Father, we ask that you would gently but very deeply and powerfully pour the Holy Spirit upon us at this time.
Pour the Holy Spirit down upon us and deep within us,
that your word, your gospel, your grace might come ever deeper into the center of who we are.
Father, we ask that you would reveal Jesus to us as Savior and Lord at an ever deeper level of who we are.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
I was raised in a Christian home, but I was not one of those Christian kids who naturally liked church.
In fact, probably if you were able to go back in time and bring some of my long-suffering Sunday school teachers
and to find out that I'd become a minister, I think they would have been, the Irish word would be gobsmacked.
Probably if those Sunday school teachers were getting together and discussing those most likely to live to be a pastor or a missionary or something,
I would not have been on that list.
And as I got a bit older, I had a hard time with Christianity.
And part of the problem I had with the Christian faith was that I just didn't like a lot of the cultural stuff that went along with it.
Now, I'm getting to be close to ancient of days, and it's hard for people younger to understand the world.
But in the Baptist type of church that I grew up in, I thought that if I was to become a Christian,
I had to dress a certain way, had to have my hair cut a certain way.
I had to listen to a certain type of music.
I couldn't listen to a whole pile of other things and watch TV.
I never had any interest in dancing, by the way, but that's something I'll have to learn in heaven.
Because we'll probably do a lot of dancing in heaven.
But, you know, that wasn't something that I'm particularly drawn to.
But I just, music, everything, the type of literature,
there seemed like there was this Baptist Christian culture,
and real Christians had to like all of that stuff, and I didn't like any of it.
I like different types of music, different ways of dress,
and so I had a hard time at all thinking that Christianity could be for me.
I'm not going to go through the whole thing, but some things transpired that ended up making me realize
that I could be a Christian and dress different and do a whole pile of different things,
and the Lord appeared to me and I became a Christian.
I mention this because it's a very similar problem that I have sometimes
when I talk with some of my Muslim or Jewish friends in particular,
but just generally when I talk to people, also for people that are raised in the Catholic school system.
They try to figure out what type of Christian I am,
and I have a hard time finding categories to talk to them.
Because, you see, all the Muslims that I know are people who basically have rejected
most of the Muslim faith and live a very secular life.
And for them, like a devout Muslim, well, like if you're a male and you're a devout Muslim,
you start to grow a beard, and you start to wear certain types of clothes,
and you start to do a whole pile of very particular Muslim things.
That's what a devout, serious Muslim does,
and these secular Muslims don't want anything to do with it.
And when I talk to my Jewish friends and I try to describe where I am,
well, from their point of view, if you're a very serious Jewish person,
well, once again, the men and the women will start to dress a very particular way,
and they've rejected that.
They don't want to have any of that.
And it would be the same, actually, for Hindus and Buddhists.
And for those who've grown up in the Catholic school system,
like real Christians are priests.
Like if you're really serious, you become a priest,
or you become a monk, or you become a nun, or something like that,
and they're not interested in that.
So I have a hard time trying to describe what the gospel is,
what Christianity is, and who I am and where I all fit,
given the fact that there's all these preconceptions,
religious preconceptions, about what it means to be a real Christian,
a serious Christian.
The Bible text that we're going to look at today
actually is spectacularly helpful in helping us to think through this issue,
not in terms of how we maybe communicate to our friends,
but at least for us, to help us to understand.
And if you're here just curious, it's a very, very, very helpful text
to understand how the gospel is different
and what the gospel does in terms of how it shapes you and how it doesn't.
So if you turn in your Bibles to John chapter 21,
that would be very, very helpful.
John chapter 21.
And just, you know, it's so funny.
In so many churches and so many Christians, when you meet them,
they talk about parts of the Bible as if it's just like a quote.
But it's not.
You know, my wife and I just finished watching a documentary.
It was a very good documentary.
We really enjoyed it, The Dawn Wall.
And it tells a story.
It tells the story of this fellow Tommy Caldwell
and what he was like growing up
and what led him to have this obsession to climb a particular rock face.
And there's a story.
It goes back and forth about what's happening in his life,
what drives him, and how it all ends.
And if I just came in and just gave you a quote from a bit of it,
it wouldn't make any sense, right?
Because you have to sort of know the whole story.
It's the same here with John's gospel.
He's writing a story.
He tells you the story of Jesus,
the biography of Jesus in the story form.
And when you do that,
you realize all sorts of different things about it.
So what's just happened, as I just said,
John is an eyewitness.
He's written this eyewitness biography
while other eyewitnesses were around.
And he's talked to us about how Jesus died.
