3 Easter, Year C (2013)The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Acts 9:1-6, (7-20) St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church
John 21:1-19
“Who are you?”
It’s a common question we ask all the time . . . although we tend to be not quite so blunt or open-ended.
I remember reading about how people ask this same question in different parts of the country.
Here in the South when we meet someone, we tend to find out someone’s identity by discovering who they are related to;
In the North people gravitate toward what school or college one attended;
In the Mid-West, people want to know what one does – what is your work.
We all have different ways of identifying ourselves and finding out who someone else is.
I remember hearing my grandmother tell stories when I went to visit her. She’d say, “Well, Ann dropped by the other day – she’s Dot Smith’s daughter. You know - Dot is the one who married Fred Smith, that’s Mary Smith’s brother.” And the story would continue from there.
Sometimes I would actually know – or at least have heard of – one of those people. Many times I was as lost at the end of all the connections as I was at the beginning. But, this is how we identify one another.
This question: “Who are you?” is the topic of today’s Gospel reading.
Today we have a second ending to the Gospel of John, when Jesus makes his third resurrection appearance. By now Jesus has already appeared to the disciples two times behind locked doors – once on the night of Easter and once one week later – both times in Jerusalem.
As of today’s story, we don’t know how much time has passed, but we do know that enough time has passed that these seven disciples have returned to Galilee to the Sea of Tiberias.
As these disciples gathered by the sea, Peter said to them,
“I am going fishing.”
Peter’s statement is the equivalent of answering the question, “Who are you?”
Peter’s life has been a little stressful recently – what with the tussle in the garden, his being questioned and denying Jesus three times and then watching as his lord was crucified. But Peter is not announcing that since life has been so stressful that he’d merely enjoy a peaceful night’s fishing trip to help him relax a little.
No, Peter is announcing that his life of following Jesus, of preaching and teaching and healing and baptizing – those days are over.
When Peter says “I go” the word in Greek means the final departure of one who ceases to be another’s companion or attendant. Peter is breaking his relations with Jesus as far as any future service is concerned. He is returning to his past life – a life of fishing.
And the other six disciples with him say, “We will go with you.”
They decide to join Peter and return to their former way of life.
Who are you?
We are fishermen.
We don’t really know what all has happened since the last resurrection appearance….
The disciples seem to fear for their lives, thinking that perhaps they too might be crucified as followers of Jesus. As we read last week, they locked themselves in a room.
Perhaps they had expected Jesus to stay with them after his resurrection, guiding them in some bodily form as he had always done.
At any rate, Easter is over, and despite the fact that they have seen the resurrected Jesus, they are discouraged, so they decide to return to the life they have known - the life they understand and know will support them.
But, they are in for a little surprise.
As they had done so many times before, they cast out into the sea and spend the night fishing, but their nets come up empty time and time again.
Now the disciples have reached a dead end.
They left their jobs to take up a new life and follow Jesus.
Jesus died and was resurrected and now has disappeared.
So they return to their old, trusted ways.
But the life they return to is failing them now.
What to do?
Now, it was the custom in the 1st century for someone to stand on the shore of the sea and point out schools of fish that the fishermen might not see from their boat.
So, just after daybreak the disciples see someone standing on the shore calling out to them about their catch – or lack of catch. He gives them direction, and they follow.
Now they can’t even haul in this net it is so full of fish!
One disciple exclaims, “It is the Lord!”
Peter – as impulsive as he is – cinches up his smock and jumps in the sea – making his way as fast as he can to his lord.
Jesus has returned.
The boat with the other disciples slowly makes its way to the shore – now being weighed down with fish. They need not ask, “Who are you?” because they already know.
Jesus is recognized in his action.
Take note: Jesus does not scold them for parting company with him. Instead he builds a fire and invites them to sit and eat. . . to break the fast of the previous night – a fast which for the disciples involves not just food but also a lack of life,
a lack of purpose,
a lack of hope.
Who are you?
Who are we?
Where do we begin and where do we return?
Do we, like the disciples, take our identity from our earthly lives – our families, our schools, our friends, our work?
Sometimes we get a clear glimpse of Jesus calling us to follow, and we go. Then when life becomes confusing, we return to our old, comfortable places.
Do we take our daily identity from being followers of Christ? Such that when others hear our words or see our actions, they proclaim, “It is the Lord!”?
So, you see, it is a difficult question – Who are you?
And one that warrants some reflection.
Let’s look a little further at Peter because I think Peter reflects a life of faith that most of us can relate to.
He answered Jesus’ call to follow but then denied Jesus when the rubber really hit the road as Jesus was being questioned by the high priest.
When Jesus appeared following his crucifixion, Peter again believed.
Then today we hear that Peter denies his life as Jesus’ disciple and returns to his former identity as a fisherman.
So, when Jesus meets up with Peter on the seashore, he asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Three times Peter affirms his love for Jesus just as three time he had denied even knowing him when times got tough.
Jesus’ invitation to Peter (and to us) is simply this:
“Follow me.”
Our lives take many twists and turns –
sometimes full of faith –
other times full of doubt.
Yet Jesus again and again offers us his invitation:
“Follow me.”
“Feed my sheep.”
So, . . .
Who are you?
Who are we?
Each week we come to this table where Jesus invites us to come and break our fast –
to renew our lives,
to renew our identities,
to renew our hope,
to renew our witness.
“Who are you?”
“It is the Lord!”