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Today's scripture reading is from the Gospel according to John, chapters 21, verses 1-25
as printed in the liturgy.
A reading from the Gospel according to John.
Afterward, Jesus appeared to his disciples by the Sea of Galilee.
It happened this way.
Simon Peter, Thomas, also known as Didymus, Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee,
and two other disciples were together.
I'm going out to fish, Simon Peter told them, and they said, we'll go with you.
So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was
Jesus.
He called out to them, friends, haven't you any fish?
No, they answered.
He said, throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.
When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, it is the Lord.
As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, it is the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment around
him for he had taken it off and jumped into the water.
The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far
from shore, about a hundred yards.
When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals.
There was fish on it and some bread.
So Jesus said to them, bring some of the fish you have just caught.
So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore.
It was full of large fish, 153.
But even with so many, the net was not torn.
Jesus said to them, come and have breakfast.
None of the disciples dared ask him, who are you?
They knew it was the Lord.
Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them and did the same with the fish.
This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the
dead.
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love
me more than these?
Yes, Lord, he said.
You know that I love you.
Jesus said, feed my lambs.
Again, Jesus said, Simon, son of John, do you love me?
He answered, yes, Lord, you know that I love you.
Jesus said, take care of my sheep.
The third time he said to him, Simon, son of John, do you love me?
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, do you love me?
He said, Lord, you know all things.
You know that I love you.
Jesus said, feed my sheep.
Very truly I tell you, when you were younger and dressed yourself and went where you wanted,
but when you are old, will stretch out your hands and someone else will dress you and lead
you where you do not want to go.
Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.
Then he said to him, follow me.
Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them.
This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, Lord, who
is going to betray you?
When Peter saw him, he asked, Lord, what about him?
Jesus answered, if I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?
You must follow me.
Because of this, the rumors spread among the believers that this disciple would not die.
But Jesus did not say that he would not die.
He only said, if I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?
This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote about them.
We know that his testimony is true.
Jesus did many other things as well.
If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world will not
have room for the books that would be written.
This is the gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
Thank you, Tonya, and happy birthday, Christ Church.
We are honored today to have Bart and Katie Garrett here, who is my sister and brother-in-law,
and more importantly, the founders of Christ Church, who poured 14 years of their lives out
here, their time, talent, and treasure, lots of blood, sweat, and tears as well.
And it would be hard to estimate just how much love that they've invested into this church.
And so we're pleased to have them, and Bart's going to be leading us in communion and praying
for us in a moment.
We're also celebrating the 20th birthday of Christ Church by sending Andrew off on a four-month
sabbatical.
So happy birthday, Christ Church, via Andrew.
Thank you.
We, you know, I've been thinking this week a lot about this verse in 1 Corinthians 3.
It's a new community of Christians in Corinth, all of them converts from their former Greco-Roman
way of life.
And Paul, the Apostle Paul, compares them to a new tree, this living organism.
And he says, you know, there's been all these people that have planted the church, that have
watered the church.
But then Paul says, so neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but
only God who makes things grow.
And I just, my prayer all week has been, only God.
You know, and that's really our heart today in this worship service, is we just want to
thank only God and praise only God because only he's the one that makes things grow.
And if we keep humbling ourselves before him and asking him, he'll keep making things grow.
So only God.
And we, you know, as we come to this, the end of this sermon series in the Gospel of John,
it's just a beautiful picture, I think, of what a church is supposed to be.
You know, Jesus is risen from the dead.
He's alive forevermore.
And he's gone through death.
He's come out the other side.
He's gone on into this new creation.
And now he's gathering together with his disciples.
And he's showing them the kind of life he wants them to live.
And so what I want to talk about today is fishing with Jesus, eating near Jesus, and shepherding
under Jesus.
And you can just kind of track.
These are the three movements of this text.
Fishing with Jesus, eating near Jesus, and shepherding under Jesus.
And let's start with fishing with Jesus.
What is this story for?
Why was this story written down for us?