And he talked about how Jesus was embalmed
and how he was entombed
and how the tomb was empty
and the grave clothes were left behind
and how he appeared to Mary
and then how he appeared to 10 of the disciples
and then how he appeared to the disciples plus Thomas
and maybe some others.
And that's what we just looked at.
That's what's just before this.
And there's a very important bit that's just before this
that I just have to summarize for you
or you don't understand the shocking nature of this.
Because I can tell you this,
there have been lots of trees
that have been put to death
because of this chapter,
these verses that we're looking at.
Because for many, many scholars and many Christians,
this is a problem text.
And you don't understand it
unless you know what's just going on before that.
And what's just going on before this
is that when Jesus shows himself alive to the disciples,
then he gives these four things.
He gives them a message which they're to proclaim.
And the message which they are to proclaim
is that there is a way.
Jesus has now done something
so that human beings will no longer be at enmity,
that's fighting,
or opposed to God.
But Jesus has done something to make peace with God.
Not that God had to make peace with us.
He's always been loving.
But that we might be at peace with him.
And Jesus has now done that.
By his life and death and resurrection,
Jesus has done what human beings can't do.
He has opened a door for us to be at peace with God.
That he will be our God.
That we could walk with him.
That he would be our father.
That we are in our father's world.
And we can talk to him.
And he gives us this message that we have to proclaim.
And then the second thing he does
is he says,
you've got to actually go.
Not only do I give you a message,
you've got to go and tell people about it.
You don't just sort of wait until people come to you.
You need to figure out ways to go and tell them.
And then the third thing he does,
he says,
so you have the message,
you have the mission.
I'm going to give you the power.
I'm going to give you the Holy Spirit.
He breathes the Holy Spirit on them.
So they have the power
to do,
to proclaim the message and to go.
And then the fourth thing he does
is he says,
this is really important.
Like people's eternal destiny
hangs upon this.
If people die without hearing this
or they hear it and they reject it,
it means that they will be forever
at enmity with God.
If they receive it,
it means they begin to have peace with God
that begins right now
and will go on for all eternity.
This is very, very, very important.
You've got to do it.
And then John,
and then Jesus says,
people who believe in me
without having actually seen me,
you're blessed.
He says over all of us who are Christians,
you're blessed.
And then John says,
by the way,
I wrote this whole book
so you'll understand who Jesus is
and you'll believe him and trust him.
And now that can leave us with a bit of,
if the gospel just ended right there,
we'd say,
well, how do we live?
Like, what do we do?
And so John now sort of gives us
a little bit of an implication
of all this big message
and that's what happens right now.
This is where the story continues.
It's John chapter 21, verse 1,
and here's how it continues.
It's very surprising.
It's so surprising that,
as I said,
lots of trees have been cut down
to make paper
for scholars and pastors
to write about it
because they see it as a great problem.
Right?
Very important.
Go off and do it.
Chapter 21, verse 1.
After this,
Jesus revealed himself again
to the disciples
by the Sea of Tiberias
and he revealed himself in this way.
Just sort of pause.
In the New Testament,
you can get a little bit confused.
There's three different ways
of referring to the same body of water.
This, by the way,
is very common.
If you've grown up in a rural area,
that might be the way
the rural people refer to something,
it might be something
that the government refers to it,
there might be something
that tourists call it,
and just reflect it
in how the Gospels are written.
So the Sea of Galilee,
the Sea of Tiberias,
and Lake Gennesaret
are all the same body of water.
Okay?
So just to read it again,
the Sea of Galilee
is more familiar to us.
So after this,
verse 1,
Jesus revealed himself again
to the disciples
by the Sea of Galilee
or Gennesaret
or Tiberias,
and he revealed himself
in this way.
Simon Peter,
Thomas,
called the twin,
Nathaniel of Cana and Galilee,
the sons of Zebedee,
and two others
of Jesus' disciples
were together,
seven guys.
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.
Now believe it or not,
this has caused
lots of angst.
And the reason is,
well,
first of all,
there's many,
many scholars
who believe
that this is actually
out of place,
that this should have
actually been,
whoever was copying
the book,
they mixed things up
and it should really
be earlier in the story
and it somehow
is a mistake.
And the reason
they think that
is they say to themselves,
good grief,
Jesus has just
appeared to them,
he's done it
several times,
he's told them
that they have to go,
they have to proclaim
this message,
and these guys
are fishing?
Like,
are they stupid?
Well,
they can't be that stupid.
They can't be that dumb.
I know you're not
supposed to say stupid,
right?
