On the Way to Wonder

John 21

Contextualization is the process of taking an idea and making it understandable in a different context.  So for example the story in Luke 2 where four men bring their paralytic friend to Jesus but the house is full so they can’t get their friend in.  They go up on the roof and dig through the ceiling and lower their friend into Jesus’ presence.  Contextualization makes the scene understandable to Eskimos who live in igloos or to nomads in Kenya  who have rounded portable houses.

         Little Peggy March in 1963, having just turned 15, shot this song to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. She was the youngest female artist to claim that fame.        I was in high school.  Whoopi Goldberg sang the song contextualized in Sister Act !, leading a choir of nuns in San Francisco – for the Pope.  Love was love for God.  This song still remains my favorite example of contextualization.  I cannot keep my feet still and break into a smile whenever I hear it.

         We pondered Jesus’ encounter with Peter after the resurrection, after fishing all night, after a breakfast and then the end of the conversation.  Jesus told Peter, “Follow me.”  What does following mean to you?

I will follow him
Follow him wherever he may go
And near him, I always will be
For nothing can keep me away
He is my destiny

I will follow him
Ever since he touched my heart I knew
There isn’t an ocean too deep
A mountain so high it can keep
Keep me away
Away from his love

Luke 24:50-53

⁵⁰ Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. ⁵¹ While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵² And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; ⁵³ and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

I have been thinking more about yesterday.  40 days after Easter Sunday Christians around the world celebrated Ascension Day, the day Jesus publicly ascended or went up to heaven. That was this Thursday, yesterday. It is often pictured as Jesus floating up in a cloud as if he left us.  The writer Luke, continues his account in Acts and adds the fact that afterwards, two men, possibly angles, then appeared and told the followers that Jesus would return in the same way as he was seen leaving.  We live with one of those tensions like God’s sovereignty and people’s free will, or faith and works.  Both are true and we hold them in tension.  My husband would say, faith by mystery not management.  What we do know is that Jesus is eternal, is God and is not walking the earth now with followers gathering.  We have the Holy Spirit guiding within us. 

So, what is the big deal?  The Ascension confirms that Jesus did not suddenly recover from the crucifixion to die again even as Lazarus was raised but Lazarus died again.  Died to die again is another story people believe.  Jesus rose to live forever.  God forever took on humanity.  Ascension is a necessary affirmation that Jesus, the God/Man is alive representing us in the Godhead.

As we think today of the Holy Spirit interceding for us or of Jesus representing our humanity within God, what comes to your mind.  I think how God must be grieving with those impacted by the gun violence of others seeking to impose their will.  Perhaps list five examples of how Jesus’ humanity touches the heart of God e. g. the birth of a child, the death of the children in Uvale, the separation of families at the border or ???  Spend time praying about each issue practically.  Be sure to choose an issue close to your heart too.

John 21:16-19

¹⁸ Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.’ ¹⁹ (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’

Faith has a price.  Jesus does not sugar coat the truth.  Following him may well mean death, a death on the cross like his.  In fact, Peter did die on the cross in Rome and tradition has it that he was crucified upside down as he did not consider himself worthy to die like his savior.  Following Jesus is not believe and you can move mountains and become healthy, wealthy, and successful.  It is not power of positive thinking.  Faith does involve prayer, to know God’s will.  Prayer does change reality and sometimes miracles happen but often they don’t.  Jesus is a savior not to  take us out of life but to walk with us through life to a better place,  Sharing our story sometimes hurts…us.

         Jesus concludes with, “Follow me.”  Today is Ascension Day when many Christians around the world will celebrate that this is the day Jesus ascended to heaven.  It is seventh Thursday after Easter. This Sunday is the last Sunday in the Easter Season  and the following week we start Pentecost.  We follow a God who incarnates, a fancy word for ‘comes to us,’ and who calls sto us to follow him.  As you pray this morning, ponder what that means to you.  Are you following rules? Ideals? Family tradition?  Today we remember that we believe and follow a God who comes to us, died for us, and leads us in meaningful lives of community.  Blessings.

