After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
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 21:1-8
The disciples have spent three years following Jesus. They have observed the miraculous and the mundane with him. They have suffered the insults and received the adulation which comes from being near him and acting at his behest. Now, they have cowered and watched from a distance as he was betrayed, rejected, tried, condemned, killed, and placed in a tomb. They have heard rumors that his body has disappeared. Finally, locked in a room, he has appeared among them. And then he disappeared once again.
Now what are they supposed to do? They can’t stay in hiding forever. Eventually they will have to do something. They have been part of a movement, but the leader – the Lord – is now gone. It won’t be the same without him and they feel that they can’t continue on their own. Jesus said that Simon Peter would be their Rock, so they look to him for leadership. Simon says , “I am going to go fishing!” So they reply “We’ll go with you.”
This isn’t just a guy running off to regroup or hide away from everything by going out on a boat with a rod and reel and an ice chest full of beer. Remember: Simon was a fisher by trade long before he became Peter, the Rock. What he was doing here wasn’t a relaxing trip; he was going back to work. It could well be that he was chucking it all, giving up the past three years, and going back to the way things used to be.
So they all go out on the boat. They go to Peter’s sure spots to catch fish. They employ all of his tried and true methods. And they catch nothing.
After a long night’s work they start to haul in the nets, when from the shore some yokel shouts out to them to put the net on the other side of the boat. As if Simon Peter didn’t know what he was doing. Advice from the peanut gallery.
He knows what he is doing.
He has done it this way forever.
He has wanted to get back to this for at least the last few weeks he has been self-isolating.
It doesn’t matter that it isn’t working, this is what he wants! Perhaps one of the other disciples dares to suggest “What have we got to lose?” So they dare to do things a little bit differently and voila! Now the nets are full. That is when John says to Simon Peter, that is no yokel, “It is the Lord!” Whereupon our naked Rock gets dressed, jumps into the water, and starts moving to the shore. The rest of the disciples have the sense to gather up the fish and follow along in the boat. There, on the shore, Jesus calls upon Peter to continue to follow him and to feed his sheep.
Well, you can surely see where I am going with this.
We have been cooped-up for about a month. We long to get back to the way things were. We want to get back to normal. But all the news is telling us that it may be months, or even years (if ever!) before we can resume our lives just as they were. Bit by bit, in small ways, some of the restrictions may begin to be loosened. We might, within a few weeks, be able to return to our workplaces. We might be able to visit extended family. We might even be able to begin gathering in small groups. But all of this will come with restrictions (masks, distance, tracking, testing, thermometers…).
What we have now is NOT the new normal. But we may never return to the OLD normal. And that might be a good thing.
What if Jesus had never met the disciples at the shore? What if they hadn’t listened, being determined to do things the way that they always had? Thank goodness, they did! It was in being successful making a small change that they realized they could trust Jesus to lead them in changing the world!
How will we listen to Jesus in this moment? As we begin to imagine life as it will be – as it could be – what might we do differently? How might you make small changes to the way things were? How might you “cast your net on the other side of the boat?”
Your church staff has been asking these questions of ourselves. We are imagining new (and many of them old) ways of conducting worship and programs. Please note that we are not making any changes yet, we are only imagining what might be, WHENEVER we are able to meet again on campus.
For our children’s programming, we are looking at following the guidance now given to preschools, including limiting class sizes, staying in one place for the full time we are in an event, remaining consistent in groupings…
For worship, we imagine that we will continue to stream services, adding unique opportunities for worship so that we have fewer people at more services, and encouraging the creation of more small groups. Imagine a gathering of fewer than 10 people, participating in worship from the home of a host, being able to engage in worship, reflection, fellowship, and support. Apart from the technology, this sounds an awful lot like the house-churches of the New Testament.
That is just the start. We will need you to help us imagine what will be. We have a good foundation: it was less than a year ago that we started responding the call of our Bishop to imagine a new church, we already have agreed to a sense of our call in our statement, “I See A New Church.” Now is the time to begin to implement this vision!
Thank you, Jesus, for meeting us in this moment. We long to go back to the way things were. Help us instead to see the way things could be. Open our hearts and our minds to experience this time not only as a burden, but an opportunity. Teach us to change our ways, and follow where your love leads. Amen.
Pastor George