Well, it says explicitly in verse 1 that afterward, Jesus appeared again to his disciples by the
Sea of Galilee.
And this is the way it happened.
And then down in verse 14, it says, this was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples
after he was raised from the dead.
So on Easter Sunday, God literally, physically, historically raised Jesus from the dead.
And after that great event, Jesus is now coming to individuals and pairs and groups of disciples
in order that he might convince them that he really has been glorified, that this body of
his is an incorruptible and victorious body.
And it's the prototype of the kind of bodies that his disciples are going to have when they're
raised at the end of time.
It's like Jesus is coming to them and he's wanting to convince them that even though sin and death
had been ruling over this world for a very, very long time, through his cross and through his
resurrection, sin and death had been overthrown.
And now there's a new king.
There's a new Lord.
And he's reigning in grace.
He's reigning in righteousness.
He's wanting to share his eternal life with his disciples.
And so Jesus just keeps appearing to them and trying to convince them of these things.
And notice how he chooses to appear and reveal himself here in this story.
It says in verse 3, Simon Peter told the rest of the disciples,
I'm going out to fish.
And they said, well, okay, we'll go along with you.
And so they went out and they got into the boat.
But that night they caught nothing.
And early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
And so he called out to them, friends, haven't you any fish?
And what's interesting is that in the Greek text, he doesn't use the word friends.
He uses the word kids.
And the question sounds like this.
Children, you have no fish, have you?
It's this really playful and provocative thing that the resurrected Jesus is doing with his disciples.
Why is he asking the question this way?
Why is he drawing attention to their fishing failure and to their empty nets and their empty boat?
Verse 3 emphasizes they fished all night and they caught what?
Nothing.
It's the same word that Jesus used in the upper room when he said, apart from me, you can do nothing.
In John 15, I'll just read a little bit more of that text.
He's in the upper room with his disciples the night before he dies.
And he says, no branch can bear fruit by itself.
It must remain in the vine.
And neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
I'm the vine.
You are the branches.
If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.
Apart from me, you can do nothing.
See, the disciples have gone out fishing, but they're doing it by themselves.
They're doing it apart from Jesus.
They're doing it without the resurrected Jesus.
And what is the result?
The result is that they've caught nothing.
And of course, you know, fishing in the Gospels, it's never just about fishing, is it?
Because when Jesus first called these guys, what did he say?
He said, come, come follow me and I will make you into fishers of men.
Come follow me and I will send you out to fish for people.
And that's the mission of the disciple community.
That Jesus' disciples are to fish for people.
But if we try to go fishing by ourselves, we try to fish apart from Jesus.
And without Jesus, what are we going to catch?
Nothing.
If we try to bear fruit in our worship, in our fellowship, in our mission, apart from the living and life-giving vine,
it's going to be like that moment where, you know, you see a tree that's bearing fruit and you pick a piece off and it looks so good.
And then you bite into it and immediately you regret that decision and you just want to spit it out.
That's what Jesus is saying.
That's the kind of fruit you'll bear without me.
And in the same way, Jesus is saying, if you try to go fishing for people, you're not really going to catch many people without me.
Verse 6, he says, throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.
And, you know, when Jesus says this, every guy in the boat would immediately remember what happened the very first time.
And I don't know if you remember that story, but it's in Luke chapter 5 where Jesus doesn't really know Peter very well.
But he steps into Peter's boat and he starts giving Peter fishing advice.
And Peter says, well, master, we've worked hard all night and we've caught, again, nothing.
And Jesus tells Peter, well, put out into the deep water, which, by the way, no one fishes in the deep water.
But he says, put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.
Now, Peter has spent his whole life fishing these waters.
His father and his grandfather before him have been fishermen.
Peter knows how to make a good living at fishing.
Peter has a thriving and a profitable fishing business.
And he knows that Jesus is just a stonemason.
Jesus is just a builder.
Jesus knows nothing about fishing and is giving him terrible fishing advice.
