MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
NOTE: The narration for this service was adapted from Max Lucado's book, "He Still Moves Stones" pages 135-141, (Word Publishing, 1993)
TEXT: John 21:1-14
(PP - JESUS)
WELCOME & OPENING PRAYER
HYMN: BECAUSE HE LIVES! by William Gaither (Vs's 1 & 3)
CHORUS: HE IS LORD! by Word Music (Twice)
HYMN: ALELUIA, ALELUIA by Christopher Wordsworth (Vs's 1 & 2)
TEXT: John 21:1-14
The sun was in the water before Peter noticed it - a circle of gold on the surface of the sea. A fisherman is usually the first to spot the sun rising over the hills. It means his night of labor is finally over.
(PP - PETER)
But not for this fisherman. Though the light reflected on the lake, the darkness lingered in Peter's heart. The nets at his feet were empty, but Peter wasn't thinking about that.
His thoughts were far from the Sea of Galilee. His mind was in Jerusalem, reliving an anguished night.
(PP - JESUS IN CROWD)
As the boat rocked, his memories raced: the clanking of the Temple guards, the flash of a sword & a wounded servant, a healing touch by Jesus, a rebuke for Peter, soldiers leading Jesus away.
"What was I thinking?" Peter mumbled to himself as he stared at the bottom of the boat. Why did I run? Peter had run; he had turned his back on his dearest friend & ran. We don't know where.
(PP - PETER BEHIND FENCE )
He had bragged, "Everyone else may stumble . . . but I will not" (Matthew 26:33). Yet he did. Peter did what he swore he wouldn't do. "Everyone else may stumble . . . but I will not. Everyone else . . . But. . ." A war waged within him.
At that moment the instinct to survive clashed with his allegiance to Christ, & for just a moment allegiance won. Peter stood & stepped out of hiding & followed them till he saw the torch-lit crowd in the courtyard of Caiaphas.
(PP - PETER SEATED)
He stopped near a fire & warmed his hands. The night had been cold. The fire was hot.
Luke wrote that "Peter followed at a distance" (Luke 22:54). He was loyal . . . from a distance. The problem was, Peter was seen. Other people near the fire recognized him.
"You were with him," they had challenged, "You were with the Nazarene." Three times people said it, & each time Peter denied it.
Please understand that the main character in this drama is not Peter, but Jesus, who knows the hearts of all people, who knew the denials by his friend.
(PP - JESUS LOOKING)
How do we know Jesus knew? Because of what He did, "Then the Lord turned & looked straight at Peter" (Luke 22:61). When the rooster crowed, Jesus turned. His eyes searched for Peter & they found him.
Peter would never forget that look. Though Jesus' face was already bloody & bruised, his eyes were firm & focused. They were a scalpel, laying bare Peter's heart.
And now, days later on the Sea of Galilee, it wasn't the resurrection that occupied his thoughts. It wasn't the empty tomb. It wasn't the defeat of death. It was the eyes of Jesus seeing his failure.
This wasn't the first night Peter had spent of the Sea of Galilee. After all, he was a fisherman. He, like the others, worked at night. He knew the fish would feed near the surface during the cool of the night & return to the deep during the day.
(PP - 2 BOATS)
No, this wasn't the first night Peter had spend on the Sea of Galilee. Nor was it the first night he had caught nothing. There was that time three years before . . .
Most mornings Peter & his partners would sell their fish, repair their nets, & head home to rest with a bag of money & a feeling of satisfaction. This particular morning there were no fish & no money & no satisfaction. They had worked all through the night but had nothing to show for it except weary backs & worn nets.
And, what's worse, everyone knew it. Every morning the shore would become a market as the villagers came to buy their fish, but that day there were no fish.
Jesus was there that morning, teaching. As the people pressed there was little room for Him to stand, so He asked Peter if his boat could be a platform. Peter agreed.
(PP - JESUS & PETER)
Peter listens as Jesus teaches. When Jesus finishes with the crowd, He turns to Peter. He has another request. He wants to go fishing. "Take the boat into deep water, & put your nets in the water to catch some fish" (Luke 5:4).
Peter groans. The last thing he wants to do is fish. The sun is up & he is tired. It's time to go home. Besides, everyone is watching. They've already seen him come back empty-handed once. So Peter speaks, "Master, we worked hard all night trying to catch fish" (Luke 5:5).
"All night." The sky had gone from burnt orange to mid-night black to morning gold. The hours had passed as slowly as the fleets of clouds before the moon. The fishermen's conversation had stilled & their shoulders ached. While the village slept, the men worked. All . . . night . . . long.
