Sunday
Sermon
May 6, 2007
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Reading 2:
Vito Russo, 1988
"Remember that someday the AIDS crisis will be over. And when
that day has come and gone, there will be people alive who will hear that once
there was a terrible disease, and that a brave group of people stood up and
fought and in some cases died so others might live and be free."
Reading 1: Luke
8:5-15 (Amplified)
Reading 1: John 21:1-19 (Amplified) After this, Jesus let
Himself be seen and revealed Himself again to the disciples, at the Sea of
Tiberias. And He did it in this way: There were together Simon Peter, and
Thomas, called the Twin, and Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, also the sons of
Zebedee, and two others of His disciples.
Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing!"
They said to him, "And we are coming with you!" So they went out and got into
the boat, and throughout that night they caught nothing. Morning was already
breaking when Jesus came to the beach and stood there. However, the disciples
did not know that it was Jesus.
So Jesus said to them, "Boys, you do not have any fish, do you?
Have you caught anything to eat along with your bread?" They answered Him,
"No!" And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you
will find some." So they cast the net, and now they were not able to haul it in
for such a big quantity of fish was in it.
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter,
"It is the Lord!" Simon Peter, hearing him say that it was the Lord, put on his
fisherman's coat, his outer tunic--for he was stripped for work--and sprang
into the sea. And the other disciples came in the small boat, for they were not
far from shore, only some hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.
When they got out on
the beach, they saw a fire of coals there and fish lying on it cooking, and
bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish which you have just caught."
So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net to land, full of large fish, 153
of them; and though there were so many of them, the net was not torn.
Jesus said to them,
"Come and have breakfast." But none of the disciples ventured or dared to ask
Him, "Who are You?" because they well knew that it was the Lord. Jesus came and
took the bread and gave it to them, and so also the fish. This was now the
third time that Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples after He had risen from
the dead. When they had eaten,
Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me
more than these others do--with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as
one loves the Creator?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord, You know that I love You,
that I have deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close
friend." He said to him, "Feed My lambs." Again He said to him the second time,
"Simon, son of John, do you love Me with reasoning, intentional, spiritual
devotion, as one loves the Creator?"
He said to Him, "Yes, Lord, You know that I love You, that I
have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend."
He said to him, "Shepherd tend My sheep."
He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of
John, do you love Me with a deep, instinctive, personal affection for Me, as
for a close friend?" Peter was saddened and hurt that He should ask him the
third time, "Do you love Me?"
And he said to Him, "Lord, You know everything; You know that I
love You that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a
close friend."
Jesus
said to him, "Feed My sheep." "I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, when you
were young you girded yourself and you walked about wherever you pleased to go.
But when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will
put a girdle around you and carry you where you do not wish to go."
He said this to
indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. And after this, He said
to him, "Follow Me!"
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"153 Fish: Notes on the
Resurrection"