Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons.
We are continuing our sermon series around the table looking at the meals that Jesus
shared.
Jesus shared the most important meal of the day, breakfast, with a group of folks from
many different walks of life, each one with their own stories and failures.
Yet, despite these differences, Jesus welcomed each person into fellowship, offering reconciliation
with one another and with God.
A reading from the Gospel of John, chapter 21, verses 1 to 17.
Afterward, Jesus appeared again to his disciples by the Sea of Galilee.
It happened this way.
Simon Peter, Thomas, also known as Deutimus, Nathaniel from Cana, and Galilee, the sons
of Zebedee and two other disciples were together.
I'm going out to fish, Simon Peter told them, and they said, we'll go with you.
So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it
was Jesus.
He called out to them, friends, have you any fish?
No, they answered.
He said, throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.
When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, it is the Lord.
As soon as Simon Peter heard him say it is the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment around
him for he had taken it off and jumped into the water.
The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish for they were
not far from shore, about a hundred yards.
When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals.
There were fish on it and some bread.
Jesus said to them, bring some of the fish you have just caught.
So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore.
It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many, the net was not torn.
Jesus said to them, come and have breakfast.
None of the disciples dared ask him, who are you?
They knew it was the Lord.
Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them and did the same with the fish.
This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from
the dead.
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon son of John, do you
love me more than these?
Yes, Lord, he said.
You know that I love you.
Jesus said, feed my lambs.
Again, Jesus said, Simon son of John, do you love me?
He answered, yes, Lord, you know that I love you.
Jesus said, take care of my sheep.
The third time he said to him, Simon son of John, do you love me?
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, do you love me?
He said, Lord, you know all things.
You know that I love you.
Jesus said, feed my sheep.
The word of the Lord.
So in the middle of the 1980s, this movie came out.
It's called The Breakfast Club.
How many people remember the movie The Breakfast Club?
It is kind of an iconic movie.
I have to say, I have not watched it in a long, long time.
And I have a hunch that it's probably one of those movies that did not age really well.
And that it's even though it's probably I don't even know what it's rated.
But I have a feeling that there's probably stuff in there that we would find questionable
today if we were to watch it.
So I'm not vouching for the movie by referencing it this morning.
But it's an interesting movie because in this movie, five high school students who are very,
very different, they come from different backgrounds.
They belong to kind of different cliques.
They kind of fulfill different stereotypes.
These five students all have to serve detention for a whole Saturday together.
I mean, as if that would ever happen today, right?
But they all kind of have these these nicknames, these kind of cliches that they fulfill.
One of them is called the brain.
The other is called the princess.
The other is called the basket case.
One of them is called the criminal and one of them is called the athlete.
By the way, just let's just see which one of those do you think up there is fits the
stereotype of the criminal?
Who's the criminal?
The bad guy, Judd Nelson played the criminal.
That's right.
Which one of them is the athlete?
Emilio Estevez.
That's right.
Which one of them is the princess?
Molly Ringwald.
Who is the basket case?
Yeah, the one that Ali Shidi played the back.
And that means that the brain is Anthony Michael Hall, who is sitting right there in the middle.
Now, throughout the movie, at first, these these kids differences are really, really
apparent.
But over the course of the day, what happens is they begin to open up a bit to each other
about their personal struggles and their personal failures.
And they soon realize that beneath all the bravado and the exterior appearances, they
aren't that different after all.
Now, the movie is called the Breakfast Club for two reasons.
I think one because the VP who gives them detention calls the kids who have to serve
Saturday detention.
They call it the Breakfast Club, probably because it starts so early.
But breakfast, in a broader sense, can symbolize something else.
It can symbolize the new beginning of something.
Breakfast represents a new start for these relationships.
Jesus said to his disciples, come and have breakfast.
When Jesus says these words, he's inviting another group of oddballs, another group of
people who just come from different backgrounds and different social groups to gather around
a fire with him, to gather around breakfast with him and begin something new.
Now, Jesus ate a lot of meals with a lot of people, but it's hard to overstate the importance
of this meal.
This meal was so important because this is actually the first meal that Jesus ate after
rising from the dead.
I think probably I need to stop right there because for some of you, the whole idea of
Jesus rising from the dead is very hard to believe.
Secondly, even if Jesus rose from the dead, you would find it very hard to believe that
he chose to spend his first appearances after rising from the dead by eating breakfast with
people on a beach.
We may wonder, have we got the right story here?
Is this story believable?
Is this story trustworthy?
Can we trust it?
Well, I actually want to say that there's a few little Easter eggs in this story that
actually give us a lot of confidence to say we're dealing with a real story, something
that really happened.
Let me give you a little example.
