Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost - August 30, 2026

24:59 for the blessing of your music. Will you pray with me? Holy God, you came to serve and to feed your disciples even after your death.

25:21 Move among us now through your Holy Spirit to nourish our hearts and our spirits this day. And may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing to you. Amen. Here in New York, we're starting to feel a slight crispness in the air. There's an edge to the breeze in the mornings. Maybe you've even seen your first fallen leaf on the sidewalk. School supply lists are in hand. Maybe you're making the most of our last warm beach days. It's hard to believe, but summer is ending. it's bittersweet and as we near fall I've been reflecting on how joyful it's been to spend this summer at Christ's table with you imagining encountering all the ways we are changed by Jesus's invitation to eat to share in a meal we've been taking our time to digest these stories through the Gospel of Luke, but this week we open together one of my favorite chapters in the Gospel of John. This story is a story of recognizing Jesus, of the resurrected Christ.

26:50 The disciples see Jesus again after his death, and together they share a simple feast. This is after he appeared to Mary Magdalene, after Jesus appeared behind locked doors in the upper room, after he appeared to Thomas to soothe his doubt. And this is the last appearance in the Gospel of John. Bittersweet.

27:17 In reading and hearing this story, we share a taste of the passing sweetness of our lives, that today we eat with our Savior, knowing tomorrow he may not be here. That same feeling as August nears its end, that same feeling in our lives as we approach the challenge of transition, trying to trust that something better suited may be on the other side, that same feeling in our lives, mourning a loss and yet grateful for the gifts in time together, that same feeling in our lives awaiting the unknown, working hard to trust it will work out for our good.

28:05 Christ is with us in these moments too. So let us listen now for this story of resurrection and of how we might be fed even after Christ's death, echoing to us from the gospel of John, the 21st chapter, beginning with the first verse.

28:27 After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and Jesus showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the twin, Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 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.

29:03 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, children, you have no fish, have you? They answered him, no. He said to them, cast the net to the right side of the boat and you will find some. So they cast it and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, it is the Lord. When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he had taken it off and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, bring some of the fish that you have just caught. So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore full of large fish, 153 of them, and though there were so many, the net was not torn.

30:20 Jesus said to them, come and have breakfast. Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, who are you? Because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and did the same with the fish. This is the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

30:46 The disciples are fishing on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, more commonly known in our biblical text as the Sea of Galilee, a name we might recognize, a name that tells us be on the lookout for a miracle. For here at the Sea of Galilee, Jesus calmed the sea in a storm and walked on water and turned loaves and fishes into food for 5,000. And here the disciples return after Jesus' is death. Return in grief, perhaps, to rhythms they know, a place they were together with Jesus.

31:30 Simon announces he is going to fish, and the other disciples won't let him go alone. They said to him, we will go with you. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. For while they fish at night in the darkness, they have forgotten what Jesus taught them to see. They have forgotten the light Jesus brought into the world to be shared. Yes, in the darkness, fishing at night, they struggle to see what is needed, where to cast out their nets. They have returned back to the comfort of what they know in their old lives. So even though Jesus sent them forth to fish for people to share his teachings and loving action with more humans, perhaps they are still in need themselves, still in mourning before they can take to the road. And then with their nets empty, Jesus appears to them and offers them breakfast.

32:35 Maybe the disciples thought they were fishing for livelihood or routine or sustenance, and instead we get breakfast, a visitation from our Lord, cooking for us, filling up our nets. No matter that the disciples seem to have forgotten their commission, no matter that they have not yet set out to move hearts by sharing the gospel, Jesus recognizes them and does not chastise them. Jesus simply and lovingly meets them where they are in need. He feeds them with the loaves and fishes of the miracle, the meal that fed multitudes now for them. Some scholars read this story as a recommissioning of the disciples. After the resurrection, in the midst of their confusion and fear and grief, Jesus returns to them to remind them, remember what I have charged you to do. Remember that I am always with you. Remember that even at the darkest hour with empty nets, you will be fed. Children, come and have breakfast, Jesus calls. Not to shame them, but to serve them, to remind them of the abundance that is theirs to share. Scholars consider this chapter to be what amounts to an epilogue to the gospel of John, perhaps written much later, a sort of post-resurrection, post-script. And I imagine perhaps the early church in need of its encouragement, in need of this story to be captured and retold, follow the loving path I have taught you, cast your nets where I have told you, and they will overflow. Just as we need to be told the story again and again that we are beloved by God, enough as we are, that God will meet us when our nets are empty and remind us just where we

