Saturday’s Mission Moment: Déjà vu All Over Again

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I read online that Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod) retired from baseball but will stay on with the Yankees in some capacity as a special assistant. I enjoyed watching Alex when he was with the Mariners, but not so much since he left the team. During the last few years A-Rod has become one of the most polarizing figures in sports. A not-so polarizing Yankee figure from years ago was legend Yogi Berra who was known for his saying like, “It ain’t over till it’s over” and maybe his most famous, “It’s like Déjà vu all over again!”

I am sure this is how some of my Chinese students feel as we repeat words or sentences over and over again. It offers me an opportunity to hear and perhaps correct their pronunciation, but to them it’s boring. I wonder if the Disciples felt déjà vu when they saw Jesus standing on the shore in John 21. Perhaps discouraged and distracted by their own actions of deserting Jesus at the time of his greatest need, they had abandoned their calling to follow Jesus and returned to their previous occupation-fishing.

But after a fruitless night of fishing, a voice from the shore called out, “cast your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some” (John 21:6). When they did, the nets were so full that they couldn’t be dragged in. No doubt their minds raced back to their first encounter with Jesus when he stood on the shore of their careers and, after another miraculous catch of fish, called them to leave their nets to follow him.

Like the Disciples, we may want to return to our own agendas when we get discouraged in our walk with Christ. But then Jesus shows up again on the shore of our lives to extend forgiveness to draw us back to those moments when he first called us. It’s like Déjà vu all over again.

Grace and peace.

Steve