I don’t know whether or not you have flown on an airline recently.  When I fly, I bring a briefcase on the airplane with me, and I check the rest of my baggage.  I’m finding myself more and more in the minority, as many passengers opt to bring as much of their baggage onboard as they possibly can.  Generally, I settle into my seat, pull out a book or something to keep myself busy and slide the briefcase under the seat ahead of me.  Then, I sit and watch as people try to stuff their rolling suitcases into the overhead bins. 

          The last few people to board the airplane are frequently in a small panic as they try to heft heavy suitcases into the overhead compartments and then push and shove, trying to fit in a bag that simply is too big for the space.  I do understand that some of them have memories of lost luggage, or perhaps such tight schedules that they can’t wait a few minutes at their destination for their baggage to arrive.  But I can’t help thinking that an awful lot of people are carrying an awful lot of baggage with them.

          We all come with an assortment of baggage in this life.  Some of it we tote about in a suitcase; some of it we have in our homes; some of it is buried deep within our psyches.  Some of our baggage is good—it’s the stuff of who we are.  Some of our baggage causes us problems.  Often, it’s invisible to those around us.  We may have baggage of abuse, failure, insecurity, physical pain—the list is long.  Even if that sort of baggage is not evident to those around us, it is still a part of who we are.

          When Jesus called the disciples, each of them came with their own baggage.  Yes, they left a lot when they followed Jesus.  When Jesus called Simon Peter and his brother, Andrew, they were fishermen.  It was their identity.  It was who they were.  If you had happened to meet one of them, it would probably be the first thing you would learn about him.  “Hi!  My name is Peter, and I’m a fisherman.”

          The passage we read earlier said that when Jesus called them, he called them to leave their fishing career behind and accept a new career.  Jesus said to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  And something about Jesus made them happy and excited to make a radical change.  So it says “At once they left their nets and followed him.”

          For the next three years, they followed Jesus around the countryside, not as fishermen, but as disciples.  And then came the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus.  For the disciples, everything changed.  Even after the resurrection, they only saw Jesus a few times. 

          We don’t know a lot about the time period immediately after the resurrection.  We know that Jesus appeared to the disciples several times over a period of forty days.  But it was different, in that Jesus was not spending lots of time with his disciples, as he had in the past. 

          The disciples must have felt somewhat at loose ends. They had once had careers—they were fishermen, or tax collectors.  Then, they had left those careers to follow Jesus.  They had become disciples.  But what are disciples without a leader?

                   This passage takes place sometime in the first forty days after the resurrection.  As it begins, imagine them, feeling a bit lost and adrift—not quite sure who they were anymore, and not quite sure what they should do.

          Peter, as he often did, was the one who took charge.  Part of Peter’s baggage was that he was a natural leader—and a fisherman.

John 21:

¹Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: ²Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³"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.

          You know how it feels when you used to be good at something and you decide to pick it up again?  Often, you have the startling discovery that you’re not very good anymore.  I think perhaps that’s how the fishermen turned disciples must have felt, as they returned to fishing.  Can’t you just imagine what is going through their heads?

          “We gave up our fishing careers for Jesus, so that we could become fishers of men.  We threw it all away and became Jesus’ disciples.  Now, look what’s happened.  Jesus is nowhere to be found, we don’t know what we should do, and now---we can’t even catch any fish!”  They must have felt pretty miserable.

          Then, Jesus comes into the picture.  The disciples do not recognize Jesus at first.  Many have speculated as to why it was that they didn’t recognize Jesus.  It may be that it was still dark, as it tells us it was early morning.  It may be that the disciples just didn’t recognize him because he was about a hundred yards away—the length of a football field.

          But there are hints that something about Jesus’ appearance was different after the resurrection.  Listen carefully as I read, and see what you think.

 ⁴Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

 ⁵He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?"
      "No," they answered.

          I live in Des Moines, and in Des Moines there is a fishing pier.  I’ve noticed that it seems to be perfectly acceptable to ask a fisherman who you have never met before, “Have you caught anything?”  So it’s reasonable that our men in the boat are not really thinking about who the guy on the shore is.  But for some reason, they listen to him. 

 ⁶He 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.

 ⁷Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!"

          We can assume that “the disciple whom Jesus loved” was John, the author of this gospel, and one of the disciples.  This is not absolutely positive, but for our purposes here, it makes sense.

