Eastertide
April 9, 2016

Scripture Reading: John 21:1-19

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. –John 21:4-8

As a left handed person, I sort of cringe every time I read about the rightness of being on the right side. I also take some solace when I hear the Holy Spirit being referred to as the Left Hand of God. That said and accepting the cultural norm in describing the “right” way as the better way, I can make some sense out of this story of Jesus and his disciples. In the Hebrew “right” is also identified as “just”, which also occurs in the Greek. Our English word “righteousness” is related to “justice”. The disciples had returned to their normal work of fishing. In the stunned grief of losing their leader, they may have lost his purpose. My guess is they were sensing a whole set of emotions telling them their world had changed, and they would never be the same. Their purpose had changed.

Fishing is an honorable vocation and I am sure there are many people who fish for a living or for food or for recreation who practice the avocation of justice Jesus modeled for his disciples. It was his way that we have been called to follow.

What then is justice? Justice deals in facts. We serve the little gold fish crackers as part of our feast in children’s worship. Generally, I place five in each cup. After one of the children had passed the cups out, one child said, “My cup only has four” as she pointed to her neighbor saying “hers has five.” The neighbor nodded verifying the error. I added the fifth gold fish to the first child’s cup and justice prevailed. These were preschoolers. They understand facts and inequality. They also do justice.

It is hard to find uncolored and unblemished facts today. We might do well to search deeper making sure or neighbors have their fair share.

Prayer: God of Justice and Mercy, help us live justice and practice mercy too. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.