When I was in elementary school, my best friend was Jon Barleycorn. From kindergarten through fifth grade, we were best friends, both in and out of school. And his family introduced me to fishing. I would go with them to Buckeye Lake and we would fish from his grandmothers’ dock and from his dads’ boat out on the big lake.
My family was not a fishing family. But I did have one amazing opportunity to go fishing with my dad. A gentleman my father did business with invited us to go deep sea fishing with him and his son in Florida. I was eleven at the time and I think his son was twelve. You can imagine the excitement, getting to fish way out in the ocean and hopefully catch something bigger than a Buckeye Lake catfish.
It was a chartered boat, so we had a captain and first mate who knew what they were doing. In fact they made their living taking people fishing. We got to spend three days fishing in the ocean and each day followed the same pattern. First we would fish for bait. (Picture 1) Then we would go farther out and set the lines and troll around waiting for fish. (Picture 2) When we had a fish on a line, the other son and I would rotate reeling them in. (Pictures 3&4) And then in the afternoons for the last two hours or so we would go to a ship wreck and fish for barracuda. (Pictures 5&6) That was the most action packed part of the day and they were fun to catch.
We packed a lunch each morning, and spent the day out on the ocean. We followed this pattern for three days. I want to show you this last picture because I think it captures the three days into one shot. (Picture 7) My dad is waiting patiently while I fish. I hadn’t realized it, but while we were fishing for barracuda on the last day it hit me. I said, “Dad, do you want to fish?” What an idea! Neither father had reeled in a single fish during those first 2 ¾ days. They just watched their sons have fun.
Out of the whole trip, that is the part of the story that is mentioned whenever it is told. The dads just waited and finally got to fish for the last hour or so on the last day.
I want to tell you another fishing story this morning. As you may know, some of the disciples were fisherman. The first time we hear about Peter in the book of Matthew, the story tells us he is fishing. Along with his brother they are throwing their net into the lake, and Jesus calls them to follow him and he will make them fishers of men. They drop their nets and follow Jesus. They leave behind the comfort of everything that they know and are familiar with to follow him.
Peter does what Jesus asked him to do, he follows. And he follows Jesus throughout his ministry here on earth. Scholars estimate it at around 3 ½ years that Jesus taught and healed, and Peter was with Him during that time. Peter was even one of the inner circle, one of the disciples that was closest to Jesus. He was the only one who walked out onto the water with Jesus. Peter was one of three disciples who witnessed the transfiguration.
But then things changed. In the 19th chapter of John we find the crucifixion and death of Christ. In the 20th chapter we have the empty tomb. Peter was one of the first to go inside and see the strips of linen and the burial clothe that had been around the body of Christ. But the disciples were still confused. Later in the same chapter of John, Jesus appears to his disciples. Peter is not mentioned by name, but Thomas is the only one who is said not to have been present the first time Jesus appeared. So we can assume that Peter was there. And he was there again a week later with Thomas and the rest of the disciples when Jesus appeared for the second time to the twelve.
Turn with me please to the 21st chapter of John. We will read together the first three verses and they will be on the screen as well.
Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. "I’m going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We’ll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
Después de esto Jesús se apareció de nuevo a sus discípulos, junto al lago de Tiberíades. Sucedió de esta manera: Estaban juntos Simón Pedro, Tomás (al que apodaban el Gemelo), Natanael, el de Caná de Galilea, los hijos de Zebedeo, y otros dos discípulos. —Me voy a pescar —dijo Simón Pedro. —Nos vamos contigo —contestaron ellos. Salieron, pues, de allí y se embarcaron, pero esa noche no pescaron nada.
Let’s focus for a moment on the statement made by Peter. "I’m going out to fish." Me voy a pescar. Was this recreational fishing like I talked about earlier? Was Peter bored and so he thought, I feel like going fishing.
A glimpse into the Greek language will help us with this statement. The word we find translated here as “going out/voy” is the Greek word “hupago.” Hupago has several different meanings, to withdrawl/salir, to go away/irse, to depart/marcharse. And if we look at ways it is translated in other instances in the New Testament, I believe we find the most helpful information. It is also translated these ways, “go away/irse; going back/regresar.” Peter had spent the last three years of his life following Jesus and doing what Jesus said to do. But now Jesus isn’t there anymore to be followed. And I believe this is the heart of Peter’s statement. “I’m going back to fishing.” “Estoy regresando a pescar.” I’m going back to fishing. I’m going back to what I’m good at, and what I know. I’m going back to fishing.
So let’s answer some questions together this morning.
Have we been tempted to say “I’m going back to the old way?”
If we do go back to our old ways, how does God respond?
Have we been tempted to say “I’m going back to the old way?”
For Peter I believe it boiled down to not knowing what else to do. For the last 3 years he followed Jesus and did what Jesus did. So Peter went back to his comfort zone, he went back to what he knew best. After all he had a lot more experience fishing than he did being a disciple.
From the moment we begin to follow Christ, we will encounter our own moments when we want to go back. These don’t only include large decision like our profession, but could be as simple as how we react to a situation. From the moment we accept Christ, we are being transformed, we are being changed. And that change is evident in our behavior. But as Christ continually tries to transform us, the devil continually tries to take us back to the old self, the old us.
So what are some ways in which we might be tempted to say, “I’m going back to the old way?” Let’s start with some small examples. Maybe you have made a commitment to your devotional life. You set your alarm clock a little earlier in the morning and you get up to do a little bible reading and prayer. How long does it last before you start to press that snooze button until you only have time to get ready for work or school?
