St. Marks United Methodist Church

Eastertide, 4^th Sunday * April 13, 2008 * St. Marks UMC

“When God Became a Jewish Carpenter”

Part XV- “When Peter Got His Job Back

By Terry L Pontius

Reading-   John 21:1-19

 

Simon Peter has returned to his old thinking place—a rock on the lake shore.  The gentle lap of the waves soaks his toes, as they wash over the pebbles.  The shore breeze cools his face.  The late afternoon sun performs a sparkle-dance on the surface ripples.  Peter is doing some deep pondering, some painful remembering.

It’s been several days since the tomb was discovered empty and Jesus suddenly appeared in the locked upper room.  The angel told them to return to Galilee, where they would see him.  Here is where it all began, almost three years ago.  Simon Peter and most of the twelve are now back home, where they used to live and work.

“It’s good to be back home,” muses Peter, “Especially with things being so uncertain!” There’s nothing uncertain about the resurrection.  Their hearts burned in the presence of the risen Jesus!  But somehow things seem different, more tenuous than before.  Jesus himself is in some ways different—Somehow, he seems more divine, more transcendent.  No longer is he with them every day.  He appears just occasionally; and his visits are brief.  The disciples share an uneasiness over how long Jesus will be with them…and what might happen next. So, now they’re in Galilee, where it all began, waiting for whatever happens next.

Peter’s eyes fall on his trusty, old fishing boat, pulled up on the sand. He thinks back, “How well I remember.  This beach is where it all began, where Jesus beckoned, ‘Follow me!’ The four of us had been fishing all night, and hadn’t caught one fish.  Then along comes this guy who says, “Simon, put into that deep water over there and let down your nets for a catch.’  I was insulted…a rabbi telling me how to fish!  But something inside compelled me to do it anyway.  And we hauled in the biggest catch of our lives!  Then came his invitation that changed everything, ‘Follow me; and I will make you fishers of souls!’ My heart burned when he said that! I dropped my nets, left my biggest catch, and have been following Jesus ever since!”

“But since the other night, I wonder how I fit in…even IF I fit in. I doubt that things can ever be the same between us.  I failed him so badly!  When he comes around my heart leaps; but I can’t look him in the eye.  The last time our eyes met was when they led him away…when the rooster crowed…after I had sworn three times I didn’t even know him! I can’t get that look of hurt and disappointment out of my mind. How could I have let him down?

“Jesus was counting on me.  He believed in me.  He had changed my name to ‘Peter,’ ‘The Rock.’  I’m the one who pledged to stand by him to the death…but when he needed me the most, I denied even knowing him!  Three times, I denounced him!  How could things ever be right between us?

Still staring at his old boat, Peter decides to go fishing.  It might help him to get his mind off it all.  Peter sees James, John, Thomas and some others approaching. “I’m going fishing!” Peter announces.  “We’ll come along!” So, as the sun sets, they launch out for a night’s fishing.  All night, they cast their nets by the light of their torches; but every cast, an empty net.

In the half-light of dawn, the empty-handed crew row toward shore to clean their nets.  When about 100 yards from shore, a stranger on the beach waves to them and shouts, “Friends, have you caught anything?” “Nothing!  All night, and we’ve caught nothing!” “You’ll find something to the starboard.  Cast out your nets!” instructs the stranger on the shore.

Willing to give it one last try…the net fans out in a large arc.  The lead weights splash the surface and sink toward the bottom.  As the bewildered fishermen draw up the slack in the ropes, it feels as though they have caught the very bottom of the lake!  All hands grab a line.  The net is full of thrashing fish…big ones!  They can hardly pull them in!

John drops his line and turns to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” Peter’s excitement overcomes his shame.  Grabbing up his cloak from the seat, he dives overboard and swims for shore.  The others row hard, towing the net through the water, for it is too heavy to hoist on board.

When they drag the boat up on the sand, the fishermen are greeted by a glowing charcoal fire and the aroma of grilled fish.  Loaves of bread are browning.  The mysterious stranger stoops to tend the fire and invites, “Bring some of your catch to cook for breakfast.”  They drag the net up on the beach and count 153 gigantic fish flopping in the sand.

“Come, have breakfast!” invites the host.  In familiar fashion he breaks the bread and serves it.  He gives to each a portion of grilled fish.  Not one gathered around the fire have to ask his name.  Their hearts burn as they are reunited with their Master.  With joyful hearts, they dine together with their risen Lord.

Peter, however, revisited by shame, sits farthest from the fire, hardly able to look up.  “If only I had it to live over again!” he wishes.  “If only I could go back to that first big catch on this very beach…that day he first said, ‘Follow me.’  I would follow more nearly.  If only I could relive the other night.  I would be stronger!  Now things can never be the same!

Peter’s pondering is interrupted by the mysterious feeling he is being watched.  He looks across the circle, through the smoke of the fire.  Jesus sits on the other side, his eyes fastened on Peter.  Not the look of sadness and disappointment he recalls from the other night…but more a perceptive, compassionate, searching, longing gaze that seems to expose the most hidden corners of Peter’s heart.

Jesus motions to the fishing boat, then to all the companions around the circle.  He asks, “SIMON, son of John, DO YOU LOVE ME ABOVE ALL ELSE?” “Yes, Lord, I love you!” Peter immediately responds.  “Then feed my lambs.”

Peter looks away, “He called me by my old name, Simon.  He sees me the way I was at the beginning.  He questions my love for him.  He’ll never believe in me again.  But what did he mean by ‘Feed my lambs’? And why does he have to confront me in front of all the others?

