Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Word of the Lord which engages us this morning comes from our Gospel lesson (John 21: 1-19).

At the Easter sunrise service I said that Jesus surprises me, not because of his resurrection, but the way he reveals himself after his resurrection. Oh be sure, he surprises me with the resurrection. It is the most surprising human event and God event in history. But it is the way that he resurrects that I want to emphasize now. In Luke 24, on the road to Emmaus, he appeared to Cleopas and another disciple, yet they didn�t even recognize him until he broke bread with them. Did they recognize him because of the breaking of the bread or did they simply see the nail holes in his wrists as he lifted up the bread. We don�t know. But it surprises me, it amazes me that Christ doesn�t appear to his disciples in some grand and glorious way. He doesn�t throw back his cloak and show a brightly gleaming appearance underneath as he had glowed on the mount of transfiguration. There are no angel choirs that come down from heaven to herald his reappearance, as they had at his birth.

Here again in our text, Jesus appears to his disciples. They are out fishing, doing what they had done before following Jesus in his ministry. They weren�t just sitting around waiting for Jesus to appear. Jesus comes to them, but come on now, he could have been a little more spectacular! Walk on the water Jesus, do something that would really wow them and wow us! But no, they don�t even recognize him, being 100 yards from shore and probably a little dark. Then he tells them, �try the starboard side of the boat, then you�ll catch some.� Not really a spectacular miracle, but a reminder of how (Luke 4) he had called them to follow him by telling them to go back out and fish. Then they caught fish until their nets were breaking, and Jesus told them they would now become fishers of men (Matthew 4:19). Once on shore he�s cooking bread and fish for them for breakfast, reminding them of how he miraculously fed thousands with bread and fish earlier (see Matthew 14, 15 & 16).

But nothing too extraordinary, just some ordinary sounding advice that works (�throw you net over there�), just an ordinary looking meal cooked by an extraordinary man who had been very dead but was now alive. There were little hints of the extraordinary he had done in their lives before, but nothing distinctly out of the norm.

What little hints of extraordinary has the resurrected Jesus done in your life lately? Have they looked ordinary on the surface? Have you or a loved one been healed, even if it seemed like an ordinary healing? Has someone survived a harrowing experience, a car crash or a mortar shell? Has a loved one been called to Jesus, but you knew they were confident in their faith because you had each shared the love of Jesus to one another?

I often want a spectacular view of the resurrected Jesus, to see some extraordinary miracle or event to assure us of our place with Him. Several years ago a well-intentioned church member said to his pastor �What we really need in the church is more miracles. Then more people would believe.� What he had in mind was not more Baptisms or Lord�s Suppers, but rather a leg or two lengthened, a person miraculously cured of cancer, or a resurrection from the dead. (paragraph from Rev. Gary Byers in Concordia Pulpit Resources, April 2001). We forget that sometimes when an extraordinary event happens, it can be like Paul getting knocked off his horse for God to get his attention. We forget that we don�t have any miracles of Jesus recorded for us after His resurrection, save his resurrection appearances themselves and his ascension back to heaven.

We also forget that we are living lives of miracles, extraordinary ordinary lives. We live under this same miracle of grace, that the Son of God was willing to be crucified for us on a Friday. We live under the same miracle of grace the disciples had, that the one crucified on Friday was alive on Sunday and continues to live and give life to all who trust in him. He comes to people with real lives, routine lives of catching fish or farming soil or selling goods or providing services. He comes to us his disciples when and where we don�t expect him. He comes to his flawed disciples, the Peters and Thomases of the world, and shows that his love is there for us even after we have failed him again.

Jesus goes to his outspoken friend Peter. We get to listen into what seems like a rather ordinary conversation between Jesus and Peter. Jesus isn�t standing on a mountaintop proclaiming the Kingdom of God to hundreds of people. No, here we listen in on a private conversation, one that Peter must have related to John later. Jesus asks Peter 3 times �Do you love me?� The disciple who had denied Jesus 3 times on Good Friday is now asked �Do you really love me� 3 times. Each time Peter exclaims �You know that I love you Lord.� Then 3 times Jesus says �Feed, care for my lambs�. As I said earlier, I sometimes want to see the spectacular, to have Jesus appear to me in some extraordinary way. But imagine if he appeared to me, or to you. Would he come only with words of comfort and miracles, or would he come with gentle but oh so challenging questions like he did with Peter: �Rick, do you really love me?� ____, do you really love me? ___ do you really love me? Do you feel uncomfortable right now wondering if I might include your name in the next question? How comfortable would you be if Jesus himself was asking you this question personally right now, like he did with Peter? How loving and compassionate of others do you know yourself to be?

One line in Abraham Lincoln�s Second Inaugural reminds us what a caring and compassionate man Lincoln was. He was speaking about the coming end of the War and he said: "With malice toward none; with charity for all." Lincoln put this idea into practice on the day that news arrived in Washington that the war was over. A crowd gathered at the White House and a military band was playing some festive music. Lincoln stood on the balcony of the White House and spoke. Instead of lashing out against the South, he spoke of the horrors of war. He spoke of families getting back together. He spoke of a time of peace. Then he said, "In a few moments I want the band to play and I'm going to tell them what I want them to play." Of course, the band started getting the "Battle Hymn of The Republic" ready to play. This had been the theme song of the North throughout the Civil War. But Lincoln crossed them up. He stood there and said: "The band will now play the theme song of the people we have called our enemy. They are not our enemies any more! We are one people again. I want the band to play 'Dixie.'"

Historians say there was a long, awkward pause. The band didn't even have the music to "Dixie," but they finally got together and played, "Dixie." Lincoln knew that the South was not only hurting because of the horrors of the war, but also because of the shame which accompanies defeat. Lincoln was sending a clear signal to the South. Lincoln was telling everyone that there would be no punishment upon the South. Lincoln was saying that the South would be treated with love and compassion.

When you love, after the patterns of Jesus, caring and compassion become the cornerstone of your love. Love is not jealous or self-seeking. Love does not keep a record of wrongs. Love doesn't brag or rejoice in getting even. Love doesn�t even ask the question �Will they love me back?� (modified from Robert L. Allen, His Finest Days: Ten Sermons for Holy Week and the Easter Season, CSS Publishing Company.) In his Epistle John wrote (1 John 4: 19-20) �We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.� (1 John 3: 17-18) �If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.�

Jesus, the extraordinary resurrected one, called Peter aside in a very ordinary conversation and asked him if Peter truly loved Him. Through His very ordinary looking Word in Scripture, Jesus asks each of us as well �do you really love me?� Peter never loved his Lord �enough.� Peter never loved his Lord enough to earn his salvation. But Peter did continue to live a life of love for those Jesus loved. Peter cared for their physical needs (see Acts 6), but even more importantly he spent his life feeding Jesus� sheep with the words and stories about Jesus. Peter spent a lifetime risking his own life to tell others of the love of their savior who died for them on the cross. Let us live responding to our Savior�s question �Do you really love me?� with lives that show that love to each other and the world.

And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4: 7)