First is this, we're told that when the disciples dragged this net of fish to the shore, there
was 153 fish in total.
Now, why did the gospel writer John say there's 153 fish?
For centuries, and I mean centuries, everyone from St. Jerome to St. Augustine has been
trying to figure out what is the meaning, what is the symbolism behind 153 fish?
What could John be trying to tell us by choosing that number of all numbers?
Somebody actually said that, oh, it's because in those days there was only 153 species of
fish that were known.
And so this is some kind of a symbol about how the resurrection is for absolutely everyone.
That sounds a little off to me.
Somebody else said, well, here's what 153 means.
If you take one plus two plus three plus four plus five plus six, all the way up to 17,
you get 153.
And 17 is 10 plus seven, and 10 is the 10 commandments, and seven is the perfect number.
Guys, all that sounds fishy.
It sounds very fishy to me.
They still haven't figured out why 153 is the number John mentions, but I actually have
figured it out.
I figured it out.
It's because somebody remembered there was 153 fish.
This is a memory.
This is someone remembering something very significant, and they've just written it down.
I don't think there's any symbolism here.
This is a trustworthy story based on a trustworthy memory.
Let me give you another example.
I don't think this story is made up.
In this story, as soon as Simon Peter hears John say, hey, it's Jesus, we're told that
he wrapped his coat around him and then jumped into the water.
Now I don't know about you guys, but when I go swimming, I don't usually put clothes
on and then jump into the water.
We normally take our clothes off down to our bathing suits, and that's when we jump into
the water.
Why would anyone do this?
If you weren't making up a story, you would never write it this way.
But the answer is the story wasn't actually made up.
This is the weird thing that actually happened.
Peter, the knucklehead, right?
This impulsive guy on that day, for whatever reason, he was so excited.
He just, he put his coat on and then he jumped into the water.
I don't know.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that I want us first, before we dig any deeper
into the story, to realize that the Bible is giving us the right story here.
This is a trustworthy account of something that happened shortly after Jesus had risen
from the dead.
It has all the earmarks.
It has all the evidence of someone telling a story of things that really happened.
And if that's true, then what is this story all about and what's it trying to teach us?
Well, it's about how Jesus gives us right relationships.
You know, the Breakfast Club, both then and this, and the one, the movie, are about renewed
relationships.
Specifically, this is telling us how we can have renewed relationships with each other,
within ourselves, and with God.
And those are the only three things I just want to look at this morning.
Let's first start with this.
This is a story about how we can have right relationships with others.
In the movie, The Breakfast Club, at the beginning, these students have absolutely nothing in
common with each other.
In fact, they really hate each other at the beginning of the movie.
In the same way, I think that all of us have certain people in our lives who we do not
get along with.
We may say we even hate them.
We're so different.
And you know, it could be family members, it could be colleagues, it could be old friends,
things broke down.
There may even be broken relationships within this very church, right?
But the good news is, is that Jesus brings us into right relationships with each other.
Let me show you what I mean.
Jesus had just died.
And so the disciples are heartbroken, and they go and do the only thing they really
know how to do, and that is fish.
Peter says, I'm going to go to fish.
The others say, I'm going to go out to fish with you.
And then we're told who went out in the boat with Peter.
I want you to take a look at this interesting assortment of people, right?
You've got Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples
were together.
Now let me start with Nathaniel.
If you know the story of Nathaniel, you will know this guy was naive and way too trusting.
When Jesus first met Nathaniel, all he said to Nathaniel was this, hey, Nathaniel, I saw
you under the fig tree and Nathaniel said, you are the son of God.
Wow.
I cannot believe it.
I will follow you anywhere.
And Jesus says, whoa, Nathaniel, just slow down, man.
I just said, I saw you under the fig tree.
You're going to see much greater things than, than that.
But that's what Nathaniel was all about.
He was so quick to believe things.
He was so naive.
He was so trusting.
But look at who's sitting right next to Nathaniel in the boat.
It's Thomas.
And Thomas is the exact opposite of Nathaniel.
While Nathaniel believed too easily, Thomas believed too difficult.
It was too hard for him to believe.
He was super skeptical.
You remember Thomas said that unless I see the nail marks in Jesus' hand, I will, I will
not believe that he has risen from the dead.
I often thought, what if when Jesus rose from the dead, he didn't have nail marks in his
hands.
What then?
Thomas would never have believed.
He was so skeptical.
He was so reluctant to believe.
And Jesus has to show, show up and say, here, Thomas, take a look.
But look at the weird thing.
Nathaniel and Thomas are sitting beside each other in the boat fishing together.
That is usually not how it works.
Nathaniels usually hate Thomases.
They look at Thomas and say, oh, you're so skeptical.
You're such a downer.
I can't stand being around you.
