Trust Me - Week One: "Come and Have Breakfast"

It’s Still Easter!  He is risen!

We are in the Season of Easter within the historic Church calendar. 

The Season of Easter offers us a chance to experience the implications of the Resurrection and to trust Jesus as we follow him.  

The sermon series we will be working on throughout this season is entitled "Trust Me."  We'll be focusing on passages within the Gospel that help us to trust Jesus more fully, and to learn what it means to believe in the power of the Resurrection for all of us.  

Today, we will read the story of the First Breakfast after the Resurrection and learn what it means to embrace second chances. 

The power of memory - sights, sounds, and smells. Memory is a powerful part of what it means to be human. Neuroscience can explain how it works, but it's often a mystery when certain senses can set it off.  

Marcel Proust - An Early 20th-century philosopher who wrote a four-volume work entitled Remembrance of Things Past after taking a bite of a cookie. 

When our memories haunt us, they are more powerful.  We process and embed trauma, guilt, mistakes, etc., much faster and in a much more indelible way.  

When what we’ve done won’t let us go; it can be debilitating.  We can carry around the memories of our mistakes, living in shame for a lifetime.  

We need to know that we serve a gracious and loving God. The power of the Resurrection teaches us that none of those things get the last word. 

WE CAN TRUST JESUS WITH SECOND CHANCES 

John 21:1-19

21 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he showed himself in this way. 2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin,[a] Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

• The background - Jesus’ arrest, Peter’s denial, the details matter. Peter declares he loves Jesus so much that he will die for him.  Jesus says he will deny him before the rooster crows in the morning.  He finds himself outside the high priest's house by a fire, and denies he knows Jesus three times.
• After the mysterious events of the Resurrection, the disciples return to Galilee, confused, unsettled, and unsure. It's Peter that suggests they go fishing--return to what they know.  Then Jesus shows up on the shore.  

4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he had taken it off, and jumped into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them, and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

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.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt 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. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.” 

• There is a trifold restitution, but Peter is still living in shame.  

Jesus shows Peter that despite everything he did, he is not disqualified.  

What Can We Learn From This?

• We deny Jesus when we stop trusting in the extent of his love.  
• We deny Jesus' love when we choose to live in shame. 
• We find restoration when we open our hearts to forgiveness. 
• We discover our purpose when we embrace second chances. 

WE CAN TRUST JESUS WITH SECOND CHANCES