John 21: 15-19

As we sit in an office and wait our turn, we wait to hear our name called.  Jesus, sitting by a fire, cozily having breakfast, addresses Peter.  He uses a formal address, “Simon, son of John.”  I don’t know about you, but when my full name is invoked, authority is speaking.  In Kenya, people, when they meet, would never address someone by name.  As I sat in a clinic and asked a patient what her name was, she would turn to her neighbor and ask the neighbor what her name was.  Names have power.  If someone knows your name, they can curse you.  I was known as “Wife of ….,” or “Mother of …..”  I was never addressed by my name.  It was a shock to return to the States and have the bank teller shorten my given name to a shorter form to address me.  It’s kinda like someone named Susan, might go by Susan, or Sue or Sussie, or even Blondie.  I was Curly to my father.  When my first was used my ears flew open and if my whole name was used, I knew I was in trouble.

         Jesus uses Peter’s name, “Simon, son of John.”  He wanted Peter to pay attention.  Let us ponder this morning ways that Jesus addresses us: my sheep, my lamb, my child, beloved, forgiven, saints… Each title has a different flavor.  Take time to sit with each title for a few seconds and ask yourself what comes to mind.  Listen to what the title calls forth from you and what you are hearing this morning.  You many carry titles you would like to turn over to him from sins in the past.  I doubt he is calling you things so listen carefully for his voice.  Blessings.

John 21:17

Three times Jesus asked Peter, “Peter, do you love me?”  If it were today, we might suspect that Jesus was somehow memory challenged but Peter knew Jesus was referring to the three times Peter had denied knowing Jesus at the trial.  I can imagine Peter and Jesus sitting around that fire, Peter hanging his head in his hands, and in distress of soul saying, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

         I would expect Jesus to do a review at this point of Peter’s behavior with perhaps helpful hints or a parable or perhaps sharing a Psalm about the Good Shepherd rescuing his sheep when it strays, but Jesus doesn’t.  Jesus just asks a question that goes to the heart of relationship.  “Do you love me?”  Peter, in the face of his failures and mistakes, in essence, says – you know everything about me, Jesus, and I still choose you as my Lord.

         Jesus responds.  Feed my sheep.  Today let us ponder a bit what the word “feed” might mean.  I doubt Jesus was talking about the fish fry in front of them.  I somehow do not think Jesus was talking about theology, making sure others understood with their minds everything about Jesus.  I think Jesus was asking Peter to care for people’s hearts.

         So what feeds your heart?  My head or mind is fed by intellectual stuff but my heart is fed by love, by memories, by laughter, by music, by walks on the beach and more.  List five things that feed your heart and then ponder who you could bless by sharing that same love with them.  Jesus does not ask us to be perfect but to be caring.  Blessings!

John 21

We’re coming down the home stretch of the Easter season when we focus on the reality of the resurrection and its implications for our lives.  It would seem that the first thing is to believe it actually happened.  Jesus is not another Super Hero with special gifts.  Last week we look at how Jesus is carefully shepherding his followers into a new understanding of faith.  Jesus invites Thomas to touch the holes in his hands and put his hand in Jesus’ side.  Jesus is alive and he is True God and True Man.  We believe we do not evolve into angels or decline to be bugs dependent on our actions today.  When Jesus meets the seven disciples fishing as they wait for him, Jesus draws them into conversation, especially Peter.  Three times he asks Peter if Peter love him, Jesus.  That was not a random question.  Jesus does not ask random questions to find information but to draw us out!

         Peter had denied knowing Jesus when Peter watched around the fire outside at the trial.  All his bluster evaporated like the smoke from the fire.  Peter was not brave, was not faithful, and did not want to die with Jesus even though he had professed loudly his loyalty.  Peter remembers this and Jesus knows this.  Jesus does not say, “Let bygones be bygones,” or “What’s in the past stays in the past.”  The air had to be cleared because Peter carried spiritual scars that needed healing.  We carry scars that need healing!

