Sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter I’m Going Fishing (Really, I Have Nothing Better to Do)
Theme: Allow the resurrection of your Lord Jesus Christ to shape the way you view your daily tasks. Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed!) Alleluia! In today’s Gospel, Peter does not sit around and twiddle his thumbs while he waits for Jesus to give him something to do. Peter announces, “I am going fishing.” Try as I might, I cannot think of any finer words to say in praise of the resurrection of our Lord than the words, “I am going fishing.” Dear Christian friends, Bible scholars debate why Peter said these words in today’s Gospel: · Some scholars say that Peter had decided to go back to his old life, now that following Jesus was all said and done. It was fun while it lasted, but now reality demands that Peter go back to work. Jesus is gone and there are bills to be paid, so now it is time to put the whole, grand adventure to rest and go back to doing what Peter knows best. · Other scholars disagree. They argue that Peter had no intention of returning to his old life, but that Peter was simply looking for something to do while he waited for Jesus to give him something better and more important to do. These scholars suppose that Peter grew bored while waiting for Jesus. At least the time will pass more quickly if his mind was on something else, such as his vocation. There is a third possibility for Peter’s decision to go fishing—one that sort of stands in the middle of these other two options that the Bible scholars pose. I find this third possibility appealing because this third possibility gives you a way to look, not only at Peter, but also at your own daily life in light of the resurrection. Here is some good news for your every morning and every evening: Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed!) Alleluia! Christ has indeed risen, and now Peter celebrates the resurrection by going fishing. Stated another way, Christ’s resurrection from the dead has now transformed everything about Peter’s life, including his daily tasks. By His death and His resurrection, the Lord Jesus has forgiven Peter all of Peter’s sins—even those dark and grievous sins that Peter committed before the rooster crowed three times on Friday morning (Luke 22:34, 54-62). · Because the Lord Jesus has risen from the dead, forgiving all Peter’s sins, there is now nothing about Peter’s life that his God finds displeasing. · Because the Lord Jesus has risen from the dead, Peter has been given new birth into a living hope that cannot be killed (1 Peter 1:3). · Because the Lord Jesus has risen from the dead, Peter is now guarded and protected by God’s miraculous gift of faith (1 Peter 1:5)—which faith the resurrected Jesus Himself kindled and lit for His dear Peter (John 20:6-9, 19-20). · Even more to the point of today’s Gospel: because the Lord Jesus has risen from the dead, now every part of Peter’s everyday life is worthy sacrifice and high praise to God. Stated another way, Peter did not go fishing because he was bored, and he certainly did not go fishing because he was all done following Jesus. Peter went fishing because his boat is now the cathedral in which he offers daily sacrifices to his God. Peter’s nets have now become the altar and Peter’s fellow fishermen have now become his fellow priests. “I am going fishing,” says Peter, and Peter truly has nothing better to do. He has nothing better to do, not because he is bored, but because there is nothing higher or more holy for this Christian man to do than this. Peter is a fisherman. Yes, he is soon to be a fisher of man, but for right now he is a fisherman. So Peter serves his risen Christ by going fishing. Let’s go back to those Bible scholars who have posed other ideas about why Peter would go fishing: · Some scholars say that Peter was abandoning the whole Jesus movement and returning to his career as a fisherman. But what message does that proclaim to you and to me? If Peter was doing putting Jesus behind him and returning to his old life, then you and I would have a good reason likewise to abandon the regular worship of the Church, to treat our Christian faith as if it were something in our past, and to act as if real life goes on with or without Jesus. (You probably can agree that such an approach to the faith is not really a good idea—and we will all end up in hell if we go in that direction.) · What about the other scholars, who say that Peter was bored, and that he went back to his old vocation simply as a way of passing the time until Jesus gave him something better to do? What message does that proclaim to you and to me? If Peter only serves his vocation while waiting for something better from Jesus, then each of our vocations are merely a way of passing the time, too! If Peter is bored, then service to God is something that we must do above and beyond our daily tasks—as if any of us has any more time to squeeze into our daily schedules. · This is why I want to pose this third option to you, dear friends: Christ is risen! We all respond by saying, “Alleluia!” Peter responds by saying, “I am going fishing.” Peter goes fishing—that is, he engages in his daily tasks, whatever is at his hand—in PRAISE of the resurrection. What message does that proclaim to you and to me? By going fishing, Peter is showing you and me that our daily tasks are high and holy praise to God. If Peter’s boat is a cathedral to the resurrection, than so is you living room and your classroom and your office and your shop. If Peter’s nets are his high altar, than so also are your teller’s counter and your janitor’s cart and your toolbox and your desk and your crochet hook. As it goes for Peter, so it also goes for you. Peter himself believes this because he later spoke about you as “those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with [his]” (2 Peter 1:1). For this reason, what can be said of Peter can also be said concerning you: · Because the Lord Jesus has risen from the dead, forgiving all YOUR sins, there is now nothing about YOUR life that your God finds displeasing. · Because the Lord Jesus has risen from the dead, YOU have been given new birth into a living hope that cannot be killed (1 Peter 1:3). · Because the Lord Jesus has risen from the dead, YOU are now guarded and protected by God’s miraculous gift of faith (1 Peter 1:5)—which faith the resurrected Jesus Himself kindled and lit for You, as Jesus did also for Peter. · Even more to the point of today’s Gospel: because the Lord Jesus has risen from the dead, now every part of YOUR everyday life is worthy sacrifice and high praise to God—and in this it does not matter if you are busy or stationary, mobile or immobile, infant or aged. Peter went fishing because his boat is now the cathedral in which he offers daily sacrifices to his God. Whatever you do and wherever you go in your day, look at your own life in the same way. It does not matter who you are or what your God has placed into your hands to do. Really, you have nothing better—nothing higher and nothing more holy—by which you may speak resurrection praise to God. What you have and what you do are now high praise to God because Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed!) Alleluia! The peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen. ___________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author (as long as no charge is made for the work and it is not made part of a compilation), as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list. Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster. Subscribe? Send ANY note to: sermons...@cat41.org Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: sermons-...@cat41.org Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/sermons@cat41.org/> For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at: Rev. Fr. Eric J. 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