Jesus and Ordinary Life

Father, we ask that you would gently but very deeply and powerfully pour the Holy Spirit upon us at this time.

Pour the Holy Spirit down upon us and deep within us,

that your word, your gospel, your grace might come ever deeper into the center of who we are.

Father, we ask that you would reveal Jesus to us as Savior and Lord at an ever deeper level of who we are.

And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

I was raised in a Christian home, but I was not one of those Christian kids who naturally liked church.

In fact, probably if you were able to go back in time and bring some of my long-suffering Sunday school teachers

and to find out that I'd become a minister, I think they would have been, the Irish word would be gobsmacked.

Probably if those Sunday school teachers were getting together and discussing those most likely to live to be a pastor or a missionary or something,

I would not have been on that list.

And as I got a bit older, I had a hard time with Christianity.

And part of the problem I had with the Christian faith was that I just didn't like a lot of the cultural stuff that went along with it.

Now, I'm getting to be close to ancient of days, and it's hard for people younger to understand the world.

But in the Baptist type of church that I grew up in, I thought that if I was to become a Christian,

I had to dress a certain way, had to have my hair cut a certain way.

I had to listen to a certain type of music.

I couldn't listen to a whole pile of other things and watch TV.

I never had any interest in dancing, by the way, but that's something I'll have to learn in heaven.

Because we'll probably do a lot of dancing in heaven.

But, you know, that wasn't something that I'm particularly drawn to.

But I just, music, everything, the type of literature,

there seemed like there was this Baptist Christian culture,

and real Christians had to like all of that stuff, and I didn't like any of it.

I like different types of music, different ways of dress,

and so I had a hard time at all thinking that Christianity could be for me.

I'm not going to go through the whole thing, but some things transpired that ended up making me realize

that I could be a Christian and dress different and do a whole pile of different things,

and the Lord appeared to me and I became a Christian.

I mention this because it's a very similar problem that I have sometimes

when I talk with some of my Muslim or Jewish friends in particular,

but just generally when I talk to people, also for people that are raised in the Catholic school system.

They try to figure out what type of Christian I am,

and I have a hard time finding categories to talk to them.

Because, you see, all the Muslims that I know are people who basically have rejected

most of the Muslim faith and live a very secular life.

And for them, like a devout Muslim, well, like if you're a male and you're a devout Muslim,

you start to grow a beard, and you start to wear certain types of clothes,

and you start to do a whole pile of very particular Muslim things.

That's what a devout, serious Muslim does,

and these secular Muslims don't want anything to do with it.

And when I talk to my Jewish friends and I try to describe where I am,

well, from their point of view, if you're a very serious Jewish person,

well, once again, the men and the women will start to dress a very particular way,

and they've rejected that.

They don't want to have any of that.

And it would be the same, actually, for Hindus and Buddhists.

And for those who've grown up in the Catholic school system,

like real Christians are priests.

Like if you're really serious, you become a priest,

or you become a monk, or you become a nun, or something like that,

and they're not interested in that.

So I have a hard time trying to describe what the gospel is,

what Christianity is, and who I am and where I all fit,

given the fact that there's all these preconceptions,

religious preconceptions, about what it means to be a real Christian,

a serious Christian.

The Bible text that we're going to look at today

actually is spectacularly helpful in helping us to think through this issue,

not in terms of how we maybe communicate to our friends,

but at least for us, to help us to understand.

And if you're here just curious, it's a very, very, very helpful text

to understand how the gospel is different

and what the gospel does in terms of how it shapes you and how it doesn't.

So if you turn in your Bibles to John chapter 21,

John 21 · chapter mention

that would be very, very helpful.

John chapter 21.

John 21 · chapter mention

And just, you know, it's so funny.

In so many churches and so many Christians, when you meet them,

they talk about parts of the Bible as if it's just like a quote.

But it's not.

You know, my wife and I just finished watching a documentary.

It was a very good documentary.

We really enjoyed it, The Dawn Wall.

And it tells a story.

