Simon Peter is pretty famous for being the Disciple who, after the dream had come to a crashing end with the death of Jesus, decided to go back home and pick up where he left off.  "I’m going fishing," he said.  The others went with him. "Come on, guys," you imagine him saying to them, "it’s over. No more religious superstardom. No more changing the world. We can’t do any of it now he’s gone. We need to get our feet back on the ground and just keep on keeping on. "  So they go back to their trade. And it’s right there while they are fishing on the lake (though with singular lack of success) that they meet Jesus again.

This story is nearly always preached with a kind of negative spin for Peter, as if going back to fishing was giving up too easily, as if he should have stayed and waited longer.  I guess if you do that thing of adding all the gospels together into one account, you might think that Jesus had said "stay" and he decided otherwise. I don’t think it’s quite that clear.  It was Luke who had Jesus saying "stay in the city"; this story comes in John 21, and may well be a later addition to John’s gospel (if you read it you’ll see that the book appears to conclude at the end of chapter 20)
But in any case, if you were Simon Peter, what would you have done?   

I don’t find much solace in meditating on whether it was an indication of despair or bad faith that made Simon go back to his fishing nets. More to the point is what happened when he did: he was found by Jesus.  Here’s the moment of solace – when you are lost, and don’t know what to do next, no matter whether you wait in the religious space for Jesus, or whether you go back to your everyday situation, he will find you there. Let’s face it, most of the time we have no idea what the "right" thing to do is, let alone whether it has God’s seal of approval. Most of the time we make the best decisions we can manage at the time, and get on with it. Some of the time we barely even make a decision, life just happens to us.  But the point is that it’s not up to us to find God, it’s God who will find us. And his finding us doesnt’ depend upon us being in the "right" place. Whether you make a good decision, a bad decision or just a humdrum everyday OK decision, wherever it lands you, He will find you there.  And when he does, he will restore you, bless you, and give you your breakfast.

(This idea was sparked off by a rather good sermon last night, given by the Rev’d Dr Simon Perry, at Churchill College, where  Churchill, Fitz and Robinson College Chapels had a joint service.  He didn’t exactly say this, but he kind of set the framework for this idea to grow. )