Sermon 24th April 2016

Today, our Vicar, Cameron Barker, preaches. The reading is from John 21: v15-19.

“Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.” Peter’s own words, spoken so bravely – and so foolhardily – just hours before Jesus’ arrest surely hung heavily in the air on that morning. Maybe it’s just as well that this encounter took place on a beach then: was there any room big enough to fit that sized elephant in? Mind you, Jesus didn’t ever ‘do’ elephants, as today’s passage illustrates so very clearly: “Simon” – and note the use of that name – “Simon, son of John: do you love me more than these?”, Jesus asked him!

We will, of course, get to the detail of that in detail: in due course. But first, it could do with a fair bit of putting into context. In terms of the immediate context, today’s story tells what happened after Jesus had appeared to his disciples back in Galilee, and performed another miracle. If you missed last week’s instalment, Trevor’s sermon on the first part of this story is available on the parish website. Then, starting to widen the context out a little, Gill’s sermon from the previous week, on another incident, is also there. And the week before that was when we had the first in this series on Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances in John – which is what we’re reaching the end of today.

John records more of these incidents than any of the other gospel writers do; which is yet another way in which he is different to them. John is also well known for his editorial comment. As well as putting his own words in to explain what’s happening and why (such as the one that’s in today’s passage) John chose the stories he used, and their order. Of course Matthew, Mark, and Luke also each wrote their books about Jesus in particular ways, for particular reasons. But John often seems rather more deliberate in what he’s trying to communicate: about Jesus; and specifically, about how Jesus makes eternal life a present reality for his followers. For John, new life with God has already begun in Jesus: he’s therefore trying to explain what that looks like for people.

That fact very much applies in the resurrection stories that John chose to include. As we’ve been hearing since Easter, Jesus appeared to different of his followers; in different ways; at different times; in different circumstances: and for different reasons, it seems. John also made it clear that there were plenty of other such stories that he didn’t put in. But these ones (perhaps with the exception of the first part of this story) all seem to have a common feature. They’re all saying something about the nature of this eternal life becoming a greater present reality for those who met the risen Jesus. That may be a fairly general point; but it’s 1 that’s worth keeping in mind as we examine the detail of Simon’s life-restoring encounter with the risen Jesus; and see how that speaks to us today.

Widening the context still further, then: there is no doubt that John wants his readers to picture the scene that took place beside another fire. We can’t know how long before this that had been; but it was a matter of days rather than weeks. On what we call Maundy Thursday, so the night before he died, Jesus had been arrested and put on trial in the courtyard of the High Priest. Peter (as Simon is most often known after Jesus had re-named him) got himself into the grounds. Give him credit for that: almost everyone else had run for their lives when the guards appeared. “What would I have done that night?” is a good question for each of us to ask ourselves honestly, at least once. Or maybe we might better ask, “What have I done when I have been in a situation a bit like that” – as I suspect many of us likely have been before now.

Whatever our own answers may be, Simon Peter wore what happened in that courtyard that night like a millstone round his neck that threatened to drown him. It’s 1 of the New Testament’s best-known stories: how not once; not twice; but three times – and with ever-greater vehemence – Simon Peter had denied he even knew Jesus. And then the cock had crowed; just as Jesus had said would happen earlier that night; when Simon Peter had declared: “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you”. And then we begin to grasp something of the shame and the disgrace and maybe even the self-hatred that Simon Peter had been living with ever since. And maybe we don’t want to be by this fire now either; with Jesus looking at us; asking us if we love him; after what we have said, or done – or not said, or done.

Now much has been made, by some people, of the exact words that Jesus used in this encounter with Simon Peter. Specifically the Greek has different words here for ‘love’, and ‘sheep’, and ‘feed’ – which is why they’re translated in different ways in English in this passage. Greek was the language that John wrote in; but Jesus wasn’t speaking to Simon Peter in it, of course. To focus on that is, in any case, to miss the main point of what was happening on the beach that morning. This isn’t about different types of love or different jobs that Jesus wanted to give Simon Peter. No: this is, above all, a putting right of what had gone so disastrously wrong; in the presence of some of the people who had heard or seen at least parts of it.

