Jesus Ascended (Why That's A Good Thing) | A Sermon on Acts 1:6-11

Introduction
We’ve been looking at stories where the resurrected Christ appeared to His followers.  We have not studied them all of them; only some.  Here is a full listing is in your sermon notes.  

Post-Resurrection Appearances of Jesus
Mary Magdalene – John 20:11-18

The Other Women – Matthew 28:8-10
Peter – Luke 24:34
Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus – Luke 24:13-35
The Disciples (Thomas Absent) – John 20:19-23
The Disciples Including Thomas – John 20:24-29
Seven Disciples at the Sea of Galilee – John 21:1-14
The Eleven in Galilee (Great Commission) – Matthew 28:16-20
More Than 500 Believers at Once – 1 Corinthians 15:6
The Apostles at the Ascension – Acts 1:6-11

We have one more story to look at today–the day the resurrected Jesus appeared to His disciples and then ascended to heaven.  And I want to consider why His ascension is a good thing.

Acts 1:6-11
⁶ So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

⁷ He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

⁹ After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. ¹⁰ As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. ¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

Parallel Emotions
It is fitting that this year Ascension Sunday coincides with Graduation Sunday, because there may be some ways the emotions of both events intersect.  Graduation is often a time of tearful emotions for many reasons.  Graduation is both an end and a beginning.  It is the end of many years of striving and learning; it is the culmination of much hard work, many successes, and possibly a few failures.  It is saying goodbye to one era of life, but also welcoming the beginning of a new adventure and new ways to learn, grow, and mature.  Graduation is the natural progression of a healthy child turning into a young adult and “putting away childish things” in order to walk bravely into the future clothed in wisdom, purpose, and responsibility. 

As a parent whose last child graduated just one year ago–making Kelly and I empty nesters–I am keenly aware of the bittersweet joy that comes for parents when a child graduates.

The Disciples may have had similar emotions as they watched Jesus ascend into Heaven.  Here was a man they followed faithfully for 3 years–dedicating their lives to Him and the Kingdom they hoped He would establish.  They saw Him brutally executed on a cross, buried in a tomb, and remarkably rise to life again on the third day.

All of this–especially the last part with the resurrected Jesus appearing many times over 40 days–was joyful and overwhelming.  And now, Jesus ascends to Heaven to sit on the right hand of the throne of God.  Just as graduation is the natural progression of a child growing into adulthood, Jesus' ascension to sit on the throne in Heaven is the natural progression of the Lord of all now that He has fulfilled His earthly purposes.

When you think of a graduating son or daughter, part of you (as a parent) wants them to stay a “child” forever.  But that would be as unnatural as an infant that never graduates from drinking milk to eating solid food.  And thus it is for Jesus Christ.  He is Lord of all the universe—King of kings and Lord of lords, the Son of the Living God.  It would be unnatural for Jesus to not be sitting on the throne up in the Kingdom of Heaven.

So as much as the Disciples may have wanted Jesus to remain with them on earth forever, perhaps their hearts also swelled with pride to see their Lord ascend into heaven to take His rightful place on the throne.

“Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”
While Jesus was with them, the disciples kept asking, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”  This wording reveals a subtle error in their thinking–one that often creeps into our own thoughts in this life.  The Disciples were Jews from Israel–a proud people who wanted independence for their nation.  They wanted Jesus to “free Israel and restore their Kingdom.”  

As for us, we may not be so concerned with the restoration of Israel, we have our own “kingdoms” we want restored.  For some it is the kingdom of our health.  For others, it is the kingdom of Family relationships and marriage, or maybe financial stability and security.  Or we may want peace of mind and emotional well-being, purpose, meaning, and hope for the future.  All of these are good things, and ultimately Christ may restore the blessings of each of these (but always in His perfect timing).  We do not know the day or the hour when our prayers for these blessings will be answered.

Jesus reminded His disciples (and us) not to get caught up in worrying about when our prayers will be answered.  He sends us His Holy Spirit to empower us to be witnesses who tell people about Jesus–in our own neighborhoods, in our community, and even to the ends of the earth.

Jesus Ascended to Heaven
After saying these things, Jesus ascended to heaven.  Picture that for a moment…

The disciples watched Jesus go up to heaven in a cloud.  They watch for a long time, until they could no longer see him.  Still the gazed up into heaven for a long time. 
Two angels had to rouse them from their staring.  They told them something that defines one of the core teachings of Christianity:  “Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!  

