Experiencing sound quality issues? Please Click here From Failure to Faith
John 21:1-6
Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 “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. 4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”“No,” they answered. 6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus must have been bewildering and puzzling. It says in verse 14 that this was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. Jesus appeared at random places without notice. On the way to Emmaus they saw him, but they didn’t – until he revealed himself in the ‘breaking of the bread.’ The disciples behind locked doors on two different occasions were busily occupied with their own conversation when suddenly he was there among them – until he was no longer with them – and the door had never opened or closed! He keeps coming unexpectedly and leaving equally unexpectedly – in unexpected places and times! How were they ever to know where He was – where He was going to be – when they would see him and where they might meet him?
The disciples are gathered in Galilee by this point, when Peter suggests a fishing trip. Peter and six other disciples return to fishing. Peter and a number of the other disciples were fishermen by trade. Fishing had been their life’s work, as likely their only source of living, it would also be well within their comfort zone. It is not a vacation fishing trip where you hang a 'gone fishing’ sign on the door. This is more like getting back to work. The disciples had been fishermen before they followed Jesus; no wonder, really, that they went back to fishing again; back to the beginning.
The fishing trip turns out to be not successul, at least not until Jesus shows up. John 21 says that they went out and got into the boat, but caught nothing all night long. They did an awful lot of work all night with no results. Here the disciples were in such a devastating stage in their lives. The Lord and Master that they had followed leaving their old businesses is now dead and buried. They lost their hope of the Kingdom of God in this world, and now they are trying to piece together their lives again by going back to try their old business, the business of fishing which turned out to be a failure.
We as Christians, learn to deal with disappointment and dejections, frustration and failure
“To be a fisherman, a man must expect disappointments; he must often cast in the net and bring up nothing but weeds. The minister of Christ must reckon upon being disappointed; and he must not be weary in well-doing for all his disappointments, but must in faith continue in prayer and labor, expecting that at the end he shall receive his reward.” (Spurgeon)
Life has all these big challenges that we have to face. The issue is not if you will have challenges in life; but how you will deal with the challenges that ultimately come. I have a friend who says, "The trouble with life is that it's so daily." One of the hardest things about life is the discouragement that comes at the hands of people. I've always thought that ministry would be a cakewalk if it weren't for people. But how can it be there is ministry without people? There are times when we say, down deep inside, "I just didn't think it would turn out like this." The waves of discouragement and disappointment begin to bury your heart and your spirit. You work hard to keep going, but something's dying deep inside. If the discouragements don't get you, then failure will begin to haunt your spirit. You'll think, "I'm not really worthy. I'm such a failure. Nothing seems to work. I'm such a loser."
If those kinds of things don't get you, then the distractions of cash and comfort and all distract you from the things that really count. If you can identify with what I'm saying, please know that you're not alone. Some of God's best people struggled so deeply with these types of things that they began to go on their missions. Judo masters begin not by learning how to throw, but how to fall. They practice this skill until it's as natural as breathing. No matter how many times they're flipped, they can rise to fight again.
Highly successful stock pickers go through similar training: They must learn how to cut their losses short. This means selling a stock when it's down 7% or 8% from your purchase price. Sounds simple, but many investors have learned the hard way how difficult it is to master the most important rule in investing, to sell at a loss. No one wants to sell for a loss. It's an admission that you made a mistake. But if you can set your ego aside, you can take a small loss and still be fit enough, both financially and mentally, to invest the next day. Cutting losses quickly prevents you from suffering a devastating fall that's too steep to recover from.
The Old will come back
There is an interesting story in the Old Testament that comes to 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. 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?"
We often think of the past and about those things that we left. It can be tempting to go back to alcohol, or bad friendships or other behaviors that we know were harmful. It is this time that we listen to the word of God. We need to spend more time reading the word and praying for God’s help. Back to Egypt, this strikes me as an unthinkable option. Some may prefer slavery over freedom? 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 to sin. “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).
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.
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.
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.
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 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 in the ordinary events of life. Many times we expect extraordinary visits from Jesus. But He is in the daily and mundane and ordinary stuff.
It’s wonderful to think that Jesus showed up at their work. He was interested in all their life, not just when they attended religious service. “The risen Redeemer and Ruler was showing men His interest and power in the commonplaces of their lives.” (Morgan)
Christian Mission is to start new habits on a regular basis.
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.” (Hebrews 12:1-3).
Christian mission causes us to Change our way of doing things.
We often hear from many folks, “this is the way we have always done.” Jesus asked them to cast the net on the right side of the boat, to find good catch of fish. Jesus made a strange suggestion to His disciples. There was no logical reason why fishing in the morning light would be better than fishing at night. There was no reason why fishing on one side of the boat would be better than the other side. It wasn’t even directly a test of trust in Jesus, because they did not know it was Him until the fish were caught. This was probably a test of their ability to find the guidance of God in small and unsuspected ways – such as a stranger calling out fishing instructions from the shore. “I have been unable to find any evidence which indicates which side of the boat was normally used by fishermen on the sea of Galilee so that it is difficult to know whether this was unusual or not.” (Morris)
It just simply teaches that we need to do it God's way. The right side or left side is not the point here. It is about how you do the work with God or without God.
This was a reminder of Peters calling when Jesus said, I will make you fishers of men.
They had a similar experience of catching no fish. But at your word I will let down the nets. Luke 5:5b
According to the Gospel of Luke, the miraculous catch of fish preceded the calling of Peter. This event at the Lake of Galilee gives us an answer to two questions. What does acting in faith mean? And what is the fruit of an act of faith? The evangelist tells us the following: At the Lake of Galilee Jesus taught the people from the boat belonging to Simon Peter. After his discourse He said to Simon: "Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch. And Simon answered, 'Master, we have toiled all the night and took nothing!'" (Luke 5:4b-5a). Peter, who had years of experience with fishing, faced a dilemma, a challenge. What to do with this instruction of Jesus? A carpenter gave an experienced fisherman a command that is totally at odds with his professional experience. During the night there was a much greater prospect of a good catch. If one did not catch anything during the night, the chances of a good catch during the day even smaller. Moreover, Peter was dead tired after a night of fruitless work. On the other hand, he admired Jesus. He had heard his impressive sermon in Capharnaum (Luke 4:31-32) and he had been witness to the miraculous healing of his mother-in-law and of other sick and possessed people (Luke 4:33-41).
This account illustrates the principle that we should never be afraid to change our method, as long as it is at the direction of Jesus. Sometimes, it may not seem to be the logical way. God’s ways are different from our ways and thoughts.
The story here changes from a Story of failure to a story of Faith.
We consider ourselves to be failures, but God wants us to step up in faith. The power of resurrection over sin and death comes after suffering and shame. We may struggle through the moment, but eventually, there is promise of deliverance.
A farmer owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer’s well. The farmer heard the mule ‘braying’ — or whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer felt sorry for the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together and told them what had happened and asked them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery. Initially, the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back: he should shake it off and step up! This is what the old mule did, blow after blow. “Shake it off and step up… shake it off and step up… shake it off and step up!” he repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought “panic” and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up! You guessed it! It wasn’t long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of that well!
Risen Christ, you send us fishing!
God's great sea is everywhere.
you have guided us in mission,
you have given love to share.
Through the years, our church has heard you,
we have answered your great call:
"Cast your nets where I have told you.
Bring my Word of love to all!"
(Peter Said, "I'm Going Fishing" by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette - Tune: Love divine all loves excelling)
Comments
Post a Comment