Sermon for EASTER 3 John 21:1-14 Sunday, April 25, 2004 The Rev. Diane Livingston, Interim Chaplain and Deacon Church of the Resurrection, Starkville, Mississippi The morning was quite cool and the heavy North Carolina misty dew hung over the campsite and everything in it and made one wonder if indeed there had been a rain shower that had occurred before we awakened. The ever present roar of the water in the Nantahala River had become less noticed because we were all growing accustomed to it now. It was early and many of our EYC youth were still in their tents sleeping or trying to feign sleep a bit longer in the warmth of their sleeping bags knowing the wake-up call would soon be heard. As I approached the picnic table where our camping stoves were located, already gathered there was Bill stirring the pancake mix that he would soon start cooking. Carey and Jessica were preparing sausage and some was already cooking which sent a delicious aroma toward me. Steve was unloading gear onto the table and organizing things for the upcoming meal. As I thought about the scripture for today during the week, I thought of this scene from the youth trip last weekend to white water raft on the Nantahala in western North Carolina. If I could alter the scene and have us awakening to find that there were no provisions and soon 14 hungry people would be wanting breakfast before another outing on the river, followed by a long drive back to Mississippi, I wonder how I would have reacted to seeing a figure whom I did not recognize by the campfire, next to the table, or even hovering over the camp stove. I know that I would have been feeling stressed about feeding folks and helping the day to start well in view of the missing provisions. If that figure had said that a complete hot breakfast was about ready to serve and would I please fetch a little more firewood and some drinking water, I have no doubt that I would have immediately done what this person directed if it meant survival. And, believe me, it would have been survival to get through the next hour if I had to break the news to many starving folks that there would be no breakfast and we would be rafting on empty stomachs! I hope at least I would have thought, "Hurray, this is a miracle and how fortunate we are!" I may have wondered if the man was the person Bill and I had met at the camp site office the previous evening from St. Andrew's Cathedral in Jackson. He offered us a little wine so that we could have Eucharist since the deacon who was to have packed the Eucharist supplies had packed everything except the wine. As the sleepy youth stumbled out of their tents, if one (NAME) had declared that the man was Jesus, I do honestly believe that when Jesus directed us to, "Come and have breakfast," we would all have walked to the picnic table and sat down and passed our plates to be filled with the delicious breakfast that he had prepared. Maybe, like the disciples, none of us would have dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because maybe we would have known that it was Jesus. Thinking about all of this during the week, I do believe that Jesus did come to the Lost Mine Campground maybe in ways that we may not all have recognized. Whether it was experiencing the tremendous beauty of the world around us there in the mountains and along the river and realizing that God created this world (and other worlds too) for God's children to live in or whether it was the comfort that came when we were afraid to try something new and unfamiliar to us like even entering the white waters or climbing a 50-foot Alpine Tower; or whether it was risking to share ourselves with others we didn't know very well or opening a tight circle of friends to include someone who had not been in this circle before; or whether it was sharing talents we have in order to help the whole group like setting up tents or helping someone who was sick or being an encourager or driving a huge van for long hours or organizing menus and schedules. I am using the example of the past weekend but that story is the church too. The church is a group of persons who have needs. Individually or in groups we discover that Jesus will come to us wherever we are. Whether we have abandoned God and are aimless in our journey or whether we are in very comfortable places that it would seem we may want to stay forever, Jesus comes. Jesus comes to places where we are where we just can't do what needs to be done: with the disciples it was catching fish that they could not do; with us it may be to endure waiting in the ICU area or to explore how to speak for and help those with no power who are being treated without respect or dignity. Or, it may be when we need help parenting our children or dealing with challenges situations at school or in our jobs. The scripture assures us today that Jesus will come and as Jesus' actions often are, they may be in unexpected ways - not the well-thought out ways that we have imagined in our human minds. When Jesus comes to us, we will respond in very different ways because we are each created with different personalities. Think of the disciples: one disciple sees quickly and easily that Jesus is present and announces to the rest that it is Jesus among them; Peter responds with his usual abundance of eagerness by dressing and then jumping into the water anyway to get to Jesus more quickly; some disciples remain in the boat and calmly and steadfastly row to the shore; many disciples are quiet as they realize that Jesus is with them and they know clearly in their hearts that he is present; all received the bread and fish and ate what Jesus supplied them. So many different ways to respond - none right or wrong - the most important thing being that we each do respond. Our scripture for today ends here but we know that what follows is the beginning of the ministry of the church and that ministry continues to this day and hopefully for many, many years to come. The same things that Jesus may have wondered then about how the ministry of the faith community would continue now that he would no longer be with them physically each day are still applicable today: how will the community of disciples live now after the resurrection? What shape will our lives take as we worship and study and risk getting to know Jesus personally? How will we endure persecution and the world's hatred? How will we experience Jesus' presence? How will others see us - the disciples of Jesus - and what identity will we have in Starkville? Here we are in the 50 days of Easter - the most glorious time of our liturgical year as we reread the stories of Jesus' resurrection. Even though we will experience all of the church seasons that take us through the life of Christ, today's disciples - those of us gathered here now - know all along that the glory of Easter will always come, that the celebration of the empty tomb will be there for us every single day of our lives. As the church today, we are a group of persons who each have been given unique gifts to share for the good and help of all, we are persons who have needs of our own, we are persons who live in a fallen world where there is injustice, poverty, pain, loneliness. Jesus fed, and did so abundantly, his disciples who gathered around the fire that early morning on the beach. He fed them an unbelievable breakfast of bread and fish. And then what? Did he suggest that they remain huddled together on that sandy ground with full stomachs and having the assurance of physically seeing their Lord in their midst? NO, if you read on in the Bible and if you recall your church history, Jesus sent them out to begin the ministry of the church. Some died doing this. Even on our trip last weekend, our guides reminded us several times to set our goals a little higher and to be brave to go beyond our comfort zones as we tried new skills that seemed impossible when they were being described to us. From the Book of Common Prayer we say these words: Deliver us from the presumption of coming to this Table for solace only, and not for strength; for pardon only, and not for renewal. Jesus had lived his life in such a way as to show the disciples that he understood first hand about human suffering and pain and torture and injustice. He had shown them this day that he would still come to them when they needed him. As they began to live out their ministries they would begin to see and understand that each of them had been given the gifts they needed to do what they had been called to do. Look closely in the morning mist - open your eyes and ears and hearts - and celebrate that you who live in a post-resurrection community can have a life grounded in the experience of God's fullness and unprecedented, unexpected gift. The white waters and the Alpine Tower await us but we enter these and all other experiences fully equipped and with Jesus beside us as we go forth to share the news of God's love for all in this world.