And he knows that Jesus is testing him in a way, asking him whether or not he's willing to go against his own instincts and his own experiences.
But Peter also knows that he's been relying on himself and relying on all the things that he knows.
And yet the result is he's caught what?
He's caught nothing.
And, you know, the turning point in that story in Luke 5 is that when Peter trusts Jesus, he says to Jesus,
Jesus, because you say so, he says, Jesus, at your word, I'm going to let down the nets.
And the result is that they get this enormous, miraculous catch of fish.
And Peter, in that moment, he's astonished and he falls at Jesus' feet.
He says, go away from me, Lord, for I'm a sinful man.
And Jesus says to Peter, don't be afraid, Peter, because from now on you're going to fish for people.
You're going to be catching people.
So you see in John 21, when the resurrected and living Lord Jesus comes to Peter and comes to his disciples,
he wants to let them know that the mission of fishing for people and catching people has not changed.
But he also wants to let them know that the fishing mission has to be on my terms.
And it has to be according to my word.
Put out into deep water.
Throw out your net on the right side of the boat.
How can Jesus say that?
How does Jesus know where all the fish are?
Has Jesus gone to Bass Pro Shop and gotten some expensive, high-end,
the ultrasonic fish finder?
No, see, the universe was created through Jesus, ex nihilo.
And God has raised Jesus up from the dead.
And so fish aren't hard for Jesus.
If Jesus says the fish are going to be out in the deep water,
if Jesus says the fish are going to be on that side of the boat and not on this side of the boat,
well, that's where the fish are going to be.
Because that's how powerful Jesus is.
And that's how powerful his word is.
Isaiah 55 says,
My word that goes forth from my mouth will not return to me empty,
but it will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent my word.
And you see, when Jesus' disciple community lives in obedience to his powerful word,
when it trusts his trustworthy commands,
when it carries out its mission under the authority of Jesus
and in line with the direction of Jesus,
well, we're not just going to catch many fish.
We're going to catch many, many people.
Friends, the question that this text asks us to examine ourselves with is,
in what ways are we trying to bear fruit by ourselves?
In what ways are we trying to catch people apart from him?
How are we operating in our own energy,
our own knowledge,
our own resources,
our own strength?
But in the end,
coming up feeling empty and exhausted,
really bearing very little fruit worth having,
not really catching many people,
not really getting anywhere.
See, verse 6 says,
Throw your net on the right side of the boat,
and you will find some.
And when they did,
they were unable to haul the net in
because of the large number of fish.
When they listened to his word,
when they obeyed his word,
that is the moment that they experienced Jesus' resurrection power.
And that's how the fishing ministry of the church
would continue over the next three centuries.
Jesus,
as his disciple community,
was faithful to Jesus
and obedient to Jesus.
You know,
in three centuries,
half of the Roman Empire
came into the net
and came into the boat
of the church.
And that was not hard
for God.
And it's not hard for God today.
We think that,
oh man,
it's like nearly impossible
for God to bring people
into a relationship with himself
here in Berkeley
and in the East Bay
in 2026.
But it's never been hard for God.
In Christ's church,
my prayer in our third decade
is that
we'll not go out
and work hard
individually,
collectively,
on our own,
by ourselves,
apart from the risen Lord.
But rather,
that we'll remain in him,
that we'll listen to him,
we'll do what he says,
and then we'll just sit back
and watch him do
astonishing
and supernatural things.
Amen?
So,
the mission of the church
is to fish with Jesus.
But also,
it's to,
it's to eat
near Jesus.
It's about eating
near Jesus.
What fascinates me
is,
you know,
Peter swims to shore
and he makes
all the other disciples
do the hard work
of getting the boat
to shore.
But when they all
finally get to the shore,
how does Jesus say,
hey guys,
I'm raised,
I've been raised
from the dead,
let's celebrate.
How does he do that?
Well,
he just cooks breakfast
for his friends.