There can be no doubt about what was going on: Jesus deliberately addressed Simon by the name that he used to be called before Jesus had made him Peter. His denials had not been the rock-like behaviour that had made Peter into the de facto leader and spokesman of the disciples. When push had come to shove, Simon had reverted to type; and had relied on himself rather than on Jesus. And they both painfully well knew it. What’s remarkable – to 21^st-Century people, at least – is that Jesus didn’t ask Simon Peter if he was sorry that he’d done it. Jesus didn’t even ask him to promise that he wouldn’t do it again (which is what ‘sorry’ is meant to mean in our house, by the way!) No: Jesus ‘just’ asked Simon if he loved him; though he did so three times, note.

Of course the 3 times is deliberate! 3 times Simon Peter had denied Jesus; so 3 times he was invited to declare his love for Jesus. And each time Simon Peter answered that same question there on the beach, beside that fire, he relied on Jesus rather than on himself: “You know that I love you”. And each time Jesus’ response wasn’t to say, “There, there”; or “Don’t worry”; or any 1^st-Century equivalent of, “I forgive you”. Instead, each time Jesus gave him an unambiguous, quite staggering instruction: “Take care of my sheep”! As I say, the variation in the wording of that really doesn’t make any difference: what matters is that we see what the reality of God’s new life in Jesus was going to look like for a restored Simon Peter.

In his commentary on it Tom Wright describes this as 1 of the most spectacular interchanges in all of literature! That’s a big claim; but it’s about right when we grasp the detail of what it was that Jesus told Simon Peter to do. By way of forgiving him, Jesus gave him not just any job; but a share in his own! John’s gospel is where we read that Jesus said “I am the good shepherd”. And here he is sharing that responsibility – with the man who 3 times had denied even knowing him! Jesus first took Simon Peter back to the place of his deepest failure and greatest pain, and dealt with those. And then he showed Peter – and us – what forgiveness looks like; what this new life that Jesus brings makes possible. Even for people who have done the sorts of things that Peter had, there is a place of responsibility: sharing in Jesus’ work; of showing God’s care.

It perhaps quickly needs saying, for the sake of clarity, that this isn’t about earning forgiveness; because we can’t ever do that! In this exchange with Simon Peter Jesus is clearly showing what is known as grace. It’s because of the joy and relief of being forgiven that Peter willingly accepts this renewed call that Jesus chooses to offer him. Of course it says far more about Jesus than it ever does about Peter – just as it does when something like this happens to us. And nor must we miss the rest of what Jesus said to Simon Peter here. John does the necessary de-coding of that, in one of his typical asides. Jesus told Peter that there would be a cost to his obedience – just as there had been for Jesus himself.

The best way to end today and this series is by taking the context to its widest extent. Jesus’ final words to Peter in this exchange should sound very familiar to anyone who’s ever read the New Testament. Near the start of all 4 gospels there are multiple stories of Jesus saying exactly these words, to numerous people: including to Simon, as he then was. “Follow me” is where the story began; and it’s also where the story ends in John. It has been quite a journey in-between, it must be said for everyone who’s been involved in it. But this has been what it’s all been about, from start to finish: it’s been about following Jesus; as he brings in, and makes real, this eternal life; in all of these very real, practical, dramatic, and ordinary ways.

For Jesus the human being that journey is now almost at an end. But the story is far from over – as we are living proof of, all these century later. John tells us how Jesus ensured that the story will continue; for God’s eternal life in Jesus to go on impacting people in very real, practical, dramatic, and ordinary ways. It might not sound like the most sensible way of doing it: to entrust the work to the leadership of the man who so recently had so let Jesus down. But the evidence suggests that God knew what he was doing; as He still does today; even when it still looks like as daft, impractical, and as unrealistic as it did back then. You see, it’s to people as imperfect and often-failing as us that Jesus says, “Follow me”.

