“STRANGER ON
THE SHORE”
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This sermon was preached Reading: John
21:1-14 |
Going Fishing
I remember someone once telling me how much he envied the
disciples, able to spend all their days fishing on Galilee. This guy waxed lyrical about the lake. What he would have given, he said, to have
changed places with peter or Andrew – day after day sat in the middle of the
lake, the water lapping against the side of the boat, his rod propped by his
side, as he watched his float bobbing gently in the water, waiting for a
bite…. And all the time surrounded by
the beautiful Galilean scenery…. All
the time in the world to reflect on our Lord’s teaching….
Of course
it wasn’t like that at all. In our
Gospel today we read of Peter and Andrew and colleagues back at work - and fishing for them was a strenuous,
back-breaking affair, hauling great cumbersome nets, heavy with water, in and
out of the boats. This was not rest and relaxation but sweat
and toil.
And you
wonder what welcome they had got on their return back north after their trip to
Jerusalem a few days earlier. I wonder
if Peter’s wife and his mother-in-law were there at the door waiting for him,
saying “About time too – following failed Messiahs doesn’t pay the Tesco bill –
its about time you did some real work for a change….
And of
course it was worse than that. Maybe they’d
lost the knack but they’d been at it all night long – Here they were putting in
a full night shift, exhausted, and what did they have to take to the Capernaum
Fish Market?? Nothing.
Then they
see this stranger on the shore. We know
of course, and they discover, that it is the Risen Christ. He tells them to cast their nets on the
other side and they immediately land a colossal catch.
Jesus
meanwhile is preparing a breakfast on the shore. He tells them to bring their catch as a
contribution to the breakfast feast.
There are
so many themes here. Let me make just a
few comments.
1.
To those of you who are
struggling with life
When you
are stressed and exhausted, and seem to have failed comprehensively, Jesus is
there for you. In the midst of your
sweat and panic and exhaustion you may not recognize the stranger on the shore
– but he is there.
Jesus is
not just a Saviour locked away in a Sanctuary waiting for pious souls to seek
him out.
He is a
Saviour who came to meet us beyond the city wall in the unconsecrated,
unclean and unsacred hill of execution – And by his
presence made it holy.
And when
we are in the thick of everyday toil and trouble, he is there.
There is
a dangerous dividing line between true piety and holier than thou smugness,
which, like the Pharisees of old, we cross at our peril.
I heard recently of a lady wearing a T shirt proclaiming
in large block capitals “Too blessed to be stressed”
What can you say to that? I’m sure there are saints who are genuinely
too blessed to be stressed, and maybe the lady in the T shirt was one such –
though I’m not sure the truly blessed necessarily boast about it…. Why did I not feel comforted by the message
on the T shirt?? Maybe because I know
I often feel just the opposite – “Too stressed to be blessed”.
(cf
“He will feed
your soul” by Andrew Fiddler)
But when
I feel like that, I need to remember the story of the failed, exhausted and stressed
fishermen, who suddenly saw a stranger on the shore and discovered that even in
their moment of very secular and very sweaty exhaustion, their Lord was there
for them, saying “Come unto me, you who are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest”
2.
To those of you feeling
creative and positive about life
A word to
those who feel blessed not stressed, who feel your nets are not empty but
bursting full.
Well of
course Jesus is there on the shore for you as well.
And note
– he is cooking fish for breakfast.
This is the Lord who once fed 5000 at one sitting, so he won’t need your
fish will he??
Well, yes
he will. Bring your fish, he says. Just as at the Lord’s Supper we bring bread
and wine, the fruits of our toil, and offer it back to God to be blessed and
given again to us – so by the Lakeside Christ who has enabled the great catch
asks the disciples to bring it to him that it might be blessed and given again
to them….
Conclusion
So here
we have a story of two parts.
It’s a story of failure and a story of success.
It’s a story of empty nets and full nets.
And a Christ on the shore who is there for all –
whatever their catch or lack of it.
Someone
asked me this week if I was going to preach on St George, the Queen, this Sceptred Isle….
The
simple answer to that is “No” -
but what is true of individuals is of course also true for communities and
nations.
If we
feel our nation has failed (as indeed often we have) Christ is still there
standing on the shore of this less than perfect Isle meeting us in our folly
and misfortune
If our
nation has gifts to be thankful for (as indeed we have0 Christ is still
standing there on the shore bidding us offer them in his service not our own…
So –
whether we read this as individuals or as a nation -
here we have a story of two parts.
It’s a story of failure and a story of success.
It’s a story of empty nets and full nets.
I wonder
which half you identify with??
If you feel that life right now is
one of failure, stress and exhaustion,
well look and see a Stranger on the Shore who says
“Come unto me, all you who are heavy laden –
I will give you rest and new life and new hope and new beginning”
If you feel that life right now is
one brimming over with success and exhilaration,
well see the Stranger on the Shore who is calling to you.
Do you not know that the good things of life are actually his gift?
He is cooking breakfast for you but he wants your fish!
He says “bring what you have in life here – I need what you can give –
for I need you and your sisters and brothers to help with the cooking –
we have the Feast of the Kingdom to prepare,
and I need your help in the kitchen!!