Leave Your Boat: The Four Calls of Jesus in John 21

Maybe your Christian life looks like those disciples who fished all night and caught nothing. You've tried everything, you've done your best, and your everyday life feels empty. Or maybe you're like Peter, carrying a past that weighs on you and a shame that keeps you from moving forward. In the very last chapter of his Gospel, John tells how Jesus prepared his disciples for the mission he was about to entrust to them. He does exactly four things with them. And he's addressing those same four calls to you today.

This sermon, preached at Momentum in the series "From the Table to the Mission," is based on John 21. Remember the context: Jesus has risen, he's appearing to his disciples in brief moments, but nothing has been settled yet. Peter denied him three times. The others abandoned him. How is this handful of broken men going to become the church that sets the world on fire? Jesus needs to do some work. He does it on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, around a charcoal fire and a meal he prepared for them. Here are the four calls he issues, and the question to ask yourself at each one.

Article Outline

1. Leave your boat: accept that Jesus will crash into your everyday life
2. Let yourself be restored: Jesus isn't afraid of your past
3. Leave the beach: the Christian life isn't just about comfort
4. Stop comparing: "You, follow me"
5. Key takeaways
6. Personal application
7. Verses cited
8. FAQ

1. Leave your boat: accept that Jesus will crash into your everyday life

The disciples had returned to Galilee at Jesus' command. He had told them to wait for him there. Time drags on, and Peter goes back to his trade. "I'm going fishing," he says, and the others follow him. They're professional fishermen, and yet that night, they catch nothing. In the morning, a voice calls to them from the shore to throw the net on the right side of the boat. They obey, and the net fills up miraculously. John is the first to recognize Jesus, because Jesus has just repeated the very miracle by which he had called him and Peter at the very beginning (see Luke 5:1-11).

Look at Peter: he couldn't care less about the fish. They've just made an extraordinary catch, they could sell it, distribute it, build a business out of it. Peter jumps into the water because the boat isn't moving fast enough toward Jesus. He ties his coat around his waist and swims.

This is the condition for any true revival: when your love for the person of Jesus far outweighs your love for what he can give you. When what matters to you in the Christian life is no longer whether the service made you feel good, but whether you're honoring Jesus for the perfect sacrifice he made on the cross. When you're ready to drop everything just to be with him.

So the question is simple: are you ready, like Peter, to leave your boat? Are you ready to let Jesus crash head-on into your everyday life? Maybe you're tired. Tired of having tried everything. Tired of having "fished all night" and caught nothing. Your daily life is empty, it's lost its meaning. There's a voice that can change everything, and there's a God calling you to come to the fire he's prepared, to the meal he's set out, to have communion with him.

If all of this is new to you, take a step today. Don't walk away from what you're reading telling yourself you'll deal with it later. Bend the knee. Say yes. Go talk to an elder at your church to learn who Jesus is. Stop watching him from a distance through other Christians: experience him for yourself.

2. Let yourself be restored: Jesus isn't afraid of your past

The meal is finished. The mood is good. And then Jesus breaks the mood. He turns to Peter and asks him the same question three times: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" (John 21:15-17). Peter answers three times that he loves him. And three times, Jesus answers him: "Feed my lambs. Shepherd my sheep. Feed my sheep."

You need to understand what's happening here. Peter no longer feels legitimate. He denied Jesus three times, publicly, in front of witnesses. He thinks he's done for. But Jesus is on an important mission: Peter needs to become a pillar of the church, and he won't be able to go out and reap a harvest if he isn't first restored in proportion to his failure.

Jesus' method is remarkable, and it applies to you too. Look closely.

He restores in proportion to the offense. Peter's offense was public, so the restoration will be public. Jesus doesn't pull Peter aside. He does it in front of the others, under their eyes, so that those who saw him fall would see him lifted back up.

He crushes pride to cover it with love. Peter had made grand promises: "Even if everyone else abandons you, I will not." He didn't keep that promise. Jesus' first question targets that exact point: "Do you love me more than these?" Pride is broken so that the love of Christ can finally take its full place. Later, Peter would write as an elder among elders, without wrapping himself in his status as an apostle (1 Peter 5:1-4). He understood.