He may, of course, have said that to you many times already. You may have said Yes; and messed up; or No, and messed up! The messing up is the common factor; for all of us: it’s only a matter of the detail and the frequency. So it’s to us that Jesus extends this invitation: to revisit the place of our deepest pain and humiliation and failure. And it’s precisely there that he offers us too his forgiveness: in the shape of a fresh calling to a place in his work. It may very well be costly; and difficult; and make no sense; but it will always be all a working of God’s grace. So, as this series ends, will you hear Jesus asking you the question that he asked Simon Peter: “Do you love me?” Our answer to that is foundational to all else. So, if you do love Jesus – however hesitantly, or uncertainly – then also hear his call to follow him: by sharing in his work; of making real this eternal life that he offers to all people through his death; and respond to it: by following him. Let’s now pray that we will, then …

Sermon 17th April 2016

Today, one of our Lay Readers, Trevor Tayleur, preaches. The reading is from John 21:1-14

Risen Jesus on the Beach

A defendant was on trial for murder. There was strong evidence indicating guilt, but there was no corpse.

In the defence's closing statement, the defence lawyer, knowing that his client would probably be convicted, tried a trick. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have a surprise for you all," said the lawyer. "Within one minute, the person presumed dead in this case will walk into this courtroom."

He looked toward the courtroom door. The jurors, somewhat stunned, all looked on eagerly. A minute passed. Nothing happened. Finally, the lawyer said, "Actually, I made up the previous statement. But you all looked on with anticipation. I, therefore, put it to you that you have a reasonable doubt as to whether anyone was killed, and I insist that you return a verdict of not guilty."

The jury retired to deliberate. Soon the jury returned and pronounced a verdict of guilty. "But how?" inquired the lawyer. "You must have had some doubt; I saw all of you stare at the door." The jury foreman replied: "Yes, we did look, but your client didn't."

Of course, unlike the corpse in this story, the risen Jesus did appear, not at the courtroom door, but on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Last week we looked at John 20, and the closing verses seemed to have brought John’s Gospel to an end; “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Yet John wrote some more. It seems that John added chapter 21 after completing the first, and main draft, of his Gospel. So why did John add this extra chapter on at the end? One reason, it seems, was to set the scene for the encounter between the risen Jesus and Peter that Cameron will be speaking about next Sunday. But the verses we’re looking at this morning also have a purpose of their own. As I’ve said, John concluded the previous chapter by writing; “[T]hese are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God…” And it seems that John wanted to add something to his Gospel story to further encourage belief in the risen Jesus.

In chapter 20 John had already recounted some of Jesus’ resurrection appearances. First Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalene, then to the disciples in Jerusalem, and then again to the disciples to show himself to Thomas who, as Gill explained last week, missed Jesus’ appearance to the other disciples. But now John wanted to emphasise the reality of the risen Jesus even more. The reality of the risen Jesus was vital to the early church. Luke, the writer of the next phase of the Christian story, the Acts of the Apostles, wrote at the start of Acts: “After his suffering, [Jesus] presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” Similarly, John may well have added chapter 21 of his Gospel to witness to the reality of the risen Jesus.

The resurrection isn’t just part of the Christian faith. It’s the heart of it. St Paul himself wrote; “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1 Cor 15:14). For the early church, the resurrection wasn’t simply a spiritual truth – it was based on historical fact. Bertrand Russell, a very famous 20^th Century philosopher, once wrote; “I cannot think it right or wise to cherish beliefs for which there is no good evidence, merely on the grounds that fairy tales are pleasant." But John and the other Gospel writers were very keen to emphasise that the resurrection is no fairy tale, but a fact of history. The central claim of the Gospels concerns the resurrection of someone who was a contemporary of those who claimed it happened. Indeed, not just a contemporary – but a close personal friend, a friend whose life and teaching and miracles were unparalleled, a friend whom death could not hold. The claim that Jesus had risen from death was an extraordinary one; people in the first century knew as well as we do that dead people don’t come back to life. Something had changed those first followers of Jesus.

