the desert, giving sight to the blind, and giving life to the dead.  Jesus’ love is about nothing less than changing the whole world from what it is, into what God created it to be.  That is the love to which we are called tonight.  

So we simply can’t love like Jesus and turn our backs on the weak, powerless and poor.  We simply can’t love like Jesus loved and only worry about the afterlife.  We simply can’t love like Jesus loved and turn away from the places where the politics of power, pain, hurt, prejudice, discrimination and death seem all powerful, because Jesus never turned away from those kinds of places... in fact, Jesus paraded right into the heart of them!  Jesus loved you and me and every single molecule of creation, head on, no holds barred, and literally to death... and in this first part of the Trilogy, we are all reminded, in that short little phrase, "Love one another as I have loved you," that if we are going to be disciples of Jesus, then THAT is the way WE TOO are called to love the world.   

We will see that kind of love tonight at God’s table.  We will practice that kind of love tonight as we wash one another’s feet.  The world in Jesus’ day was obsessed with violently separating blood from body and sadly our world is not much different.  But then as now,  Jesus calls us out of that way to live a different WAY.  The way of love.  That Way… the Jesus way… the way of love… THAT is our calling as disciples for these three days and for every day of our lives but as we will see in tomorrow's episode, that kind of discipleship is not without cost.  

Tonight, we live in the love that is Christ’s Passion.  Tonight we practice that love on each other, loving one another as Christ first loved us, over there and over there.  Tonight is about the love.  Tomorrow is about the cost of loving the world the Jesus way.  Tomorrow we'll see again that loving the Jesus Way costs everything.  Amen.