Sorry,
parents,
if you have young kids,
you're not supposed
to say stupid.
Just time out.
I shouldn't have done it.
Anyway,
dumb,
clueless,
whatever you want to say,
they're fishing.
It doesn't make any sense.
And so they try to figure out
how to get around
this particular problem.
Said some scholars say
that it's just a mistake
in the copying.
And by the way,
there's zero evidence
that it's in the wrong order.
All of the ancient manuscripts
show the gospel written
in this particular,
zero evidence
that it's in the wrong order.
And pastors will talk about
why it is
that they're not in Jerusalem,
why it is
that they're not praying,
they're not singing praise songs,
they're not studying the Bible,
they're not making a plan
to evangelize the world,
they're not doing
any of these things,
they're fishing.
And it's a problem.
And there's another thing
which is going on.
And by the way,
part of the reason
that this is a problem,
that people view it
as a problem,
is,
well, you see,
it's a little bit like
what I said
at the beginning
of the sermon.
You see,
because real Christians
go to a Baptist church,
those of you
who didn't go to a Baptist church
back then,
sucks to be you.
But real Christians
went to a Baptist church,
real Christians
didn't listen to choirs,
soloists,
and gospel quartets
were particularly
what real Christians
listened to.
And real Christians
dressed a certain way,
and real Christians
had their hair cut
a certain way,
and real Christians
did lots of religious stuff
all of the time,
nothing secular.
And so,
a lot of pastors
and scholars
take this over to the text.
Jesus has just given them
this great commission,
and here they're fishing.
Like,
that's not what
real Christians do.
Now,
we're going to look
at this text.
There's more.
You have to read
the rest of the story.
But there's another thing
actually here,
which is really important,
and I'm going to just
take a moment
to talk about it.
There's a little bit
of a class bias
in these comments as well.
As you know,
throughout all of
Christian history,
there's always a bit
of a problem
of thinking that
upper middle class
are a bit more holy
than working class.
We're more polished.
I'm not upper middle class.
But middle class,
you know,
more than the working class,
you know,
we have better people skills.
You know,
we know how to eat better.
We have better taste
in music
and literature
and all of that
type of stuff.
And there's just
this subtle way
that we think
that these things
that make no difference
to God whatsoever
somehow are connected
to being spiritual,
being more godly.
But here's the thing.
A couple of years ago,
quite a few years ago now,
I listened to a podcast
and the podcast
was by an executive
from Walmart.
And the executive
in Walmart
was talking to a group
of other executives
and high-level
advertising people.
And one of the things
he said
is that Walmart
is not for any of you
in this room.
We at Walmart,
we don't care about
a single one
in this room.
Not one.
We don't care
if a single one of you
ever come to our store.
Why?
Walmart is designed
to attract people
who live paycheck
to paycheck.
Everything in Walmart
is designed
to meet the needs
of people
who live paycheck
to paycheck.
You in the room,
you don't live
paycheck to paycheck.
We don't care about you.
But you know what?
Most of North America
lives paycheck to paycheck
and we'll make enough money
reaching most of them.
The early disciples
lived paycheck
to paycheck.
They were not
upper class.
They were not
independently wealthy.
Peter went fishing
because he needed money.
And he needed money
not because he was sinful
but because he lived
paycheck to paycheck.
In fact,
out of all the original
12 disciples,
the only one
who might not have had
to live paycheck to paycheck
was Matthew.
But after Matthew
gave up his occupation,
he also now
would have to have been
living paycheck to paycheck.
And the reason
Peter goes fishing
and he goes fishing
at night
is because
if you want to make money
from fishing,
you fish at night
so that as the day begins,
people can go
and buy your fresh fish.
That's why you do it.
He was making some money.
If he was alive today,
he'd not be shopping
at Nordstrom's.
He'd be shopping
at Walmart.
He wouldn't be eating
at the Fauna restaurant
on Bank Street.
He'd be eating
at McDonald's
or Subway.
That's his social class.
And to think
that he's doing
something sinful
by working
is partially
a reflection,
an unconscious
social class bias
that often slips
into churches.
Let me tell you,
God doesn't love
people who live
in a mansion
in Manitic
any more
than he loves
somebody who's living
in subsidized housing.
He doesn't.
It's a problem.
If you're in the military,
he doesn't love generals
more than he loves privates.
He loves people.
So,
here we have
the situation.
Like,
what's going on?
How's Jesus
going to respond
to the fact
that these guys
have been going,
they're going fishing?
Well,
let's see.
Verse 4,
the story continues.
So,
just as day was breaking,
Jesus stood on the shore,
yet the disciples
did not know
that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to them,
children,
do you have any fish?