It says in verse 9
that they landed,
they saw a fire
of burning coals
there with fish on it
and some bread was there
and Jesus said to them
in verse 12,
come and have breakfast.
And none of the disciples
dared ask him,
who are you?
Because they knew
it was the Lord.
And Jesus came
and he took the bread
and he gave it to them
and he did the same
with the fish
and this was now
the third time
that he appeared
to his disciples
after he was raised
from the dead.
See,
there's this simple
invitation from Jesus
that indicates
something about
the new creation
that's been launched
in the resurrection.
And it's just
this invitation
to deep connection.
This invitation
to deep communion
communion with Jesus.
And I imagine
when the risen
and living Lord
is giving them
the bread
and giving them
the fish
that their minds
and their hearts
are going back
to those other moments,
right,
where Jesus took
five loaves of fish
and two,
five loaves of bread,
two little fish
and he sent his disciples
out and said,
trust me,
trust me guys,
this is going to go
a long way.
And they went out
and they fed thousands
with barely anything.
And I'm sure
their hearts
and their minds
are going back
the other night,
the other week,
where Jesus took
the Passover meal
and he said,
he said,
this is now
the Lord's Supper
and he gave them
the bread
and he said,
this is my body,
do this in remembrance
of me.
And so when Jesus
says to them,
come have breakfast
with me,
what's he saying?
What does this mean
for us?
It means that
we're not just supposed
to believe in Jesus
in some abstract
and detached way.
But rather,
it's an invitation
to intimate communion
with Jesus
to experience his life
and his power.
You see,
in the ancient world
to invite someone
to come and eat
with you,
it meant a lot more
than it means today.
Today it means,
hey,
come eat with us
and it's kind of
a friendly gesture.
I might possibly
want to be your friend.
But in the ancient world,
it was a pledge.
It was saying,
I want you to be
like family with me.
I want you to be
in closest relationship
to me.
And Jesus is saying here,
I don't just want you guys
to believe in me.
I don't even just want you
to obey me.
I want you to know me.
I want to share
my life
and all that I have
with you.
In the gospels,
one of the chief complaints
against Jesus
is people keep coming
to his disciples
and say,
Jesus,
why,
or they say to his disciples,
why does your master Jesus
keep eating with sinners?
And
they realize
that Jesus is practicing
radical hospitality.
Jesus is
including all the wrong people
in the kingdom of God.
And
you think about
these tax collectors
Jesus was gathering
around himself
who were,
just imagine
the most despised people
in our society.
Sellouts,
traitors.
And
Jesus is over
at the home
of one of these tax collectors
named Matthew
and he says
at that meal,
he says,
it's not the healthy
who need a doctor
but the sick.
I've not come to call
the righteous
but sinners.
And he says
to a guy named Zacchaeus,
another tax collector,
he says,
today salvation
has come to this house
for the son of man
came to seek
and to save
that which was lost.
And so
Jesus has this pattern
of eating meals
with all the wrong people
and he gets to this beach
after his resurrection
and he says
to these failed disciples
who've denied him,
who've abandoned him
and he says,
come have breakfast with me.
Come sit at my table.
Come share
in my meal
because
I've come to seek
and to save the lost.
and I want to know you
and I want you
to know me.
I want you to know
my salvation.
I want you to know
the power
of my grace.
You see,
here on this beach,
the risen Lord
is saying to them,
I want to share
my resurrection life
and power
with you.
And I'll just pause here
for just an application
is just this,
that do you know
that the risen Lord
wants to be
in intimate communion
with you.
Not just here
in this meal,
but every morning,
every evening,
Jesus is there
and he's waiting for you
and he's saying,
come and eat with me.
Come and let me feed you.
Let me nourish you.
Let me give you substance
and energy
and life.
I've never met
a healthy Christian
who did not have
the daily practice
of saying yes
to this invitation
to intimate communion
with the risen Lord.
And so my encouragement
to you is just
to turn off your device,
put your book aside,
don't watch the show,
and just be
near Jesus.
