GOOD OLD "OVER-COMPENSATING" SAINT PETER

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net with the fish. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you just caught." Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish.

John 21:1-19

Every time I read a passage about good old Saint Peter, the Apostle, I chuckle to myself!  I have read and preached on them many, many times since I was pastor of Saint Peter Mission Church in Monticello, down along the Tennessee border, south of Lake Cumberland.  Good old Saint Peter has to be one of the worst “people pleasers” in all of scripture. He is always kissing up to Jesus and then proceeding to fall on his face. You have to love this bumbling old fisherman, who had an almost insatiable desire to please Jesus whom he obviously loved so much. 

Peter would have made a great clown for kids. I sure children back then loved him because you can’t help laughing at his antics. Nowhere are those antics more obvious than in the gospel stories about him.

First, his name was originally “Simon.” It was Jesus who gave him the nickname “Peter,” meaning “Rock.” I am sure the other apostles might have thought that “Mr. McGoo” or “Marshmallow Man” would have been more like it. He was always rushing into delicate situations, bragging and making a scene, then falling on his face at the end.

He and the other apostles, in one gospel, are out on a lake in a storm. They are struggling at the oars against the huge waves trying to get to shore, when all of a sudden, they look up and see Jesus walking on the water toward them. Peter, as always, sticks his foot in his mouth.  “Lord, if it is really you, let me walk on the water toward you!” Jesus invites him to get out of the boat and walk toward him. Peter, out of the boat, out into deep water and in high winds, begins to sink. “Lord, help me! I’m going to drown!” Jesus had to rescue him at the last minute.

At the transfiguration, after having been through a powerful religious experience, Peter does not know how to handle it except to open his big mouth and make the outrageous suggestion that the experience be made permanent. “Wow, Jesus, this is so cool! Let’s set up tents and just stay up here forever!”  Jesus is forced to explain to Peter the whole purpose of their peak experience was to strengthen them for the tough days ahead, not something that could be frozen in time!

At the Last Supper when Jesus approached Peter to wash his feet, overcome with humility, Peter begins to protest that he would never allow such a thing! When Jesus explains to him that if he would not allow it, then he could never be a part of him, Peter throws it in reverse! “Well, if that is the case, then wash my hands and head as well! Wash me all over!”  With Peter, it is always an “all or nothing” proposition.

When Jesus predicts that he will be betrayed by one of his disciples, Peter jumps into the discussion to brag. “Even if everyone else abandons you, I will never abandon you!” Not too much later, after Jesus is arrested and the heat is on, Peter denies Jesus - not once, not twice, but three times! “Jesus who?  Certainly, not me! Please, woman, I don’t know who you are talking about!” 

Then there is today’s story of Peter out fishing again after the resurrection. It is so typical of Peter. First, it tells us that Peter was stripped to the waist so that he could haul the wet nets back into his fishing boat. When he is told that Jesus was on the shore, he gets so flustered and excited that it says he “puts on his clothes first and then jumps into the water.” You can just imagine Jesus laughing as he sees Peter dragging himself out of the water with soggy clothes, dripping wet, and gushing with enthusiasm.

Second, it tells us that when Jesus asked Peter for some of the fish he caught to put on the grill he had fired up on the beach, Peter runs back to the boat and drags the net to Jesus, dumping 153 large fish at his feet.  You can almost hear him say breathlessly, “There! How’s that? Is that enough? If not, I’ll be happy to go get some more!” Jesus, knee-deep in fish, probably shook his head in laughter at Peter’s impulsive need to please. Like always, good old St. Peter couldn’t help himself. He was driven to over-compensate for his failures yet again! Jesus, no doubt, sees the big heart inside his clumsy klutz of an apostle, Peter!

When they finish breakfast, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loved him! It sounds so much like teasing him to me! It’s almost like Jesus saying, “Remember before my death when you denied me three times? Well, I am going to give you a chance to take it back!” Each time Jesus asks Peter if he loved him, Peter answers with increasing firmness, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you!” Behind his words, you can imagine Jesus seeing in his expression, “Lord, I am sorry! I was scared! I was a coward! Forgive me!”

Peter should give us all hope. He always teaches me a lot about our relationship to God. Reading about him, I have come to believe that God is more interested in our goodhearted attempts to be faithful than our mistakes and failures. God, I have come to believe, wants a relationship with us, no matter how rocky it might be!