It tells the story of this fellow Tommy Caldwell

and what he was like growing up

and what led him to have this obsession to climb a particular rock face.

And there's a story.

It goes back and forth about what's happening in his life,

what drives him, and how it all ends.

And if I just came in and just gave you a quote from a bit of it,

it wouldn't make any sense, right?

Because you have to sort of know the whole story.

It's the same here with John's gospel.

He's writing a story.

He tells you the story of Jesus,

the biography of Jesus in the story form.

And when you do that,

you realize all sorts of different things about it.

So what's just happened, as I just said,

John is an eyewitness.

He's written this eyewitness biography

while other eyewitnesses were around.

And he's talked to us about how Jesus died.

And he talked about how Jesus was embalmed

and how he was entombed

and how the tomb was empty

and the grave clothes were left behind

and how he appeared to Mary

and then how he appeared to 10 of the disciples

and then how he appeared to the disciples plus Thomas

and maybe some others.

And that's what we just looked at.

That's what's just before this.

And there's a very important bit that's just before this

that I just have to summarize for you

or you don't understand the shocking nature of this.

Because I can tell you this,

there have been lots of trees

that have been put to death

because of this chapter,

these verses that we're looking at.

Because for many, many scholars and many Christians,

this is a problem text.

And you don't understand it

unless you know what's just going on before that.

And what's just going on before this

is that when Jesus shows himself alive to the disciples,

then he gives these four things.

He gives them a message which they're to proclaim.

And the message which they are to proclaim

is that there is a way.

Jesus has now done something

so that human beings will no longer be at enmity,

that's fighting,

or opposed to God.

But Jesus has done something to make peace with God.

Not that God had to make peace with us.

He's always been loving.

But that we might be at peace with him.

And Jesus has now done that.

By his life and death and resurrection,

Jesus has done what human beings can't do.

He has opened a door for us to be at peace with God.

That he will be our God.

That we could walk with him.

That he would be our father.

That we are in our father's world.

And we can talk to him.

And he gives us this message that we have to proclaim.

And then the second thing he does

is he says,

you've got to actually go.

Not only do I give you a message,

you've got to go and tell people about it.

You don't just sort of wait until people come to you.

You need to figure out ways to go and tell them.

And then the third thing he does,

he says,

so you have the message,

you have the mission.

I'm going to give you the power.

I'm going to give you the Holy Spirit.

He breathes the Holy Spirit on them.

So they have the power

to do,

to proclaim the message and to go.

And then the fourth thing he does

is he says,

this is really important.

Like people's eternal destiny

hangs upon this.

If people die without hearing this

or they hear it and they reject it,

it means that they will be forever

at enmity with God.

If they receive it,

it means they begin to have peace with God

that begins right now

and will go on for all eternity.

This is very, very, very important.

You've got to do it.

And then John,

and then Jesus says,

people who believe in me

without having actually seen me,

you're blessed.

He says over all of us who are Christians,

you're blessed.

And then John says,

by the way,

I wrote this whole book

so you'll understand who Jesus is

and you'll believe him and trust him.

And now that can leave us with a bit of,

if the gospel just ended right there,

we'd say,

well, how do we live?

Like, what do we do?

And so John now sort of gives us

a little bit of an implication

of all this big message

and that's what happens right now.

This is where the story continues.

It's John chapter 21, verse 1,

John 21:1

and here's how it continues.

It's very surprising.

It's so surprising that,

as I said,

lots of trees have been cut down

to make paper

for scholars and pastors

to write about it

because they see it as a great problem.

Right?

Very important.

Go off and do it.

Chapter 21, verse 1.

After this,

Jesus revealed himself again

to the disciples

by the Sea of Tiberias

and he revealed himself in this way.

Just sort of pause.

In the New Testament,

you can get a little bit confused.

There's three different ways

of referring to the same body of water.

This, by the way,

is very common.

If you've grown up in a rural area,

that might be the way

the rural people refer to something,

it might be something

that the government refers to it,

there might be something

that tourists call it,

and just reflect it

in how the Gospels are written.

