SPEAKER_00: Today is what happens after Easter meets real life.
SPEAKER_00: Then this is what we've been talking about all this week.
SPEAKER_00: Because it's one thing to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, it's another thing to live it, to be transformed.
SPEAKER_00: Most especially when things get hard.
SPEAKER_00: If we look at the gospel, Peter says, I'm going fishing.
SPEAKER_00: That sounds simple enough, but it's not.
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot behind this.
SPEAKER_00: He's going back.
SPEAKER_00: Back to what he knows, back to what is familiar, back to life before everything changed.
SPEAKER_00: Because if we're honest, that's what we do.
SPEAKER_00: After a high moment, maybe after you've gone to a retreat, after Easter, after you've had this incredible encounter with Christ, maybe you were volunteering, you had an incredible experience, after it fades, we drift back.
SPEAKER_00: And what happens?
SPEAKER_00: They fish all night and they catch nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Not a little, nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Because life without Christ, even when you're doing what you're good at, eventually feels empty.
SPEAKER_00: And then what happens?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus shows up quietly, standing on the shore, no fanfare.
SPEAKER_00: They don't even recognize him.
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes Jesus is present and we're still stuck in the old patterns.
SPEAKER_00: And it's all about me, me, me.
SPEAKER_00: I can't see past me.
SPEAKER_00: But then he asks them a simple question.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, have you caught anything?
SPEAKER_00: They say no.
SPEAKER_00: And then he tells them, Well, cast your net on the other side.
SPEAKER_00: And that changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's not that they were in the wrong boat, they were fishing the wrong way.
SPEAKER_00: Same life, same work, same direction, and suddenly an abundance.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if we go to the first reading, Peter is no longer fishing.
SPEAKER_00: He's standing in front of the authorities, the same ones who had Jesus crucified, and they ask him, Let me ask you something.
SPEAKER_00: By what power and by what name?
SPEAKER_00: Why are you doing this?
SPEAKER_00: Who gave you permission to do this?
SPEAKER_00: Peter doesn't hesitate, no fear, no backing down.
SPEAKER_00: He says, In the name of Jesus Christ, whom you crucified, whom God raised.
SPEAKER_00: This is not the same Peter.
SPEAKER_00: This is a man who knows who he is and whose he is, who he belongs to.
SPEAKER_00: And then he says something that cuts straight through everything.
SPEAKER_00: He says, There is no other name by which we are to be saved.
SPEAKER_00: Not one of many options, not one path among many, the name of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the connection between the two readings.
SPEAKER_00: Before the resurrection, Peter goes back.
SPEAKER_00: After the resurrection, Peter stands firm.
SPEAKER_00: Before he fishes all night and catches nothing.
SPEAKER_00: After he trusts Christ and everything changes.
SPEAKER_00: And that's where this becomes very real for us.
SPEAKER_00: Because we have all had this tendency to go back to the same old, same old, back to old habits, back to old ways of the way of thinking, old versions of ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Even after encountering Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus doesn't just shame Peter for that.
SPEAKER_00: He meets him there, on the shore, in the ordinary, and he redirects him.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he's doing with all of us.
SPEAKER_00: Not asking you to become someone else overnight, but asking you to stop doing life your way, trying to control everything, trying to control the narrative to the very last point.
SPEAKER_00: And he's asking you to trust him, to trust his plan, to trust his way.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the question for you today.
SPEAKER_00: Where are you going back to?
SPEAKER_00: What habits have you slipped back into?
SPEAKER_00: What mindset are you holding on to?
SPEAKER_00: Where are you trying to do life on your own and coming up empty?
SPEAKER_00: Because maybe the issue isn't your life, maybe it's the direction.
SPEAKER_00: You need to cast the net on the other side.
SPEAKER_00: That's the invitation.
SPEAKER_00: Try it his way.
SPEAKER_00: Even if it doesn't make any sense, even if it's small.
SPEAKER_00: And then we get to one of the most beautiful lines in all of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: When they realize that it's Jesus, Peter jumps into the water.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't wait, doesn't calculate, he moves.
SPEAKER_00: That's what happens when you recognize him.
SPEAKER_00: You don't stay in the boat.
SPEAKER_00: And then this is key.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus already had breakfast prepared, fish, bread, fire, before they bring anything.
SPEAKER_00: Which means God is not waiting for you to get everything right, to have everything.
SPEAKER_00: No, he's already there.
SPEAKER_00: He's already prepared everything.
SPEAKER_00: He's already providing for you.
SPEAKER_00: He's already inviting you.
SPEAKER_00: Come, I've already made breakfast for you.
SPEAKER_00: It's not dry, that's not dramatic.
SPEAKER_00: That's personal.
SPEAKER_00: That's a relationship.
SPEAKER_00: That's someone who loves.
SPEAKER_00: The resurrection is not just about victory over death.
SPEAKER_00: It's about a relationship that continues daily, personally.
SPEAKER_00: So today, my brothers and sisters, don't just believe in the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: Live it.
SPEAKER_00: Trust him.
SPEAKER_00: Follow him.
SPEAKER_00: And when you recognize him, don't hesitate.
SPEAKER_00: Jump.
SPEAKER_00: Because the same Jesus who stood on that shore is standing on the edge of your life right now and saying, Come on, try it my way.
SPEAKER_00: Your way hasn't worked.
SPEAKER_00: I promise you greatness.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.