Dave spoke this morning from John 21:1-14. Here, Jesus appears to His disciples for the third time after His resurrection, helping them in the ordinary things of life as He directs them to a great catch of fish (153) after a night of fishing in vain. The disciples at this time were in a period of waiting, and were probably still confused and uncertain as to what they should be doing. They did not recognise Jesus at first – something that is common to many post-resurrection encounters (think of Mary Magdalene and the disciples on the road to Emmaus). We have to ask why the disciples were so slow in recognising Jesus – and why we too are often so slow in recognising Him.
Part of the reason lies in our tendency to expect to meet with God in certain sacred places (perhaps in a church building or in magnificent natural surroundings.) Whilst it is good to meet with God in these places, we need to be expectant that we can meet with Him anywhere. When on earth, Jesus turned up at a wedding, on a fishing boat, in the market place, at a well and in many other places, not just in the synagogue. He appeared to people in ordinary, everyday surroundings – and even after His resurrection, we find Him in a cemetery garden, in a locked room and now cooking breakfast on the beach. The truth is that the ordinary becomes sacred when we find God there and that God is to be found everywhere.
Christ is with us everywhere – when we serve the needy, hungry and poor, He is there; when we are involved in ‘mundane’ community outreaches, He is there; He is in everyone we see. We need to learn to recognise Jesus in the ordinary, but He is with us all the time.