And Thomases usually hate Nathaniels.
They look at Nathaniels and say, oh, my gosh, you're so gullible.
You believe anything.
These kind of people normally don't hang out together.
Normally they don't even like each other.
And yet here they are together.
How can that be?
I'll give you another example.
Think of John.
In this story, John comes off as the, the thinker.
John, they're out there in the boat and John sees this guy on shore and he thinks about
it.
He says, Hey, I think, I think I know who that is.
I think that's Jesus on shore.
He puts it all together.
We have had this huge catch of fish, the nets, the right side of the boat.
It's early in the morning.
I recognize that voice.
He says, I think it's Jesus.
And he puts it all together.
He's logical.
He's a thinker.
He doesn't do anything about it.
Mind you, he doesn't like do anything.
He just says, I figured it out.
It's Jesus.
Now, on the other hand, Peter was the doer, right?
Peter, he wasn't the greatest thinker of all time.
No offense, Peter, but, but as soon as he heard that it might be Jesus, he puts his
coat on and he jumps into the water and swims to shore.
Peter is absolutely impulsive.
He's, he's a doer.
John's a thinker.
And normally Peters and Johns do not get along well with each other.
Right.
And Peters normally look at John's and say, Oh, you just think, think, think, think, think,
but you never actually do anything.
And John's look at Peter and say, Oh my gosh, you're so impulsive.
I wish you would just stop and think for a moment about what you're doing.
One says, you're a coward.
The other says, you're impulsive, blah, blah, blah.
This is normally how it happens.
Right.
Such a mix of different people coming together is usually a recipe for disaster, but that's
not what's happening here.
And here's why.
Jesus is able to bring together people from across all divides.
And those divides could be racial divides, they could be, you know, class divides, educational
divides, religious divides, personality divides.
Jesus has this ability to bring together people who we would normally never see together.
So for example, I could look around this room this morning and I could say, what on earth
is Aaron doing in the same room as Sue?
And on top of that, what is Abby and, and Johanna and Kate?
Why are they also all here in the same room?
What do these people have in common?
They actually have very little in common.
The only thing that they have in common is they have heard Jesus's call on their life
and they have come to follow him.
Friends, this is our breakfast club, right?
It's that place where Jesus brings people together from across all different divides.
And so that is the very first thing that we learn in this story.
It tells us about how we can have right relationships with each other.
When we come together around Jesus, he restores the relationships we have with one another.
But the second thing this story tells us is that we can have right relationships with
ourselves.
You know, in the movie, The Breakfast Club, one of the most powerful moments is when the
athlete again, played by Emilio Estevez, he is the one who's always been so full of bravado.
In fact, he's also a bully, but he is brought to tears as he shares with his fellow students
about his struggle for identity.
And he shares about some of the horrible things that he has done to other students in the
school just to impress people, just to show off, just to try to get certain groups of
people to like him.
Sometimes the fights that we have on the outside really stem from fights that we're having
with ourselves on the inside.
If you can't be transparent with yourself, how can you be transparent with other people?
If you can't live at peace with who you are, how do you live at peace with the people around
you?
And if you can't admit to who you truly are, then how will you ever be real with the people
who are around you?
We need moments in our lives when we are reminded, when we are grounded, when we are even humbled
and brought back to who we truly are, and we admit to what we've truly done.
Now, Jesus helps us do that.
In this story, it happens this way.
Peter is not at peace with himself.
How could he be at peace with himself?
You guys probably know that during Jesus's arrest and trial and crucifixion, all of Jesus'
disciples kind of scattered and left him.
But what Peter did was worse than all the other disciples.
Why was that?
Well, first of all, Peter was one of Jesus' closest friends.
He was part of the inner circle.
But secondly, it was worse what Peter did because Peter actually explicitly promised
Jesus.
He said, Jesus, no matter what happens, I will never leave you.
Jesus, if they haul you off to prison, I will go with you.
If they take you to the cross, then I will go there too, right?
Though all others may flee, I will never leave your side.
That's Peter.
That's what he said.
That's the bravado.
Those are the big statements he's making.
But you know what actually happened that night that Jesus was arrested.
Peter was scared to death and he denied even knowing Jesus.
He was around a charcoal fire warming himself with a few other strangers.
And they said, hey, aren't you with Jesus?
He said, no, I don't know the guy.
Never knew him.
Who's Jesus?
Jesus who?
What are you talking about?
Peter does not have a clue who he truly is.
He's all bravado.
This is who I am, Jesus.
I'll never, never leave you.
But when push comes to shove on the inside, he's nothing like the man he claims to be.
But Jesus brings him back to himself.
When Peter crawls to shore, he sees another charcoal fire, just like the one that was
there on the night that he betrayed Jesus.
