Sermon Topic – Breakfast on the Beach
There is one thread to tie up at the end of John’s Gospel, and that is the reinstatement of Peter. In one of the loveliest of the resurrection accounts we find Jesus waiting for his friends on a beach, early in the morning cooking breakfast for them. And the interaction with Peter is very simple. Jesus asks ‘Peter do you love me?’ And that is enough. But it is painful for Peter that Jesus asks three times, echoing his three denials. Jesus doesn’t avoid our failures. He forgives them.
And then Peter is commissioned with the words ‘feed my sheep’. And that is the foundation of his future ministry and all Christian ministry. Caring for, and nurturing the people of God, leading them to places where they can find green pastures and still waters that refresh their souls – that is as clear and simple a picture of what we do at church as you could ask for.
But perhaps there is one more thing here – because this image of a new day, the presence of Jesus, gathering with old friends, reconciliation and love and a simple breakfast night just be a glimpse of eternity. And it is fitting way for the wonderful Gospel of John to end.