So the Sea of Galilee,

the Sea of Tiberias,

and Lake Gennesaret

are all the same body of water.

Okay?

So just to read it again,

the Sea of Galilee

is more familiar to us.

So after this,

verse 1,

Jesus revealed himself again

to the disciples

by the Sea of Galilee

or Gennesaret

or Tiberias,

and he revealed himself

in this way.

Simon Peter,

Thomas,

called the twin,

Nathaniel of Cana and Galilee,

the sons of Zebedee,

and two others

of Jesus' disciples

were together,

seven guys.

Simon 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.

Now believe it or not,

this has caused

lots of angst.

And the reason is,

well,

first of all,

there's many,

many scholars

who believe

that this is actually

out of place,

that this should have

actually been,

whoever was copying

the book,

they mixed things up

and it should really

be earlier in the story

and it somehow

is a mistake.

And the reason

they think that

is they say to themselves,

good grief,

Jesus has just

appeared to them,

he's done it

several times,

he's told them

that they have to go,

they have to proclaim

this message,

and these guys

are fishing?

Like,

are they stupid?

Well,

they can't be that stupid.

They can't be that dumb.

I know you're not

supposed to say stupid,

right?

Sorry,

parents,

if you have young kids,

you're not supposed

to say stupid.

Just time out.

I shouldn't have done it.

Anyway,

dumb,

clueless,

whatever you want to say,

they're fishing.

It doesn't make any sense.

And so they try to figure out

how to get around

this particular problem.

Said some scholars say

that it's just a mistake

in the copying.

And by the way,

there's zero evidence

that it's in the wrong order.

All of the ancient manuscripts

show the gospel written

in this particular,

zero evidence

that it's in the wrong order.

And pastors will talk about

why it is

that they're not in Jerusalem,

why it is

that they're not praying,

they're not singing praise songs,

they're not studying the Bible,

they're not making a plan

to evangelize the world,

they're not doing

any of these things,

they're fishing.

And it's a problem.

And there's another thing

which is going on.

And by the way,

part of the reason

that this is a problem,

that people view it

as a problem,

is,

well, you see,

it's a little bit like

what I said

at the beginning

of the sermon.

You see,

because real Christians

go to a Baptist church,

those of you

who didn't go to a Baptist church

back then,

sucks to be you.

But real Christians

went to a Baptist church,

real Christians

didn't listen to choirs,

soloists,

and gospel quartets

were particularly

what real Christians

listened to.

And real Christians

dressed a certain way,

and real Christians

had their hair cut

a certain way,

and real Christians

did lots of religious stuff

all of the time,

nothing secular.

And so,

a lot of pastors

and scholars

take this over to the text.

Jesus has just given them

this great commission,

and here they're fishing.

Like,

that's not what

real Christians do.

Now,

we're going to look

at this text.

There's more.

You have to read

the rest of the story.

But there's another thing

actually here,

which is really important,

and I'm going to just

take a moment

to talk about it.

There's a little bit

of a class bias

in these comments as well.

As you know,

throughout all of

Christian history,

there's always a bit

of a problem

of thinking that

upper middle class

are a bit more holy

than working class.

We're more polished.

I'm not upper middle class.

But middle class,

you know,

more than the working class,

you know,

we have better people skills.

You know,

we know how to eat better.

We have better taste

in music

and literature

and all of that

type of stuff.

And there's just

this subtle way

that we think

that these things

that make no difference

to God whatsoever

somehow are connected

to being spiritual,

being more godly.

But here's the thing.

A couple of years ago,

quite a few years ago now,

I listened to a podcast

and the podcast

was by an executive

from Walmart.

And the executive

in Walmart

was talking to a group

of other executives

and high-level

advertising people.

And one of the things

he said

is that Walmart

is not for any of you

in this room.

We at Walmart,

we don't care about

a single one

in this room.

Not one.

We don't care

if a single one of you

ever come to our store.

Why?

Walmart is designed

to attract people

who live paycheck

to paycheck.