He never questions Peter's love for him. Jesus doesn't say to him, "If you really loved me, why did you betray me?" Instead, he sends him back into mission every single time: "Do you love me? Then go feed my flock. Do you love me? Then go feed my flock. Do you love me? Then go feed my flock." It's a way of saying: "Peter, yes, we're still friends. Yes, I love you. And more than that, I'm entrusting my flock to you again."

Understand this well: time doesn't heal the baggage you carry. Forgiveness does. Time doesn't. And there's a hard paradox to accept: when you're wounded, you did nothing to deserve it, and yet you have to choose to heal. You didn't choose to be hurt, and yet there's a step you have to take to be restored.

The danger is that, over time, the wound becomes your identity. You no longer know how to function without it. And if you're a Christian, you actually fall into sin, because your identity should be built on one thing alone: Christ, and Christ crucified.

You need to hear this: you are not too broken for Jesus Christ. There's no one in a state of life or sin too far gone for grace to reach. It's actually the opposite. Jesus is a specialist in restoration. He takes what believes itself too broken, and he sets it back on its feet.

This is going to cost you courage. You'll need to ask for support. You may need to ask forgiveness from those you've offended, and forgive those who've offended you. These are the two heaviest weights chained to our feet: forgiveness not given and forgiveness not received. And God doesn't tolerate unforgiveness, because it keeps you away from the mission he wants to entrust to you. Don't look for shortcuts. Don't look for ways around difficult situations. Let the Holy Spirit transform you. You're not only called to leave the boat, you're also called to leave behind your past, your wounds, your pain.

3. Leave the beach: the Christian life isn't just about comfort

Restoring Peter isn't enough. Jesus sends him back into mission, and that's the third call: "Follow me" (John 21:19). You cannot be fully restored if Jesus doesn't also send you into mission. The two go together. He doesn't restore you for your own sake alone. He restores you for himself and for his kingdom.

The goal of Christianity isn't personal development. It isn't feeling better. It's accomplishing the will of God. And what's remarkable is that God even wants to use the very place where you're broken, not only to repair you, but so that through your repair, others would be repaired too.

In verse 18, Jesus says something hard to Peter: "When you were younger, you dressed yourself and walked where you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you don't want to go." John explains: he said this to indicate by what death Peter would glorify God. In other words, Jesus is telling him he will die crucified, arms outstretched, led to the place of execution.

Two enormous truths are packed into this statement. The first: "Peter, yes, you were a coward. You denied me. But you will suffer the same death as me, and so you will never deny me again. That past is truly behind you." The second: serving Christ also means accepting a measure of suffering. The Christian life isn't only suffering, don't misunderstand me. But our world will do anything to avoid hardship and sweat, and in doing so we forget that anything beautiful and valuable requires commitment. Storming the darkness to bring the light of Jesus where it reigns, yes, that's a battle, and a battle is never fought without wounds.

So take a look at your Christian life. If it amounts to showing up for church services, consuming the church's activities, and having good moments in your room worshiping God, that's not the whole of the Christian life. A Christian who doesn't use what God has placed in him for the body of Christ is robbing Jesus Christ. Those are strong words, but they're true: Jesus has placed talents, gifts, callings, and dreams in you so that you would put them to work for his church.

There's a trap every church eventually falls into: 80% of the work falls on 20% of the members. If you're in the 20%, this paragraph isn't for you. But if you're in the 80%, listen: that's not the normal Christian life. We're all called, with different gifts, to come and serve. And this may require you to give up an activity you enjoy. To turn down a promotion that would cost you time with Christ and your family. To take a step of faith you've been putting off for far too long.

Yes, it's exhausting. But we've never been happier than when giving God what we have, even when it isn't much, because that's when something incredible happens. Leave the beach.

4. Stop comparing: "You, follow me"

The last call comes right after. Peter follows Jesus, turns around, sees John behind them, and asks the most human question in the world: "Lord, and what about him?" Jesus answers with something we can sum up plainly: "What is that to you? You follow me" (John 21:20-22).

Stop comparing. Stop looking at the person with a bigger gift than yours, the one God uses differently, the one with a more visible role. A worship team destroys itself when its singers start comparing themselves to each other. A church destroys itself when the people serving, instead of celebrating the diversity of gifts and encouraging one another, start measuring themselves against each other.

