Christ's Call for Us: A Sermon for 3 Easter

Today’s lesson from the Gospel of John is one of my favorites on many levels. First of all, I love that Peter seems to be so discombobulated. He was fishing with no clothes on – who does that? But then when he recognized Jesus on the shore, he put on all of his clothes and then dove in the water to swim to shore. It seems to me that if he insisted on taking off his clothes, it would be to swim, not to fish.

But given the recent events of his life – who could blame Peter for being a bit disoriented? Another thing that I find interesting about this story is that apparently, after Peter and his friends had seen the risen Christ not once but twice, they still weren’t sure what to make of the situation. When they saw him last, he blessed them with his peace, breathed his Holy Spirit upon them and empowered them to go out and forgive the sins of others. So, what did Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John, and two of the others do? They went fishing.

Now, perhaps they were simply hungry, and they needed to eat. Or maybe they felt like they needed some money for their apostolic journey, so they figured they’d catch and sell a bunch of fish. Who knows. But it amuses me to think that those seven disciples, after seeing the risen Christ, went fishing. And Peter did so without any clothes on.

When Jesus appeared on the shore, he already knew that they hadn’t caught a thing. So, he called out to them and invited them to try the other side of the boat. And that’s the other thing that I love about this story. Anybody who knows anything about fishing with large nets knows that Jesus’ simple advice of “trying the other side of the boat” is nonsense. If they had been throwing their nets off the boat all night, and certainly not from the same location in the water, the issue with their lack of luck had nothing to do with which side of the boat they were casting from. But this story really isn’t about fishing. The miracle of this story isn’t about Jesus helping them catch a bunch of fish after a long drought. This story is much more profound than that. I believe that the point of this story has to do with discerning our call to follow Jesus, and how we might live out that call in our daily lives.

Pastorally speaking, I think that the issue that I am presented with the most is vocational calling. What am I called to do? Who am I called to be? Where am I called to be? With whom am I called to be? These important questions come  from folks of all ages and walks of life. Vocational discernment doesn’t end with retirement. It is a lifelong journey. Some of us are even given the opportunity to discern how we or those we love will die – whether or not we will aggressively treat an illness or continue life support.

Many of us are at a point in our lives where we are like Peter and those other six disciples – fishing off one side of the boat and not catching a thing. We are stuck, yet we don’t know what else to do. We must remember that these guys were professional fisherman prior to being called by Jesus. Fishing is what they knew. It was their livelihood and their vocation. But that was prior to their three-year journey with Jesus. When Jesus breathed his Holy Spirit on them and sent them out on a mission of forgiveness and reconciliation, he didn’t intend for them to go back to their old way of doing things. They had a new mission and a new purpose in life. They had a new identity as followers of Christ. In our story today, it appears that Jesus had come to remind them of their mission. Once they had a shared meal on the seashore together, Jesus gives Peter a threefold command - feed my lambs, tend to my sheep, and feed my sheep. In other words, your vocational calling is no longer fishing for fish, but fishing for people.

Today, it is not as clear for us as it was for those disciples. Jesus hasn’t physically appeared to us in the same way that he appeared to them. But we are still called to follow Christ in all that we do. But this can be a terribly difficult thing to do. Following Christ isn’t just about being a member of a church, attending church on Sundays, or identifying as a Christian. It is about a unique way of being in this world. And this way of being in the world can be lived out in a myriad of professions, geographical locations, churches, and relationships.

On Friday, May 20, we will have a newcomer dinner and orientation here at the Christ the King. We will recognize with joy and gratitude those who, over the past couple of years – have become a part of our church family. And we will also use that time to tell the story of Christ the King through the years, and explore ways how we can go deeper in our relationship together. Some of you may have started coming here two or three years ago, but still feel like a newcomer. A lot of that has to do with covid – since for almost two years we were unable to have fellowship and gatherings here at the church.

But similar to our gospel lesson today, there is a thread that runs deeper than the presenting storyline. The newcomers among us have prayerfully discerned that at this point in their journey of faith, this is the place where they feel that God is calling them to be, and we are the people with whom they feel God is calling them to connect. But it is also a good time for all of us to pay attention to where we are on our journey of faith. We can draw inspiration from the newcomers in our midst – they had the courage to prayerfully listen to God’s call for them to make a change, whether it was geographical, denominational, or social. Where and how might God be calling each of us to make some sort of change in our lives so that we can more authentically and faithfully live out our calling as followers of Christ? Do any of us need to try casting our nets on the other side of the boat?

My prayer is that all of us will listen for Christ’s voice – his invitation to cast our nets on the other side of the boat. Or for some of us, as was the case with the disciples, the call might be for us to leave the boat entirely. We must remember that ultimately, the call is to follow Christ’s call for us to follow him. If we faithfully respond to Christ’s call for us, our other decisions will fall into place with God’s blessing.