2nd Sunday after Easter: Date: May 5, 2019
– THE SERMON: John 20:19-31
Theme: The Risen Lord’s Presence in our Lives.
I. Recognizing His Concern
II. Knowing His Power
III, Acknowledging His Providence
( Pastor Theodore Barthels )
Bulletin: Read Bulletin
Sermon: Read Sermon
THE ORDER OF SERVICE: p.5 (244:1-3)
HYMNS: 201; 196; 200:1-6; 200:7-8
Sermon
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
2100 16th Street SW
Austin, MN 55912-1749
Pastor Ted Barthels
Sermon preached on
May 5, 2019
2nd Sunday after Easter
Scripture Lessons: Acts 9:1-19a, Revelation 5:11-14
Hymns: 201; 196; 20:1-6; 200:7-8 (244:1-3)
Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Sermon Text: John 21:1-14
After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”
They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. 4 But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?” They answered Him, “No.”
6 And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.
7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish. 9 Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.”
11 Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.” Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who are You?”—knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish.
14 This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead (NKJV)
This is the Word of God.
Sanctify us, oh Lord, through Your truth. Your Word is truth. Amen.
In Christ Jesus, our Risen Savior, dear fellow Redeemed:
INTRO: Getting the point.
As human beings we need to set certain dates aside to observe important events in our lives or even in the world. Sometimes they cross over. For our Mexican neighbors today is Cinco de Mayo. In America we observe the Fourth of July every year. It is important for us to focus on our patriotism as Americans, although for some it makes little difference, it is merely an excuse to party. One could talk about each of our national holidays in the same way, pointing out their significance, and also observing that there are people who simply miss the point in spite of the holiday.
This is why we also have religious or spiritual days of observance. Already in Old Testament times the Lord recognized the need for us sinful human beings to be regularly reminded of the importance of the Lord’s place in our lives in connection with the basic truths of our salvation. We still very much do this today. While some days like Epiphany or Ascension Day have declined in their observance, we observe Christmas and Easter as highly significant for our spiritual lives. But there does appear to be a trend in America, even among confessing Christians, to place more emphasis on the party than on the Lord. And then the day of observance passes and things quickly return to the routine and much of the significance and even the joy of the day of observance becomes a fading memory.
When it comes to our Easter observance we need to remember that Jesus Lives. This isn’t just a historical event that we review on an annual basis. This is a reality of life. We mustn’t proceed in life like this is just a story. This is the very heart of life, the cornerstone of faith. We need to recognize and remember continually —
THEME: The Risen Lord’s Presence in our Lives.
Remembering the truth of Jesus’ resurrection will help us in
I. Recognizing His Concern for us.
In our text we read of how Jesus’ disciples returned to Galilee as He had instructed them to do, and there the normal activities of life resumed. A group of the disciples were gathered together on the shores of the Sea of Tiberius, also known as Sea of Galilee, and Peter announced his intent to go fishing. That is what Peter knew and did in life. He along with the rest of this group of disciples spent the night fishing, and as luck would have it, they caught nothing. Or was it something other than luck, for as morning began to break Jesus was standing on the sea shore.
Jesus called out to them, “Children, have you any food.” (v.5) The greeting was not an uncommon one. Although it sounds condescending to our ear as one speaking to others of lesser importance, it was also used among friends and was certainly appropriate for Jesus to address His disciples. However they didn’t recognize that it was Jesus calling out to them. It may be because it was still somewhat dark in the early hour of the day. Perhaps there was a haze across the water. Perhaps the distance of about three hundred yards prevented them from recognizing the Lord. But then the Lord gave them direction for their lives, and they followed His direction. They didn’t question why they should obey someone so distant. They didn’t protest that it was none of this man’s business what they were doing or how they were doing it. They followed His direction, guidance that was offered in loving concern for these dear friends.
One of the precious truths for us to keep in our daily consciousness is just this, what we see in just these opening verses of our text. Because Jesus is our Risen Savior, He is an ever present wonder of grace in our lives. Jesus in the greatness of His love and concern for us offered Himself up into death and the grave. He died in our place. He was cursed so that we could be blessed. He was buried in the grave to bring an end to the power of the grave and the fear of death forevermore. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead brought us that hope of life.
But Easter was two weeks ago already. Jesus died and rose again because of His concern for us and our salvation. These are all the things we talked about on Easter morning. Now we have gone back to our regular routines, to the things we know, the things we do, where we don’t think about Jesus an awful lot.