Just be near him
in his word.
Just be near him
in prayer.
Just be close with him
in Christian fellowship.
Just come and stay
by his side
in the Lord's Supper
and just enjoy
the presence
of our living Lord.
That's what
the Christian life
is all about.
That's what the ministry
of the church
is all about.
And the second thing
is Christian ministry
is simply just finding
people and saying,
hey,
do you want to come
and have breakfast
with me?
Do you want to come
and have lunch
with us?
And it's just simply
inviting people,
whether they're inside
the church
or outside the church,
to come and enjoy
intimate communion
with us
as we're in the presence
of the risen Lord.
That's what
Christian ministry is.
and I hope that
this will be
one of the marks
of our ministry
as we move
into our third
decade together
because it's how
the resurrected Lord
is building
his disciple community
on that beach
over a simple meal
of bread and fish.
The third thing
I want to talk about
is not just fishing
with Jesus
and eating near Jesus,
but I want to talk
finally about
shepherding
under Jesus.
shepherding
under Jesus.
This is the final lesson
in Jesus'
resurrection appearance
and it has to do
with Peter
and it has to do
with all who,
like Peter,
have ever spectacularly
and miserably
failed.
Here we learn
something about
how Jesus
can heal
our memories
and how he can
come into places
of buried hurt
and fear
places of hidden
failure and sin
in our lives
and he can just
come in
and somehow
he just deals
with it.
And Jesus just,
he draws Peter
around this meal
and this fire
and he begins
to just gently
expose this deep
and unhealed
wound in Peter
and start to deal
with this failure.
And if you'll remember
back to John 13,
it was over a meal,
it was over
the Last Supper
where Peter
insisted emphatically
he says,
you know,
Jesus,
I'm going to remain
loyal to you
even if all these
others are not,
I'm going to be
loyal to you.
And he says to Jesus,
I'm going to follow you
to prison and to death.
I'm prepared to lay down
my life on your behalf.
And then later
in John 18,
it was over a charcoal fire
in that courtyard
where Peter
tried to do that
but he failed
spectacularly.
Not just once,
not just twice
but three times,
he denied three times.
It's not just
that I don't follow him,
it's that I don't
even know Jesus.
I've never even
met the guy.
And Peter goes out
that night
in shame
and in tears
and he's going to be
dogged by this memory
for the rest of his life
that I was a coward
and I was a failure
and I'm full of guilt
and I'm full of shame.
How in the world
did I screw up
so miserably?
How did I fail Jesus
in his hour
of greatest need?
And so,
the resurrected Jesus
comes and he recreates
the scene of Jesus'
pride at that meal
or Peter's pride
at that meal
and Peter's failure
at that fire
and now here on the beach
there's a new fire
and there's a fresh meal
and Jesus begins
to just gently expose
this wound
in his beloved disciple
and he begins
to treat it
with love
and with prayer
and he begins
to bathe it
in the power of God
and it's one of the most
spectacular exchanges
in the whole Bible
where Jesus asked Peter
three times
he says,
do you love me?
Do you love me?
And Jesus is giving Peter
an opportunity
to admit
how weak he is.
He's giving him
an opportunity
to repent
of all of his
failures
and how does Peter
respond to this
gentle probing
of Jesus
in his heart?
Well,
Peter just says,
Lord,
you know.
Lord,
you know
that I love you.
Lord,
you know all things.
You see,
now Peter rests
his confidence
not on the strength
of his love
for Jesus.
No,
he's resting
on the sureness
of Jesus'
knowledge
of him
and of all things.
Jesus knows
and Jesus
has the power
to deal
with Peter's
threefold
failure
and to take
away his sins
and not only
to take away
his sins
but to take away
the memories
of his old
failings
and sores
and his wounds
and his pains.
That's how powerful
the resurrected
Jesus is.
You know,
they're probably
at this point
walking along
the beach
and Peter's
answering Jesus'
questions
and Jesus'
response is not
just a pat
on the back
and saying,
hey,
that's all right,
Peter.
