April 18, 2010 Rev. 5:11-14, John 21

 

All of us are imperfect. All make mistakes. All of us fall short of expectations. Peter then fits our experience. I find it so heartening that Jesus picks him, even after his dismal denials, to be a leader in the church community. For the Christian , forgiveness is an answer to human frailty. When people go astray, we forgive then and begin again. Notice that Jesus has not forgotten that Peter denied him three times, with his three-part question. In spite of the failure, maybe even because of the failure, Jesus continues to stick with Peter. The word love pervades the questions. James Harnish wrote (CC 4/6) 'When we confront our naked failure, we discover that the love of God is deeper than our denials, and the calling of God is stronger than our failure to live up to it." Instead of holding Peter to his failure, Jesus offers him opportunity and responsibility. Jesus knows full well he will continue to fail, but he also sees the potential in Peter to grow far beyond his own expectations and even limitations.

 

In this passage, Jesus honors work, hard work. It must be an immensely frustrating experience to be out all night casting nets and catching nothing. If this is comic, Peter dresses to go swimming. Jesus assigns some hard work to Peter: to tend his sheep. Many of you know how hard it can be to tend animals. (David and chickens) Sometimes working with congregations has been likened to herding cats, like the Super Bowl commercial some time back. A lot of guesswork surrounds the number 153 as a sign of numerology. I prefer to take it as a sign of the number of the people in the congregation to whom this is directed. Presbyterians would categorize it as a middle -sized church. God does indeed know us by name and counts us in the family. In part, Jesus works to take care of the fishermen. He knows that they need refreshment and rest.

 

The churches in Revelation craved some rest and refreshment. Their nets seemed empty. They too were frustrated. For me the key to the book of Revelation is our little section this morning. Instead of the ravening lion of Judah; we see a little lamb., a little slain lamb. Yes Christ was exalted in heaven, but the symbol of that power is a weak little lamb. Pressed by empire, one would look for an image of power. They were being pushed to deny their faith in ways large and small in all likelihood. the slain lamb was more than enough to open the gates of reconciliation and salvation. the little lamb held the key to the scroll of divine destiny, even to the close of the age. Of all creatures, the slain little lamb is on the throne.

 

In Thursday morning Bible Study, the participants lifted up the phrase that net did not break. It is a sign of God's capacity for love. god's expansive love doesn't strain the net. It is a sign of our capacity to give and receive love. Too often we apply to logic of scarcity to our spiritual lives. Instead of worrying about a size of the piece of the pie, the spiritual life allows the piety grow. sometimes the oldest child is concerned that Mom and Dad won't be able to love them as much when a new baby comes along. In spite of our weakness, in spite of frustrations, in spite of being sheep that require tending, we are given abundance, even more than we need at times. In our work, we may be frustrated at times, but at other times we  are fishing rich waters, and do better than we can possibly expect.