After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. ²Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. ³Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
　　⁴Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No." ⁶He said to them, So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. ⁷That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. ⁸But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.
　　⁹When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. ¹⁰Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." ¹¹So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
　　¹⁵When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." ¹⁶A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep." ¹⁷He said to him the third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. ¹⁸Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go." ¹⁹(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow me."

I think that most Christians can identify with the Apostle Peter. He had his faith ups and downs. He had his strengths and weaknesses. He confessed Jesus as Christ and he denied being his disciple. He had great insights into the mysteries of God, and at other times he did not understand. But no matter what, he always loved Jesus.

Peter had seen the empty tomb. He had seen the resurrected Jesus when he appeared to the disciples on Easter evening and then again a week later when he also appeared to Thomas. But Peter did not yet understand his role in the mission of the Kingdom of God. I do not know if Peter gave up or was just waiting for more instructions from Jesus, but he did not like doing nothing. He went back to his old occupation as a fisherman at the Sea of Tiberius. He announced to his friends, “I am going fishing.”

Are we like Peter? Even though we were in church on Easter and sang “Alleluia” robustly, we too fail to see how that good news makes any difference. Every Monday we go back to the world living our lives as if Jesus never rose from the dead. For us too, like Peter, it is back to business as usual.

But business as usual means failure . . . . as usual. In the New Testament, Peter and the other disciples who were professional fishermen, never catch a single fish without the help of Jesus. The disciples fished all night without catching anything. They trusted in themselves. It is a symbol of what happens when we put our trust in the promises of this world. Such misplaced trust also means that we fail to recognize Jesus when he shows up. He is on the beach but we do not see him in our lives. He is in the Word and Sacrament ministry of the church, but do we see him?

In the early dawn light Peter saw Jesus and heard his voice calling out. When Peter finally does recognize the man on the shore as Jesus, he first tries to cover himself up. He is not ashamed that Jesus might see his body. He is ashamed that Jesus will see his heart. It was just as Adam and Eve had tried to hide their nakedness from God after they had sinned in the Garden of Eden.

Peter swam the 100 yards to shore. When Peter got to the shore, he must have felt even worse. He saw a charcoal fire just like the charcoal fire that burned in the courtyard that shameful dawn when he had denied his Lord. Peter would never forget how he had denied Jesus three times and then broke down in tears when the rooster crowed, just like Jesus had foretold. Peter remembers his sin. Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Peter was moved to remorse and repentance when he remembered his denial of Jesus. Would Jesus forgive him or would he hold it against him forever?
It is the fear of every Christian who remembers their sin. Will God forgive me? We cannot hide from God. Just as Jesus came to Peter at the lake, Jesus comes to us, too.

This dawn at the lake was different. Instead of shaming Peter for his failure, Jesus forgives Peter. Three times Jesus assures Peter that he no longer needs to be burdened by what happened then. Three times Jesus assures Peter that he wants Peter to “feed/tend his sheep” even though Peter has been a colossal failure. Such is the undeserved mercy and unexpected affirmation that Jesus offers the disciple who denied him. Ironically, it happens at a time of day that could only have reminded Peter of his failure, at the break of day. There is no rooster crow. There are the words of Jesus giving Peter a mission. Jesus had not given up on Peter. Jesus said to him, "Follow me."

The forgiveness of Jesus changes lives. He forgave the sins of the notorious tax collector, Zaccheus, and transformed his life with forgiveness. He forgave the woman caught in adultery. He removed the shame of lepers, cripples, thieves and other such outcasts and forgave them. Despite their outsider status, He was determined to assure them that God had not given up on them. This forgiveness changes our lives, too.

Forgiveness and change is not easy. It is not cheap. Someone must pay. Even God insists that such obligations be met. The amazing good news is that Jesus was willing to come and help us. He paid with his life. Then on the dawn of the third day, the tomb was found empty. Forgiveness and change are gifts of God’s love.

Peter did not deserve forgiveness. We do not either. That is why we call it “gospel, good news.” It is like the dawn of a new day.

In this Gospel reading, we can see a number of the big things in our church life. There is repentance and forgiveness of sin. Jesus fed the disciples bread and fish that he had prepared on the charcoal fire, it reminds us of Holy Communion. When Peter recognized that it was Jesus on the shore, he jumped in the water and swam to shore. That is like Baptism. Remembering our baptism, we have heard the voice of Jesus many times in our lives and have decided to take the plunge again and again and come to him. And when Jesus told Peter to feed his sheep, we know that this means we are to love those whom God has given to us. And there are the words of mission: “Follow me.”

Three times Peter confesses his faith in Jesus. "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you."

We get to do the same. We can face our sins and the shameful reminders of our past. Instead of denying them and fleeing them, we can admit them, confess them and repent of them. With Peter we also say, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you."

Peter said, “I am going fishing.” Tomorrow morning, many of you will go back to your daily occupation. But it should be a bit different. It should be a new dawn because we know that it is Jesus on the shore waiting for us. Like the disciples who cannot catch any fish by themselves, we know that Jesus knows our frustrations in our work. And like the disciples we need to listen to his advice. "Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some." It is a new dawn and Jesus is calling to us.

Amen.

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