         Jesus does not hone in on the details of the denials, though.  He focuses on the key question, “Do you love me?”  Love is not perfect and love is not happy ever after.  “Perfect love casts out fears!”  It has been said, love is a commitment.  It requires forgiveness and seeing the good in the other.  Many love 1 Corinthians 13, often called the love chapter.  I love the closing line, “Now faith,, hope and love abide, but the greatest of these is love.”  May we be more loving today with your help, Lord.

First Reading:
Acts 16:9-15


⁹ During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ ¹⁰ When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

¹¹ We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, ¹² and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. ¹³ On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ A certain woman named Lydia, a worshipper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵ When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.’ And she prevailed upon us.

Psalm 67

May God be gracious to us and bless us
    and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
² that your way may be known upon earth,
    your saving power among all nations.
³ Let the peoples praise you, O God;
    let all the peoples praise you.

⁴ Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
    for you judge the peoples with equity
    and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
⁵ Let the peoples praise you, O God;
    let all the peoples praise you.

⁶ The earth has yielded its increase;
    God, our God, has blessed us.
⁷ May God continue to bless us;
    let all the ends of the earth revere him.

Second Reading: Revelation 21:10, 22—22:5

¹⁰ And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

²² I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. ²³ And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. ²⁵ Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. ²⁶ People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. ²⁷ But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³ Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; ⁴ they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign for ever and ever.

Gospel:  John 14:23-29


²³ Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

²⁵ ‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. ²⁸ You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. ²⁹ And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.

CHILDREN’S SERMON: Home is spelled H O M E.  Let’s do a group-think.  What are words that start with “H” that remind us of “home? (Allow people to share briefly e.g. happy, healthy, here, hectic…)

Let us pray.  God be gracious unto us and make your face shine upon us.  May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON:  “HOME IS WHERE YOUR HEART IS”

The 6 or 7 weeks after Easter are called the Easter season.  We look at the meaning of the resurrection and the implications of Jesus being alive and active in our world – then and now.  Our texts have been developing that belief.  Jesus did die for sin (and because of sin) and opened the way to eternity with him, with God. But that does not seem to be the end of the story.  The story goes on!  Life did not stop at the crucifixion!  Jesus rose and started appearing to his followers.  Women saw him Easter morning.  He appeared to two people walking to Emmaus on Easter afternoon.  He stood in the middle of followers behind locked doors Easter evening.  He appeared to Thomas and healed his doubt.  He had breakfast with Peter and others and healed the guilt of failure and pointed them forward.  He is creating a kingdom.  The kingdom of God operates under a new commandment – Love one another!  Our texts have shown how Jesus was and is our Good Shepherd.  Last week we were challenged to include “the other” whom we may have considered a stranger.  The Kingdom of God is not just for one ethnicity but for all people.

         I would look at our text today and ask myself and you, what more can Easter tell us about the risen Christ?  What do we need to tuck into our soul today? Jesus tells us, “‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”  Jesus is not just our Good Shepherd and our God who leads us to new adventures, but Jesus is also our HOME. 

         I had to stop and think about this because as a child, home was the place I wanted to run away from.  I have many memories of tension and disagreements that cloud the memories of the good times.  So I looked up favorite sayings about home on the Internet and found this shortened list:

  “Home is where our story begins…”

  “Home is the starting place of love, hope and dreams.”

 “Home is where love resides, memories are created, friends always belong, and laughter never ends.”

  “What I love most about my home is who I share it with.”

  “Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to.”

  “The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”

I would propose to you today that faith in the resurrection is knowing you have a HOME!  It is a space where through forgiveness, we are always welcome just as we are.  It is a space of safety and peace where we do not need to worry or be afraid.  It is a space we venture from and can always return to.  Jesus in God makes his home with us!

Home is a space of forgiveness.