Just sort of pause here.
The translation
there is very literal.
But it's actually
not very helpful.
In the sense that
it's a little bit like
if I,
if you see a guy
and he sees some other guys
out in a boat,
he might say,
boys,
how's it going?
Or lads,
how's it going?
Right?
It's just a term
of affection.
It'd be like saying,
hey boys,
how's the work going today?
And they'd say something good.
And that's what he's really saying.
He's saying,
boys,
how's it going?
So,
read verse 5 again.
So,
Jesus said to them,
boys,
or lads,
do you have any fish?
And they answered him,
no.
He said to them,
cast the net on the right side,
the other side of the boat,
and you will find some.
Now,
just pause here for a second.
And this is something
that most of you don't know.
You would not believe
how many people
use this text
as a proof text
to say,
the reason your church
isn't growing,
the reason you're not
making more money,
the reason you're not
having better success
in evangelism,
the reason you don't have
all these other things
is you're fishing
on the wrong side
of the boat.
So,
go to my 1-800 number,
my webpage,
sign up,
give me your credit card information,
I'll give you the techniques
so you can fish
on the right side
of the boat.
Okay,
next time you read that,
time out.
This is not a proof text
to sell your stuff.
The Bible
is never
a proof text
for you
to make lots of money
with your brilliant idea.
It's not.
Never.
Ever.
It's one of the ways
that people who say
they believe the Bible
act as if they
don't believe the Bible.
It's actually a violation
of the commandment
about taking the Lord's name
in vain,
actually.
So,
I hope there's no guest here
who has a 1-800 number
who's used this.
Well,
you know what?
I'm glad you heard this,
what I said,
because I know
I'm right on this.
And a moment's reflection
will tell you,
the Bible wasn't written
so you can make money
off your idea.
It wasn't written
for that at all,
ever.
Anyway,
back to the story.
Got you mixed up.
We'll go back
to verse 6.
He said to them,
Jesus said to them,
cast the net
on the other side
of the boat
and you will find
some fish.
So they cast it
and now they were
not able to haul it in
because of the quantity
of fish.
The disciple
whom Jesus loved
therefore said to Peter,
it is the Lord.
And when Simon Peter
heard that it was the Lord,
he put on his
outer garment
for he was stripped
for work
and threw himself
into the sea.
And the other disciples
came in the boat
dragging the net
full of fish
for they were not
far from the land
but about a hundred yards off.
Now just a couple
of things here.
Believe it,
as you can well imagine,
this has caused
lots of problems as well
and some of you
are probably wondering
why is it that
they are not able
to recognize Jesus.
Like isn't this
a contradiction?
If you just read
the gospel,
Jesus has appeared
to Mary,
he's appeared
to the ten of the disciples,
he's appeared
to eleven disciples
and maybe some others
and if you know
the other things
in the gospels,
he's appeared
to others
and here they
don't recognize him.
It would be
a little bit like this.
I know if you're
a guest here,
you don't know
who Andrew and Lisa are
but for those of us
who know Andrew
and Lisa
and what they look like,
okay,
and if you've ever
helped at coffee,
you know there's
a little tiny kitchen
just about over there,
a little tiny,
tiny kitchen,
not much bigger
than a closet
and if two of you
went into that kitchen
and one of you
came out and said to me,
oh, I saw Andrew
in the kitchen
all by himself
and the other one said,
no, no,
I saw Lisa in the kitchen
all by herself,
you would wonder
what's going on.
Nobody would confuse
Andrew with Lisa.
It's never going to happen
in a million,
well, maybe,
I don't know,
maybe in a million years,
I don't know,
but they won't live,
nobody will confuse them.
You know,
one is this tall,
male and female,
different color,
different boy,
like nobody
will confuse them,
right?
So if one of,
if two of you
went in and said,
no, I saw Andrew
in this little tiny room
and the other one said,
no, no, it was Lisa,
you'd go,
there's something wrong,
like somebody's making up
and so we take
this assumption
because why,
we understand
what people look like
and how perception
worked with human beings
but here's the problem
we have.
How much do any of us
know about resurrected bodies?
How many of us
have a direct
day-by-day experience
with resurrected bodies?
If you put up your hand,
I don't believe you.
The answer is
we have zero knowledge
of resurrected bodies.
The only knowledge
we have of resurrected bodies
is what we find
by reading
the eyewitness accounts
and all of the eyewitness accounts
seem to say
that you can't just observe
Jesus after his resurrection
the same way
you can observe
Andrew or Lisa
or me.