We recite our belief in this every Sunday in the Apostles’ Creed:  “I believe… He ascended into Heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father, almighty and will come again to judge the living and the dead.”

So we believe Jesus will return.  He is coming!  And we should work to be ready, because we do not know when that will be.  So we should always be ready.

And It’s A Good Thing!
And I want you to know that Jesus’ ascension is a good thing.  Some may wish that Jesus was still on earth with us today like He was with the Disciples.
(To be sure, Jesus is with us and will never leave us—in a sense—but I mean, Jesus is not with us in the flesh no as He was with the Disciples back then. He is with us spiritually.)  Jesus said His ascension to heaven was a good thing.  In John 16:7, Jesus said, “...it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.”  

This Advocate is the Holy Spirit. God sends the Holy Spirit to live inside every person who follows Jesus as Lord.  Jesus took on flesh to live as one of us.  Though He is Divine God, He squished His divinity into the limits of our human flesh.  He lived by the limiting laws of time and space that restrict all of us. For instance, Jesus could only be in one place at a time. 

But the Holy Spirit can be with all believers everywhere at once and is not limited by time and space. 
The Holy Spirit lives within us, giving constant personal guidance and conviction.
The Holy Spirit empowers every believer for ministry, not just those physically near Jesus.
The Holy Spirit helps us understand Scripture and discern God’s will.
The Holy Spirit gives strength to resist sin and grow in holiness.
The Holy Spirit comforts us in suffering and reminds us we belong to God.
The Holy Spirit unites believers across the world into one Body of Christ.
The Holy Spirit produces spiritual fruit like love, joy, peace, and patience in us.
The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to build up the Church and reach the world.

With the Holy Spirit, all the power of the God of the universe is at our disposal to do the will of God and complete Christ’s mission to restore His Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.  But we must always remember is it His Kingdom, not ours.

So, Jesus ascended into Heaven to sit at the right Hand of God the Father, Almighty.  And that’s a good thing, because it means we can receive the Holy Spirit when we choose to follow Christ as Lord.  Next Sunday, we will celebrate Pentecost—the day God poured out the Holy Spirit on the Church.  I invite you to wear red next Sunday to help commemorate the event.

Closing
As we close, I invite you to image Jesus ascending up to take His throne in Heaven.  The disciples wondered when Jesus was going to retore their kingdom.  In your own heart, think of the “kingdoms” you want restored:  health, family, peace, finances, purpose…

Now I invite you to open your hands and surrender those kingdoms to Christ.  Don't worry about when or how Jesus will restore those kingdoms in your life.  Trust Jesus to do it His way in His time.  Meanwhile, take upon you the power Christ offers to be a witness for His Kingdom.

"Jesus, we release to You our worries about the things in our lives that are broken. We trust that You will retore these things in our life according to Your holy and perfect will and timing. We trust You. Help us to focus on Your Kingdom and receive he power of the Holy Spirit to be effective in Your mission. Amen."

The Message We Proclaim | A Sermon on Luke 24:44-49

Introduction
Ann Barnes passed away this morning as I was writing this message.  Her friends and family are shocked and grieved--myself included.  And many of us are struggling to process it.  Our hearts go out to Rusty and their family.  

At times of lose like this, our hearts hurt and we have many questions. We wonder about hope as we suffer and see people we love suffer.

And providentially, our Scripture today gives hope as it asks a very important question:  What is the message Christians proclaim to the world?  I hope you will listen with especially attentive ears.  Let us begin with the Scripture.

Luke 24:44-49
⁴⁴ Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. ⁴⁷ It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations,^[a] beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of all these things.

⁴⁹ “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

The Core Message
Jesus gives us the core message of Christian hope in verse 47.  We are to preach to the whole world: “There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.”
Moments like this—when we come face to face with the death of someone we love, who left this world too early and so unexpectedly—remind us that life is fragile.  The message of forgiveness is incredibly important.

Ann Barnes was a sweet, sweet soul.  I have not known her as long as most of you, but I have known her long enough to know she was a true follower of Jesus Christ.  Jesus was her Lord and Savior.  She loved Him and served Him. And He welcomed her Home today.  He saved by His grace through faith when she repented of her sins followed Him.

And so today I do not need to fear for Ann, because I know she is in Heaven with Jesus.
Her body is made whole.  The health issues she struggled with over the past few years are gone.
She no longer has to suffer the brokenness and evil of this world (no more pollical ads…).

