Rebooting…

For those of us who are not techno-geeks, computers are a bit of a mystery. Maybe we understand that they operate by programs that are made up of a computer language that we call code, maybe not. We have heard about hackers, viruses and spam, but we might not understand what these are or what they do to our computer. We surely understand the frustration that happens when the mouse stops working, or the screen freezes, or for that matter, everything turns blue. If we use a computer a lot, then we know that rebooting is an accepted part of using them. Sometimes it is a “soft” reboot, sometimes it is a “hard” reboot. Sometimes we lose our data, sometimes we don’t. That’s why we are all encouraged to constantly be backing up our data. Our hope? When the reboot is done, we will be able once again to have a functional computer.
Following Jesus requires the ability to reboot, sometimes again and again. We have a great biblical example of this in the life of Peter. One of the first of those who were called to “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” he was clearly right in the thick of Jesus’ ministry. His mother-in-law was healed and he was present for many of Jesus’ miracles. He confessed that Christ was the Messiah and saw him transfigured. But Peter crashed big time on the night that Jesus was crucified. Hanging around while Jesus was being questioned by the authorities, he was asked three times: “Aren’t you one of his followers?” Three times Peter’s answer: “I am not.” Fear caused Peter’s operating system to fail and even after Jesus had appeared to his followers after he was raised from the dead he still wasn’t functioning.
His solution: “I’m going fishing.” But even that didn’t work. They fished all night and caught nothing. Jesus shows up and tells them to fish on the other side of the boat and they start to catch plenty and then John turns to Peter and tells him “It’s the Lord.” Right then and there Peter starts his reboot: He jumps in the water and heads for shore.
Jesus then takes Peter through the reboot process: “Do you love me?” Yes. “Feed my lambs.” “Do you love me?” Yes. “Shepherd my sheep.” “Do you love me?” You know I do. “Tend my sheep.” And then, “Follow Me!” Reboot complete!
It’s not that hard to crash. We can get hung up on religious rituals and behaviors and forget how to love yourself and others. We can get so righteous that we have to break fellowship with fellow believers. We can get depressed. Recessions and unemployment can throw us for a loop. Sickness or death will mess with our hope and our faith. We lose our ability to function. The beauty of God’s grace is that he has made a way for us to reboot and return to functioning. Fear overcomes you? Walk in my love!
You can’t prevent failure, but you can reboot! This is good news, don’t you think?