It seems as if
for we,
see,
I have fallen,
I'm a fallen human being
and I'm mortal
and I know
that I can observe
other people
and I can just look
and I can see them
but it seems as if
from the records
that Jesus really did
rise from the dead
he really is physical
as we're going to see
in a moment
he eats fish
and all of that
type of stuff
he really is alive
he really has
defeated death
but you cannot
observe Jesus
and recognize him
unless he wills it.
and that's what
seems to be
most of the New Testament
accounts all seem
to say that
and I don't understand
why scholars have
such a problem with it
it only makes
we can only really
have a problem
if you think
you know a lot
about resurrected bodies
and we don't
Jesus has to will it
and that's what happens
in fact
if you think
if you look at it
this isn't just
George saying this
look up
if you put
go back to verse 1
of chapter 21
look at this
the Bible
you see the Bible
often if you read
the Bible carefully
it often helps you
to understand
what's going on
after this
Jesus revealed
himself again
to the disciples
by the sea of Tiberias
and he revealed
himself in this way
he uses the word
revealed twice
if you want to
just skip down
now to verse 14
I don't know
if it will be
on the screen or not
verse 14 says
this was now
the third time
that Jesus was revealed
to the disciples
after he was raised
from the dead
and the word
the original language
word revealed
can sometimes
just mean appear
but the fundamental
meaning is
makes understood
and visible
what cannot be
understood
or seen
that God
reveals himself
we can't see God
by ourself
he has to reveal himself
we can't know
what God is thinking
he has to reveal it
it would just be
the same thing
as any human being
you don't know
what they're thinking
if I ask all of you
right now
to just tell me
what I'm thinking
in my head
right now
probably none of you
would be able
to tell me
but I was picturing
the little Baptist church
I grew up in
I had to reveal that
to you
and that's the word here
three times
at the beginning
and the end of the story
Jesus reveals himself
he makes visible
or clear
understood
what they could not know
by their own power
but we still have to get around
this whole thing
about
are the disciples
just dumb
are they rebellious
are they acting
in a way
that is in complete
defiance of Jesus
does Jesus do this miracle
so he could say
okay goofballs
I gave you the instructions
you weren't doing them
and that's why
you got zero fish
and I have to come up
a second time
and give you 153 big fish
to understand
you gotta listen to me
and do what I say
so get your butts
somewhere else
get doing
what I told you
is that what
no let's see what happens
verse 9
right
they get to shore
with all the fish
verse 9
when they got out
on the land
they saw a charcoal fire
in place
with fish
laid on it
and bread
so the fish is cooking
and there's some fresh bread
Jesus said to them
bring some of the fish
that you've just caught
so Simon Peter
went aboard
and hauled the net ashore
full of large fish
153 of them
and although
there were so many
the net was not torn
Jesus said to them
come and have breakfast
now none of the disciples
dared ask him
who are you
they knew it was the Lord
Jesus came
and took the bread
and gave it to them
and so with the fish
this was now
the third time
that Jesus was revealed
to the disciples
after he was raised
from the dead
I'm going to unpack it
with some points
to help you
but here's the main thing
if you look at this text
there's no word of condemnation
is there not one word
of condemnation
Jesus didn't say
you got it wrong
in fact what John
has done very helpfully
is after
this very important message
which went on earlier
which is that you're blessed
if you believe in Jesus
you have an obligation
to go and
let people know
that Jesus
has provided the means
by which you as a human being
can now be at peace with God
no longer at enmity
he can be your God
he can be your heavenly father
you can start to understand
his love for you
and you can walk with him
and with Jesus
you can learn about
the existence of the Holy Spirit
and the Holy Spirit's power
and be open to it
and you have this important message
and John here gives this
very very helpful pause
in terms of what it means
in terms we have to live
he does not condemn them
for anything they've done
and in fact
more than that
he blesses what they've done
and he blesses their presence
so let's just unpack that
with the last few minutes
if you could put up the first point
that would be very helpful
remember that the gospel
is proclaimed
to deliver you from religion
not to make you more religious
remember
that the gospel
is proclaimed
to deliver you from religion
not to make you
more religious
you see my mistake
and I don't know how I got it
and probably if I went back
in time to
to my
the Baptist church
I grew up in
it might very well be
