April 8, 2013

Today’s text

John 21:1-4

Later on, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples. It was by the Sea of Tiberias, and it happened like this:  Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two more of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said, 'I'm going fishing.' They replied, 'We'll come with you.' They went out and got into the boat but caught nothing that night. When it was already light, there stood Jesus on the shore, though the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 

 Reflection

What do you do when you have a broken heart? Peter went fishing and took his friends along.

He returned to the work he had done before he met Jesus, the work Jesus used as a metaphor for describing his mission: to catch the hearts and souls of lost human beings and join them to himself in one family, one community of God’s kingdom.

Peter returned to what he knew, fleeing what he could never fully understand. Perhaps his hurt and confusion would fade if he could sink himself in old patterns and habits that had once been enough for him.

Night had returned, and he got in the boat and pushed off.

But how do you flee into the night once your heart has been pierced by a light and love that made you more alive than you have ever been? How do you grieve the loss and move on? Can filling your days fill your heart?

Peter went fishing at night, which is a way of saying he was in the dark, whistling in the dark to be more accurate. He hoped could chase the hurt away by filling his days with what he once knew.

But it would never be enough. Certainly he knew this as he stared into the inky darkness of the night waters when no fish came to distract him from his melancholy.

Hope came with the morning light. The light was not merely another day, but a truly new day lit by the presence of Jesus, who stood there … waiting, unrecognized but already invading the darkness that weighed on Peter.

Only this, only knowing him, only basking in his presence would heal the hurt and send Peter into a new day, singing a song of grace as only hearts once-broken know how to sing.

Only the broken know how to greet the dawn of grace that awaits them each morning. Only they know how to sing the song that heals the brokenness.

Pr. David L. Miller