That doesn’t mean that Jesus’ concern for you has diminished in the slightest. As our Risen Savior Jesus is present and indeed very mindful of what is going on in your life, in all our lives. He cares for you! He would extend that concern by influencing us in our lives. He does give guidance and direction for life. He gives us direction through the Word. Most of it is very spiritual that we might not forget that we are His friends, His children even in our everyday life; your everyday life. He sees what’s going one with you, what you doing, how you are striving in life with the gifts and abilities that He has given you. He gives practical life direction for how we ought to behave toward our neighbor, and work with diligence and deal honestly, always trusting Him to bless the labors of our hands.
We don’t always recognize that it is the Lord, but it is not because He is too far away. He is right by our side. It is more that haze of this world so that we forget that He has placed us in families, including our church family, to speak the kind word of love and concern that comes to us from His Word. As our Risen Savior Jesus is a living presence in our lives.
II. Knowing His Power —
gives us confidence to go forward in life as He directs. It was the power of the Lord that led the disciples to recognize that it was Jesus present with them on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. No sooner had they let down the nets on the other side of the boat than the nets filled with fish so that these strong fishermen were not able to pull the net back into the boat. It was John who declared “It is the Lord!” (v.7)
When the Lord is present His power and blessing is present and active in our lives. To proceed with life with anything less than confidence in this being true is to sell Jesus short for the power He is, for the love He brings. This miracle had a very special significance for the disciples, especially these fishermen Peter and Andrew and James and John, for it was just such a miracle that had been used by the Lord to lead them away from fishing for fish and to train for a life of fishing for men’s souls. That was to be their vocation, their calling, their fulltime work, and on this visit Jesus made this clear.
For most of us the calling of the Lord is not to be a fulltime vocation of ministry, but it remains an important reminder that the Lord has given us a strong spiritual direction and purpose for our lives. He is a living power that we should not ignore. It was in excitement, reverence, awe that Peter put on his outer cloak and then dove into the sea and swam to shore to come close to the Lord. Ought we not share such excitement in recognizing Jesus’ presence in our lives?
We are easily discouraged in life. We may also feel overwhelmed by the circumstances of life. Life has its trials. We work hard, and we don’t always see the results we desired, the results we thought we needed to see. That is not the time to quit. That is the time to remember that Jesus, our Risen Savior, is a living presence in our lives. Call upon the Lord! Continue to follow His guidance and direction for life, knowing that with the power of His blessing all will work as He has determined that it should work for us, for good in our lives. (Romans 8:28) He deals with us not as strangers, but as His friends, yes, even as His children. He does not forget us, or neglect us. We need to remember Him and recognize His presence in our lives. This is how the message of the Lord’s resurrection relates to our everyday lives throughout the year. We will not be disappointed. We will be busy
III, Acknowledging His Providence.
The events of that day on the shores of the Sea of Galilee were filled with special messages, but the power of the Lord to bless and provide while giving direction was and is for all Jesus’ disciples. The disciples that remained in the boat managed to get the boat back to shore and drag the heavy net up on to shore. And then Peter went to examine the work of the Lord! Indeed the net was full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three large fish! And yet the net was not broken. The Lord is not limited in how He supplies all our needs. Of course one ought not to forget the small things. By the time the disciples reached shore, in that short time the Lord had provided a meal for them of bread and fish, and the Lord asked them to bring more fish to the fire. And Jesus served them. Jesus gave them bread to eat and fish.
The Lord, our Redeemer Lord, the King of all the earth, condescends to take care of us, to serve us and see to our needs, yes even our daily bread. We need to acknowledge His providence and receive our daily bread with thanksgiving. You know those are the words that need to be said, but those words can’t even begin to capture the wonder of grace and love that this picture, this event conveys. He really cares! Jesus is a living power, and not just some ethereal impersonal glorious being, but our Friend who lives to care for us in His love. That wouldn’t be true, this wonder of grace and power wouldn’t be a part of our lives except for the truth of Jesus’ resurrection. The hymn that captures so much of the varying impacts of Jesus’ resurrection does such a good job of expressing this truth for us also. We all love to sing:
“He lives to bless me with His love,
He lives to plead for me above,
He lives my hungry soul to feed,
He lives to help in time of need.
“He lives to grant me rich supply,
He lives to guide me with His eye,
He lives to comfort me when faint,
He lives to hear my soul’s complaint.
“He lives to silence all my fears,
He lives to wipe away my tears,
He lives to calm my troubled heart,
He lives all blessings to impart. (The Lutheran Hymnal 220:3,4,5)
AMEN.
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Amen. (Romans15:13)