Suffering
Jesus showed His Disciples from Scripture how the Old Testament clearly foretold how Jesus must suffer, be killed and rise from the dead on the third day.  This was part of God’s plan.  Jesus had to suffer.  He suffered for our sakes.

We suffer too.  We suffer because of sin.  Sometimes it is because of our own sin, but more often it is just because of sin in general.  The world is broken because of sin.  And this sin sickness infects everything we experience.  Yet our suffering would be worse if it had not been for our Savior—the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord.

In the Old Testament, in Isaiah 53:5-6, it says of Jesus, “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.  He was beaten so we could be whole.  He was whipped so we could be healed.  All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.  We have left God’s paths to follow our own.  Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.”

Jesus suffered for us to lessen our suffering.  Were it not for Him, the suffering we experience—as unbearable as it already is—would be completely unbearable.  We would utterly collapse and be crushed under the weight of it.  Yet Jesus took the greater part of our suffering on His own shoulders.  He has given us enough space to hear God’s call for repentance.

Repentance
From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus preached:  “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”  Those who follow Jesus make their start when they choose to repent of their sins and follow Him.  To repent literally means to turn away. 

We repent by turning away from our sin and turning toward Jesus.  We turn aside from a following the path of sin to follow the path of Christ.  No longer do we choose to live for ourselves and our own plans.  Instead, we follow Christ.
We give Jesus control of our destiny, realizing His plans are better than our own.

So, we are faced with two real choices.  We can continue to live our lives as we please.  Or we can surrender control to God, repent of our sin, and follow Jesus.  There is no middle ground.  Jesus is either your Lord or He is not.  We all have to decide.

There are real consequences to the choice we make.  If you continue to live as you please, you will eventually be separated from God forever in the fires of hell, tormented for eternity.  You may enjoy some pleasures in this life (though I would argue they are an illusion), but you will ultimately pay for all your sin with eternal suffering.  

But you don’t have to.  God offers you forgiveness and peace through Jesus Christ.  If you repent of your sin and follow Jesus, you can be saved.  You will suffer some in this life, but you will ultimately spend eternity with God—the source of life—in the Kingdom of Heaven where there is no more sin or suffering or death.  And so, you must choose: will you continue in sin or repent and follow Christ.  

I pray today you will choose Jesus if you have not done so already!

Our Part
Those who choose Jesus as Lord have work to do.  Jesus has done His part.  Now, it is time for us to do ours.  And what is that?

Our part is to preach Jesus’ message of repentance for the forgiveness of sin to the whole world.  This is our most important task.  It is our mission.  It is why we are a church.  

You can take away everything else we do as a church and we will still be a church if we are faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ who preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  But if we do everything else—River of Life, preaching, teaching, music, Sunday school, Acorn Circle, etc.—but do not preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins, then we cease to be a legitimate Christian church. 

And it is not just for the pastor to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  It is for every follower of Christ.  You may never stand in a pulpit and preach a sermon, but you will preach by every word you say or don’t say and by every thing you do or don’t do.  God has laid before every Christian a congregation to hear the message we preach.  For me, it is in the pulpit (and also on social media and on the internet and wherever else I can use my witness to spread the Gospel).

But for you, it may be as a mother talking to your children.  Or as a Father.  
Or it maybe as a teacher by the way you interact with your students in a school.  
Or as a nurse tending to patients and talking with co-workers.  
Or as a grandparent grandparenting.

You can fill in the blank with whatever roles God has given you.  He has put you there for a reason.
Every Christian is to influence their own circle of influence with the message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

And we should not feel overwhelmed with the task.  For Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower us to do it.  It is the same Holy Spirit who enabled the Peter to preach and win 3,000 to Christ.  It is the same Holy Spirit that in Acts enabled believers to speak foreign languages and perform other miracles and caused the Church to grow exponentially, though it was sorely persecuted.  The some Holy Spirit empowers you to be a witness for Christ. 

Closing
So, in closing, I want to implore you with two things.

1. If you are not yet a Christian, won’t you choose to be one today?  Repent of your sins and turn to Jesus.  None of us know how long we have in this world.  And once you leave it, it will be too late to repent.  So repent and turn to Jesus today.
2. If you are a Christian, dedicate yourself to the main calling of every follower of Christ—to be His faithful witnesses who preach the message:  “There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.”

