Wait, Peter Was Doing What??!

John 21:1-19
21:1 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way.
21:2 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.
21:3 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.
21:4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
21:5 Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No."
21:6 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.
21:7 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 sea.
21:8 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.
21:9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread.
21:10 Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught."
21:11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn.
21:12 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord.
21:13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.
21:14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
21:15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs."
21:16 A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep."
21:17 He said to him the third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.
21:18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go."
21:19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow me."

 

Sometimes I find myself amazed at how the world turns.  When I was a kid (back in the dark ages) the world was a coarser place.  I know that usually when folks reminisce it is to reflect on how much better things were, but frankly I grew up in the seventies and eighties.  Things weren't really all that much better.  I am never more aware of that then when I try to introduce my kids to things from my youth that I remember in fond rose-tinted memories.  Recently one of my daughters asked me what "Ghostbusters" was and I was shocked...shocked I say that I had been so remiss in her education.  So, I found a copy of the movie, gathered the family, popped the pop corn, and set out to have a fun family movie night with one of my favorite childhood movies.  Here is where reality sets in.  Right away I realized how much bad language this "kid's movie" contained.  Repeatedly I found myself telling my 8 year old son, "now we don't use those words do we?"  Then again, I had also forgotten about the veiled, and not so veiled sexual innuendos that peppered the dialog between Dr. Venkman and Dana (Bill Murray's character and Sigourney Weaver's characters from the movie).  Finally one of my kids asked me, "Dad, why do they smoke so much?" and I have to admit at least one of the characters seemed to be smoking cigarettes in every scene.  



Now that I think about it, our movies back then were full of raunchy, inappropriate, nudity ridden, adult content.  Even the kid movies.  And don't get me started on the music.  Frankly our kids listen to light happy, mostly clean, stuff compared to the things that populated the shelves of the average 80's record store. Frankly the fact that life has cleaned up a bit that way isn't such a bad thing.  I am afraid that the general lack of fortitude in the average millennial spine with their need for free entitlements, "safe spaces", and gentled experiences is concerning.

Sometimes we forget that the world is constantly changing.  Norms change, standards change, customs change.  I was recently reading an article about how Davy Crockett used to brag that his favorite, go-to move in a fist fight was to eye gouge and blind his opponent if at all possible.  You know, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier...Killed him a barrrr when he was only three... Apparently he also liked to blind people, It was a different world back then. Times change and so does what is acceptable and appropriate. Take for instance fishing and the Bible vs now.



Fishing today is realllllly different then back then. In case the Bible text above was too long to get a full, detailed reading let me share the part of the text that jumped out at me:

21:7 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 sea.

Yep you read that right, Peter was fishing in the buff.  In fact all of the guys fishing probably were. Times change, like I said.  You can be sure that if you invite me on a fishing trip, I expect everyone involved to remain clothed.  But not so in Jesus' day.  Why? According to some research I did, "Most laboring men set aside their clothes to work - they only had one outfit and you didn't wear it to work in. Nudity was very common in those days. Female slaves were nearly always topless or completely nude except in the wealthiest of homes. Male servants working manual labor would also be naked or nearly so.

Prisoners of both sexes were always executed naked as was Christ.

Clothes marked the wealthy and the poor. Often the outer garment - worn over the loin cloth was used both during the day and at night was their only blanket. You don't want your blanket to be dirty or sweaty when the time for sleep comes."

Makes sense.  Peter had to go back to fishing after Jesus died to pay the bills, and he probably was pretty broke at the time. That said when Jesus says the following to Peter it must have sounded like an insurmountable task...

21:15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs."
21:16 A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep."
21:17 He said to him the third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.

Think about it, here is a guy who is working naked because he literally has only the shirt on his back, and Jesus is calling him to "Feed my lambs", "Tend my sheep" ,"and "Feed my sheep".  Until Jesus helped Peter pull in some fish Peter could not even feed himself let alone these sheep Jesus wanted fed. Here Jesus is handing over the leadership of the entire church to a guy who has to fish naked because he only has one set of clothes.  It is no wonder Jesus asks him three times. Peter needed the assurance from Jesus that Jesus really thought he was up to the task.

Maybe it sounds a little less than dignified but we are all called to the church naked.  By that I mean we don't actually bring anything of our own that is of substance to the service of God.  Sure we come with talents, we come with skills, we come with abilities. In the end even those are gifts from God.  What God needs for us to have to accomplish the tasks of His kingdom he will give to us.  God's kingdom require's righteousness so God lends us the righteousness of the Son.  God's kingdom requires power so God lends us the strength of the Holy Spirit. God's kingdom requires holiness so God lends us the very blameless nature of the lamb.  We all are called to follow Jesus when we are yet naked.  We all come ill equipped for holiness.  We all are gifted by God to feed his lambs, tend his flock, and lead his sheep.  Our nakedness is not an affront to God.  He simply sees it as an opportunity to clothe us in perfection of his own.

Peter took a moment to process and understand what Jesus was saying.  He could not imagine that Jesus would hand over the leadership of his church to one who was so spiritually naked that he would deny Jesus three times in Christ's greatest time of need, as Peter did.  But think about the fact that when Adam and Eve were naked in the garden and God called them, they hid.  Now Peter is naked on the boat and Jesus calls him and Peter leaps to swim to Christ.  Adam and Eve hid from the consequences of their sin.  Peter ran to the solution to his.   Jesus saw Peter's empty hands and knew that only empty hands are ready to grasp the grace of God.