Jesus certainly did not fit the socially acceptable form of
Israel. Wherever He went, He caused a commotion, stirred up trouble, gathered
a crowd, or made the nice religious people mad. Jesus did things His way—God’s
way, which often doesn’t fit our way—humanity’s way.
After His death and resurrection, Jesus’ different ways
did not cease. They, if anything, became even more unusual. While His disciples
and followers were weeping, afraid and disoriented, Jesus continues to pop
in on them—for unexpected, surprise visits: the road to Emmaus, the
upper room, and now the beach. Jesus refuses to go away—He shows up
again and again, reassuring, revealing, and guiding His followers.
“I Did It My Way,” was a popular song performed
by the famous crooner, Frank Sinatra. It could easily be the theme song for
the Western parts of the world. Those of us in North America are particularly
susceptible to notion that “I can do it by myself.” Like any energetic
toddler looking for his independence, we often insist on doing anything and
everything ourselves—whether we really know what we are doing or not.
God did not create us to live this way. God created humanity
to live in community—and foremost in community with God. When we assert
our independence (“we don’t really need God unless the ship is
sinking, do we?”), we miss out on the beauty, health, and vitality of
community. To think that we could do something that God does not even insist
on: living in isolation. The Trinity is a community of love shared between
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We miss the point when
we insist on living alone.
God is not in the business of setting us up with the game and
rule and then standing aside as God declares, “Go for it!” The
beauty of our relationship with God is just that: we have a relationship with
God. Relationships, like all living things, must grow, be nurtured, and thrive
in order to be healthy. Once this development ceases, that relationship or
living thing is no longer living.
As the disciples are shown over and over by Jesus, God is with
them. Death could not stop God from a relationship with us. It is this relationship
that fuels our lives, and our mission for God. We are dependent on God. God
is available to us. We can and must depend on God for life and mission.
When life gets tough, the tough go fishing . . . at least in
the case of the disciples. How quickly they reverted to what they had known
in life pervious to meeting Jesus—the One who had turned their worlds
upside down. As they milled around, kicking stones with their feet and clearing
their throats, Peter did what he did best: he impulsively acts, “I am
going fishing.” Apparently not wanting to be alone and with nothing
better to do in light of the recent events, the rest of the group joins him.
And they get nothing. Not a single fish all night is caught.
It is only when a stranger standing on the shore points out
the obvious (you do not have any fish) and tells them to fish off the other
side of the boat (as if it’s worlds away from where they have been fishing),
that the disciples start to recognize their dependence on God.
How long does it take for us to realize that God is not our
gumball machine in the sky? That a dependence on God is a necessity for our
existence? Can we live without God? Perhaps we believe we can completely shut
God out, but ultimately we are not really living. Our congregation and community
must know the grace of God in order to know life.
(For the full manuscript
of this sermon go to www.preachersmagazine.org and click on “Sermons.”)
Not only is our dependence on God a key factor in this passage,
but the health of our relationship with God is also important? Why? Because
what those outside the Church see of God is our relationship to God, to those
in the Body of Christ, and to those outside the Body. Jesus did not reveal
himself to the disciples on the beach that day so that they could feel good
about themselves. Jesus came to them that they might realize their dependence
on God as they go out and share God’s grace with the world.
Each congregation is unique: the people, the time, the community. As pastor, we have the job of nurturing a strong relationship with God, guiding our people and sharing God’s guidance with them. As we prepare each week for the monumental task of sharing “what God has to say to us,” keep in mind the people of your congregation, the people of your community. Be careful to not forget those often found on the perimeter of the Body: children, teens, senior citizens, singles, and so on. How does God want to communicate His truth to them?