Everything in Walmart

is designed

to meet the needs

of people

who live paycheck

to paycheck.

You in the room,

you don't live

paycheck to paycheck.

We don't care about you.

But you know what?

Most of North America

lives paycheck to paycheck

and we'll make enough money

reaching most of them.

The early disciples

lived paycheck

to paycheck.

They were not

upper class.

They were not

independently wealthy.

Peter went fishing

because he needed money.

And he needed money

not because he was sinful

but because he lived

paycheck to paycheck.

In fact,

out of all the original

12 disciples,

the only one

who might not have had

to live paycheck to paycheck

was Matthew.

But after Matthew

gave up his occupation,

he also now

would have to have been

living paycheck to paycheck.

And the reason

Peter goes fishing

and he goes fishing

at night

is because

if you want to make money

from fishing,

you fish at night

so that as the day begins,

people can go

and buy your fresh fish.

That's why you do it.

He was making some money.

If he was alive today,

he'd not be shopping

at Nordstrom's.

He'd be shopping

at Walmart.

He wouldn't be eating

at the Fauna restaurant

on Bank Street.

He'd be eating

at McDonald's

or Subway.

That's his social class.

And to think

that he's doing

something sinful

by working

is partially

a reflection,

an unconscious

social class bias

that often slips

into churches.

Let me tell you,

God doesn't love

people who live

in a mansion

in Manitic

any more

than he loves

somebody who's living

in subsidized housing.

He doesn't.

It's a problem.

If you're in the military,

he doesn't love generals

more than he loves privates.

He loves people.

So,

here we have

the situation.

Like,

what's going on?

How's Jesus

going to respond

to the fact

that these guys

have been going,

they're going fishing?

Well,

let's see.

Verse 4,

the story continues.

So,

just as day was breaking,

Jesus stood on the shore,

yet the disciples

did not know

that it was Jesus.

Jesus said to them,

children,

do you have any fish?

Just sort of pause here.

The translation

there is very literal.

But it's actually

not very helpful.

In the sense that

it's a little bit like

if I,

if you see a guy

and he sees some other guys

out in a boat,

he might say,

boys,

how's it going?

Or lads,

how's it going?

Right?

It's just a term

of affection.

It'd be like saying,

hey boys,

how's the work going today?

And they'd say something good.

And that's what he's really saying.

He's saying,

boys,

how's it going?

So,

read verse 5 again.

So,

Jesus said to them,

boys,

or lads,

do you have any fish?

And they answered him,

no.

He said to them,

cast the net on the right side,

the other side of the boat,

and you will find some.

Now,

just pause here for a second.

And this is something

that most of you don't know.

You would not believe

how many people

use this text

as a proof text

to say,

the reason your church

isn't growing,

the reason you're not

making more money,

the reason you're not

having better success

in evangelism,

the reason you don't have

all these other things

is you're fishing

on the wrong side

of the boat.

So,

go to my 1-800 number,

my webpage,

sign up,

give me your credit card information,

I'll give you the techniques

so you can fish

on the right side

of the boat.

Okay,

next time you read that,

time out.

This is not a proof text

to sell your stuff.

The Bible

is never

a proof text

for you

to make lots of money

with your brilliant idea.

It's not.

Never.

Ever.

It's one of the ways

that people who say

they believe the Bible

act as if they

don't believe the Bible.

It's actually a violation

of the commandment

about taking the Lord's name

in vain,

actually.

So,

I hope there's no guest here

who has a 1-800 number

who's used this.

Well,

you know what?

I'm glad you heard this,

what I said,

because I know

I'm right on this.

And a moment's reflection

will tell you,

the Bible wasn't written

so you can make money

off your idea.

It wasn't written

for that at all,

ever.

Anyway,

back to the story.

Got you mixed up.

We'll go back

to verse 6.

He said to them,

Jesus said to them,

cast the net

on the other side

of the boat

and you will find

some fish.

So they cast it

and now they were

not able to haul it in

because of the quantity

of fish.

