"Beside a Charcoal Fire," Sermon Manuscript, 4/19

John 21: 15-17- 15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

People are starting to feel the effects of being quarantined in place this week. We are starting to hear more and more reports coming from the federal and state government press conferences about when the right time will be to open our country back up for business as usual. People in Minnesota and Texas are protesting against stay-at-home orders. This is a difficult time for us all- we are over a month into stay-at-home orders, but I can tell you, as someone who has been through this sickness, even though I only had a mild case, we need to do everything possible to keep everyone safe and healthy. If that means we have to stay home, then we have to stay home.

It feels like we keep hearing some of the same thoughts and slogans- Very rightfully, we have come to recognize all those people on the frontlines, those essential employees as heroes- doctors and nurses and hospital staff, and also grocery workers, from the farmers who grow, to the truckers who deliver, to the store employees working day in and day out to keep shelves stocked so we can eat and enjoy terrible shows on Netflix. And we hear continually, this slogan, ‘We’re all in this together,’ which is so true. And it also reminds me of the High School Musical song whenever I hear it.

Yet, it doesn’t feel like we’re together, does it? That’s because physically, we’re not, and for many, many people, from those who have filed for unemployment and had jobs furloughed to those who lament being able to see and hug family and friends, or shake hands at a Sunday worship service, sure, we are all in the fight together, but to fight effectively, we must physically remain apart, and for most of us, that hurts, day after day.

The good news is that Christ’s Kingdom is all about one thing over all: restoration. God created the earth, we as humans decided to rebel against God, and Christ came and died on the cross and rose again to new life for that reason- to restore us back to right relationship with God. 

In our text here, we have one of my absolute favorite stories in the whole Bible. This may be my most favorite favorite, even over and above the story of David and Goliath, because here in this intimate setting, Jesus appears to Peter and the disciples and restores Peter back into ministry. Here on the shore of the Sea of Galilee after a long night fishing, Jesus appears next to a charcoal fire with some fish and bread grilling and says to Peter and the disciples, “Come and have breakfast.”

We have to rewind a little in order for you to understand the poignancy of Jesus’ appearance to the disciples this early morning.

Jesus and the disciples had the Last Supper on the night He was betrayed by Judas. During that supper, Jesus told the disciples that His body was going to be broken like bread, and His blood would be poured out like wine for them and for all the world. After the supper, Jesus and the disciples went to the Mount of Olives to pray, and Jesus told the disciples, “You will all fall away, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.” Peter says emphatically, “Even if they all fall away, I will not!” Jesus tells Peter a truth here he maybe doesn’t want to hear, and says, “Peter, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”

I love Peter so much, because I identify with him more than any of the other disciples or people from the Bible. He was legit and genuine and made mistake after mistake, but he continued to follow Jesus, even in the midst of his own mistakes. Peter seems to always be the one putting his foot into his mouth, but also, Peter is full of faith and vigor for following Jesus. 

So here, after the Supper, Peter and the disciples keep watch, but fall asleep while Jesus prays, and then soldiers arrive to take Jesus into custody. Peter leaps up and cuts the ear off a guard, and Jesus restores it back and heals this guard, named Malchus. Jesus is then taken into custody to be tried. As they stand outside, waiting, Peter finds himself questioned- “Aren’t you one of Jesus’ disciples?” Three times he denies knowing or being with Jesus. Three separate times, just as Jesus foretold. And then a seemingly unimportant detail, in the Gospel of John, chapter 18: “Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.”

Three times, standing around that charcoal fire, Peter denied knowing Jesus. Three times, standing around that charcoal fire, Peter fulfilled Jesus’ prophecy. Three times, standing around that charcoal fire, Peter broke his allegiance to the Messiah.

Jesus is taken, tried, crucified and dies for the sins of humanity. He is laid in a tomb, and three days later, Peter runs in to find out for himself that the tomb is indeed empty. Jesus is resurrected and appears to the disciples once more.

And after this, one day Peter speaks one of the greatest verses in all the Bible. He tells the disciples there with him, “I am going fishing.” Why not? Peter was a fisherman by trade, and they all needed to eat and make some income, and all of you out there who have experienced fishing as a way to get away from the chaos and calamity of the world know just how spiritually fulfilling it can be to spend some time out on the water.

