2004-04-25 Easter 3C Resurrection Flashes.lwp - Page 3 of 3
The beloved disciple - we called him “BD” - was the first to see the other miracle. He yelled out
to Peter, “It’s the Lord!”
Peter heard this, and as usual couldn’t wait to do something - and now. So he tucked in his
jacket and jumped out of the and into the water, while the rest of us (who still were pretty much
clueless) brought the boat dragging the net full of fish.
When we got there, we saw this stranger (who we thought was asking for us for fish) already
had a charcoal fire going with some fish on it and bread. But he still wanted some of the ones that we
had caught. Oh, well, why not share? we thought. So Peter went back on the boat and hauled in this net
by himself - we counted 153 large fish!
Then this guy invited us to come and have breakfast.
We did. Funny - he didn’t look like the Jesus we knew - but none of us dared to ask him,
“Who are you?” - because we knew BD was right - it was him.
Maybe it was the way he asked us to bring something of our own. Maybe it was the way he
took bread and broke it and gave it to us. Maybe it was the abundance of fish that made us think of all
those times when Jesus provided all we needed - and more. Whether it was wine or fish and bread,
whatever, it was always “grace upon grace” with him. Maybe it was that we were together.
Or maybe it was all of the above.
There was another miracle that day and it has to do with how we really knew it was Jesus.
Peter, you remember, had denied Jesus three times on the night before he died. When the chips
were down, Peter went back to his old ways. Jesus wasn’t part of that.
But that day Jesus didn’t judge Peter for what he had done. Instead he loved Peter and forgave
him. He asked Peter to show his love for him by sharing in his own work of feeding and nurturing and
caring for and searching for his own sheep. He gave Peter another chance for a purpose driven life, one
that was shaped by the cross.
He gave all of us this gift, the gift of discipleship, and still offers it to all who will give up their
lives in love, love for God, love for one another, love even in the smallest places, love that bears witness
to his love in as many ways as there are followers of Jesus. Love that helps us come alive by loving
another.
That’s the billions of miracles I mentioned in the beginning.
Today, and always, may you know that gift.
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