As I have mentioned before, I grew up in a small West Texas town. There are times in a rural town when entertainment choices are made which seem strange to those who are not familiar with life in small town West Texas.
One of those entertainment choices my friends and I participated in, on occasion, was rabbit hunting. Please understand that I am not talking about the nice little bunnies you want to cuddle with, but rather the jackrabbits that run wild over the plains of West Texas. I am sure that if we did not do our part by hunting them, there would be scenes reminiscent of the movie “The Birds,” except with rabbits, all over West Texas. Maybe this is my attempt at justification, but please understand we were kids simply looking for something to do. On top of this, we were not very good shots, so the rabbits usually won anyway.
On one particular night, we were driving through the pastures looking for rabbits, and we ended up getting lost. The problem was that on this night the moon was absent from the sky, and clouds covered the few visible stars. This night was in stark contrast to many nights in West Texas where the moon and stars light up the landscape. This night was dark, and we could not see well enough to get our bearings. We began to drive until we were able to find some higher ground and could look out across the vast blackness that covered the land.
In the distance, we could see a slight glow of city lights. Then as we continued to stare into the night, we saw two other bunches of lights from cities in the distance. The cities we saw were Colorado City (30 miles away), Big Spring (50 miles away) and Midland (80 miles away). The lights of these cities penetrated the darkness and gave us our bearings and we could find our way home.
Peter is such a wonderful character in the Bible and in John 21. Peter received a wonderful gift from the risen Christ. The miraculous catch of fish is a powerful story and we see the excitement Peter demonstrated when he realized Jesus was on the beach. He jumped into the water, which he had done before, and got to Jesus as fast as he could.
Peter was happy and relieved Jesus was alive, but there must have been something dark within Peter. Peter still was living with the fact that he had denied the one he loved three times before Jesus’ crucifixion. In Jesus’ greatest moment of need, Peter failed Jesus.
Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is our self. I think that even though Peter was excited, he was in a dark place. When the going had gotten tough, he had failed. How could Peter be the rock of the church if the last time Jesus needed him, he had run? Peter needed to experience Jesus in a very personal way in order to eliminate the darkness hidden deep within.
Jesus spoke directly to Peter and asked him a simple question three consecutive times, “Peter, do you love me?” Did Jesus not hear Peter’s answer, or did he just want to annoy Peter by repeating himself? Of course not, Jesus was allowing Peter to realize that for every time he had denied Christ, Jesus was willing to forgive and redeem.
Even though Peter had failed Jesus, Jesus was not giving up on him and would never fail him. This is an amazing scene. Jesus removed the doubt and frustration Peter must have felt because of his failure and replaced that darkness with purpose and unconditional love.
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Jesus overcame the darkness in Peter’s life by doing more than helping Peter understand his love for Jesus. Jesus also called Peter to live out that love by telling others about the risen Christ and following him wherever he called. In order for Peter to step out of the darkness of failure and doubt, he had to acknowledge his love for the Savior and follow the Lord—even if following Jesus would lead to the darkest places on earth.
As we follow the life of Peter, we see he clearly stepped into the light of Christ and lived his life in complete service and dedication to Jesus.
Each of us have dark areas in our life caused by sin, regret, doubt and failure. We may be able to hide them from the rest of the world, but those dark areas are known by God. When we feel like we are not qualified and have let the one we love down, Jesus is whispering to us, “Do you love me?” Jesus wants us to know that no matter what we have done or how we have failed, he still loves us.
Not only does he love us, but Christ is calling us to follow him and share the love we have experienced with those who do not know Christ. In fact, if we do not commit to follow Christ, we will not experience the full light Christ is offering us. Without committed followers of Christ, the light Christ has unleashed in the world will not penetrate the darkness as effectively.
When I was in the darkness, in the back of a truck, on the top of a hill, seeing the light penetrating the darkness from so far away gave a sense of hope and confidence that I knew which way to go. When the darkness of sin and death surrounds you and threatens to consume you, look into the darkness, and you will see a light; a light that is overcoming the darkness around you and giving you hope and confidence to follow him even through the darkness.
Jesus’ light has overcome the darkness of this world, but we still need to reflect that light to those still living in the darkness. We need to be like the lights of those cities were to me so many years ago. We have a message that brings light into the darkness of people’s lives. Live your life so that the penetrating light of Christ will shine brightly through you.
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