Scripture
3Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night. 4At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. 5He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied. 6Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it. John 21:3-6
Observation
When we don’t know what to do we usually go back to what we knew and miss out on the new thing God wants to do. In Luke 5 Jesus called some frustrated fishermen to be fishers of men. Three years later after seeing their resurrected Lord what did they do? They didn’t try something new. They went back to what they knew. So, we see the same incident that started their ministry call them back into ministry again. Jesus, the miracle catch, the invitation to join Him in changing the world. This time He wouldn’t just be with them, He would be inside of them through The Holy Spirit. They had to let go all over again to go with Him into this new adventure which led to the birth of The Church.
Application
Could we be in the re-birth of The Church? God’s heart is not in this Pandemic, but His hand is using it to reach our hearts. What we see as obstacles God sees as opportunities. What we see as a setback God sees as a set up for a comeback. When everything is changing we tend to want cling to the vestiges of what once was instead of exploring the possibilities of what could be. Carey Nieuwhof wrote recently, “Your Success In The Past Makes You The Most Motivated To Preserve It or repeat it.” His point was that the past doesn’t make you panic like the future does. So, we have the same choice as the disciples did at this moment in Church history. Go back to what we did before or look for new ways to be fishers of men in this season? Could this be the dawn of a new era for ministry and mission? Could Jesus be standing on the shore of our souls calling us to something new while we want to go back to what we knew? Is Jesus asking, as He did to Peter, “do you love me more than these” former and familiar forms and rituals? These are scary questions. I have come to realize through all of this that I have been more married to the method than to the mission. The mission does not change, but the method must. Imagine the possibilities of what The Church might look like! God is on the move and wants us to move with Him:
Move from one house to every house
Move from monologue to dialogue (Stanford research shows people more honest online than in person)
Move from Sunday to everyday
Move from one minister to every member as a minister in their circle of influence
Move from mirroring to pioneering
Move from captivity to creativity
Move from hesitation to exploration and innovation
Move from either/or to both/and thinking (online and in-person)
Move from rows to circles
Prayer
I love the intimacy of this scene with You and the disciples eating fish together on the shore. It shows that even after conquering sin, death, and Hell you really just love to spend time with your people and You want to invite us into the adventure with You! I’ll admit Lord, even for a pioneer spirit like mine, I’m finding my default is the same as the disciples. I’m going back to the comfort of what I once knew instead of daring to dream new ways with You. The encouraging thing is that You aren’t calling me to do this by my own strength but instead through the power of The Holy Spirit who makes all things new! I wonder what it is You are about to do? Whatever it is, I want to be a part of it!
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