21 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered.
6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
I am sensitive to burning out, I believe in the theory of decision fatigue, and I constantly do things to make sure I don't burn out. I practice regular sabbath keeping; I exercise regularly, see a therapist, participate in a spiritual formation group, and keep up hobbies to avoid burning out.
Pastor is a profession where people want to walk away. According to a survey of pastors:
• 75% of pastors report being "extremely stressed" or "highly stressed" (1)
• 90% work between 55 to 75 hours per week (2)
• 90% feel fatigued and worn out every week (1)
• 70% say they're grossly underpaid (2)
• 40% report a serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month (1)
• 78% were forced to resign from their church (63% at least twice), most commonly because of church conflict (1)
• 80% will not be in ministry ten years later; only a fraction make it a lifelong career (1). On average, seminary-trained pastors last only five years in church ministry (2)
• 100% of 1,050 Reformed and Evangelical pastors had a colleague who had left the ministry because of burnout, church conflict, or moral failure (2)
• 91% have experienced some form of burnout in ministry, and 18% say they are "fried to a crisp right now" (7)
• 53% of pastors do not feel that seminary or Bible college prepared them adequately (2)
• 70% of pastors say they have lower self-esteem now than when they entered ministry (1)
• 70% constantly fight depression (2)
• 50% feel so discouraged that they would leave their church if they could but can't find another job (2)
• 80% believe their pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families and
• 33% said it was an outright hazard (1)
Pastoring is not the only profession where people feel like they want to walk away.
Dustin Snyder had enough. Dustin was tired of the long work weeks, low wages, and grumpy customers. Dustin was assistant general manager of a McDonald's restaurant in Bradford, Pa. In early September 2021, Dustin drafted a petition for the regional office and invited his workers to sign it.
"We are all leaving," his petition stated, "and hope you find employees that want to work for $9.25 an hour." Nearly all of the 24-day-shift employees added their names. (They all knew that, just 20 miles away, employees at a McDonald's across the border in New York did identical work, receiving that state's $15-an-hour minimum wage.)
It wasn't a strike, and it wasn't a protest, and it was a simple statement of fact to Dustin and his low-wage employees.
Dustin faxed the petition to the regional office in Buffalo. Moments later, his phone rang, and it was the regional supervisor. "Why did you do it?" she wanted to know.
"I was trying to get better pay for my people."
"There are better ways to go about this," scolded the supervisor. "No one gets a raise," she told him. "If your workers don't like it, they can quit."
And so they did. Nearly all of the workers quit on the spot, and they took off their headsets and abandoned their stations at the drive-through and cash registers.
The line at the drive-through began to grow longer. Mystified customers watched the employees assemble in the parking lot. Then they watched Dustin lock the building and hang a sign on the door. On it, he'd scribbled in blue highlighter — the only pen he could find — "Due to lack of pay, we all quit."
"Hey!" a man called out to Dustin from his car. "We just want a Quarter Pounder and fries."
"Well, we just want to be paid more and treated better," Dustin replied.
When Dustin told Stephanie Kelley, the store's general manager, what they'd done, she wasn't upset. She was sympathetic. More than that, she decided to join them. She texted her night shift employees, telling them what the day shift had just done and that she, too, was quitting. Most of the night shift did the same. Dustin and Stephanie spent the next few days helping their workers find better jobs — in some cases driving them to other fast-food restaurants with vacancies.
As for the Bradford McDonald's, it wasn't long before the store was up and running again. The franchise owner also owned the store across the border in New York. He bussed in $15-an-hour workers from that location to re-open the drive-through, then hired a whole crew of new employees from Pennsylvania. But he had to do it for $10 an hour, giving his new workers the 75-cent raise his former employees had requested.1
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, workers across America — professionals and shift workers — have been rethinking the work they do. In some cases, they've decided to walk away from it, sometimes to new jobs, and other times to no jobs. People have different reasons for walking away, better job opportunities, deciding to go back to school, more money on unemployment than working a job, training for a better job in the future, burnout, or maybe even suffering a significant loss. No matter the reason behind it, people walk away, and the fact remains that they walked away.
Today's gospel lesson tells the story of someone who walks away from it. It's the apostle Peter, and the job he walks away from is commercial fishing. Remarkably, this incident from John 21 is the second time the gospels describe Peter walking away from that job. The first time was in Luke 5 when Peter was not having a good day fishing. Jesus invited Simon Peter to go out one more time to catch some fish, and this time Peter came back with a net full of fish. Peter, James, and John started following Jesus right then, walking away from their fishing jobs.
The disciples are together near the Sea of Tiberius before nightfall. The Jews called it the Sea of Galilee, and everyone else called it the Sea of Tiberius. The Disciples have faced the catastrophe of the cross. Jesus has risen, but they don't know that yet. They only know about the empty tomb. The disciples are lost after losing their Savior and are dealing with grief.
The disciples go back to what they know, which is fishing. They have fished all night and into the morning and haven't caught any fish. I can only imagine the pain and struggle of leaving what you know for something new; that new thing comes crashing down, going back to what you know, and failing at what you know. Some people may have a problem with the Disciples going back to fishing. We look at this story already knowing the end; the people in the story did not. We act like we would have great faith amid the trial when in actuality, minor things can shake us up. We will walk away from church over music and committee appointments so I can sympathize with men who walked with Jesus dealing with a front-row seat at his public execution.
I submit that the Disciples were not committing apostasy, nor were they being aimless; instead, the disciples' actions were aligned. You can find the Lord in the ordinary and the routine. At this moment, the fishers of the sea were called by the fisher of men on the shore.
God is a God of restoration. No matter if you have walked away or are in the process of walking away, God can restore you just like Jesus did in this passage.
Peter denied Jesus three times during the crucifixion; Jesus told Peter to feed my sheep three times.
Jesus told Nathaniel in John chapter 1 that Nathaniel would see greater works; in John chapter 21, Nathaniel saw the risen Savior.
The disciples were near the Sea of Tiberius in John 21, the same place where Jesus fed the multitude in John 6. It was bread and fish the first time around and the bread of life the second time around.
Jesus called Peter by name and by his family; Jesus knows who you are and whose you are. When Jesus gets involved, there is more than enough. Jesus filled Peter's nets again with fish just like he did the first time.
When Peter realizes who filled his net, he leaps from his fishing boat into the water. So eager is he to leave behind the futile striving of his old occupation that he doesn't mind getting wet. He doesn't even wait for the boat to ride on the beach. He goes to Jesus immediately.
For the first time in his life, Peter truly knows this. And for the first time in his life, he's received a call so compelling he'll never return to his fishing boat again.
There's an old Jewish story about a rabbi walking through a neighboring village late at night. He encounters another man walking alone, and together the two of them walk down the street in silence. Finally, the rabbi turns to his new companion and asks, "So, who do you work for?"
"I work for the village," the man answers. "I'm the night watchman."
They walk on some more in silence. Then it's the night watchman's turn to ask this newcomer to his village a question. He asks the rabbi, "And who do you work for?"
The rabbi answers: "I'm not always sure. But this I will tell you. Name your present salary, and I'll double it. All you have to do to earn that extra money is one thing. You have to walk with me from time to time and ask me, 'Who do you work for?'"
We could all use someone to ask us, from time to time, "Who do you work for?" We could all use someone to meet us on the beach and challenge us to declare, truthfully, if our nets are empty or full. Then, having made that self-inventory, may we have the courage to leave it all behind, to walk away from it all, if that's what it takes to obey the command of the one who says, simply, "Follow me."
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