A reading of the holy gospel according to Saint John. Jesus showed himself to the disciples once again at the Sea Of Tiberias, of course, that's the Lake Of Galilee. And this is how this appearance took place. Assembled were Simon Peter, Thomas the twin, Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee's sons, and two other disciples. Simon Peter said to them, I'm going out to fish.
We will join you, they replied. And they went off to get into their boat. All through the night, they caught nothing. Just after daybreak, Jesus was standing on the shore, though none of the disciples knew it was Jesus. He said to them, children, have you caught anything to eat?
Not a thing, they answered. Cast your net off to the starboard side, Jesus suggested, and you will find something. So they made a cast and took so many fish that they could not haul the net in. Then the disciple, Jesus loved, that's John, cried out to Peter, it's the lord. On hearing it was the lord, Simon Peter threw on some clothes, he was naked, and jumped into the water.
Now meanwhile, the other disciples came in the boat towing the net full of fish. Actually, they were not far from land, no more than a 100 yards. When they landed, they saw a charcoal fire with a fish laid on it and some bread. Bring some of the fish that you've caught, Jesus said. Simon Peter went aboard and hauled ashore the net loaded with sizable fish, a 153 of them.
Despite the great number, the net didn't tear. Then Jesus said, come and eat your meal. Not one of the disciples presumed to ask, who are you? For they knew it was the lord. Jesus came over, took the bread, and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.
And this marked the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after being raised from the dead. And this is the gospel of the lord. In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, amen. We are asked to rejoice and to be glad in this day when we recognize and proclaim the resurrection of the lord, of Jesus Christ. Then we had that little text this morning that only in his name is there salvation.
Do we believe that? Only in the name of Jesus is there salvation. From what? For what? What does salvation mean?
What are we being saved from? Well, whatever it is, we're here the text says that it's only in the name of Jesus that there is salvation. Now in order to think about that question, you have to ask yourself, what am I being saved for? If you need food, then you're going to be saved by getting some food. If you need drink, water, you're going to be saved by getting some water.
If a family needs more money to support its itself, then what it needs is money. Its salvation is going to be money, plain, filthy lucre. A young man and a young woman, in the course of events, discover that life will absolutely be empty without each other. So their salvation, they think, is going to be in each other. And they get together and, you know, may last, may not last.
But anyway, at the moment, salvation seems to be in this particular person. And in in a sense, it is. If you need water, your salvation is going to have to be water, if that's what salvation means. This is not an easy oh, the question is very easy if you think about it. Trouble is, you know, we we just skim along like skaters on the ice.
You just glide along and if it's good, as we used to say, good green ice, you scarcely knew if it were night that you were moving. You didn't know what was underneath. You had no idea what made ice. You didn't ask yourself. It was just the the exaltation, the exhilaration of a cold winter starry night gliding on this what we call green ice.
So what do we mean when we say rejoice and be glad for the Lord has come and all of this, and we say it only in the name of Jesus is there salvation? And if we if we mean it, what are we talking about? You see, what we have to do is to set our priorities. What are we being saved from? What are we being saved for?
And, of course, the the more important of the two is the four. And then if if that is to be attained only through Jesus Christ, how do I do that? You say only in the name of Jesus am I saved. How how does this work? I can't go into the temple and throw myself before Jesus over there in the temple.
It's a little it's a little trouble getting in there these days, you know. So what does it mean in the in my daily life on Friday, today, the April 16? What does this mean? That only in the name of Jesus is my salvation. Remember, I'm not gonna be saved tomorrow, and I can't be saved yesterday.
If this means anything, it means here and now. The only reality of time is the present, and time is a nothing anyway. All we have are events. So what are we talking about? When we say I'm to be saved and only in the name of Jesus, is it just enough to holler the name or what?
And if I speak, do I get an answer? And if I do, where is it coming from? See, what I'm coming down to is this, as I've said many times, is there a living voice of Jesus Christ in your life? A living voice. A living a voice that you can depend on, a voice that is infallible, a voice that speaks truly for Jesus Christ on 04/16/1982 for you.
Because if this is if this is if this if there's any truth to that, then your salvation is in hearing that voice. I think there is. When Jesus came on earth, when he suffered and died, when he rose from the dead, when he ascended into heaven, he did not leave his people orphans. He said that. I will be with you all times even to the consummation of the world.
What does it mean he's gonna be with us? As a memory, as a dream, as an echo, or what? Dreams don't save us. Echoes don't save us. Shadows don't save us.
Memories don't save us. That's not the name in which there is salvation. That's a myth, as I call it a myth. So it's this living it's the Jesus who is present. And where is Jesus present?
Where can we go into the temple where and and where where Jesus sees a cripple and where he can cure us? Because we're told that only in him's name is their salvation. So we've gotta find him someplace. Otherwise, if this is true, there's no salvation. So let us let us not wander around like lost souls.
There is a living voice of Jesus Christ. There is there is this embodiment. There is a physical reality in this world contrary to what the early reformers would have it. There is a visible reality of the living Christ. And it's tough for us to to recognize that, to see it, and to hear it.
These disciples in the boat on the lake, remember, this is at the end of a night. And if any of you have had any experience, you can see all kinds of funny things in a dawn. Things take funny shapes. It's very uncertain. Clouds can look like land, look like buildings.
Oh, it's it's mirages are commonplace. And so here they see somebody on the shore. It's not immediately recognizable, but it does become completely recognizable. How? In some kind of a very spiritual way, some kind of a great illumination, some kind of a personal revelation?
No. In a little old fire with some fish cooking on it, and you can see them and you can smell them and you can eat them and you can handle them. And Christ says, come on. Have eat something. That's how spiritual it was.
See, this spirituality isn't enough for some people. See, the Gnostics, they thought they had had something something different. They said it doesn't make any difference whether Christ had a body or not after his resurrection. It's what's up it's it's the revelation. It's the spirit that counts.
It's not the way Christ did it. He built a fire. He cooked a fish. He says, come on, gang, and eat it. And there is where our salvation is.
Outside of Jesus, there is none. We must hear his voice, and you're not going to hear it unless you discover it in the living church of Jesus Christ. In the name of the father, and of the son, and holy spirit. Amen.