that the minister
was all the time
speaking against it
but somehow or another
I didn't get it
I was dumb
I was a slow learner
but I sort of made the mistake
that what a real Christian is
is a real Christian
is both somebody
who's given their life
to Jesus
but is also a Baptist
also dresses a certain way
also likes a certain type
of music
also has a certain type
of political beliefs
and
that's
that's what a real Christian is
you can't just actually
you just can't actually
put your faith in Jesus
you've got to have
that other stuff too
that's what religion is
it's self-righteous
you see it's not enough
just to depend
it's easier the gospel message is
that Jesus does everything
to make you right with him
absolutely everything
with nothing left over
every accusation against you
every claim against you
he deals with it
your need to appear
perfect before God
you're clothed with his righteousness
you don't say
okay
father so thankful
that Jesus died
to take away my sins
and I know I can't appear
before you naked
so I just want to let you know
I wore the right clothes
liked the right music
didn't like certain movies
voted the right
way
and I went to a Baptist church
not picking on Baptist
I just
I was a Baptist
I'm talking about myself
right
no no no no no
God the Father
would come up to you
and say
oh come on dear one
you'd want to give me
a hug in heaven
he said
you are so silly
all that other stuff
doesn't matter
in fact it's
it's dumb
like
you're clothed
with my son's
righteousness
that's what you're clothed with
and you see
at the heart of all
religion
and all spirituality
is this idea
that I need to make
myself clean
I need to make
myself acceptable
I can't just touch
trust
purely
and utterly
and completely
and massively
upon grace
I need to supplement
it
and then one of the
problems is
a lot of us
look at people
who are religious
and what we see
we see phonies
we see
hypocrisy
and we see a whole
pile of things
that don't interest us
and so we reject it
but we're not really
rejecting the gospel
the gospel
is the message
that God
has done everything
that needs to be done
to make you right
with himself
he does it
because he loves you
he does it
knowing you can't
do it for yourself
he does it
knowing you've
turned your back
on him
and you're at
enmity with him
he knows all of this
and still he loves you
still he loves you
and did all that is
needed for you
to be made right
with him
still he loves you
and the gospel
message is
to our Jewish friends
you don't stop
being Jewish
but you don't have
to wear that skull cap
you don't have to
real Christians
don't have to wrap
your arms
with certain types
of leather
and have certain
types of
to our Muslim
friends
guys you don't
have to grow a beard
you want to grow a beard
that's fine
you know
but you don't have
to grow a beard
you don't have to
wear that clothes
to Christians
you can like
different types
of music
and it's not
the case
that a priest
is more holy
than a lay person
you see
because what's
undergirding
religion
is that
I'm
me and Sean
and maybe
Gary
and almost
Jonathan
and almost
Daniel
we're the real
Christians
the rest of you
are at best
second rate
okay
I think there's
a person here
who does a lot
of Christian
speaking
so you're
included with me
we're like
up here
but everybody
else is second
rate
because real
Christians
make their
living from
the gospel
nah
that's what
this text
is saying
that's not
true
God
does call
certain people
to be set
aside
to make
their living
from the
gospel
but most
people are
not
and that's
what this
story so
powerfully
reveals
but some
of you might
say all
you want
is just
have to
have faith
and then
you do
whatever
you want
like is
that what
the Bible
is saying
you just
have this
private
revelation
of Jesus
and then
once you
have your
private
revelation
of Jesus
you can
just
every once
in a while
sort of
have a little
zinging
conversation
with them
or a little
boast of
woo
there's a bit
of spiritual
energy
you just
sort of
live whatever
way you
want
do whatever
you
no no
that's
that
could you
put up
the next
point
that would
be very
helpful
remember
that you
enter the
Jesus way
by yourself
but you
live the
Jesus way
with Jesus
and others
you enter
the Jesus
way
by yourself
but you
live the
Jesus way
with Jesus
and others
you see
one of the
things which
is at the
heart of the
gospel is that
the gospel
is going to
restore you
to being
human
as the
gospel grips
you and
shapes you
it will start
to restore
you to be
human
and what are
human beings
on one level
I'm a private
guy I have my
own personal
experience
none of you
actually can
ever fully
properly enter
into my
experience
it's my
experience
and but on
the other hand
you know you
have families
you have
workplaces
you have a
social life
and that's
some ways
reflected about
what the
Christian life
is
it's not
just that
you become
a lonely
mystic
all by
yourself
or you
