[Sermon Archive] - [Weekly Devotional Guide]

This Week's Sermon The Third Sunday of Easter 22 April 2007 "Christ Will Richly Supply" John 21:1-19 LSB Series C Pastor Philip G. Meyer Soli Deo Gloria!

Many of you know how I lament the loss of the old Latin names for the Sundays of the liturgical year. I lament that not just because I had to study Latin in my high school and undergraduate days, but because the names are just so much more interesting! Last Sunday is probably my favorite. Quasimodogenitii, "as newborn babies" . . . Next Sunday, known now as Good Shepherd Sunday, was Miseracordia Domini, and it was the Second Sunday after Easter. While today is now called The Third Sunday of Easter, it traded places in the order with Miseracordia Domini. Today is Jubilate, "rejoice." Then the next Sunday was called Cantate, "sing," followed by Rogate, "pray," of which I have written for the May issue of our parish newsletter called Esprit. One more Sunday remains, the Sunday after Ascension called Exaudi, "hear." All of these names come from the very first words of the Introit, the Psalm which begins the Divine Service proper and alert us to the focus of the day.

All of these Sundays celebrate our Lord's resurrection from the dead, but they do so from the perspective that our future has been changed by our risen Lord. Our collect asks God to give us "perpetual gladness and eternal joys" amidst our earthly lives. It basically reminds us that because Jesus is risen from the dead, our lives as Christians have a different perspective and flavor. Jubilate! Rejoice!

Sometimes Christians are accused of living lives divorced from reality, that we just put on a happy face no matter what, but that's mistaken. We suffer the common troubles and sorrows of all people, but Christians do have a different point of reference because Christ is risen from the dead. That should characterize our attitude and thinking. There ought to be something different about how we live in this world and especially how we cope with trouble, sorrow, and tragedy. In this sense Christians are different than the rest of the world.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians:

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:1-4, ESV)

Our lives are "hidden with Christ in God," which means that on the outside they look very ordinary to the world. Christians look no different than anybody else in this world, and Christians are not immune to the common troubles and sorrows of this world. That seems to be the focus of this Gospel reading today. Here we have the disciples, seven of them, who are back in Galilee because Jesus had told them to meet him there. The time between Jesus' resurrection and his ascension must have been a difficult transition for the disciples. They didn't really know what to expect, but Jesus kept appearing to them to prove that he had risen from the dead. He appeared to them under different circumstances. Here, he appears to them by the Sea of Galilee, a place where they had spent many hours together. After the events of Holy Week, life seems to have gotten back to normal, in a way.

A fishing story seems out of place in light of the events of Holy Week. It seems too common, and yet that is just the point. As the disciples went out fishing they caught nothing. It reminds us of another time nearly three years before when Jesus first called his disciples. Peter, James, and John were together and had been fishing all night, catching nothing. Yet, when Jesus told Peter to go out into the deep and let down the nets, they caught so many fish that the boat began to sink [Luke 5.1-11]. It was, as Yogi Berra used to say, "Déjà vu all over again." From the shore Jesus tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat and they would find fish. The result was the same-so many fish that they couldn't pull the net into the boat.

It was John who remembered first. "It is the Lord!" he exclaimed. The man standing on the shore was no stranger, but the risen Christ himself. John remarks that none of the disciples dared ask him who he was! Of course not! It was obvious. It was Jesus himself. And when they got to the shore Jesus asked them to bring some of the fish they had just caught to eat along with the fish and the bread which he had already prepared for them.

What does all of this mean? Why is this recorded? John had said earlier that Jesus "did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book," that is, his Gospel, but each instance is recorded so that we may "believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing . . . have life in his name."

Jesus was providing for his disciples. This has not changed since his resurrection. He will continue to provide the necessities of life. What a comforting thing that Jesus does for you! Even though he has finished his work of redemption he has not forgotten about you and your daily needs. You see, life goes on, doesn't it? You haven't been "raptured" into heaven, but you continue to have life on this earth. You still depend upon God for your daily sustenance and care. You still pray the Our Father on a daily basis. You pray the Fourth Petition, "Give us this day our daily bread." Daily bread includes everything that you need to sustain your earthly life. You pray it and God continues to answer-for Christ's sake!

Today our prayer list is as long as ever. We pray for all sorts and conditions of men. We pray for those who need the ongoing care of our risen Lord. They are those whose conditions may or may not improve. We leave that in God's hands, but confidently believe that Christ will sustain them in their burdens until he grants relief, either in time or in eternity. And we pray for those whose needs are immediate, those facing surgery or recovering from surgery or illness. We pray for those who grieve, and for those who have suffered because of the sins of others. And we do all this precisely because our Lord Jesus Christ is risen from the dead! Just as our Lord's supply to his disciples on the shore of Galilee exceeded their needs, so does our Lord's supply to us, too. We have no doubt that he can provide whatever is needed according to his gracious will. We have this confidence because he has won the victory over sin, death, and hell. He lives and reigns for us! If Jesus died for us, his resurrection proves that he also lives for us!

