Good Evening, as we sigh deeply, releasing (at least some!) the day’s stress. Saturday Evening: John 21: 1-14 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” 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. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” In an effort to save space, I’ve included a few of the key verses to this passage, but I enjoy the whole story, and so I invite you to read it. Following our morning reflection of what it is like to meet Jesus when we least expect it, I would like us to think about the times when we are doing something that is so familiar to us, but we somehow feel stuck. This is what was happening to the disciples that morning. They had returned to doing what they knew best, out of fear, because they didn’t know what would be before them if they continued on with the task Jesus had laid out before them. But even though it was so familiar to them, they weren’t catching anything…they probably attributed it to being the wrong current, or the wrong bait…until they heard Jesus (whom they had yet to recognize) calling to them to do it differently. Peter did see that it was him after he suggested fishing from the other side of the boat and jumped in after him—but in some ways, Jesus was hidden by their blindness of trying to do things the same way they had as though nothing had changed them. They themselves were the strangers because they insisted on doing things the same way they had always done them. They refused to recognize not only the Christ on the beach, but the Christ within themselves. A friend shared the following wisdom with me tonight “Tradition for the sake of tradition is like walking on a treadmill when you need to get to the store.” If we keep on walking as though nothing is changing around us, how can we recognize Jesus right in front of us? How do we clear our eyes from wanting to do things the way they have always been done, out of fear? When will we realize that, once we know Jesus, we can never be the same, or do things in the same way? Let us join our voices, though spread far and wide, in prayer this night: O Christ, help us to recognize you, not for who we would have you be, but for who you truly are. Call us by name that we may recognize you in all aspects of life. May we know that you have changed us and continue to change us in ways that will cause us to never be the same. Bless us this night, O Christ, Bless us this night. Amen. I invite you to extinguish a candle, saying: “The Light never goes out, it only changes.” (Adapted from Godly Play) Good Night, to the Christ within each one of you.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 01:14:08 +0000
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