The disciple

whom Jesus loved

therefore said to Peter,

it is the Lord.

And when Simon Peter

heard that it was the Lord,

he put on his

outer garment

for he was stripped

for work

and threw himself

into the sea.

And the other disciples

came in the boat

dragging the net

full of fish

for they were not

far from the land

but about a hundred yards off.

Now just a couple

of things here.

Believe it,

as you can well imagine,

this has caused

lots of problems as well

and some of you

are probably wondering

why is it that

they are not able

to recognize Jesus.

Like isn't this

a contradiction?

If you just read

the gospel,

Jesus has appeared

to Mary,

he's appeared

to the ten of the disciples,

he's appeared

to eleven disciples

and maybe some others

and if you know

the other things

in the gospels,

he's appeared

to others

and here they

don't recognize him.

It would be

a little bit like this.

I know if you're

a guest here,

you don't know

who Andrew and Lisa are

but for those of us

who know Andrew

and Lisa

and what they look like,

okay,

and if you've ever

helped at coffee,

you know there's

a little tiny kitchen

just about over there,

a little tiny,

tiny kitchen,

not much bigger

than a closet

and if two of you

went into that kitchen

and one of you

came out and said to me,

oh, I saw Andrew

in the kitchen

all by himself

and the other one said,

no, no,

I saw Lisa in the kitchen

all by herself,

you would wonder

what's going on.

Nobody would confuse

Andrew with Lisa.

It's never going to happen

in a million,

well, maybe,

I don't know,

maybe in a million years,

I don't know,

but they won't live,

nobody will confuse them.

You know,

one is this tall,

one is this tall,

male and female,

different color,

different boy,

like nobody

will confuse them,

right?

So if one of,

if two of you

went in and said,

no, I saw Andrew

in this little tiny room

and the other one said,

no, no, it was Lisa,

you'd go,

there's something wrong,

like somebody's making up

and so we take

this assumption

because why,

we understand

what people look like

and how perception

worked with human beings

but here's the problem

we have.

How much do any of us

know about resurrected bodies?

How many of us

have a direct

day-by-day experience

with resurrected bodies?

If you put up your hand,

I don't believe you.

The answer is

we have zero knowledge

of resurrected bodies.

The only knowledge

we have of resurrected bodies

is what we find

by reading

the eyewitness accounts

and all of the eyewitness accounts

seem to say

that you can't just observe

Jesus after his resurrection

the same way

you can observe

Andrew or Lisa

or me.

It seems as if

for we,

see,

I have fallen,

I'm a fallen human being

and I'm mortal

and I know

that I can observe

other people

and I can just look

and I can see them

but it seems as if

from the records

that Jesus really did

rise from the dead

he really is physical

as we're going to see

in a moment

he eats fish

and all of that

type of stuff

he really is alive

he really has

defeated death

but you cannot

observe Jesus

and recognize him

unless he wills it.

