Vessel & Altar

When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them: come, have breakfast.

The disciples have gone back to fishing. They worked all night and caught nothing. At dawn, a figure on the shore calls out: try the other side. The net fills. John recognizes him: it is the Lord. Peter jumps in the water and swims.

And there is Jesus on the shore, kneeling by a charcoal fire with fish and bread. Come, have breakfast. No lecture. No rebuke. No performance review. Just food and fire and the quiet company of the God who cooks for his friends.

Sister, you know what it means to feed people. You have cooked thousands of meals. You have set tables, packed lunches, planned dinners, cleaned up afterward. The labor of feeding is the most constant and least celebrated work in the world. And today, Jesus does it. He builds the fire. He lays the fish on the coals. He prepares the bread. He serves.

This is the God who has watched you feed everyone else and now says: sit down. Let me feed you. Come, have breakfast. You have been cooking for everyone. Today, someone is cooking for you.

The charcoal fire matters. The last time Peter stood at a charcoal fire, he denied Jesus three times. Jesus does not avoid the memory. He redeems it. He builds a new fire over the ashes of the old failure. That is how God works - he does not pretend the wound did not happen. He meets you at the same kind of fire and makes it a place of restoration instead of shame.

In Acts, Peter says: there is no other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved. No other name. Every source of strength you have tried - willpower, self-sufficiency, sheer determination - has limits. The name of Jesus does not. Come to the fire. Eat the breakfast. Let the one who saves you also feed you.

Today, let someone feed you. Not metaphorically - literally. Let your husband cook. Let your friend bring the meal. Let your daughter pour the coffee. If no one offers, ask. You have fed everyone else. The Risen Christ says: come, have breakfast. Receive it today.

Lord, I have been cooking for everyone. Today you are on the shore with fish on the fire and bread in your hands. Let me sit down. Let me be fed. I come to breakfast. I receive what you have prepared. Amen.