But there is still more that our risen Lord provides, and that is shown by his dealing with Peter. After breakfast Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him. It was painful for Peter to answer because each question was like a knife into his heart. Peter had denied Jesus three times, and now Jesus asks him three times about his love. Peter's conscience hurt. It was painful for him to be reminded of his sins, but Jesus was doing that so that he could heal him, restore him. Jesus didn't ask him this three times to cause Peter more hurt, but to absolve him for each offense. Here we have Private Confession and Absolution as it should be, one on one, Jesus and Peter. Not only will Jesus provide his Christians with their daily bread, he will provide what you need even more, that is, his Absolution from all your sins.

Very often when one has experienced a traumatic event, feelings of guilt haunt a person. He has a hard time letting go of his guilt. In the aftermath of last week's tragedy at Virginia Tech there are people with feelings of guilt because of a number of things. Those who didn't try to help the man who did the killing have guilty feelings. Those who couldn't save more people from harm will have guilty feelings and so on. Peter had a need to be assured and reassured that he was forgiven. Jesus wanted to make sure that Peter understood that the payment of his innocent life on the cross was enough to cover all Peter's sins, even these horrible sins of denial. Jesus was refitting Peter for service in his kingdom. Jubilate! Rejoice!

Think of how marvelously God has provided for your forgiveness. Last week we spoke of the gifts which Christ has given to his Church in ordaining the Office of the Holy Ministry, how he puts pastors in his place to distribute his forgiveness in Word and in Sacrament, that he does this as of first importance so that there will be those men who speak with the authority of Christ himself. You heard how the word of Absolution that your pastor speaks is the word which comes directly from the mouth of Christ himself so that you can be absolutely certain that God has forgiven you your sins. Your pastor stands ready to hear your confession and to speak Christ's own word of Absolution to you. What a blessing that this salutary practice has been reinstated among us here at Immanuel!

Three times Jesus told Peter to "feed my sheep." Once for each denial. Jesus focuses once more upon the apostolic work of the kingdom, the proclamation and distribution of his forgiveness. Give to the sheep what they need most, Christ's absolution. And so it has continued uninterrupted for more than 2,000 years since our Lord spoke those words to Peter. Christ himself abundantly supplies your every need! Here in Word and Sacrament Christ's Absolution has been distributed among the people of this congregation for 149 years without interruption! Jubilate! Rejoice!

How tragic this past week in the aftermath of the horrific shootings at Virginia Tech that at the memorial gathering on Tuesday the Muslim quoted freely from the Koran in both Arabic and English, the Buddhist talked about faith in human nature and the inherent goodness of people, the Jewish woman quoted from Ecclesiastes, but the Christian pastor of a Lutheran Church with which we are not in fellowship, spoke only about light and darkness but never once did he mention God, much less, the Holy Trinity, and even worse, never said a word about Christ's death and resurrection, nothing about forgiveness, and the hope of eternal life. When the vast majority of those in the audience were Christians, he did not feed the sheep. One of our LCMS pastors, a relative of one of our members, aptly observed, "This was thin gruel in which to find nourishment and comfort." He did not speak the Gospel to those who did not know it, those whose hearts perhaps would have been receptive to the good news of eternal life. Indeed, our only comfort in such times is Christ crucified and risen again, this Christ who died and rose for our forgiveness. In this Easter season we need to be reminded of our Lord's triumphant resurrection and our connection to him in Holy Baptism. How sad that a Christian pastor failed to mention Christ risen in the face of death!

Your lives are hidden with Christ in God. Your Lord protects you, body and soul as you go about your ordinary lives. He richly and daily provides everything you need to support your body and life. He heals your diseases, sustains you in trials, protects you from harm, and sends his holy angels to watch over you. He does not abandon you but sends men to tend to your greatest need, the need of forgiveness. That Christ is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity guarantees that he will bring it all to a glorious conclusion at the end of this age. Even in the face of such unspeakable evil and tragedy we have the comfort and the hope of this Christ who lives and reigns for us, the One who richly supplies all our needs of body and soul. This richness will give way one day to opulence that human language cannot convey, fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore [Ps. 16.11] in the nearer presence of Christ.

The old Latin title certainly fits today, Jubilate, "Rejoice!"