(PP - THROWING NET)
"Trying to catch fish." The night's events had been rhythmic: net swung & tossed high till it spread itself against the sky. Then wait. Let it sink. Pull it in. Do it again. Throw. Pull. Throw. Pull. Every toss had been a prayer. But every drag of the net had come back empty.
For 12 hours they'd fished. And now . . . now Jesus is wanting to fish some more? And not just off the shore, but in the deep?
Peter sees his friends shrug their shoulders. He looks at the people on the beach watching him. He doesn't know what to do.
(PP - 2 BOATS)
Common sense said it was a time to get out. Logic said cut your losses & go home. Experience said pack it up & get some rest. But Jesus said, "Try it again."
The most difficult journey is going back to the place where you failed. Jesus knows that. That's why He volunteers to go with them. "The first outing was solo; this time I'll be with you. Try it again, this time with me on board."
And Peter reluctantly agrees to try again. "But because you say so I will" (Luke 5:5). It didn't make any sense, but he'd been around Jesus enough to know that His presence made a difference.
(PP - THROWING NET)
So the oars dip again & the boat goes out. The anchor is set & the nets fly once more.
Peter watches as the net sinks, & he waits until the net spreads as far as his rope allows. The fishermen are quiet. Peter is quiet. Jesus is quiet. Suddenly the rope yanks. The net, heavy with fish, almost pulls Peter overboard.
(PP - FISH)
"John, James!" he yells. "Come quick!' Soon the boats are so full of fish that the port side rim dips close to the surface. Peter, ankle deep in flopping fish, turns to look at Jesus, only to find that Jesus is looking at him.
That's when he realizes who Jesus is. What an odd place to meet God - on a fishing boat on a small sea in a remote country!
But such is the practice of the God who comes into our world. Such is the encounter experienced by those who are willing to try again . . . with Him.
Peter's life was never again the same after that catch. He had turned his back on the sea to follow the Messiah. He had left the boats thinking he'd never return. But now he's back. Full circle. Same sea. Same boat. Maybe even the same spot.
(PP - PETER & JESUS SEATED)
But this isn't the same Peter. Three years of living with the Messiah have changed him. He's seen too much - cripples walking, empty graves - too many hours hearing His words. He's not the same Peter.
Why did he return? What brought him back to Galilee after the crucifixion? Despair? Some think so - I don't. Hope dies hard for a man who has known Jesus. I think that's what brought Peter back. Hope. A bizarre hope that on the sea where he knew Him first, he would know Him again.
(PP - PETER STANDING IN BOAT)
So Peter is in the boat, on the lake. Once again he's fished all night. Once again the sea has surrendered nothing.
His thoughts are interrupted by a shout from the shore. "Catch any fish?" Peter & James look up. "No!" they yell. "Try the other side of the boat!" the voice yells back. John looks at Peter. Why not? So out flies the net. Peter wraps the rope around his wrist to wait.
(PP - FISH IN NET)
But there was no wait. The rope pulls taut & the net catches. Peter sets his weight against the side of the boat & begins to bring in the net; reaching down, pulling up, reaching down, pulling up. He's so intense with the task, he misses the message.
John doesn't. This has happened before. The long night. The empty net. The call to cast again. Fish flapping on the floor of the boat.
(PP - JESUS STANDING ON SHORE)
Wait a minute. John lifts his eyes to the man on the shore. "It's Jesus," he says. Then louder, "It's the Lord, Peter. It's the Lord!"
Peter turns & looks. Jesus has come. Not just Jesus the teacher, but Jesus the death-defeater, Jesus the King . . . Jesus the victor over darkness, Jesus the God of heaven & earth is on the shore . . . & He's building a fire.
(PP - PETER JUMPS INTO WATER)
Peter plunges into the water, swims to the shore, & stumbles out wet & shivering to stand in front of the friend he denied. Jesus has prepared a bed of coals. Both are aware of the last time Peter had stood near a fire. Then, Peter had failed God, but now God had come to him.
(PP - JESUS & PETER STANDING)
For one of the few times in his life, Peter is silent. The moment is too holy for words. God is offering breakfast to the friend who denied Him. And Peter is once again finding grace at Galilee.
What do you say at a moment such as this? It's just you & God. You & God both know what you did. And neither one of you is proud of it. What do you do?
You might consider doing what Peter did. Stand in God's presence. Stand still & wait. Sometimes that's all a soul can do. Too repentant to speak, but too hopeful to leave - we just stand. Stand amazed. He has come back. He invites you to try again. This time, with Him.
HYMN: I WILL SING OF MY REDEEMER by Philip Bliss (Vs's 1 & 4)
CLOSING PRAYER