The Great Commission | A Sermon on Matthew 28:16-20

Introduction
If you could have any superpower, what would it be?  What would you do with it?  I asked people on Facebook and here’s what they said:

• Patience
• Time travel - so I could hit all my grandchildren’s ballgames and not have to choose!
• The ability to heal - both yourself and others
• Omniscience - to be all knowing
• The power/charisma to convince people
• Ultimate faithfulness to be able to turn all concerns to Jesus and accept his Will unconditionally with Praise and Glory to God.
• Teleportation
• Invisibility
• The ability to fly
• be to cure cancer
• be to instill love and compassion into every person’s heart
• to be able to duplicate themselves
• Ask powerful questions that helped people reflect on how much they are loved by God such that their character would manifest the fruit of the Spirit
• To ensure that no children go to bed hungry

In our passage today, Jesus says He has been given a super power:  all authority in heaven/earth; then He tells what He wants to do with it.

Matthew 28:16-20
¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

“…but some doubted”
Before we talk about Jesus' authority and what He wants to do with it, I want to point out the first thing that grabbed me in this passage because I think it’s really important.  It says they worshipped Jesus, but some doubted.  They are with the risen Jesus, in the flesh, but some still doubted.  

That amazes to me! Then I realize I have also personally seen Jesus do some amazing things. 
He has provided for me – out of a broken, impoverished home; and I'm still here when many of my friends didn't make it.  God granted me a beautiful wife.  He helped me raise three successful kids.  He saw me through 25 years of ministry - ordination, ministry struggles (staff changes, addictions, fires, floods, disaffiliation).  God has been with me through all of this, yet sometimes I still doubt.

So, if you sometimes doubt, don’t beat yourself up.  Jesus still loves you whether you are brimming with confidence or struggling or just hanging on trying to believe.  And Jesus still gives you a mission.  The mission is based on His authority, not our certainty.   Jesus says, “ I am with you always…”

Authority
Now let’s talk about Jesus’ authority.  What would you do if you had “all authority in heaven and on earth”?  Jesus had all authority.  He could have used it to make people bow down to Him, to serve Him, to build His throne.  He even could have used His power and authority to snap HIs fingers and fix the whole world all by Himself in an instant.  But he didn’t.

Jesus chose to use His authority to commission us.  Rather than doing something all by Himself, He gives us the honor of doing it with Him.  He must have done that for a very important reason, because we’re idiots!  So, there must be something about the God of Heaven and Earth inviting His children to get involved that’s really important.  I think it is part of the healing process for us to help God in His work to save our world.

How do you use your influence?  Do you use it to control?  Protect yourselves?  Elevate yourselves?  Do you use it selfishly or do you use it to empower others?  Jesus used His authority to empower us to do something.  What exactly did He empower us for?

Verses 19-20 tell us we are to make disciples, baptize, and teach.  Let’s look at each of these.  We are to make disciples.  This is the main command but do we know what it means?  It doesn’t just mean to win converts, gain new church members, or get people to attend church.  We’re called to make disciples.

We are called to make disciple.

A disciple is a follower of Jesus.  

A disciple is someone who learns from Jesus.  

A disciple is someone who begins to live like Jesus.  

And a disciple is someone who makes disciples

Jesus also told us to baptize.
Jesus also commissioned us to baptize people.  Baptism publicly identifies a person with Christ.  It says, they are a member of God’s family.  

Way back in the Old Testament, God called Abraham to leave his home and go to a promised land he would show him.  And God said He would make Abraham the father of a great nation that would be God's special chosen people.  And God told Abraham that every child should be circumcised at 8-days old.  Circumcision would be the sign that they were God's chosen people.  Them, in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul said baptism is the new circumcision--the sign that Christians are God's people.

It is our tradition in the Methodist Church to baptize our children to claim them for Christ—to say they are part of the family of God.  When they grow up, they choose Christ for themselves.  Ultimately, we baptize people because, someone who is baptized has a new identity in Christ.  People today identify themselves in all kinds of ways:  parent, American, a Georgia bulldog fan, introvert/extrovert, etc. You can be all those things, but Christ should be your primary identifier.  Baptism is the moment we say, ‘I belong to Jesus now.’

Jesus said: “Teach Them..”
Jesus commissioned us to teach people to obey everything He commanded.  We’re not just teaching them about Jesus, because knowing information about Jesus is not the same as following Jesus.  We’re to teach people to obey Jesus’ commands.

What Jesus commissioned His followers to do is like raising a child.  Think about it.  We’re called to bring people into God’s family and then teach them how to live.  Then, they go out and bring more people into God’s family and teach them how to live.