“Those who love me will keep my word”

“Keeping my word,” sounds like obedience is a prerequisite to family with Jesus.  Today’s text starts with words that sound to me very much like, “Just wait till your father comes home!” I think I felt that way as a child.  Disobedience meant punishment.  Punishment felt like rejection.  Spanking was still the way to raise children back in the day.  I still remember that last spanking in about 4^th grade.  My younger sister and I went to collect our dolls from our friend’s house and were to return in time for lunch.  When we returned, I poked my head in the door and saw my parents at the table and the meal finished.  I quickly jumped out and pushed my sister in.  My father asked me, “Who came in first.”  I pointed to my sister.  Technically I thought I was right but I got two spankings.  One for lying and one for being late!

     The text is very clear that if we love God, we will obey God’s word.  We start our service with confession because we are very clear that we have failed to obey, either deliberately or unknowingly God’s word and will.  I am defeated to keep the law and God knows it.  How can home be a space where I am safe – from others and from myself?  The answer:  Love covers a multitude of sins.  Home is a space of love and forgiveness.  The resurrection assures us of a home that is safe from the guilt of the past, from the accusations of the present, and the fears of future failures.  Jesus died for all those things that separate people from each other and from God and shows in the resurrection that death cannot hold us.

         Jesus comforts the disciples, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”  The burden of the law in God’s kingdom is met with the presence of the Holy Spirit who walks with us, reminding us when we forget and teaching us when we are ignorant.  We forget and we are foolish but when we are home, we are forgiven.

     Often today in the West, we hear this news very individually.  I love the story found in Luke 5:17-26. It is at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  He is teaching and the house is crammed full of people listening.  Four men bring their paralyzed friend on a mat and lower him through the ceiling.  “When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’”  Have you ever felt like God is so busy with the affairs of the world, dealing with wars and famines and illness that your little problem is impossible?  Jesus responds to the faith of the paralytic’s friends.  I think that is a beautiful picture of HOME.  Busy, crowded, issues always being resolved but in the midst of all the happenings of this world, Jesus sees me and my friends’ faith and shields us from the critics that are always in the wings doubting us and him.  Home is where I can enter sick, be healed, and be taught by the Holy Spirit.  I do not need to be perfect.

Home is a space of safety and peace.

²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

I do not give to you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

         Home is a space where we are forgiven and safe.  Home is also a space of peace.  It is a space where we do not have to be troubled or afraid.  On Easter evening the ten disciples (Thomas was absent) and other followers gathered behind locked doors in fear and confusion.  They were trying to get their hearts and minds around resurrection.  By Pentecost that we will celebrate next week, a new dynamic was forming – the Church.   This new “home” was unique partially because people heard God’s message in their own language – language did not divide.  People were representative of the world’s ethnicities at Pentecost.  No tribal fightings.  No war over territories and boundaries.  This new body was forming that had eyes, ears, toes, and appendixes – all had a role to play.  We confess that we believe “⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, “⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:5).”  The whole concept of peace was being redefined by the resurrection.

         The story that comes to my mind is the conversion of Saul to Paul.  Saul is committed to wiping out early Christianity but encounters Jesus on the road to Damascus.  Jesus asks him, “Why are you fighting against me.  Why are you so angry?”  Saul who is blinded by the encounter, is ministered to be Ananias, a Christian, whom he had been wanting to kill.  Paul comes to peace with others and with God.  He has found peace not by following the wisdom of the world by killing and eliminating people who are different but by meeting the resurrected Jesus and then living by peace from above.  He lives in harmony with God and people.

         Perhaps the question facing us today is to ask ourselves what is troubling us and making us afraid? Perhaps our guts are silently churning because of world news, inflation, the journey of aging, finances or family conflicts we don’t talk about.  There are so many things that would rob us of the peace that comes with the resurrection. 

         I have pondered how I would rephrase Jesus’ words “peace I give you” into language for my soul today.  It seems to me the Holy Spirit whispers in our ears, “It’s ok.  I’m here with you, working things out.  Don’t be afraid.  Don’t fret. I’ve got your back.”