Or perhaps you are trying to follow the biblical principal of tithing 10% of your income to your local church. As long as the bills are covered, maybe this isn’t difficult to do each month. But how will you behave, how will you react when your car breaks down or you have some other unplanned for expense? Will you go back to keeping the tithe for yourself? Or does it still belong to God?
There is an interesting story in the Old Testament that comes to my mind. God used Moses to bring the Israelite people out of Egypt, out of 400 years of slavery. But things didn’t go just as the people thought they should. It wasn’t all smooth sailing into the Promised Land. And in the 14th chapter of Numbers we find this astounding statement made by these former slaves, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?"
«¡Cómo quisiéramos haber muerto en Egipto! ¡Más nos valdría morir en este desierto! ¿Para qué nos ha traído el SEÑOR a esta tierra? ¿Para morir atravesados por la espada, y que nuestras esposas y nuestros niños se conviertan en botín de guerra? ¿No sería mejor que volviéramos a Egipto?»
Back to Egypt, this strikes me as an unthinkable option. You mean to tell me that you prefer slavery over freedom. But we are guilty of the same statement as Christians. Maybe we don’t say it out loud, but we live it. Paul tells us in Romans that we too are slaves.
But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. Romans 6:17-18
Pero gracias a Dios que, aunque antes eran esclavos del pecado, ya se han sometido de corazón a la enseñanza que les fue transmitida. En efecto, habiendo sido liberados del pecado, ahora son ustedes esclavos de la justicia. Romanos 6:17-18
Paul tells us that we too are slaves, but slaves to what? We are either slaves to sin, which leads to death, or we become slaves to righteousness. When we decide to follow Jesus, to become his disciple, we become slaves to righteousness. We are freed from sin. But yet many times we are tempted to go back to our former lifestyle, to go back to our sin. And it doesn’t make any more sense when we chose sin over righteousness, than it did for the Israelites to desire to go back to Egypt after being set free.
But we face this temptation as Christians, the temptation to go back to what we know best. Just like Peter went back to fishing. He had much more experience as a fisherman, than as a disciple. It was easier to fish. Well many of us have much more experience being slaves to sin, than being slaves to righteousness. It is easier for us to sin. But Christ had called Peter out of the fishing trade, and he has called us out of slavery to sin.
But what If we do go back to our old ways, how does God respond? We won’t read the rest of the story from John, but I’ll summarize it. The story continues as Jesus stands on the shore in the morning and asks the disciples if they have any fish? After they say no, he tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. Although they didn’t recognize that it was Jesus, they threw their nets on the right side of the boat as instructed. They caught so many fish; they couldn’t pull the net into the boat.
John realized that it was Jesus on the shore, and he said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” Peter, never one to wait, dove into the water and swam to the shore. When the other arrived in the boat, they counted the catch, and ate together. After breakfast, Jesus asked Peter the famous question, do you truly love me? And Peter was instructed to feed Christ’s sheep, to take care of the flock.
So how does that help us answer our second question? If we go back to our old ways, how does God respond? First, God does not stop pursuing or loving us. Jesus was the one who sought out the disciples. He came to them. Throughout the Bible we find the picture of a God of second chances. One who is more patient with us than we truly deserve.
Second, Jesus comes to us in a way that is familiar to us. This was not the first time Jesus filled Peter’s nets with fish. In the fifth chapter of Luke, Jesus tells Peter to put out into deeper water, and to let down his nets. In both stories Peter had fished all night and caught nothing. And in both stories Peter obeyed, and caught so many fish that the nets began to break, or where too heavy to bring into the boat. In the book of John, it was the miraculous filling of the nets that made the disciples realize who was on the shore. Jesus came to the disciples in a way in which they would recognize him. And so when we choose to go back to our old ways, watch for Jesus to come in a simple, familiar way so that we can recognize him.
Thirdly, Jesus helps us get back on the right track. Jesus had called Peter to become a fisher of men. That meant he wasn’t fishing for fish anymore. But when Peter didn’t know what else to do, and decided to go back to fishing, Jesus gave him a new assignment. Peter was instructed to feed the Lords lambs.
Sometimes we fall back into old habits simply because we haven’t started new ones, or maybe we don’t know which direction to go. Ultimately Christ is the one who can get us going in the right direction again.
The writer of Hebrews gives us this advice. Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Despojémonos del lastre que nos estorba, en especial del pecado que nos asedia, y corramos con perseverancia la carrera que tenemos por delante. Fijemos la mirada en Jesús, el iniciador y perfeccionador de nuestra fe, quien por el gozo que le esperaba, soportó la cruz, menospreciando la vergüenza que ella significaba, y ahora está sentado a la derecha del trono de Dios.
SO WHAT? So I don’t want us to be ignorant that we will face this temptation, the temptation to go back to what is best known to us, to sin, to a life away from God. Last March I was in New Orleans with my brother and a group of High school kids. One night they were hiding in the hallway to scare people as they came up stairs. For some reason I knew something was up, and so when they jumped out from around the corner, I didn’t budge. They were disappointed, but I knew that something was going to happen.
If we know and are aware that the devil is going to try to tempt us in this way, we are better prepared to respond to it. So that is so what number 1. Be prepared for the times you want to go back to the old way.
SO WHAT number 2 is for those of you who feel like right now you have already gone back. And for all of those who feel like they are right where God wants them to be, pay attention because this is for you tomorrow or next week. When we go back like Peter did, God doesn’t stop coming pursuing us. He doesn’t give up on us. He tries to get our attention and he helps us get right back on course.