If we’re not helping people grow in Christ, then we’re not fully doing what Jesus called us to do. 

Holy Communion
So, here we are.  Some us worship.  Some of us doubt.  We do both at different times--and sometimes a the same time!  Jesus doesn’t wait for perfect faith.  He doesn’t hold back His mission.  He speaks with all the authority of  Heaven and Earth and He commissions us to make disciples, to baptize, to teach.

But before we go out into the world to serve, to try and live out this calling, Jesus invites us to come to Him.  Because it begins with what Jesus has already done for us.  

One of the most sacred ways He reminds us what He’s done is Holy Communion.  At this table:

• We remember His sacrifice
• We receive His grace
• We experience His presence

And I would remind you something we’ve learned today: 
this invitation isn’t just for people with strong faith. 
It’s also for those who still have questions and doubts.

So today, if you have confidence—come.
If you have doubts—come.
If you long to believe—come.
Because Jesus meets us right here in all of these.

The same Jesus who said, ‘Go and make disciples,’ also says,
‘Come to the table.  Taste and see.’

 

Breakfast with Jesus | A Sermon on John 21:1-14

Introduction
When I think back on my life, I’ve spent a lot of time around water.  I was born in North Beach, Maryland, and lived two blocks from the Chesapeake Bay.  Some of my earliest memories are of my family walking down to the beach to swim.  I can still remember the smell of the water-soaked creosote beams of the wooden pier that extended out into the bay where people would catch fish and blue crab. 

Later we moved to Macon, Georgia where my dad ran the concession stands at Lake Tobesofkee.  Part of his business was a small marina with a dock and 2 gas pumps where boats would fill their tanks for day out on the lake.  

My dad needed something to occupy me while he ran the marina.  So he taught me how to catch brim off the dock with a cane pole by using stale bread.  I would roll up a little do ball and stick in on the hook.  It would only stay on a few seconds, but that's all you needed to catch the hundreds of small, hungry brim that congregated around the dock.

I tell you all this because today we have a lake story for our Scripture reading. 

John 21:1-14
¹ Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee.^[a] This is how it happened. ² Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin),^[b] Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.

³ Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”

“We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.

⁴ At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. ⁵ He called out, “Fellows,^[c] have you caught any fish?”

“No,” they replied.

⁶ Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.

⁷ Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. ⁸ The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards^[d] from shore. ⁹ When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.

¹⁰ “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said. ¹¹ So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn.

¹² “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. ¹⁴ This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.

A Lesson About Mission (Making Disciples)
Over the centuries, the meaning of this passage has been interpreted many ways.  But today, the Lord has given me 4 primary lessons to share with you.  

The first lesson is about what followers of Jesus are supposed to do.  Peter was a fisherman.  When Jesus first found Peter, he was in a boat & hadn’t caught any fish.  Jesus performed a miracle and Peter caught so many fish it almost sank the boat.  Then, Jesus said “Come follow me and I’ll teach you to “fish for people”.

In our story today, Jesus reenacted Peter’s calling.  Again, the Disciples are in the boat and haven’t caught anything all night.  The resurrected Christ comes along and  says, “He fellas!  Have you caught anything?”  “Nope.”  “Well, throw your nets on the other side!”   And when they do, they have miraculous success, just like they did the first time Jesus called them to follow Him and be fishers of men. 

Through this miracle, Jesus reminds the Disciples and us what we’re supposed to do.  Jesus called us to fish for people.  What are you known for?  Are you a fisherman?  Are you a lake person?  Are you a teacher, a nurse, an electrician, a mother, a father?  You may be all these and more, but if you are a follower of Jesus, you are called to invite people to follow Jesus.

Stark Methodist is known for a lot of things:  chicken stew, River of Life, Lovin’ Lunches, and so many other caring ministries.  But all these wonderful ministries are meant to be avenues for us to fulfill our true mission:  to make Disciples of Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly.

A Lesson in Dependence
Another important lesson this story teaches is a lesson in dependence.  Peter, James, and John were experienced fishermen.  But even the best fishermen can get skunked.  But when Jesus shows up, an unlucky night for the Disciples turns into a net full of abundance.  Jesus presence ensured miraculously abundance.

When it comes to the mission of the Church—to fish for people/to make disciples—we cannot do it on our own.  We need Jesus.  Walking closely with Him brings success.

Sometimes, we focus so much on what we do and how we do it.  We’re like the fishermen who master all the right fishing techniques but still come up with empty nets.  Then Jesus comes along—a carpenter, not a fisherman—and He says something really annoying like:  “throw your nets on the other side of the boat”.  (What does a carpenter know about fishing?)  But when we listen, all of a sudden our nets are so full we can’t pull them in.

