This story is just a ridiculous story. Really, how can anyone take this thing seriously? First up, we have Peter. He is continuing his losing streak against the beloved disciple. Did you not know they were competing? The beloved disciple thus far has beaten Peter to the empty tomb (even though Peter started first), he beat Peter by a long shot in having resurrection faith, and now he beats Peter to recognizing the Lord who is standing far from their fishing boat on the shore. Oh, the beloved disciple of Jesus Christ; the disciple who laid his head on Jesus breast, the disciple who Jesus loved above the others, the disciple who Peter is going to be beat, literally, if he does not stop making Peter look like an idiot.
Unfortunately for Peter, he does not need too much help in the “looking like an idiot” department. The guy is standing in a boat, in the sea, completely naked, fishing. Need I say more. He just earned his idiot badge right there. Just give the guy a six pack, stick him on the Susquehanna, and he would be a local.
Wait though, I do need to say more. Did you notice that it was fine for Peter to stand naked in front of the entire world on the boat, but he just had to get dressed so that he could jump into the murky water to go see Jesus? I bet you did not know this but, because of this yahoo, all pastors are required to shower with their clerics on before they go see Jesus on Sunday mornings. I bet you did not know that. Well, I have to admit, that is not true. I shower with my cleric on every Sunday morning because I still have not figured out how to turn on our new-fangled, space aged washing machine.
Ridiculous! This whole story is ridiculous and funny. It is a funny, funny story; like when Jesus first comes onto the scene after the disciples have been fishing for likely more than 12 hours. The disciples are exhausted and frustrated, and some guy…they did not recognize Jesus…hollers out to them, “put your nets out on the right side of the boat.”
“Oh, duh! The right side of the boat, who would have thought to switch to the other side of the boat after twelve hours of casting the net into the water?” (Sarcastically)
Oh, and then the funniest part of it all, when Jesus says to Peter:
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." (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow me."
Ha! That is so…not really funny at all. “Peter, someone is going to kill you because you follow me,” is what Jesus is saying. The words sound ridiculous, but they certainly are not funny. This ridiculous and funny story has suddenly taken a sharp turn toward a cliff, and, I am not sure that I want to go there. I am not sure that I want to think about being murdered for my beliefs. Why do we not just go back to the funny parts? Do we really need to think about the cost of discipleship? Do we really need to consider the dangers of living a true life of faith? I think that I need some more humor.
After years and years of dealing with families near or during death there is one truth that I have learned, death and humor were born to go hand in hand. A person may be facing certain death, but that does not stop them from remarking that they "cannot wait to get to the coroner’s office, I have been dying to finally lose some weight."
Death has such a heavy hand and can offer such a strong blow that we need a gift that is equally powerful so that we can face it. Humor is that gift. It is God’s gift to us. It allows us to put death in its correct position; death may touch us, but it cannot control us. Joy can and will get the upper hand. Death cannot hold us down. We laugh in the face of death. We laugh in the face of the fact that our faith may get us precisely where it got our Savior: death on the cross.
If it were not for laughter, we just might not stretch out our neck for a stranger. It would be easy to simply play it safe: avoid all danger, avoid all strangers, stay at home, never allow your children to explore or help anyone. Death can frighten us into inaction. Death can frighten us into safety. But, I am not sure that Jesus is primarily interested in our safety. After-all he did go to the cross to save the world. That probably would not be the most prudent action one could take. He asks Peter to do the same. He asks Peter to follow. And, he asks us to do the same. He asks us to follow. I hate to say it, but Jesus is not interested in our safety, Jesus is interested in making sure people are fed, at peace, free from tyranny, and completely loved. This is not safe work.
Just consider, would blacks have the freedoms that they do if Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks had simply played it safe? No, but they had faith, they had love for others, and they had laughter. Could women and children in war-torn regions of the Congo find safety and nourishment if their missionaries and aid workers were primarily concerned about being safe? No, but those missionaries and aid workers who venture into danger have faith, have love for strangers, and have laughter. Can our children stand up to bullies and defend the weak if they are primarily concerned about their safety? No, but they have faith, they have love for the outcast, and they have laughter.
So, when Jesus seeks you out, and asks you to follow, with death hovering above the water, make sure to put on your finest tux before you dive in. Does it make any sense? No, but it will keep a smile on your face. As Jesus sends you out, into dangers unknown, may he fill you with good humor as you dare to serve in his name.
All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.
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