Oh, gulp, right?
And then when they had finished eating, Jesus says, Simon, do you love me?
Simon, do you love me more than these?
Simon, you failed me.
Simon, you let me down.
Simon, you broke your promise to me.
Three times he says this to Simon.
It may seem like Jesus is being cruel, but he is not trying to get back at Simon.
He's trying to get Simon back to who he is.
He's not trying to bring him pain.
He's trying to bring him home, back to his true identity.
Get real with yourself, Peter, right?
Peter, you've got some whacked out ideas about how great you are.
Just get real.
And I think we all need to do the same.
We need to admit who we are.
Stop pretending being people that we aren't.
Sometimes we say things and we talk all sorts of junk and we make all sorts of promises.
And we're just saying it so that we can impress people or so we can be liked by certain groups
of people to make ourselves look good.
But that is not who we are.
We got to stop pretending being someone that we're not.
And on top of that, we need to admit to what we have done.
Stop denying our mistakes.
Stop denying our wrongdoing and admit things like, just say, I've screwed up.
I blew it.
I made a mess of things.
I'm sorry.
Right?
In this story, Peter is humbled.
He is brought back to reality.
It is a very painful thing to watch.
But when we admit who we are and when we admit what we've done, then we're finally starting
to get real with ourselves.
And when we're real with ourselves, do you know what?
Then we can start to be real with each other.
If we have a right relationship within ourselves, then we can have a right relationship with
other people around us.
It's like these two things actually go hand in hand.
But that's not quite where the story ends.
During this breakfast club meeting, Jesus not only teaches us about how to have right
relationships with each other, not only how we can have right relationship within ourselves,
but how we can have right relationship with God.
Here's a question for you.
When Peter admitted his failures to Jesus, what was Jesus' response?
Did Jesus laugh at him?
Did Jesus punish him?
Will Jesus go and break off the relationship and say, that's it, you screwed up, you're
out, I'm done with you.
There's nothing you can say that will ever make things right again.
It is sad, but that is how some human beings treat each other.
When someone humbles themselves and admits their mistakes, do we let them off the hook?
No, no, we want to see them squirm.
We want to see them pay a bit more.
We want them to hurt because they hurt us.
That is not Jesus' style.
That should not be our style either.
Jesus says, Simon, son of John, do you love me?
And then three times he says this, take care of my sheep.
What does that mean?
Take care of my sheep.
I'll tell you what it means.
Jesus is saying not just, oh, we're okay, don't worry about it.
He's actually saying, I forgive you.
And on top of that, I want to promote you.
I want you to be a leader.
I want you to be a pastor in this new church that I am building.
I want you to take charge.
This is not Jesus just saying, I forgive you, but this is Jesus saying, I believe in you.
God sees the brokenness of who we are, but he comes at that with incredible love and
incredible forgiveness and incredible affirmation in our lives.
This is the strangest conversation you have ever heard, but this is how the conversation
goes.
Jesus says, Peter, you failed me.
Peter says, I know.
And Jesus says, okay, now you're in charge.
That's how it goes.
Right?
That's all there is to it.
This is a crazy conversation, but it's essentially saying, okay, let's move on and now let's
get to work.
When we admit our problems to God, God affirms our potential.
When we come clean about who we are, God can finally use us.
He sees the potential in us.
So here's our little breakfast club moment here this morning at Trinity Streetsville.
This story is first of all, it's a story we can trust.
It's a story we can believe in.
It's a story that reminds us the importance of right relationships with each other, within
ourselves and with God.
So just a few thoughts as you leave here today.
Who are you having a hard time with?
What relationships do you have right now that just are not right?
That are broken?
Where are your relationships in trouble?
Today is the perfect day to say, Jesus, Jesus, I need to live in right relationship with
other people.
Jesus, you can bridge any gap.
You can come across any divide.
Would you heal the broken relationship in my life?
That's a prayer we can all pray today.
But secondly, we can also leave here today and make the decision that we are going to
be ourselves, right?
Today is a day to stop acting, to stop pretending, to stop projecting ourselves as something
that we are not and instead to humble ourselves, to come back to who we really are, to admit
to who we are and to admit to what we've done.
And thirdly and finally, have you been hiding from God?
Are you like Peter in this story?
You are far from shore, out on the boat.
I want to say, if you feel far from God, if you feel far from shore, jump in the water.
Don't bother putting your coat on.
Just jump in the water, swim to shore and run.
Don't even walk.
Run to Jesus and fall before him because breakfast is waiting for you.
A new beginning is waiting for you and you will find in his arms grace and mercy and
affirmation.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons.
This episode was recorded at Trinity Church, Streetsville in Mississauga, Ontario on October
20th, 2024.