Year C

John 21:1-19

The Rev. Denise Vaughn

Easter Dawning

If you have ever watched the daybreak over water you know how breathtaking it can be. I grew up on the Gulf of Mexico and had the opportunity many times to witness the beauty created by a rising sun over the mostly calm waters of the gulf. In those first moments, just as the sun begins to peak over the horizon, it seems as if the whole earth is being disclosed and opened up to the dawn of a new day. In the light of the new day what has been shrouded in darkness suddenly can be seen. We realize that we have been given a gift, a revelation from the divine creator which can make all the difference in our day and free us to go on with a new sense of enthusiasm. This dawning of awareness, these moments of disclosure, of expectancy are like the moments of expectancy between Easter and Pentecost. Moments that allow for God’s people, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to discover the true meaning of Jesus’ resurrection.

These are not just moments when we find the right words but moments of discovery and transformation by the very presence of God. Such a moment of disclosure happened when the light flashed on the Damascus road and the voice said, “Saul, Saul, why do your persecute me?” It was a moment of transformation for Paul that changed his whole purpose and life. With eyes opened to the new reality created by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Saul goes from persecuting to bringing others into the light of God’s love. In the psalm for today, the psalmist sings about such a moment for the whole people of God. “You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.”

Such moments of transformation and disclosure happened for the disciples after a long night of unsuccessful fishing by the Sea of Tiberias.  When weary and ready to finally beach the boat, they hear a voice urging them to “cast the net to the right side of the boat.” As they do so and find an enormous catch of fish, the beloved disciple, John, recognizes Jesus. “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard those words he “put on some clothes, for he was naked and jumped into the sea.” “But the other disciple, John, came in the boat dragging the net…for they were only about a hundred yards off.” What distinguishes this moment of discovery in our gospel today is the disciple’s response to Jesus before they really knew who he was. Many theologians find in this story of the Beloved disciple and Peter two very distinct but necessary aspects of our faith.

John Chrysostom one of the church fathers writes in his Homilies on the Gospel of John: “When they recognized him, the disciples Peter and John again exhibited their different temperaments. The one was fervent, the other more contemplative; the one ready to go, the other more penetrating. John is the one who first recognizes Jesus, but Peter is the first to go to him.” John recognizes or hears the Lord which is something that is necessary for faith, yet his recognition does not at that point lead to action. Peter is the first to act which certainly symbolizes a committed faith, yet at that point it was not grounded in recognition. Experience says that both are necessary for authentic faith. We are saved by grace, by recognition of Jesus as savior but the scriptures also tell us that faith without action is dead.

It takes both to carry out the mission Christ has given the church. If they are united, if we take the best of Peter and the best of John and unite recognition and action we become fishers of people. Another way to think of this is that Peter and John represent the church’s need for a variety of gifts, working together as the body of Christ to carry out the vision and mission given by Christ to the church. If we read this scene symbolically, in a very broad sense, it is a statement about the vision and mission of the community. Disciple’s whose efforts at fishing are without success, obey the voice of Jesus and their nets overflow with a huge catch of fish. The number of the catch is interpreted to mean that all kinds of people will be won to Christ by the fishing of people. And the words “haul in,” which appears twice in the text when translated in the Greek, denote the divine movement in “drawing” people to Jesus; being fishers of people.

If we are going to fulfill the mission of fishing entrusted to us we will need the risen Christ guiding and feeding us. In the midst of our labor, Jesus calls and feeds us as he invited the disciples to breakfast and feeds them bread and fish which would bring to mind those earlier times with him; that first catch of fish, the feeding of the 5,000 and more with bread and fish, his being at table with them the last night of his life when he washes their feet and tells them to remember him in the sacred meal of bread and wine. The eyes of the disciples are opened to understand that this early morning meal says that the Last Supper was not the final meal. The risen Christ continues to share in the table fellowship of the church in the Eucharist and continues to supply the strength and nurture we need for our lives and for our fishing.

Finally, a moment of disclosure happens when we hear Christ call Peter by name and ask him three times if he loves him. Jesus wants to let Peter know that his denials and unfaithfulness are now set aside. He is forgiven and called to love and feed the followers of Jesus. The risen Lord offers Peter still another way to recognize and follow not only by “hauling in” fish but also by feeding the Lord’s sheep. It is as if our denials of God are somehow redeemed by our loving encounters with God in the hungry and poor. So, surely there is an overactive Peter and a Beloved Disciple in each of us. The beloved disciple, John shows us that reclining at the breast of Jesus in prayer, sharpens our spiritual vision and helps us to recognize the presence of the Lord, even in the midst of routine or in the difficult circumstances of our lives. From Peter’s example, we learn we can express our love for Christ, “not only with lips, but in our lives.”

The good news for us today whether in Saul’s story of redemption or in Peter and John’s story of surrender, is that not one of us can carry out the mission of “hauling in” and feeding apart from a community that helps us to live out our faith as we work together to carry out the vision and mission given to us. We can be thankful for the risen Christ who calls, feeds, empowers and loves us so we can believe and be transformed; much like the disciples who first gathered in fear behind locked doors, but eventually they burst forth with a message of assurance that Jesus was the Messiah. Let us pray that God will open our eyes to the new reality created by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

A reality that turns our mourning into dancing for God has taken off our sackcloth and clothed us with joy. This is the vision, the disclosure, the dawning of a new day that sets us free to go and bring others into the light of God’s love. “Do you love me” Jesus asks, for I still call, for I still feed, I still empower….it is time to say yes, Lord and follow.