Prayer: Help us to see you wherever we go, Lord, and be in our midst. Amen.
Reading: John 21:1-19 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: In this season of Easter, we continue looking at Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances. This, I must admit, is one of my favorites. This time, the risen Christ decides to join his disciples in, what some call, “The Last Breakfast.” Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John, and two others are fishing at dawn but not doing too well. They look up, and there is Jesus standing on the beach, having made a fire and cooking some breakfast. Jesus, once again, tells them where to find the fish and, low and behold, their net was overflowing. The net was not even torn even though it was very full. More fish were fried and the disciples once again enjoyed a meal in Jesus’ presence. Scene Two: Breakfast is over. The disciples and their Lord most likely were engaged in some conversation over their morning meal. As the talk was winding down, Jesus and Peter had a “heart-to-heart.” Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him, and Peter replied, “Yes” each time. And Jesus told him three times, in various ways, to feed his sheep. He also predicted Peter’s martyrdom and said once again, “Follow me.” We don’t know why the disciples were fishing. Perhaps they had returned to work after being gone on their bereavement leave. Or perhaps they were fishing to “get away from it all.” Do you perhaps have a place to go to retreat from life’s routines and troubles? For me and for many others, Camp Mount Luther is that place. It is our “Sea of Tiberius” where we go to experience the Risen Lord, just like the disciples did on that post-resurrection morning. Because it is in this place, at the breakfast table, at the pond, and doing many other things, that I truly Jesus in our midst! --Chad Hershberger
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