          It is interesting that apparently John recognized Jesus, not by his appearance, and not by his voice, but by the miracle of the fish.  When they put their nets down on the right side of the boat, they were probably just humoring the guy on the shore.  I kind of like them for that, don’t you?  They could have just told him, “Look, buddy, we are professional fishermen.  We have been out here fishing for a long time, and if we haven’t caught any fish, it means there are no fish to be caught!”  Instead, they take this stranger’s advice.  And John puts two and two together and says to Peter, "It is the Lord!"

          Then Peter, who has always been an impetuous fellow, jumps into the water, because he wants to get to Jesus as fast as he can.  He can’t wait for the other guys to figure it out, get the boat turned around, and haul this load of fish.  He just wants to see Jesus.  Peter must have been a good swimmer!

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. ⁸The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.

          I reminded you that Peter had some baggage.  As you will recall, Peter was the disciple who denied Jesus three times when Jesus was being questioned by the Jewish leaders the night before he was crucified.  There is no question that this weighed heavily on Peter.  But when he sees Jesus, he can think of nothing except to get to him as quickly as he can. 

          Think, again, about those travelers with their heavy bags.  Now, picture someone who has been away for a while, and is coming home to his or her family.  Maybe it’s you.  Do you remember a time when you were away from home, and then you went back?  When you see those loved ones, you drop the baggage onto the floor and throw your arms around the ones you love.  Nothing else matters, except that you are finally home.  And what a great host Jesus was!

⁹When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

 ¹⁰Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught."

 ¹¹Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

          I really love this story.  Jesus is not standing there looking holy.  He’s cooking fish over a charcoal fire.  Not only that, he asks them for some of their fish.  He knows fishermen and their fish!  Let’s celebrate the fish you caught, too!

          There is something very beautiful about the ordinariness of Jesus cooking fish and giving it to these tired, hungry fishermen.  When these guys tried to figure out what to do next with their lives,   they did not go to meditate on a mountaintop.  They were still the practical, ordinary people they had been when Jesus called them. 

          Jesus cared about them as real people.  He knew that as fishermen, they wanted to catch fish.  So he gave them success.  Little did they know, they would soon become incredibly successful fishers of men, as they led the beginnings of the church.

          For now, they were happy to be with Jesus, barbecuing some of the fish they had just caught.  And what a catch it was!  153 fish!  And their nets didn’t even break! 

          What does all this have to do with us?  Jesus still calls us—to be fishermen and to be fishers of men.

          By that, I mean that Jesus still calls us to be faithful to our vocations—to use the natural gifts we have been given to the best of our abilities.  Just as Jesus cared about the disciples’ need to catch some fish, he cares about our everyday needs.  Just as he cared enough to grill some fish for their hungry bodies, he cares about our physical needs.

          And just as he knew Peter, with his emotional baggage, he knows us.  He knows all or our little quirks; he knows all of our failings; he knows all of our abilities—he knows exactly who we are—he knows that we all come with baggage—and he loves us. 

          And whether we have been away from him for a few hours or a long time or a lifetime, he wants us to just drop our baggage and let him throw his arms around us and love us.  Peter understood that.  That’s why he jumped out of the boat and swam as fast as he could—he wanted to be with Jesus.

          It’s hard to let someone love when you are hanging onto a lot of baggage.  Picture yourself now, coming up to the one you love, but tightly hanging onto your bags.  After all, you’ve got a lot of investment there—all the stuff that you packed into those bags and have carried with you for such a long, long time.  But as long as you’re hanging onto those heavy bags, you sure can’t give—or get—much of a hug, can you?

          Jesus invites us to simply drop our bags and come to him—come to the cross—empty handed.  Let him just wrap his arms around you and love you and welcome you, and maybe even cook something up for you.  He cares for you.

          And don’t worry about all that baggage.  He knows all about everything in those bags, and he wants you to throw away most of those old rags and put on some new clothes.  He won’t trample on your old identity—instead, he will transform it.

Prayer:

Sometimes, Lord, miraculous things, both great and small, happen.  And somehow we know, as the disciple did, “It is the Lord.”  Sometimes, as we hear your Word, we know that your quiet voice is speaking to us, and we feel you gently calling us with your love.  Lord, help us to lay down all of our baggage and throw ourselves into your loving arms.  How you love us.  Jesus, we love you, and we are so grateful for your love for us.   Amen