Come and be my
sheep.
No,
he doesn't say
come and be my
sheep.
He says,
Peter,
you're the biggest
failure I've ever
met
and then he gives
him a command
and a fresh
challenge
and a new
commission
and Peter's
threefold denial
is just wiped
out and forgiven
with this
threefold commission.
He says,
Peter,
it's time
for you to learn
how to be a
forgiven
and fearless
shepherd.
It's time
for you to learn
how to feed
my lambs.
It's time
for you to look
after my
sheep.
You see,
when Jesus
forgives us,
he also gives
us a job
to do.
He also
equips us
and he empowers
us to share
in his
ministry.
that moment
when we
profess our
love for
Jesus for
the first
time,
he says,
well,
then let's
get to
work.
And this
is the
one who
in John
10 said,
well,
I'm the
good shepherd.
And now
he's saying
to Peter,
I want you
to share
in my
work and
my ministry
of shepherding
with me.
I'm the
one who
has the
task of
leading
and feeding
and caring
for my
sheep.
I'm the
one who's
going to
guide them
to and
from
good
pastures
and green
pastures.
I'm the
one who's
supposed to
keep them
safe from
all the
wolves and
the thieves.
But Peter,
from now
on,
now that I've
plunged your
failure into
my grace,
I want you
to share
in my
work of
shepherding.
And of
course,
we know that
Peter had a
special role
in the early
church and the
founding and
leadership of
the church.
But really,
every
Christian,
everyone who's
been baptized,
everyone who
comes and
shares in the
meal with
Jesus,
every Christian
has a share
in the
ministry of
the good
shepherd.
And here's
the secret of
that ministry.
Here's the
secret of
your ministry
and my
ministry.
Whether you're
a layperson
or you're
ordained,
whether you're
part-time or
full-time or
volunteer,
if you're
going to do
anything as a
follower of
Jesus,
if you're
going to do
anything as a
servant of
Jesus,
this is what it
all comes down
to.
Somewhere deep
down inside,
the question
is,
is there a
love for
Jesus?
Can you say
with Peter,
yes,
Lord,
you know that
somewhere deep
down inside,
I love
you.
I love
you.
I love
you.
That's the
key and
ultimate
question.
No matter
how much
you've
struggled and
failed in
your discipleship,
Jesus wants
to know,
do you
love me?
And though
goodness knows
we've all let
him down
plenty of
times,
he wants
to find
that love
in us.
He wants
to give us
a chance
to express
our love
and he wants
to come
like Peter
and heal
the hurts
and heal
the failures
of our
past and
say,
well,
let's get
on with
it.
You've
got a
new job
to do.
And it's
out of that
grace and
joy and
relief that
you've been
forgiven.
And as a
sign that you
are forgiven,
that Jesus
wants you to
go out and
he wants you
to love
him by
loving
his flock.
All of us
are called
to find a
sheep,
even just
one sheep,
and to
care for
that sheep
with selfless
love,
like Jesus.
All of us
are called
to find
at least
one sheep
and just
feed that
sheep with
biblical
truth.
All of us
are called
to just
find one
sheep and
just shepherd
that sheep
with humble
service and
to go out
and show
our love
for Jesus
by loving
his church.
So Christ
Church,
as we mark
our 20th
birthday today,
as we enter
into the
third decade
of our
ministry
together,
Jesus is
offering us
the same
thing he
offered those
disciples on
that beach.
He's just
offering us
a restored
and a
transformed
and a
newly
commissioned
life.
To come
and fish
with Jesus.
To come
and eat
near Jesus.
To come
and shepherd
under Jesus.
it's an
amazing
life.
That the
resurrected
Lord is
calling us
to live
with him.
And that's
what I pray
we'll be
about.
That's what I
pray we'll
get together
and do
is the
fishing
and the
eating
and the
shepherding
of Jesus.
In the name
of the
Father,
Son,
and Holy
Spirit.
Amen.