In October of 2018 I was working for the bishop and I had a meeting with the search committee at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Eustis. On my way home, I decided to grab a quick dinner at the Panera Bread restaurant in Apopka. I’d never been in there before nor have I been there since. I walk in, order my food, take my drink to my table and this elderly man comes up and asks me, “Are you my rector?” No one has ever asked me that before and no one has ever since.

It was a pregnant question. At the time, I wasn’t anyone’s rector. I was the bishop’s Canon to the Ordinary. I served the whole diocese and it wasn’t unusual for people to see me in a restaurant and speak to me. I had just accepted the call to come to Lake Wales, but this was Apopka. When was the last time you went to Apopka? So I answered, “Maybe. Where do you go to church?”

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This morning’s readings give us two prime examples of how Jesus restores and redeems people for purpose. Peter and Paul are, of course, extremely vital to the ministry of the early church. Peter is the designated leader and Paul the great missionary and teacher. Their stories are quite distinct.

Peter experiences restoration. He is coming face to face with Jesus again. He has already recognized Jesus, recalling their early days by instructing them to cast their empty nets on the other side of the boat to reel in an abundant catch.

When he gets to shore, there is a charcoal fire. That smell wafting into his nostrils surely took Peter back to that awful night, the night of the last supper, his confident pledge to stay with Jesus no matter what, their prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane, the arrest, the trial – and his denial. John gets it, but it was Peter who denied Jesus three times that night.

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At the end of chapter 20, John wrote a most caring and loving sentence. “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31)

What a wonderful thought. To think that all those years ago John wrote his Gospel with the singular purpose of sharing Jesus with everyone and anyone. The story is important, the witness is vital, but the heart of it is salvation, that you may have life in his name.

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