Eastertide
May 7, 2014

Scripture Reading: John 21:1-14

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. 

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ 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. — John 21:3-5 

In the closing chapter of the gospel of John, we find Peter where he was when we first met him—fishing.  I do not know what he was thinking.  Perhaps he just needed to earn a living, perhaps fishing was where he could think. It is interesting that the disciples are still with him. They did not all fish for a living. Whatever their purpose, it did not come to fruition; they caught nothing. These disciples had experienced the living Christ and as much as they might have longed to regain some normalcy in their life, they are coming to the realization that their paradigm has shifted. They have found a new normal.

A man whom they did not recognize standing on the beach tells them to try again and this time they catch so many fish that they can not pull the nets out of the water. First Peter and then the others recognize him and turn to him.  It was at this point that they understood what and who Jesus was and is. It was at this point that they came to understand that they had been changed and that they would need to live into their new normal.

We as followers of Christ are also called to this “new normal” to living intentionally as disciples of the one who said, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.—John 10:10 This is a “new normal” that helps us understand that we are conduits of an abundant life for others as well as recipients in our own right. This is a “new normal” where abundance is not defined in material things, but is a blessing of wholeness, oneness, and justice for all.

Prayer: Living Christ, thank you for the abundance of your love and for enabling each of us to share it with the world. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.