They knew it was the Lord
Song; Jesus shall take the highest honour
Jesus Shall Take The Highest Honour - YouTube
Prayer:
Father, today is a day of new beginnings.
On the first day of the week you began your work of creating life out of nothing.
On the first day of the week you raised Jesus and began your work of creating new life from death.
On the first day of the week you sent your spirit and began your work of creating new life in everyone.
Help us to live as people who have begun to live again; to live today and every day with the life which comes to us through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Father, we thank you that every day you give us new opportunities to put right what is wrong, to correct some fault in our character, to do some duty we have neglected and so to demonstrate in action our trust in you.
But we let many opportunities slip by; we are so preoccupied that we do not see them, or when we do see them, we are too timid to grasp them. Forgive us these failings.
Make us alert to see the fresh opportunities you are always giving us, and grant us the courage and the will to seize and use them.
Amen.
Reading: 1st book of Kings, chapter 17, verses 8 to 24
Song; More about Jesus
Reading: John’s gospel, chapter 21, verses 1 to 14.
Song; At your feet we Fall
At Your feet we fall - YouTube
Reading: 1st letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15, verses 1 to 11
Song; I am Thine, O Lord;
I am Thine O Lord, I have heard thy voice - YouTube
They knew it was the Lord
Some years ago I was given a gift of a book token. I went with my wife to the local Christian bookshop to spend it. We were confronted with a vast array of books on religious subjects. I turned to my wife and said “Haven’t we made it complicated?”
Resurrection appearance, by the sea of Galilee is the last recorded by John. The disciples had really been through it. At best, these had been confusing times. What did they do? They did what people always do, they did what was familiar, they went fishing.
As is common with fishermen, a passing stranger asked them if they had “had any luck?” No, they said. He gave them instructions, “Throw the net to the right.” There resulted a large catch. This would have been reminiscent of the previous occasion when there had been a miraculous catch. .
There are lots of details given in this story. Firstly, there were 153 fish. It is not clear whether there is any significance to this number. Many 1000s of words have been written, looking for significance, but nothing is clear from text. “Haven’t they made it complicated?”
Then there was a fire of burning coals. This is mentioned in one other place, the High priest’s courtyard, where Simon’s denied Jesus. Perhaps this is a reminder to the disciples of this incident..
Finally there was fish and bread, already there on the fire. Fish and bread would have been a reminder of the feeding of the 5000? Reminder?
We are told that “They knew it was the Lord.” How did they know? They had seen Him in the familiar. They didn’t need anything more difficult! It was obvious to them.
In the preface to “Clearing away the Rubbish”, (Minstrel, an imprint of Monarch Publications, 1988) Adrian Plass says. “I became a Christian when I was sixteen years old, but it wasn’t until I was thirty-seven that absorbed an essential truth. God is nice and he likes me.”
He goes on to bemoan the difficulty that many Christians have with talking confidently about their faith in a way which uses everyday language
In management training course, I was taught a simple acronym; KISS. It stands for “Keep It Simple Stupid!”
Why don’t we? Why do we use language that others never use. We talk about sin; faith; salvation; atonement; all words which many people neither use, nor understand.
When we speak, we speak in ways that immediately mark us out as using “Christian language”. Years ago, channel 4 produced a documentary called “Priest Idol”. This was the story of the appointment of a new parish priest in Lundwood, near Barnsley. A local radio presenter, Toby Foster, was coaching the new priest in how to speak, how to tell his stories. The priest was asked to show him what he was going to say. Toby’s response was “People don’t talk like that!” (especially not round here!)
We concentrate on things that are not important to the hearer.
We concentrate on things about the way we do things, and the differences between us and the other groups. And of course ours is the right way!
If you are out in your town centre, listen to the street preachers and you will see what I mean.
In the story about Elijah. God is revealed in the simple things of life. Feeding and healing.
It doesn’t need to be complicated.
There is an old legend where someone asked the Devil after his fall, what he missed the most about heaven. The Devil is supposed to have replied, “I miss the sound of the trumpets in the morning” The late Colin Morris, a Methodist minister and president of conference, quotes this story. He went on to say that he wasn’t a morning person, and the finesse of the trumpet was lost on him. He thought that the church ought to be more like a bugle. Sounding a few notes (5) and transmitting clear, unambiguous messages above the noise of battle. This is the explanation of the title of one of his books “Bugles in the afternoon”.
The widow in Zarephath didn’t have many pages of complicated theology. She knew that she had been fed, and her son was restored to her.
The disciples in the boat, and later on the beach, did not have passionate speakers, or shops full of books. They recognised Jesus through a few simple acts.
I have had many conversations about my faith over the years. Few have stayed in my memory. One from over 40 years ago was with a young student, a few years younger than me. We were talking about the Christian Union, of which we were both members. He said that he liked the way I spoke about my faith, as I didn’t come across as “all holy”. I didn’t adopt a different manner when talking about God! There is no evidence that Jesus, or any of the prophets adopted a different language or manner of speaking when talking about God. Certainly Mark’s gospel is not written in polished literary language, something lost in translation.
If you would like an example of what I am saying, find a copy of “Ee By Gum, Lord! (Smith Settle Ltd, 1996) by Arnold Kellett.
They knew it was the Lord
“Haven’t we made it complicated?”
Song; We have a gospel to proclaim
We Have a Gospel to Proclaim (Tune: Germany - 6vv) [with lyrics for congregations] - YouTube
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