A second time, Jesus’ voice pierces the tense silence, “Simon, son of John, DO YOU LOVE ME?” Feeling even more uncomfortable, Peter answers more passionately, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you!” “Look after my sheep,” replies Jesus.

Peter stares out across the water.  He feels everybody looking at him, just like the other night.  “Why does he keep this up?  I can’t take any more of this!  I’ve disappointed him beyond any returning!  He’ll never again believe in me!  I wish I could just die!  And how can I look after his lambs when he questions my love?”

Jesus stands, crosses the circle, places his hands on Peter’s shoulders and whispers in a tender voice, “Simon, son of John, AM I DEAR TO YOU?”

Peter can hold back the tears no longer.  In anguish that Jesus yet questions his love, Peter looks up and bursts out, “Master, you know everything! You know my mind and my heart! And you KNOW how dear you are to me!  Please believe me!  Yes, I love you!”  For the third time, Jesus tenderly answers, “Then look after my sheep.”

Like a searing coal from the fire, the shame of that moment, when he had denied Jesus for the third time, singes Peter’s heart.  He sits trembling in regret.  Again, he feels that firm hand on his shoulder.  Through watery eyes, he sees the nail-scarred hand.  He lifts his eyes to his Master’s face to see that same, broad smile Jesus flashed that first day they met on this very beach. In an invitation all can hear, Jesus invites, “Peter, follow me!”

Even as Jesus speaks those words of reinstatement, Peter feels the chains of guilt break and fall from his heart.  The searing coal of shame in his gut fans into a leaping flame of love and sweet reunion in his heart.  And that fear of looking into the Master’s face is transformed into a refusal to take his eyes off Jesus.

What a painful confrontation in front of his peers!  Yet how liberating, how reconciling, how transforming!  Three times, Peter had denied Jesus.  Three times, Jesus gave Peter the opportunity to reaffirm his love.  Three times, Jesus invited Peter back into the sacred labor of caring for the Lord’s flock.  Then came that invitation, the same invitation with which it all began three years ago…”Follow me!”

“I’m forgiven!” thrills Peter.  “He wants me back…to follow him, just as before!”  From that day on, Peter followed Jesus with the same, bold enthusiasm as before.  And in time, God molded that impulsive, proud, loud-mouthed fisherman into a fisher of souls.  Jesus took a “Simon,” who was certainly a Simpleton Simon, and transformed him into “Peter,” the “ROCK” upon which the Church is built!

But that transformation wasn’t completed overnight—Peter still had his stubborn, selfish moments.  He still said and did some things he wished he could take back.  When Gentile believers wished to be welcomed into the Church, Peter, in his deep-seated prejudice against Gentiles, insisted they become full-fledged Jews before he would recognize them as Christians.  It took a good Church debate and a vision from God to convince stubborn Peter otherwise.  The Holy Spirit continued to work with Peter and to forgive him when he lapsed into his old, stubborn ways.  God continued to bless Peter’s leadership and tempered and molded him into the ROCK Jesus had envisioned him to be.

I treasure this story about Simon Peter because it’s a story about ME!  There have been places in my journey when I seriously wondered if Jesus still wanted me…times when it was difficult for me to look him in the eye because of my shame of disappointing him…days when my self-worth was shattered, and I needed to know that Jesus still believed in me.  Perhaps this is a chapter in your story as well.

Bottom line…no matter how long we’ve been a Believer, no matter how closely we’ve walked with the Lord, we each have those “Denying Moments,” when we have as much as said, “I don’t know the man!”  It may be a smaller denial, like not taking a stand when someone wants to pass on some juicy gossip….or by being too busy to reach out to someone in need.  Or it might be a big-time denial; and you feel there’s no way Jesus can forgive you, let alone trust you to serve him again.  Big or not so big, we’ve all caved in under pressure when it will cost us to do things Jesus’ way…we’ve all let him down when the loving thing is the hard thing to do.

Peter was a veteran follower; and he had failed big-time.  Sure, Jesus was disappointed; but Jesus wasn’t about to give up on Peter as “The Rock” he envisioned him to be!  He called Peter to responsibility; yet, he held out his arms in forgiveness.  Jesus reaffirmed his love for Peter, AND his call upon him to serve.  Jesus let Peter know, “I still believe in you and in the outcome of my love for you!  He invited Peter to take up where they had left off!

Jesus hasn’t changed!  He’s the God of another chance!  Those times when I had let him down…when I wondered if he still wanted me…  Jesus came to me, just like he did with Peter.  He forgave how I had disappointed him.  He nursed my shattered heart and battered faith back to health and vitality.  He reaffirmed his belief in me and helped me to reclaim his call upon me!

Jesus comes to you and me, whether we’ve fallen down or have let him down.  He gently lays his hand upon our shoulder and asks, “Do you still love me?  I hope you do; because I still love you.  I still believe in the outcome of my love for you!  LET’S TAKE UP TOGETHER WHERE WE LEFT OFF!  LET’S GO…FOLLOW ME!”

Surely, somebody here needs to feel that gentle hand on your shoulder and hear Jesus’ words of forgiveness and his invitation to take up with him where you left off.  No matter how badly you think you’ve disappointed him…Jesus still wants you back…Jesus still believes in you.  He’s standing with open arms waiting to forgive and to restore.  He wants to take up the journey with you where you left off!  Even if you can’t look him in the eye…even if you think he could never take you back…all Jesus asks, is that you turn to him with your regret, take his hand, and resume the journey together.  Do like Peter!  Look up into his eyes and believe it!