What you need isn't to know what God is doing in your brother's or sister's life. It's to obey more fully what he's telling you. It's to follow Jesus by faith wherever he places you, however he places you, and then to let him carry you.

In comparison, you will always lose. There will always be someone stronger, more gifted, more visible than you. The only comparison that's biblically valid is the one Paul describes in Galatians 6:4: compare yourself to yourself. Are you, today, closer to Jesus than you were yesterday? Are you following him better? That's the only comparison that matters.

And notice how John, right after, steps in. He's careful to correct the rumor going around: Jesus never said he wouldn't die. John has no interest in people thinking of him as some extraordinary disciple. That's probably why he never names himself in his own Gospel: he always uses phrases like "the disciple whom Jesus loved." John doesn't want to be the main character of his own book. He wants to disappear into the work of Christ.

This is what we tell people before their baptism: your life, in itself, isn't what matters. Our lives are like a canvas on which God comes to paint a story. What interests the one looking isn't the canvas, or the frame, or the blank background. It's the artist's work. Your ambition should be that your life becomes that canvas showing Jesus, not you. That the only thing written on your gravestone could be: "Was faithful to Jesus Christ to the end."

And if you're already serving, examine how you're serving. Am I comparing myself to others? Am I glorifying myself? Is it my service that gives me my worth? Here's a very simple test: if your main question, when you think about your church, is "what's my place here?", it means you believe your service creates your identity. You have your place because Jesus Christ calls you to it, full stop. He alone is what makes you legitimate.

Key Takeaways

• Jesus' first call is to drop your boat: to come to him for himself, not for what he can give you.
• You are never too broken for Christ. Jesus restores in proportion to the offense, crushes pride to cover it with love, and sends you back into mission.
• Forgiveness not given and forgiveness not received are the two heaviest weights holding you back. God does not tolerate unforgiveness.
• The Christian life isn't just about consuming church activities: don't rob Christ of the gifts he's placed in you.
• The only comparison that matters is with yourself: are you, today, closer to Jesus than you were yesterday?

Personal Application

• What "boat" is Jesus asking you to leave today so you can come to him simply for himself?
• Is there a sin, committed or suffered, in your past, that you've turned into part of your identity? Who at your church can you talk to this week to begin a path toward restoration?
• Is there someone you need to ask forgiveness from, or someone you need to choose to forgive? What's the next concrete step?
• Are you in the 20% carrying your church, or the 80% consuming it? What gift has Jesus placed in you that you're not yet putting to work for the body?
• Take two minutes: who do you regularly compare yourself to at church? Name that person before God and ask for the grace to rejoice in their gift instead of measuring it against yours.

Verses Cited

• John 21 · the appearance on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias and the restoration of Peter
• John 21:15-17 · "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
• John 21:18-19 · the death by which Peter would glorify God
• John 21:20-22 · "You, follow me"
• Luke 5:1-11 · the first miraculous catch and the calling of Peter
• 1 Peter 5:1-4 · Peter writes as an elder among elders
• Galatians 6:4 · let each one test their own work

FAQ

Why does Jesus ask Peter three times if he loves him?

Because Peter had denied him three times. Each denial corresponds to a confession and a renewed commissioning into mission. Jesus isn't trying to humiliate Peter, he's helping him feel the full weight of his failure so he can then cover it with love and tell him, each time: "Feed my sheep." Restoration comes through truth, and here the truth needed to be acknowledged three times to be truly released.

Why does Jesus restore Peter publicly instead of privately?

Because Peter's failure was public. Another disciple was present the night of the denial, and word got around. Peter was humiliated in front of others, so Jesus restores him in front of others. God's restoration always matches the scale of the offense. What you've carried publicly, he can lift from you publicly.

Does "leaving the beach" mean giving up the comfort of being a Christian?

It means not turning Christianity into consumption. Enjoying good moments of worship, coming to church, feeling good there: all of that is beautiful, but it isn't the whole of Christianity. Jesus has placed talents, gifts, and dreams in you so that you'd put them to work for his church and for the world. If your faith never translates into concrete commitment, you're missing part of what Jesus wants to do through you.