Open the eyes of our faith to see the new reality of the resurrection in our daily lives. Amen.
Have you ever wondered why the disciples are back at their old job place, why they are back to fishing even after their encounter with the risen Christ? I mean, if you think about St John’s accounts that Jesus shows himself to the disciples twice and now the third time at the shore, it is strange to see how little of impact the resurrection is on them. It’s like they simply forget that Jesus is risen. This is quite baffling and even shocking. The risen Christ shows up twice but it didn’t work much to make a change in his disciples. But I think their return to the shore to fish exactly shows the current state of our world. Our world that doesn’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus is actually the world to which the disciples are back. It is their reality in which they try their best to make a living. In that reality, the resurrection has never happened, and sin always happens. There’s nothing new in this reality but the same old. The disciples are trying to catch some fish but nothing is happening. It’s just one of those unlucky nights that they waste their time and get nothing out of their hard labor. This is the world where our efforts feel useless and God doesn’t seem to care much about our lives. And in this very world to which Jesus’s disciples return, they are no longer the disciples or followers of Jesus but fishermen who catch nothing. Speaking of a fisherman, the fisherman who catches nothing is not a very good one. From the capitalist perspective, this unproductive fisherman produces no profit and should be laid off. But let’s think about this a bit differently. Suppose someone who is not a fisherman catches nothing. Even from the capitalist perspective, this doesn’t really matter because fishing for that person is just a personal hobby. It isn’t a means to sustain his life. But if that person seriously believes that he is a real fisherman, he is out of touch with his reality. And this is exactly what the disciples are doing. They are no longer fishermen, yet they consider themselves to be ones. They’re in the wrong world and in the wrong reality. They’re indeed living in unreality. At this very moment of catching nothing, Jesus shows up again to bring them back to their true reality. This is the reality of the resurrection that Jesus is calling them to join. When Jesus appears to them for the third time and commands them to cast the net to the right side of their boat, things change drastically. Jesus brings them the whole new reality in which they become who they are supposed to be, not the fishermen in their old world, but the disciples, the followers of Jesus in their new world. The fact that they catch 153 fish does not mean that with Jesus you can make lots of money or become successful in this world of unreality that has nothing to do with the resurrection. What this miracle indicates is that with Jesus’s resurrection we can live in the world which lacks nothing of God’s abundant mercy and love. The resurrection, my friends, is not one of the many miracles that God has performed in this world. It is not just an event that should be listed as what kind of miracles God has done. There are no events or miracles that can be compared to the resurrection. The resurrection is the new creation. It is the new reality that God has opened up to the world through Jesus of Nazareth. The resurrection is the new genesis of our world. Only in this understanding of the resurrection as the new reality, Baptism and Eucharist make sense. Baptism is God’s invitation for us to live in this reality of the resurrection. Baptism is the way in which our bodies and souls enter in the reality of the resurrection in which we die with Christ and rise with Christ. Eucharist is God’s feeding of our bodies and souls with his own body and blood to continue to live in the reality of the resurrection. Let us look at Simon Peter in today’s gospel. He is the one who first says, “I am going fishing.” It’s almost like he’s leading all his friends back to unreality where the resurrection has no impact. Then Jesus shows up to take him and others out of that unreality. Peter, as soon as he recognizes it is Jesus who calls them out of the old boat, puts his clothes on and jumps into the sea. Peter’s behavior of putting clothes on and jumping into the sea, if you thinking about it, is quite odd. Swimming through the sea with your regular clothes on is quite difficult, and he as a fisherman would definitely know this better than anyone. Yet, he makes himself presentable as if he wants to look proper and polite before his teacher. This is Peter’s crossing over to the reality of the resurrection where he is no longer a fisherman but a fisher of people, a disciple and follower of Jesus. And jumping into the sea reminds us of baptism in which we become who we really are in God’s eyes. Then Jesus feeds Peter and other disciples with the bread and the fish. Which may remind us of the Eucharist. This Eastertide is then our season to transition from our old reality to the new reality of the resurrection. And our Christian life is our perpetual transition from old to new, being led by the Holy Spirit. It’s like the process of orientation to disorientation and then to reorientation of ourselves. We might go back to the old selves and fail again and again. I’m not saying we shouldn’t go back to fail again. Whatever stage you’re in this time of your life, and there’s no judgment of where you are at this moment, do not ever forget that Jesus is always in the midst of your unreality where you catch nothing. Jesus is always in that moment where you feel like a failure, catching you all the way at the bottom. And he will feed you and most importantly, will ask you, “Do you love me?” For Peter, Jesus had to ask him the same question three times because Peter hated himself so much at those three moments of denying Jesus. If you hated yourself so much more than three times, Jesus will ask you more than three times, “Do you love me?” And this question of love is not to test you whether you love him or not. We ask such a question because we love that person. “Do you love me?” already presupposes one’s love for the other. In this question of love, or rather through this love confession of Jesus, Peter is restored and healed. The rock that has been shattered is reoriented and resurrected. Similarly, Jesus’s changing of Saul or Paul’s unreality to the reality of the resurrection dramatically takes place in the second lesson. He gets completely disoriented, losing his sight and yet is reoriented as scales fall off from his eyes to see the whole new creation/reality o the resurrection. My friends in Christ, what reality are you living right now? Are you living in unreality in which your life has nothing to do with the resurrection? In this unreality, there’s no way we can be happy or satisfied. Even if we are, it is temporal and instant. This unreality has no goal that is ever fulfilling our hearts. It is the world that we try and try but catch nothing. It is the unreality that does not accept the new reality of the resurrection. More accurately speaking, this unreality only exists by denying and refusing the new reality of the resurrection. At the same time, it is incredibly difficult to see, feel, and experience the whole new reality Jesus has brought to the world. Even the disciples who saw the risen Christ twice returned to their old unreality. Even so then, for us it must be more difficult and challenging. Yet, my friends, the Holy Spirit has never been absent in our midst. The Holy Spirit has never left us alone in our unreality. The Holy Spirit continues to bring us out of the old boat, out of unreality to the whole new creation of the resurrection. Only in this respect, we can talk about the legitimate reason for the church to exist in this world. The church exists to be the sign of the new reality of the resurrection. The church is this new boat of the resurrection that catches the world out of the old boat of unreality. And all of you belong to this boat of the resurrection through Baptism and Eucharist. During this Eastertide, let us continue to remind ourselves which reality or unreality we place ourselves into. And even if we find ourselves in the old boat where we catch nothing, let us not despair but dare hear and see Jesus who brings the new reality of the resurrection without ceasing to tell us how much he loves us. Jesus’s love changes your unreality to the reality of the resurrection, in which you’re healed, restored, and reborn to build the beloved community of Jesus. From this fundamental truth of the Christian faith, we find reasons why we gather, calling ourselves the body of Christ, the church and celebrating the signs of that Easter love together. And here at Saint Agnes this morning, we are once again brought to the shore where Jesus is feeding us with his body and blood. And at the Table of Jesus, we hear him asking all of us personally and communally, “Do you love me?” Faith is our ability to say yes to that question over and over again. We say yes to build the beloved community of Jesus among ourselves and in the world. May the Holy Spirit grant us the grace to carry this new reality of the resurrection in which we speak the language of love and forgiveness to the world of unreality. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. |
Paul"...life up your love to that cloud [of unknowing]...let God draw your love up to that cloud...through the help of his grace, to forget every other thing." Archives
January 2025
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