Pastor's sermon is based on John 21:1-19. In our broken world of broken relationships, sometimes we want reunion and sometimes we don’t. Reunions can be sad or glad. But one of the points in this Easter story is: it’s not up to us anyway. Meeting and reunion are something Jesus does. And they occur sometimes when and where we least expect it. Most of the other post-Easter appearances described in John’s Gospel and Luke’s Gospel were near Jerusalem. This one is out in the boondocks, by the lake, in a place kind of like Chapin used to be. At first glance, today’s gospel may be simply described as yet another resurrection appearance. But don’t be mistaken; it’s also a reunion and a commissioning story in its own right. Or, maybe more accurately, it is a story of re-commissioning.