engage on
your own
particular
all alone
religious
spiritual
quest
no the
Bible is
going to
restore you
to what
it means
to be
human
and that
means there's
going to be
private things
like private
devotions but
there's also
going to be
common types
of things
that's why
Jesus and
the Father and
the Holy Spirit
invent the
church that
we're meant to
do life with
other Christians
not in a way
that becomes
all consuming
but we're meant
to live with
others to
pray with
others to
celebrate with
others to
weep with
others
to struggle
with others
to help
with each
other
as what
God
intends
so you
have to
make a
personal
decision
to receive
Jesus as
your Savior
and Lord
but then
you're going
to start
the gospel
itself will
start to
shape you
to want to
spend at
least some
time in
some structured
and ordered
time with
other Christians
but
can you
put up
the next
point
I can't
remember
what my
bridge
point
was
going
to
be
to
the
next
one
remember
that the
gospel
shapes you
to be
more your
true
unique
self
that's the
type of
thing
that's what
I meant
is the
transition
I don't
want to
sound really
judgmental
about this
but just
give me a
little tiny
bit of
grace
but here's
the thing
like you
know
when you're
if you're
in Jerusalem
and you
see a lot
of ultra
orthodox
Jews
all dressed
the same
well I mean
there's like
50 types
of them
but those
who are in
the same
type
they're all
dressed the
same
they almost
become like
clones
they become
indistinguishable
from each
other
when you see
a poll of
very devout
Muslims
they start to
look almost
identical
it's hard
to understand
them
if you get
a group
of very
very
like
you know
religious
Catholics
or Anglicans
and you see
the priests
and you'll
see that
they're all
dressed in
identical
black suits
and very
similar
haircuts
and they
look like
indistinguishable
from each
other
and it's
hard to
not sort
of think
that's what
religion does
that's what
spirituality
does
it forces
you to
work on
externals
and end up
looking the
same
but one of
the things
which is so
wonderful
about all
these stories
is that
when Mary
Magdalene
meets the
resurrected
Jesus
she responds
one way
when Peter
meets the
resurrected
Jesus
he responds
a different
way
when John
meets the
resurrected
Jesus
he reacts
a different
way
it reflects
their personality
and Jesus
doesn't say
by the way
just time out
Peter gets
an A plus
Mary Magdalene
gets an A minus
and John
get off your
butt dude
you only get
like a B minus
no he doesn't
do that
they're all
completely and
utterly
themselves
Mary
passionate
just
passionate
and public
and Peter
let's go
take that
hill
and John
let's just
think about it
for a bit
and those
are all
fine
and even
the different
ways the
disciples
respond to
Jesus
when it's
just the
ten of
them the
first time
they're all
glad
they're all
giving each
other high
fives
they're giving
Jesus high
fives
they're jumping
up and
down
and in this
particular
case
here's what
this is
describing
a group
of guys
who've worked
hard all
night
and they're
in a beautiful
lake
it's the early
part of the
morning
and they're
sitting there
and they have
153 big
fish
they made a
lot of money
from that
hard work
and there's
a wonderful
fire on the
beach
beginning of
the day
it's cool
there's some
fresh fish
being cooked
perfectly
some fresh
bread
you're with
your buddies
and they're
just quiet
you know why
it doesn't get
any better
than this
those of you
who love the
outdoors
and love to
fish
it doesn't
get any
better than
this
the sweat
drying
you're just
quiet
and that's
good too
that's
good too
Jesus doesn't
say that's
better than
the other
way
he doesn't
say there's
one way
that you
have to
behave
he brings
out your
uniqueness
it's the
opposite of
religion
and
can you
put up
the next
point
so
some of
you might
say
well
okay
George
I'm a
little bit
you might
remember
that the
gospel
shapes you
to enjoy
simple
pleasures
work well
in honest
labor
and enjoy
being
generous
see that's
one of
the things
which is
so wonderful
about that
like many
of us
many people
think that if
you become a
Christian you
have to walk
away from
simple pleasures
like real
Christians
real Christians
just eat
steamed kale
and quinoa
and give all
and have no
butter on it
because butter
is sinful
and no
olive oil
it's just
plain
and maybe
some bread
preferably dry
and the
rest of the
money goes
to the
mission field
or something
that's what
real Christians
are like
no that's
not what
this text
shows
that real
Christians
never have
seconds or
thirds
do you think
in this
story if
one of the
disciples said
Jesus I'm
really famished
could I have
seconds
do you think
he'd say
no way
come on
do you think
the fish would
taste good
by the way
anybody who's
gone fishing
and it's an
early morning
fresh fish
on the
fire
right hot
it's delicious
can't get
better than
that
and there's
simple pleasures
Jesus dignifies
simple pleasures
and he dignifies
