Jesus Shows Up
Heather Weir Download: Audio
Sunday Scripture Reading: John 21:1-19 (NRSV)
1 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Read more…
Looking to Sunday: Preparing to Hear From God
by Elaine Poproski
It’s finally May! (As I write this, it’s still actually April, but I know May is just around the corner and I have no doubt that when it arrives I’ll feel as happy about its actual arrival as I imagine right now that I will be.) My mom used to quote this silly little poem every spring. You’ll need to read it aloud (I have no idea why my mom said it with the kind of pronunciation I’ve tried to spell into the words):
Spring has sprung
the grass is riz
I wonder where the boidies is?
The boidies on the wing.
But that’s absoid because the wing is on the boid.
I know that spring officially arrives in March, but here in Toronto, at least this year, spring has had a hard time getting here. But now that it’s May, I’m hopeful that maybe, finally, winter has been defeated for another year.
Sometimes, even with things that happen over and over and over again, when things are as predictable as the seasons, when experiences pile on top of each other such that you know with certainty that something is true, a day comes when you need just a bit more convincing. I think that’s what’s going on in John 21.
John 20 ends with what seems like a decent conclusion to the book. After Thomas meets Jesus and believes, we read these words:
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in His name.”
Doesn’t that sound like the end of the book? And then it’s like the author was being pestered by someone in the background saying something like, “Come on, John! Do you really expect me to believe just based on a couple stories of people encountering Jesus after His death? Tell me more.” And John caves and writes another chapter. It’s a story about fruitless fishing, breakfast by the sea, redemption, and the call to follow regardless of the outcome. It’s a great story. And I’m really glad John decided to include it.
One of my favourite parts of this story is how mundane it was. Jesus appeared when his friends were fishing, when they were about their jobs. And then he had breakfast with them. I’m struck by how normal it all is. And yet, isn’t that exactly the point? Isn’t that exactly what Jesus is all about? Even though He was in the form of God, even though He was God, He emptied Himself to be born in human likeness, to live amidst the smells and filth and beauty of humanity until He died. Jesus was all about being fully present with us, even after He died. Even now, in the person of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is still fully present with us in our mundane world.
As you prepare for Sunday, I invite you to read John 21. Read it aloud. Try to smell the smells and hear the sounds. Trade out the fishing boat for your place of work. Trade out breakfast on the beach for your preferred local coffee shop. Ask Jesus, that as He showed up for His friends on that beach long ago, He would show up for you in the mundane, every day-ness of your life. And then keep your eyes peeled and your ears open and maybe you’ll have a story to add to the ones John already wrote.