and that's what

seems to be

most of the New Testament

accounts all seem

to say that

and I don't understand

why scholars have

such a problem with it

it only makes

we can only really

have a problem

if you think

you know a lot

about resurrected bodies

and we don't

Jesus has to will it

and that's what happens

in fact

if you think

if you look at it

this isn't just

George saying this

look up

if you put

go back to verse 1

of chapter 21

look at this

the Bible

you see the Bible

often if you read

the Bible carefully

it often helps you

to understand

what's going on

after this

Jesus revealed

himself again

to the disciples

by the sea of Tiberias

and he revealed

himself in this way

he uses the word

revealed twice

if you want to

just skip down

now to verse 14

I don't know

if it will be

on the screen or not

verse 14 says

this was now

the third time

that Jesus was revealed

to the disciples

after he was raised

from the dead

and the word

the original language

word revealed

can sometimes

just mean appear

but the fundamental

meaning is

makes understood

and visible

what cannot be

understood

or seen

that God

reveals himself

we can't see God

by ourself

he has to reveal himself

we can't know

what God is thinking

he has to reveal it

it would just be

the same thing

as any human being

you don't know

what they're thinking

if I ask all of you

right now

to just tell me

what I'm thinking

what I'm thinking

in my head

right now

probably none of you

would be able

to tell me

but I was picturing

the little Baptist church

I grew up in

I had to reveal that

to you

and that's the word here

three times

at the beginning

and the end of the story

Jesus reveals himself

he makes visible

or clear

understood

what they could not know

by their own power

but we still have to get around

this whole thing

about

are the disciples

just dumb

are they rebellious

are they acting

in a way

that is in complete

defiance of Jesus

does Jesus do this miracle

so he could say

okay goofballs

I gave you the instructions

you weren't doing them

and that's why

you got zero fish

and I have to come up

a second time

and give you 153 big fish

to understand

you gotta listen to me

and do what I say

so get your butts

somewhere else

get doing

what I told you

is that what

no let's see what happens

verse 9

right

they get to shore

with all the fish

verse 9

when they got out

on the land

they saw a charcoal fire

in place

with fish

laid on it

and bread

so the fish is cooking

and there's some fresh bread

Jesus said to them

bring some of the fish

that you've just caught

so Simon Peter

went aboard

and hauled the net ashore

full of large fish

153 of them

and although

there were so many

the net was not torn

Jesus said to them

come and have breakfast

now none of the disciples

dared ask him

who are you

they knew it was the Lord

Jesus came

and took the bread

and gave it to them

and so with the fish

this was now

the third time

that Jesus was revealed

to the disciples

after he was raised

from the dead

I'm going to unpack it

with some points

to help you

but here's the main thing

if you look at this text

there's no word of condemnation

is there not one word

of condemnation

Jesus didn't say

you got it wrong

in fact what John

has done very helpfully

is after

this very important message

which went on earlier

which is that you're blessed

if you believe in Jesus

you have an obligation

to go and

let people know

that Jesus

has provided the means

by which you as a human being

can now be at peace with God

no longer at enmity

he can be your God

he can be your heavenly father

you can start to understand

his love for you

and you can walk with him

and with Jesus

you can learn about

the existence of the Holy Spirit

and the Holy Spirit's power

and be open to it

and you have this important message

and John here gives this

very very helpful pause

in terms of what it means

in terms we have to live

he does not condemn them

for anything they've done

and in fact

more than that

he blesses what they've done

and he blesses their presence

so let's just unpack that

with the last few minutes

if you could put up the first point

that would be very helpful

remember that the gospel

is proclaimed

to deliver you from religion

not to make you more religious

remember

that the gospel

is proclaimed

to deliver you from religion

not to make you

more religious

you see my mistake

and I don't know how I got it

and probably if I went back

in time to

to my

the Baptist church

I grew up in

it might very well be

that the minister

was all the time

speaking against it

but somehow or another

I didn't get it

I was dumb

I was a slow learner

but I sort of made the mistake

that what a real Christian is

is a real Christian

is both somebody

who's given their life

to Jesus

but is also a Baptist

also dresses a certain way

also likes a certain type

of music

also has a certain type

of political beliefs

and

and

and

and

and

that's