All night long they fished and caught nothing. They didn’t use rods and reels like we do, instead, they used large heavy nets they would throw out into the water and catch the fish and haul them back up into the boat. So, after this long night of throwing nets and catching nothing, early that morning, just at daybreak, someone on the seashore calls out, “Children, do you have any fish?” It’s that same question every person fishing has been asked- “Did you catch anything? How did you do? Are they biting? Did you leave me any to catch?”

At this point after an exhausting night with nothing to show, that question probably stung more than any of them would admit, because their only answer is, “No.”

This person on the shore gives the disciples some unusual directions. “Throw your nets on the other side of the boat, and you will find some.” This was unusual for two reasons, first, they had fished the same waters all night long and caught nothing, and second, generally the dominant hand, for most people, the right hand, was used to cast the net because it was stronger and could clear a greater distance. This person on the shore was telling them to do everything differently, to do what they knew as professional fisherman completely the opposite of what they knew to do and throw across their body with their left hand to the other side of the boat.

They don’t argue. Anything might work at this point, and they find a huge catch of fish, so many they couldn’t even haul in all the fish in the nets, 153 of them they caught! And then Peter remembered the first time he met Jesus, after a long night of fishing and catching nothing,  Jesus was out teaching crowds in a boat, and Peter and his brothers were coming in empty handed, and Jesus said, “Put out into the deep and let your nets down for a catch,” and there Peter and his brothers landed a huge catch, so many fish they had to bring another boat to haul them all in. When they came ashore, Jesus said, “From now on, I’ll make you fishers for people.” Peter remembered that time, three years ago, and dove off the boat and swam to shore to meet Jesus, his Lord, his Messiah.

When Peter makes it to the shore, there’s Jesus, next to a charcoal fire, grilling some fish and bread for His disciples.

Can you imagine what Peter thought when he smelled those charcoal embers burning? Do you think it immediately brought him back to the night two weeks ago when he denied even knowing Jesus, as he stood around a charcoal fire with Roman soldiers, trying to stay warm, even as Jesus was being tried for crimes he never committed? Do you think he felt shame, or dishonor, or guilt, or perhaps just great sadness that around that charcoal fire, he was only concerned about himself, and not his Savior?

Jesus and the disciples have breakfast together there on the shore of the Sea of Galilee at sunrise. What a more beautiful, peaceful Easter moment could there be than this scene? Jesus reunites with these men who followed Him as disciples for three years during His earthly ministry. But the business wasn’t done. Not just yet. Jesus had renamed Peter ‘Cephas,’ which means ‘rock,’ and told him “You are the rock upon which I will build my Church.”

I imagine Jesus taking Peter aside here. “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter recognizes that Jesus is addressing him very formally, not as Simon Peter, not as Peter, certainly not as Cephas. And Peter answers, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” So Jesus responds, “Feed my lambs.” Jesus asks Peter again, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter again says, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus implores him, “Tend my sheep.” One last time, Jesus asks, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter might not have understood completely, but he answers again, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus tells him, “Feed my sheep.”

Here as the smoke swirls from the charcoal fire, just like that night when Peter denied knowing Jesus three times, Jesus restores Peter back into ministry, restores Simon, the son of John back into Cephas, the rock on which the Church would be build. Three times Peter denied, and three times Peter confessed his love for Jesus.

Such is the Kingdom of Christ. Jesus’ great love for the world He created meant that in order to restore it back to righteousness, He would step out of Heaven and become human and die as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. In Christ’s resurrection, we are restored, just as Christ is restored back to perfection.

Jesus doesn’t care what our pasts look like. Jesus is concerned with restoring us back to Him, restoring us back to His heart and His love, which is eternal. The Kingdom of Christ is a kingdom of restoration, forever and ever.

We are all apart from one another right now. And it hurts, some days, sometimes more than others. But if we know the truth and the love and the peace which Jesus offers us, we know that one day, we too shall be restored.

With that in mind, I leave with words from good old Peter himself, from 1 Peter 5: “¹⁰ And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. ¹¹ To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Go in the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ ever towards His restoration- of our world, of our lives, and of one another. In the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, Amen.