Yes, initially the first disciples had followed Jesus in the hope of national renewal and Israel’s restoration. But they had seen Jesus crucified and all their hopes had been dashed. Indeed, in many ways, objectively speaking, nothing had changed. Israel hadn’t been liberated. The Romans through Pontius Pilate still governed Judea. Injustice and oppression were still on the loose. And yet something had happened to convince them that a great new day had dawned and there was no looking back. The impossible had occurred – Jesus had risen from the dead, and they were utterly convinced of this. It was one of these faith enthusing experiences of the risen Jesus that John describes in John 21:1-14. The events of chapter 20 took place in Jerusalem, but now the scene has shifted to Galilee. After the Passover period, the seven disciples referred to in our passage had gone back to Galilee, their home territory. They were home again, but without Jesus things probably felt a bit strange – and no doubt they had many burning questions about what they had gone through.

So, back in Galilee, they decided to go fishing. We’re not sure why. As we can see from verse 3, it was Peter’s idea. “I’m going out to fish,” he said. And the others joined him. Peter was a practical man. He wasn’t the sort of man to sit around waiting, even if dramatic events had been occurring. He was going to do something familiar, something safe, something where he knew where he was.  And as we know, it didn’t work. They were experienced fishermen; they knew where the shoals of fish congregated – and yet they caught nothing. And they knew that if you didn’t catch fish at night, you’re even less likely to do so in the day. And then, as we see in verse 4, Jesus appears, standing on the shore. At first they don’t recognise him, just as Mary Magdalene hadn’t originally recognised him in the garden.

We do well, as we think about the risen body of Jesus, to remember that we are talking about a great mystery. When the Gospel writers write about it, they are on the very frontiers of language and experience. Yes, we know that there is similarity, but there is also dissimilarity.  The Lord we know is no longer bound by material and spatial limitations. This is a Lord who can walk through a sealed tomb or a locked door. This is a Lord who can immediately appear or disappear in an instant. At times his appearance must have been reassuringly ordinary, and at other times blindingly radiant. But this is no ghost or disembodied spirit. This is a new body, unfettered by time or space, free from any dependence on its environment. Gloriously transformed. Yes, this is a real body, and in a true sense it’s the same body, yet also it’s a transformed body with a sometimes hard to define difference that momentarily delays recognition.

The seven disciples, despite having seen the risen Jesus in chapter 20, don’t realise it is him. Maybe it’s just the early morning light, maybe it’s some lakeside mist; who can tell? But throughout this passage there is sort of nervousness amongst the disciples. There is a degree of hesitancy of recognition as they meet the Lord again, and it hints there is something special about Jesus – a certain humanity-plus.

The story continues to unfold. Jesus calls out to them in verse 5. “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” They seem not to recognise his voice, but something in its note of authority inspires enough confidence in them to take his advice, and so they throw their nets on the other side of the boat. And of course there is a huge haul of fish. Peter and John react immediately. The penny drops for John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. There’s a moment of revelation, of recognition, and he says, in verse 7, “It is the Lord.” Peter, as ever, is the action man, while John is the reflective one. Peter sees this as a summons to action, and in verse 8 he jumps into the water and heads for the shore. And there, on the shore, is Jesus with just what they need after a long night on the sea – a cooked breakfast on the beach. Jesus has a breakfast of cooked fish and bread waiting for them – just what the tired, wet, hungry and confused group of disciples need. Jesus is thoughtful, loving and prepared.