Free

²⁸ You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.”

Home with Jesus is a space of forgiveness and acceptance.  Home with Jesus is safe from conflict, fear and anxiety.  But Home is also a space of coming and going, freedom and agency.  Jesus promises that he is always with us but sometimes he seems so silent.  We are invited to partner with God in creating the Kingdom of God that the resurrection speaks to.  Jesus says he is returning to the Father but he will return to us.  We have now touched the mystery of the Trinity.  We live in the tension that Jesus says he is returning to the Father and yet he starts by saying he and the Father will make their home with us.  They are present but not seen.

         Home is a space and not a place.  I can be at home with God in my house, in my church, and even in my car.  I have found God in the famine relief camps on northern Kenya, the cathedrals of Europe, the mega churches of the USA and even in the small fellowships like Bethany.  God is not bound by size or place.  His Spirit is with us wherever we travel.

         Home is presence and not performance.  We don’t always see God but we know he is with us.  He does not always manage life the way we would like him to but we know he is still at home with us.  Perhaps it is something like going to college.  Even though we do not see our parents or friends, they are there.  Perhaps it is something like letting our children grow up.  We cannot be with them in person but we wait by the phone for a call or zoom meeting, an email, or any communication.

         Home is a creative, unfolding process working with people, not a factory creating drones to do the wishes of the master.  Home is a base and security we venture from to tackle dreams but it is also a place we return to for a cup of coffee, to report in, to celebrate, and to recharge our batteries.  Home is a launching space and the space where we are always welcome to return and fellowship.  Many homes in this world are not like that.  I have been impressed with all the interviews with people returning to their bombed out homes in Ukraine.  The interviewer often asks, “Why return?”  The response is invariably, “This place is my home.”  My story started here.  My family roots are here.  Here I find meaning.

         Today we read that Jesus promises that as we learn to love and obey his commands, he and the Father will love us and make his home with us.  His Spirit will guide us and we will find forgiveness.    Being at home with God means acceptance without ifs, ands, or buts.  Being at home with God means we are safe from conflict, from worry and from things that trouble us.  Home means we are respected partners with God even when we don’t see him, don’t feel him, and doubt.  The resurrection means he is present and working.  He is whispering to us, “It is ok.  I’m here with you and yours.  I see you.  I care.  I’m for you and yours.” 

²⁹ And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.

Thank you, Lord.  Let the people of God say “Amen!”

John 21

Have you ever had one of those days? Or even weeks?  I realize so many people in our world live under terrible circumstances with war and persecution but my week felt like overload!  One toilet overflowed, flooding the laundry and running out to carport before we caught it.  Other toilet kept me busy with clean up from medical stuff my husband is going through.  Yesterday I was running between toilets as one running water and other occupied by a mess.  Of course there was a seizure first thing in the morning and a huge storm that knocked out the electricity in our house all evening.  Did I mention the trip to Urgent Care and then Dr. midweek?

         I can just imagine Peter being overwhelmed with all the events of Easter, with the guilt of his own failure, and with the confusion of how Jesus was now communicating.  Overwhelmed people often give snappy, snarky answers quickly.  We don’t want to be questioned and work so  hard to keep up a good face to the public.

         In the midst of that Peter goes fishing with friends, fails, Jesus gives advice and of course is right, and Peter gets to shore to eat breakfast with Jesus around a fire that already had fish roasting.  I think there must have been a huge storm of emotions within Peter.  Jesus asks Peter a question, “Peter, do you love me?”  The obvious right answer in public is “yes.”  Jesus knows and Peter knows the turmoil that masks.  Three times Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?”  Peter realizes that Jesus has brought up the three times Peter denied Jesus at the trial and Peter responds, “Lord, you know all!”

