Love on the Beach

I had no idea God loves beaches, or can even be found there.

I was first introduced to God through Bible stories, at school, in Sunday School, and singing in a choir. I was a young boy and he seemed to live in church and chapel, be strict like a school teacher, and do whatever he does far away from me. Whenever we prayed or sang the words we used were handed to us ,written by clever people. The message I ingested was that anything I had to offer was not nearly good enough for God.

I met Jesus in my early teens when I attended a youth group. The songs were simple and contemporary. For the first time I heard people talking to God in their own words. We played games, went for weekend camps, and journeyed to the beach. I met ordinary working adults who talked and prayed as if they knew Jesus like a friend. I learned that he wanted to be my friend as well. Eventually I quietly asked him to come into my heart, forgive me for my wrongdoings, and make himself real. There was no flashbang of revelation, instead a quiet assurance began to grow inside me of God and Jesus being real and personal.

That encounter shaped my life. Far from perfect, I have questioned, followed, obeyed, run away, rebelled, argued, and been disillusioned more than once. I’ve been frustrated with God, angry at his apparent indifference at times, and sometimes even given up on him. But that posture never lasts and whenever I seek him out I encounter his extraordinary love on the beach.

Let me explain.

If you have ever been involved with Christianity you will have discovered this sad truism. When you first arrive at a church it doesn’t matter what you have done, or how you are getting on, you will be welcomed. Lots of promises of God changing your life etc. However, once you are a familiar face and have identified yourself as a follower of Jesus things can get tough. If you fail, fall, blur the lines, or break the unwritten rules – and are found out; more often than not you will be judged, distanced, and even pushed aside. It’s not the heart of God, it’s a manifestation of the ‘prunish love’ discussed in the previous blog. The irony is that when we most need ‘our tribe’, when we are most vulnerable, or even rebellious, the generosity and hospitality of those first encounters is now conditional, or has evaporated.

And that’s when Jesus steps in, revealing his unconditional love on the beach.

One of my favorite scenes is after the resurrection, a few days beyond the trauma of the crucifixion. Peter and a handful of his friends (other disciples) were fishing in Galilee. They had retreated to their previous life before meeting Jesus. Three years earlier they had met him on the same shores, witnessed his miracles, and been mesmerized by his teachings. They were stunned when he invited them to follow him. Events over the ensuing years exceeded anything they could ever have imagined.

But with the highs came the lows. The deepest of which was undoubtedly the violence of the crucifixion, and the cowardice and fear that caused the disciples to flee from Jesus, denying any friendship or relationship. Their magnificent balloon had burst spectacularly. Promises and expectations were shattered. All they had hoped speared and brutally ended by Jewish authorities and Roman soldiers. “They always win!”

There was no point in making excuses. And there were many more questions than answers.

That night of depressed fishing in Galilee yielded nothing. They were tired, tempers frayed, guilt-ridden, unsure of where to go. As the dawn broke and they drifted closer to the shoreline they noticed a fire burning beside a solitary figure. It was a bleary-eyed and very dejected Peter who suddenly became wide-eyed, pulled on his clothes, and jumped into the water exclaiming, “That’s Jesus!”

The rest is history. A drenched Peter embraced in the arms of Jesus on a rocky beach. Fish cooking on the fire, welcomes, smiles, affirmations, and familiar camaraderie. Eventually, in the most sensitive manner imaginable, Jesus and Peter locked eyes. Jesus restored Peter’s spirit and heart through acknowledgement, confession, forgiveness, and recommissioning. It wasn’t humiliating or even clear and precise. Simply a question asked three times and responded to three times. “Do you love me?” “Yes you know I do.”

Volumes could be written about what transpired on that beach. The unconditional love of God/Jesus expressed through fire, food, presence, embrace, forgiveness, and the opportunity to carry on. When at their most vulnerable, most guilty, and most disqualified, those disciples experienced first-hand what they had witnessed time and again while following Jesus. They had seen him welcome little children, touch lepers and heal, acknowledge women with dignity, show no condemnation to adulterers, prostitutes, thieves, and a host of others. Secretly they always thought they were special, not quite as needy as those who thronged and clamored to touch this rabbi from Nazareth.

On that beach they were only too well aware of their failure, their hypocrisy, and their cowardice. They couldn’t walk the talk when things got rough. They weren’t as brave, not so loyal, and certainly failed miserably in their trusting in a faith in God to sustain, protect, and provide for them.

On that beach the love of Jesus lifted them up. In essence he realigned them with the core of his life and message. When you are weak I am strong, when you have no wisdom trust in me, when you have no resources I will provide. The life of faith is not about me/Jesus/God relying on you; it’s the other way around. It’s about you learning to rely on me in your best and worst moments.

The deepest truth is that human beings will always be failing, falling, making the wrong choices, needing forgiveness, and requiring opportunities to begin again. Jesus demonstrated on that beach what love looks like, expressed to those with whom we have walked before life went unpredictably wrong. All of us will experience moments when we are drifting in a boat dejected and wondering what just happened. But sadly, too few will share the experience of the early disciples; where the aroma of fire and fish reaches out from familiar faces on a nearby shore, acceptance draws us in, and hope releases us into new adventures with the confidence to try again.

It’s never too late. Instead of waiting for others to light fires perhaps we can dare to be the difference we long to see and experience. Jesus’ expression of love on the beach transcended intellectual debate, theology, doctrines, and politics. It was quite simply God in human form reaching out to weak and wet humans and helping them find purpose and meaning again. When they least deserve it. Our friends. Remember?

I love that possibility and it’s my foundation and hope. He’s great at loving from the beach, I’m still learning.

I just want to speak the name of Jesus
Over every heart and every mind
I know there is peace within Your presence
I speak Jesus

I just want to speak the name of Jesus
Till every dark addiction starts to break
Declaring there is hope and there is freedom
I speak Jesus

Your name is power
Your name is healing
Your name is life
Break every stronghold
Shine through the shadows
Burn like a fire

I just want to speak the name of Jesus
Over fear and all anxiety
To every soul held captive by depression
I speak Jesus

Your name is power
Your name is healing
Your name is life
Break every stronghold
Shine through the shadows
Burn like the fire

Shout Jesus from the mountains
Jesus in the streets
Jesus in the darkness over every enemy
Jesus for my family
I speak the holy name
Jesus

Shout Jesus from the mountains
Jesus in the streets
Jesus in the darkness over every enemy
Jesus for my family
I speak the holy name
Jesus

Your name is power
Your name is healing
Your name is life
Break every stronghold
Shine through the shadows
Burn like a fire

Your name is power
Your name is healing
Your name is life
Break every stronghold
Shine through the shadows
Burn like a fire

I just want to speak the name of Jesus
Over every heart and every mind
Cause I know there is peace within Your presence
I speak Jesus