that's what a real Christian is

you can't just actually

you just can't actually

put your faith in Jesus

you've got to have

that other stuff too

that's what religion is

it's self-righteous

you see it's not enough

just to depend

it's easier the gospel message is

that Jesus does everything

to make you right with him

absolutely everything

with nothing left over

every accusation against you

every claim against you

he deals with it

your need to appear

perfect before God

you're clothed with his righteousness

you don't say

okay

father so thankful

that Jesus died

to take away my sins

and I know I can't appear

before you naked

so I just want to let you know

I wore the right clothes

liked the right music

didn't like certain movies

voted the right

way

and I went to a Baptist church

not picking on Baptist

I just

I was a Baptist

I'm talking about myself

right

no no no no no

God the Father

would come up to you

and say

oh come on dear one

you'd want to give me

a hug in heaven

he said

you are so silly

all that other stuff

doesn't matter

in fact it's

it's dumb

like

you're clothed

with my son's

righteousness

that's what you're clothed with

and you see

at the heart of all

religion

and all spirituality

is this idea

that I need to make

myself clean

I need to make

myself acceptable

I can't just touch

trust

purely

and utterly

and completely

and massively

upon grace

I need to supplement

it

and then one of the

problems is

a lot of us

look at people

who are religious

and what we see

we see phonies

we see

hypocrisy

and we see a whole

pile of things

that don't interest us

and so we reject it

but we're not really

rejecting the gospel

the gospel

is the message

that God

has done everything

that needs to be done

to make you right

with himself

he does it

because he loves you

he does it

knowing you can't

do it for yourself

he does it

knowing you've

turned your back

on him

and you're at

enmity with him

he knows all of this

and still he loves you

still he loves you

and did all that is

needed for you

to be made right

with him

still he loves you

and the gospel

message is

to our Jewish friends

you don't stop

being Jewish

but you don't have

to wear that skull cap

you don't have to

real Christians

don't have to wrap

your arms

with certain types

of leather

and have certain

types of

to our Muslim

friends

guys you don't

have to grow a beard

you want to grow a beard

that's fine

you know

but you don't have

to grow a beard

you don't have to

wear that clothes

to Christians

you can like

different types

of music

and it's not

the case

that a priest

is more holy

than a lay person

you see

because what's

undergirding

religion

is that

I'm

me and Sean

and maybe

Gary

and almost

Jonathan

and almost

Daniel

we're the real

Christians

the rest of you

are at best

second rate

okay

I think there's

a person here

who does a lot

of Christian

speaking

so you're

included with me

we're like

up here

but everybody

else is second

rate

because real

Christians

make their

living from

the gospel

nah

that's what

this text

is saying

that's not

true

God

does call

certain people

to be set

aside

to make

their living

from the

gospel

but most

people are

not

and that's

what this

story so

powerfully

reveals

but some

of you might

say all

you want

is just

have to

have faith

and then

you do

whatever

you want

like is

that what

the Bible

is saying

you just

have this

private

revelation

of Jesus

and then

once you

have your

private

revelation

of Jesus

you can

just

every once

in a while

sort of

have a little

zinging

conversation

with them

or a little

boast of

woo

there's a bit

of spiritual

energy

you just

sort of

live whatever

way you

want

do whatever

you

no no

that's

that

could you

put up

the next

point

that would

be very

helpful

remember

that you

enter the

Jesus way

by yourself

but you

live the

Jesus way

with Jesus

and others

you enter

the Jesus

way

by yourself

but you

live the

Jesus way

with Jesus

and others

you see

one of the

things which

is at the

heart of the

gospel is that

the gospel

is going to

restore you

to being

human

as the

gospel grips

you and

shapes you

it will start

to restore

you to be

human

and what are

human beings

on one level

I'm a private

guy I have my

own personal

experience

none of you

actually can

ever fully

properly enter

into my

experience

it's my

experience

and but on

the other hand

you know you

have families

you have

workplaces

you have a

social life

and that's

some ways

reflected about

what the

Christian life

is

it's not

just that

you become

a lonely

mystic

all by

yourself

or you

engage on

your own

particular

all alone

religious

spiritual

quest

no the

Bible is

going to

restore you

to what

it means

to be

human

and that

means there's

going to be

private things

like private

devotions but

there's also

going to be

common types

of things

that's why

Jesus and