34:48 should be fishing instead, and then barbecue for us on the beach. has the net of your life ever been empty? Have you ever felt like you needed a miracle to fill it? so exactly how do we get to the miracle here jesus appears in the dawning new day present to the disciples in their grief and their hunger meets them in their need for as theologian tom troger tells it the disciples never catch a fish in any of the gospels without the help of Christ. And I don't know about you, but I've never caught a fish without the help of a friend.

35:40 Now my colleagues have taken a bet this morning on whether I will preach on being in a boat or canoeing, because they know I've been in Minnesota this August. So we're about to find out. Because I did get to spend a week of my August vacation in northern Minnesota, canoeing, ding, ding, ding, with some longtime friends. We too went out in a boat at night to listen to loons singing, to watch the Perseid meteor shower. And one night at sunset, we went out in the boat to fish. Four of us women who have known each other across decades of life and friendship, but only some of us have decades of fishing experience. And I confess I did not fish. Instead, I watched the sunset. I took adorable fishing photos of my amateur angler friends.

36:43 I watched beavers swimming back and forth, building, building, building. Swans swanned on the surface of the lake with their little signets in tow. And the sun set behind the tree line of the glassy lake. I was feeling so lucky to be with these wonderful friends. But even those who did fish caught nothing.

37:11 Not even one nibble. Our nets that night were empty. But we were not discouraged. even though in just that one little boat the nets of our lives have had empty moments in recent months and years emptied by losses close to our hearts a lost pet job transitions many moves divorces the death of a parent and a dear friend yes that night we caught nothing but we were together so we did not go home hungry we were together so we did not go home empty we went home hearts overflowing with the grace of deep friendship. Our nets have been filled in our lives by the side of the boat we never expected.

38:13 The miracle is the ones around us who witness with us our empty nets, who tend to the losses we share and the dreams we imagine together. The ones who see us clearly enough to say, my child, my friend, your net is empty, isn't it? for this story teaches us the abundance of God is always in the sharing. The miracle here is in the togetherness, for when Jesus brings some fish and bread, the disciples have to add their catch to it. They have to remember the commissioning they first received to serve others and to testify to Christ's love.

39:05 Our miracles aren't just through the power of Christ alone, but from us listening to what Christ acts of us as Christians. To contribute from what we have. To recognize the glory of God in our midst. To remember, to always remember, God teaches us to nourish each other in love. maybe you've experienced any of these miracles of togetherness yourself a phone call on a day you really needed to hear from a friend the surprise and delight of a memory of someone you've lost that shows up surprising you bringing them back to you all at once maybe a book or a show that finds you at just the right time and now you can't stop telling everyone about it. A child telling you their first joke or getting to see their first new to the world smiles. A gentle interaction with a stranger in line, online. Sorry.

40:19 for the love of God is just like that after a cold night just after daybreak God stands among us saying children you have no fish have you before they even bring their empty boat to shore Jesus sends them back out and tells them how to fill it. Jesus invites us, sitting with us on the cold morning beach, to imagine what will be possible when we cast our nets together. We come here to be together, to see what the catch of our nets will be when we cast them in unexpected places. We are invited to see our collective future through the lens of this story, that we are fed by Christ, taught by Christ, that abundance is available to us, but it's not that simple. To share the feast with Christ, the disciples have to bring their catch to the shore. They have to show up willing to be recommissioned.

41:37 so let us help Christ do the things in our lives that fill our empty nets, following Christ's invitation to show up to, inviting our friends, our people into this work, trusting that Jesus will do some of the labor by our side. so let us serve at christ's table setting a place open for the unexpected letting the resurrection teach us there's more in our nets than we can carry alone amen

42:20 will you rise and join me in saying the prayer for the day printed in your bulletin or seen on your screen loving christ meet us in the ordinary in daily bread and with hunger in our hearts on the shores of all our hesitations transitions and turmoils open our eyes to see abundance open our ears to hear your teachings open our hands to offer as you do the shared catch of our nests. In you we find the resurrection feast. So make us into fishers of people as we seek to follow you.