         During hard times when just keeping our head above water and giving the polite answer “I’m fine” to questions, seems like the best thing to do.  Jesus spoke into Peter’s dynamic and ours.  The important question is how perfect we are but do we love him.  Jesus does not lecture about our mistakes like a parent.  He redirected Peter from looking at the past and pointed his eyes to the future.  “Feed my sheep.”  Perhaps the lesson for us to learn to today is that in the midst of our struggles when our loves is dicey, Jesus still comes to us and loves us and can use us.  Thank you, Lord!

John 21

Two books deeply impacted my thinking about transitional time.  David Shapiro and Richard Leider  wrote Claiming Your Place at the Fire and Repacking Your Bags: Lightening Your Load for the Good Life.  Both men work in the Gerontology (Aging) Dept. at the U of MN.  I heard them speak years ago and grabbed their books.  They led safaris of mature people who wanted to trek the plains of Kenya and give themselves space to think and detox from their lives.  The books talk about gathering around the campfire at night and the author notes how the elders position themselves.  The elder, wiser men sat near the flame and all shared.

         The basic thesis is that we all carry three bags: a big suitcase, an overnight bag, and a brief case.  These hold the different themes of our lives.  When we come to a transitional point in our life like retirement or perhaps marriage, we need to draw aside and evaluate the “tools” in our bag and whether they are needed for the next phase.  One of the words I’m hearing friends use is “declutter.”  We need to discard that which no longer gets us where we want to go and then repack.

         The risen Jesus has called from the shore to the seven disciples who have fished all night and caught nothing.  Throw the nets on the other side, he advises.  They catch a haul and realize it is Jesus and get themselves to shore.  What does Jesus do?  He gathers them around a campfire for sharing.  He has the fish cooked and it ready to chat.  The dynamic, though, is that the disciples are in a “liminal space” or a transition time.  They are going from Jesus present physically and teaching through parables to Jesus risen and sending the Holy Spirit.  They need to repack their bags.  Somethings need to be discarded and new tools need to be added.

         As we spend time now to pray and reflect, a question to ask the Holy Spirit is for clarifications on whether we have “baggage,” habits, attitudes for dealing with life that are not serving us well.  Are there things that would tweak you spiritually as you seek to draw near to God?  We are always growing and learning and God helps us best to do that.  Blessings as you sit around the fire with Jesus today.

John 21:7-14

John continues relating this Easter scene with a very detailed report of the fishing outcome.  “The disciple whom Jesus loved,” recognizes that Jesus is calling to them from the shore.  The seven disciples had fished all night and caught nothing. A man on the shore tells them to throw their nets on the other side.  Their nets are full and the lights go on.  It is Jesus.  John continues to describe Peter putting on his clothes so that he could jump in the water and get to the shore faster.  Usually we take off our clothes before we jump in water.  On shore a fire with roasted fish met them.  Jesus does not need the disciples catch!! But Jesus asks how many fish were in the haul.  153!  Jesus feeds the disciples from his resources, not from the catch of fish.  I just chuckle, chuckle, chuckle.

         It sounds like a cat bringing a mouse to the master but in fact, the master loves the cat with or without the mouse.  How often do we think our actions support our worth to the Lord?  The bigger the church, the more people in the congregation, the more fantastic the praise team we deem as “success.”  In the scene, the disciples caught fish only because Jesus was directing, his wisdom brought success.  We live by grace.  The 153 fish were not needed for breakfast.  Jesus feeds us from his resources, not from ours.  We live by his Word, not ours.  Peter clothed himself to jump in the water and to reach Jesus.  Jesus accepts us just as we are and knows who we are with or without clothes.  We don’t need to dress up our act spiff for him..

So which of these three points touches you today

• God gets the credit for suggesting the other side – grace
• God does not need my resources to feed people – scripture
• God know everything about me without dressing up – transparency

Take a moment to thank God for ways he has fed you this week!  Was there a serendipitous moment that fed your soul?  Is there some spot of guilt that you think is hidden from God that needs to be brought to the table?

Blessings.