If you spend more time recognizing the presence of Jesus, listening to His voice, and staying in tune with Him, then you will experience more of the miraculous abundance that comes when you  walk closely with Him.

Fellowship with the Risen Christ
But don’t think following Christ only about work.  Walking with Jesus is a joy!

And that’s why I love another aspect of this story.  It gives us a picture of Jesus and the Disciples simply enjoying breakfast together.  The Disciples have lost their way of life.  They know Jesus is still alive (they’ve already seen Him twice), but they don’t know what to do with themselves because their lives and routines have changed after the resurrection.

Isn’t that the way it feels sometimes when you lose some close to you?  You know they are alive in heaven, but you miss them and you miss living life with them. I bet the Disciples felt like that.  They know Jesus is alive, but it doesn’t feel like He’s there with them telling them what to do. 

Then Jesus comes along and they know it’s Him, and He says, “Come, eat some breakfast.”  And He reminds them that He is with them.  And He reminds them of what they’ve always done.  They enjoy life together.  They eat, they laugh, they live a joyful life together.

Oh!  What would you give to just eat some breakfast again with someone you love who’s gone?  This, in some way, is the glory of living in the Kingdom of Heaven.  It’s not just a place we go to when we die.  It’s a Kingdom we start living in now the moment we say yes to Jesus.

Jesus is with us now—walking with us, eating breakfast with us, living life with us.  And we believe in the “communion of saints”—that we are in fellowship with all the saints who have gone on to be with the Lord.  Hebrews 12:1 says we are surrounded by “a great cloud of witnesses” of the saints who’ve gone before us.  And you get the picture of a crowd of people cheering us on as we run our race of Christ.

So, this story in John 21 reminds us, we are not alone.  Jesus is with us.  The saints are with us.
And there can be joyful fellowship—even as we do the ordinary things of life, like eat breakfast.

Physical Resurrection
Finally, John's story shows us something powerful about what happens after we die.  We have physical and live in physical world.  This story is full of physical elements.  Imagine the sights and sounds of it. 

The disciples are in a boat, fishing.  Can you hear the water lapping against the hull?  Can you feel the chill on the air as the first rays of sunrise break through?  How about the smell of the charcoal fire burning on the beach as Jesus cooks fish for breakfast?  Imagine how the cool sand felt between Peter’s toes as he walked up to join Jesus.  

And Jesus and all the Disciples eat together.  Now that may seem insignificant, but it tells us that after we die, we aren’t just spirits floating around playing harps.  Jesus had a physical body—He cooked, ate, wore clothes, spoke and was heard by the people He loved.  And He knew them and they recognized Him.

If you want to know what eternal life is like, this story of the resurrected Jesus is a clue.  Jesus, resurrected, represents what we will all experience when we rise to eternal life like He did.  There will be eating, dancing, fishing, and we will have a body to experience it all.

But not a broken, corrupted body like the one we have now.  It will be perfect.  John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, believed our resurrected bodies would be real, recognizable, and physical—but no longer weak, broken, or dying.  You’ll no longer have get tired.  You’ll have ears that hear perfectly and eyes that see everything with full clarity.  We will have an increased ability to experience pleasure, beauty, and delight and live in a world more vivid because it is no longer broken. 

Closing Invitation
So, if you want to experience this glorious resurrection to eternal life promised to Christ’s followers, then I pray you will make a decision to follow Jesus.  Surrender your life to Him.

Not just part of your life—all of it.  Your plans, your identity, your future—place it in His hands.

Because this story reminds us of something very important:  Jesus isn’t just preparing a place for you someday, He’s inviting you into a relationship with Him today.

He’s standing on the shore of your life right now calling out to you: 
“Come… and have breakfast.”  Come and know Me.  Come and walk with Me.
Come and trust Me.  Come and live life with Me.

And for those of you who already follow Jesus, maybe you’ve been out in the boat for a while, working hard, doing your best.  But if you’re honest, the nets have felt empty.  Maybe you’ve been trying to do life—or even ministry—on your own strength.  This morning, Jesus is calling you back too.  Listen for His voice.  Trust His direction.  Walk closely with Him again.  Because when Jesus is there, empty nets don’t stay empty.

The same Jesus who cooked breakfast on the shore… is inviting you to walk with Him today—and dine with Him forever.