Back to NORMAL?

John 21:3 (ESV)

“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”.

Simon Peter said, “I am going fishing.” At first that may seem strange considering all the things that had happened to the disciples in recent days.  Their whole lives had been turned upside down.  They had believed Jesus was the Messiah who would lead Israel to freedom.  Then Jesus had been crucified, died and was buried.  All those hopes had seemed to be crushed. But then, three days later, Jesus had been raised to life again.  In the weeks that followed He had appeared to them over and over again.  So now, once again, Jesus was the Messiah.  But now they weren’t sure anymore what that meant.  What kind of Messiah was Jesus?  With all of that going on, why would Peter want to go fishing?

I think the answer is simple.  Peter wanted something to feel normal in his life.  Fishing was something he knew, something he had grown up with, his first career.  With everything else in his life in limbo, I think its natural that Peter wanted to do something that, at least to him, felt normal.

I am willing to bet that many of you are right now longing for a little “normal” in your lives.  In recent weeks nothing has seemed normal.  Our lives and our country have been turned upside down.  In just a few short weeks a virus from the other side of the world has spread around the world.  We have been told to work from home, then ordered to stay home.  Many have lost or are worried about losing their jobs.  The markets have crashed.  What will that mean for your savings, your retirement, your mortgage payments?  Suddenly, instead of going to church on Sundays, we are worshiping online at home… or in cars in church parking lots. Proms, graduations, vacations, confirmations and more have been canceled or postponed. Just a month ago the future seemed bright… life felt fairly routine. Now there is no such thing as routine.  The future is uncertain. No one knows how long this all will last.

I bet every one of us can identify with Peter’s longing for a little bit of normal.  We miss church.  We long to go back to work.  We long to see our friends, go out to eat… for anything that is just a little normal.

Jesus, though had something better for Peter and His disciples.  He had prepared for them a new normal.  As he had once told them, they would no longer be fishermen.  He would make them fishers of men. These men who had never gone more than 60 or 70 miles from home, would now carry His message into all the world.  Most of them would lose their lives in carry out his mission.  They would bring God’s new normal to people around the world.  What was that new normal – that God loves the world… that God gave His Son to be the Savior of the world… that God forgives sinners… that God has new eternal normal prepared for us in the life to come. 

This is important for all of us to understand.  We are living in one of those life changing moments in history.  Life will never return to “normal” at least not normal as we knew it.  What will the new normal be like?  Right now, we have no idea.  Thank God, that we know that God knows.  He has that all in hand.  Like He has said through Jeremiah, “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”   

In His hands the future is really exciting for you and me.  For just as He once did for the disciples, He is calling us into His new normal.  He is calling us to live no longer for ourselves but for Him who died for us and rose again. He is calling us to bring His message to people worried and afraid of all the uncertainty… to tell them about this God who loves them… who gave His Son for them… who forgives all their sins… who has prepared for all who believe… for them, if they would have Him, the new normal of eternal life… a new normal so much better than the old.  Amen.