the Father and

the Holy Spirit

invent the

church that

we're meant to

do life with

other Christians

not in a way

that becomes

all consuming

but we're meant

to live with

others to

pray with

others to

celebrate with

others to

weep with

others

to struggle

with others

to help

with each

other

as what

God

intends

so you

have to

make a

personal

decision

to receive

Jesus as

your Savior

and Lord

but then

you're going

to start

the gospel

itself will

start to

shape you

to want to

spend at

least some

time in

some structured

and ordered

time with

other Christians

but

can you

put up

the next

point

I can't

remember

what my

bridge

point

was

going

to

be

to

the

next

one

remember

that the

gospel

shapes you

to be

more your

true

unique

self

that's the

type of

thing

that's what

I meant

is the

transition

I don't

want to

sound really

judgmental

about this

but just

give me a

little tiny

bit of

grace

but here's

the thing

like you

know

when you're

if you're

in Jerusalem

and you

see a lot

of ultra

orthodox

Jews

all dressed

the same

well I mean

there's like

50 types

of them

but those

who are in

the same

type

they're all

dressed the

same

they almost

become like

clones

they become

indistinguishable

from each

other

when you see

a poll of

very devout

Muslims

they start to

look almost

identical

it's hard

to understand

them

if you get

a group

of very

very

like

you know

religious

Catholics

or Anglicans

and you see

the priests

and you'll

see that

they're all

dressed in

identical

black suits

and very

similar

haircuts

and they

look like

indistinguishable

from each

other

and it's

hard to

not sort

of think

that's what

religion does

that's what

spirituality

does

it forces

you to

work on

externals

and end up

looking the

same

but one of

the things

which is so

wonderful

about all

these stories

is that

when Mary

Magdalene

meets the

resurrected

Jesus

she responds

one way

when Peter

meets the

resurrected

Jesus

he responds

a different

way

when John

meets the

resurrected

Jesus

he reacts

a different

way

it reflects

their personality

and Jesus

doesn't say

by the way

just time out

Peter gets

an A plus

Mary Magdalene

gets an A minus

and John

get off your

butt dude

you only get

like a B minus

no he doesn't

do that

they're all

completely and

utterly

themselves

Mary

passionate

just

passionate

and public

and Peter

let's go

take that

hill

and John

let's just

think about it

for a bit

and those

are all

fine

and even

the different

ways the

disciples

respond to

Jesus

when it's

just the

ten of

them the

first time

they're all

glad

they're all

giving each

other high

fives

they're giving

Jesus high

fives

they're jumping

up and

down

and in this

particular

case

here's what

this is

describing

a group

of guys

who've worked

hard all

night

and they're

in a beautiful

lake

it's the early

part of the

morning

and they're

sitting there

and they have

153 big

fish

they made a

lot of money

from that

hard work

and there's

a wonderful

fire on the

beach

beginning of

the day

it's cool

there's some

fresh fish

being cooked

perfectly

some fresh

bread

you're with

your buddies

and they're

just quiet

you know why

it doesn't get

any better

than this

those of you

who love the

outdoors

and love to

fish

it doesn't

get any

better than

this

the sweat

drying

you're just

quiet

and that's

good too

that's

good too

Jesus doesn't

say that's

better than

the other

way

he doesn't

say there's

one way

that you

have to

behave

he brings

out your

uniqueness

it's the

opposite of

religion

and

can you

put up

the next

point

so

some of

you might

say

well

okay

George

I'm a

little bit

you might

remember

that the

gospel

shapes you

to enjoy

simple

pleasures

work well

in honest

labor

and enjoy

being

generous

see that's

one of

the things

which is

so wonderful

about that

like many

of us

many people

think that if

you become a

Christian you

have to walk

away from

simple pleasures

like real

Christians

real Christians

just eat

steamed kale

and quinoa

and give all

and have no

butter on it

because butter

is sinful

and no

olive oil

it's just

plain

and maybe

some bread

preferably dry

and the

rest of the

money goes

to the

mission field

or something

that's what

real Christians

are like

no that's

not what

this text

shows

that real

Christians

never have

seconds or

thirds

do you think

in this

story if

one of the

disciples said

Jesus I'm

really famished

could I have

seconds

do you think

he'd say

no way

come on

do you think

the fish would

taste good

by the way

anybody who's

gone fishing

and it's an

early morning

fresh fish

on the

fire

right hot

it's delicious

can't get

better than

that

and there's

simple pleasures

Jesus dignifies

simple pleasures

and he dignifies

honest labor

those of you

in private

enterprise

Jesus is