And in verse 10 Jesus graciously invites them to contribute to the breakfast from their own catch, a catch they have struggled to bring ashore. And all the time the disciples must have been overwhelmed by their awe at whom they were with. As John writes in verse 12: “None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord.”

They probably had a hundred questions on their mind at that point, but they are all silenced by their unshakeable conviction that this is the Jesus whom they knew – now unmistakably alive but unmissably different, having overcome the great enemy - death. There could only be one possible answer to the question, “Who are you?”  It would be; “It’s me – the risen Jesus.”

John tells the story principally to build faith and belief in the risen Jesus. As he says in verse 14, “This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.” And he also tells it for our benefit – that the resurrection is real, that it is something that actually happened and that it is not a figment of someone’s imagination. Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed! And this means that there is another starting point for thinking and living. There is a starting point that isn’t the market economy, that isn’t some ideology or that isn’t some self-help mantra or anything else. We are the disciples of Jesus and have the privilege of saying; “It is the Lord” and following him.

John’s account has a personal dimension – a dimension that calls for an individual response. But it also has wider dimensions. And briefly now I’ll look at just a couple of these wider dimensions.

Firstly, this passage points to Jesus being the Lord of all creation. The disciples were experienced fishermen; they weren’t ignorant. They knew that this catch was another miracle – a sign of Jesus’ supreme authority over nature itself. Perhaps Jesus on the shore had had a better view of where the shoal of fish were – or perhaps not. I don’t think we need to explain this sign away, because however Jesus did it, supernaturally or not, it points to Jesus’ authority and power over all things. As Paul puts it in Colossians, “For in [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:16).

Nothing we can see, nothing that we cannot see, nothing from the past, nothing in the present or in the future, nothing is beyond the reach of the risen Lord. And whether it’s a shoal of fish, or the safety of a nation, or my individual future, all are subject to the authority of the risen Lord.

The first dimension I’ve picked out relates to Jesus being the Lord of all creation. The second relates to something more down to earth – the mission of the Church. In this passage we are meant to see echoes of what happened in Luke chapter 5 when Peter, John and others were first called to be disciples. Back then, they had fished all night and caught nothing, and Jesus had told them where to find the fish, and they had been overwhelmed by the catch. And Jesus had told them that they would become fishers of people. And Jesus confirmed the mission of the disciples in chapter 20, by breathing God’s spirit on them and sending them into the world, just as God had sent Jesus. The disciples were to spread the good news of the risen Jesus, but if they tried to do it their own way, they would fail. They would toil all night and catch nothing. The way ahead for them was to listen to Jesus’ voice afresh and to do as he said. And indeed that is what they did, and they were able to transform the world.

And we, too, in 21^st Century Herne Hill, continue the mission of those first disciples, to bring the good news of Jesus to the world. That’s why we have our Community Action Support Group to bring God’s love to the parish, with a focus on the Milkwood area. That’s why a group from the church regularly visit Brixton Prison and why we have Zone 2, JGL Cafe and our children’s church – to spread the good news of the risen Jesus, to spread God’s love.

And as we do these things, these very worthwhile things, let’s remember, like the disciples, we need the power of the risen Lord to transform our effectiveness. Like the disciples, we need to listen to Jesus.

The first aim of this story is to make quite clear the reality of the resurrection. The risen Jesus was not a vision, nor the figment of someone’s over-excited imagination. It was Jesus who had defeated death and who had come back. But this risen Jesus had given his disciples a mission to spread the good news of the resurrection to the world. And as we follow in the footsteps of the disciples, we need to look to Jesus for our help and strength.

Let’s pray. Father, help us recognise the reality of the resurrection, the risen Jesus, in our daily lives. And as we strive to fulfil our mission in Herne Hill, help us to remember that we can’t do it all on our own, that we don’t need to do it all on our own, but we can put our trust in the risen Jesus.

Amen.

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[i] With acknowledgement and thanks to a sermon by David Turner at All Souls Langham Place

[ii] 17 April 2016