Breakfast

John 21:1-19

You can think of this as a Monday morning sort of story; a back-to-work day experience.

It’s been a few days or weeks since the stunning death and resurrection of Jesus. Most of the disciples have seen him again – had an awe-inspiring encounter with God as they see and hear the risen Jesus – but he never sticks around, the way he used to when he was alive the normal way.

So Peter and six of the other disciples have gone back to Galilee – boring, ordinary, podunk, will-it-play-in-Peoria Galilee.  They’ve gone home, and they have gone back to the work they used to do. They’re fishing.

Now, it hasn’t been a great night on the water – the nets are empty, because some days the fish just don’t go your way.  They’ve failed, for the time being anyway, and they’re headed in to shore in the early light of dawn, when they see a man standing on the beach, calling out to ask them if they’ve got any fish to eat.

Well, no. 

So the man starts offering unsolicited advice, “Cast the net to the other side of the boat, the right side.” And when they try it – well, they can’t even get the net back in the boat, it’s so full of fish!

That’s when it clicks for them.  They recognize Jesus, and they recognize God.  Peter plunges ahead, as he always does, dressing up and then leaping in the water to rush ahead of the ship the few yards to shore. (It’s one of my favorite images in the whole gospel – it’s meant to be cartoonishly funny!).  And then of course, he’s got to go back out to help haul in the fish.

And as they all come up on shore,dragging an overfilled, awkward net of unexpected and heavy fish, Jesus says,

“Come, and have breakfast.”

Breakfast. The most ordinary thing, in the face of resurrection and miracles.

A basic everyday peasant breakfast of bread and fish, grilled over a charcoal fire.

And by this breakfast, they know that God is with them – resurrection God, the power of the impossible, and the unfathomable love of Jesus beyond death – is with them.

Jesus loves them,at work, when they’re a mess, after a lousy night’s work, at breakfast,

any where they go, any time.

Miracles, resurrection, inspiration, hope, love and joy aren’t for special occasions,

but for the every day tasks and places of their lives, the every day work and places of our lives, not just the mountaintops and the holidays.

The inspiring presence and overwhelming love of God belong most of all to hard and boring work days.  And everyday work, for disciples and for us, is fueled by that breakfast.

Think about the conversation that Peter and Jesus have when they finish this meal.

It’s a conversation that heals and restores Peter, transforming his temporary, frightened denial of Jesus into loving promise, and fulfilling Jesus’ promise that Peter can follow him, even after failure, even to giving his whole life.

Over and over, Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” And every time Peter says yes,  Jesus translates that into “feed my sheep.”

That’s not a chore, and it’s not putting Peter in charge of the whole church: it’s the basic life of a disciple; the everyday challenge of “Love one another as I have loved you.”

It’s actually the short form of the promises we make in baptism:
promises to love one another, share good news with people hungry for it,  and care for each other as God cares for us.

This gospel story, in so many ways, is about the real life that you and I have to live, full of Monday mornings, long, hard, and sometimes boring work days, real world failure as well as success, and breakfast.

Think about breakfast for a minute, now.  Your breakfast routine.  

How do you eat, on weekday mornings?

I’m told by reliable sources, (and by TV commercials,) that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It’s the meal from which our whole day, and whole diet, flow.

But still, I tend to eat breakfast with one hand and both eyes on the computer – or sometimes, standing up at the kitchen counter. 

I gave that up for Lent, trying for a more prayerful, quiet morning.  It mostly worked, and was occasionally wonderful, but in the last two weeks, my habits have taken over, and it’s email for breakfast once again.

And I bet that’s not too unusual.

If you’re retired, you’re more likely to sit down to breakfast, but chances are that working folks, and people with kids at home, are grabbing breakfast on the run, or sometimes skipping it entirely.

If we listen carefully to this gospel, it turns out that breakfast matters,

that it’s the first Communion meal of the resurrection,

and it can be a time and place and even sacrament of renewal, and healing, and loving inspiration for the daily work of discipleship.

So our daily breakfast matters, too.

Last Monday, on a day when I was rushed and busy and worried about all that needed to be done right now, I went out to breakfast.

It wasn’t my idea. 

I had unexpected houseguests – friends who were driving across country and needed a place to stay, and I don’t stock much guest breakfast.  So they took me out.  For eggs benedict, and good conversation, and a chance to remember who I am, and how great it is to have friends – and even why I love the work I do.

Last Monday, breakfast at Egg Harbor was just a bit like breakfast on that beach with Jesus, in the gospel.

What would it be like to have breakfast like that more often?

To share that meal with Jesus as we start the work day, to look and listen for opportunities to recognize resurrection in the early morning light, to pay attention to the reminders of God’s abundance, and God’s undefeated love, that lurk in our food, our families, our homes, and yes, our daily work.

Can you slow down your breakfast, tomorrow morning?

Will you take the time, this week, to share that first meal with someone you love, and to share it with God, with the risen, glorious, surprising Jesus?

Will you go through your work week, looking out for a sudden avalanche of large fish: the nudges of abundance in the midst of not enough, and the signs of possibility in what looks like failure?

And keep listening for a familiar voice laughing, and saying,

“Come, and have breakfast.”