honest labor
those of you
in private
enterprise
Jesus is
with you
I mean
what do you
do in private
enterprise
like I'm
sure if
Shannon was
to talk
to you
they say
at the
end of
the day
the owners
of the
coffee shop
they total
up their
sales
you
counted
how did
they know
there were
153
fish
is it
beyond
the
possibility
that either
Jesus waited
while they
counted
with a big
smile on his
face
or he walked
over and
helped them
count
it matters
honest labor
matters
and it's
generous
what Jesus
does to
come
and you
know
if you're
thinking about
what Jesus
is like
and what
God is
like
later on
today
if you
go to
a Tim
Hortons
and you
see that
that person
working at
Tim Hortons
with the
ugly
clothes
and maybe
the ugly
cap
Jesus
did their
job
for you
he cooked
he prepared
he served
and it's
generous
he blesses
simple service
he blesses
generosity
so will the
gospel shape
you and change
you yes it
will in all
sorts of ways
that you can't
even begin
to go
you know
for those
of us
who are
unbelievably
fixated
about money
often when we
say the gospel
changes us
all we think
about is sex
it will make
a difference
in sex
but you know
what will
make it
other things
for those
of you
who are
unbelievably
tight-fisted
and worried
about money
the gospel
will start
to make
you generous
for those
of you
who struggle
with laziness
and think
you're entitled
as the gospel
grips you
it'll start
to make you
aware of the
fact that
honest labor
is good
for those
of you
who are
working holics
the gospel
will start
to shape
you to
realize
that actually
you don't
get your
identity
from your
work
that maybe
you have
to spend
some time
with Christian
friends or
with your
family
will the
gospel
change
you
the gospel
will change
you in all
sorts of
ways that you
can't even
begin to
imagine
but it will
shape you
towards
generosity
towards
honest labor
towards
enjoying
simple
pleasures
that's how
the gospel
shapes you
and just
one final
thing before
we close
and this
is one of
the things
that most
hit me
I pray
for non-Christian
friends and
family members
if you could
wrap the final
point
this has just
really struck
me here
this week
and it's
helped me
with my
prayer life
and I'm
just going
to share
it with
you
because
hopefully
it'll help
you with
your prayer
life
pray
that Jesus
will reveal
himself as
savior and
lord to
your family
friends
co-workers
and neighbors
pray that
Jesus will
reveal himself
as savior
and lord
that's at
the heart
of the text
he reveals
himself
and it
just you
know I
sometimes have
a hard time
knowing how
to pray
that people
come to a
saving faith
in Jesus
that's a
perfectly
good thing
to pray
I wasn't
praying wrong
but it just
really struck
me and one
of the things
I can pray
I almost
mentioned some
names
is I can
just pray
you know I
pray for my
grandchildren
almost every
day
I believe it
or not I
pray for the
future spouses
of my
grandchildren
even the
babies
can't get
started on
prayer too
early
and I
pray that
they'll
come to
Jesus
and now
I'm going
to pray
for my
kids
my grandkids
and their
future spouses
that Jesus
will reveal
himself as
savior and
lord
for the
baristas
and the
people I
meet
lord
will you
reveal
yourself as
savior and
lord to
them
just want
to share
that with
you to
encourage you
to take
that on
as a
prayer as
well
please
please stand
just bow
our heads
in prayer
father
first of all
father we
just we
can we
are just
I am so
grateful we
are so
grateful
you
reveal
Jesus to
me and
to many
of us
as savior
and lord
not because
we were
the smartest
or the
most holy
or what
you just
out of
love for
us you
did that
and father
we thank
you for
the work
of your
holy spirit
that we
you revealed
Jesus to
us as
savior and
lord we
received it
and we
ask father
that you
would continue
to reveal
Jesus as
savior and
lord more
and more
in every
area of
our lives
in money
and sexuality
and time
and family
and work
and leisure
in citizenship
and politics
and all
of how we
think and
all we
remember
and all
of our
imagination
and all
of our
artistic
abilities
that in
everything
that makes
us us
father just
we ask
that you
would
continue
to be so
kind to
us and
reveal
Jesus as
savior and
lord in
all areas
of our
life and
deeper and
deeper in
the center
of who
we are
and father
I pray
we pray
for those
who have
not yet
come to
recognize who
Jesus is
that he
is their
savior and
he is
their lord
that he
died for
them
that he
will restore
them to
what it
means to
be human
father we
ask for
our friends
and loved
ones that
you would
reveal
Jesus as
savior and
lord to
them that
they would
receive it
and father
we ask that
you help us
to die help
us to be so
gripped with
the gospel that
we die to
all religion
and that is
the gospel
that shapes
us your
word shapes
us the
holy spirit
shapes us
father help
us to die
to all
religion and
all this we
ask in the
name of
Jesus your
son and our
savior and
all God's
people said
amen