"Oh," he said, "I go sometimes. But it would be rather

odd for me to belong. I’m an atheist."

It turned out that in his earlier life this man was as

faithful to God as he knew how. But a crisis came when

he really needed God and it seemed as though God didn’t

come through. He felt that God had let him down. Then

he began to wonder whether God ever existed.

Ever since, this man has been sitting on the sidelines

encouraging his wife to go to fellowship and do things

for God while he continues to nurse his doubts.

What’s he doing by encouraging his wife to go to

fellowship? He’s sending her to the tomb to find out

whether Jesus is dead or alive. One day she’s going

to come home with the message his heart is dying to

hear. She’s going to come home, and she’s not going

to say,

We had a nice crowd, it was a good

meeting."

She’s going to come home and say,

"Jack, he’s alive! He’s alive! And

you're going to see him soon."

How many of us attend meetings to pay our respects to

a faith we once had. We can look back at a time when

God was very real and Jesus Christ was close. But then

something happened that knocked the pins away and our

faith collapsed.

Some of us then went to the other extreme. Like the

prodigal son, we turned our back on God and went into

a far country and began to live as if there were no

God. We lived only for ourselves.

If you have ever turned your back on God and gone into

that far country, you know what happens. Pretty soon

you’re all spent out. There’s a famine in that land.

You come to the point where nothing satisfies,

nothing works. There’s

nothing to live for. And you end up like the prodigal

son, feeding the swine,

serving demons.

Moods,

fears,

regrets, begin to plague you

until one day you come to your senses and say to your-

self, "Maybe I should go home to my Father."

So you start limping home. You don’t know whether God

will hear you or not. You’re still full of doubts as you

draw nearer to your Father’s home. Your heart trembles.

"Is he there? And if he’s there, will he

accept me?"

This is how Peter felt that first Easter morning. He was

out of it. He didn’t feel like going to the tomb to

finish burying the man he had denied and forsaken in a

moment of disappointment.

"What’s the good of it anyway, he’s dead.

The whole thing’s finished. I just wasted

three years of my life. And if something

wonderful should happen, if by some fantastic

miracle Jesus should be alive, how could I

ever face him again?"

So, Peter stayed home while the women went to the tomb

to finish the burial.

"And entering into the sepulchre they saw a

young man sitting on the right side clothed

in a long while garment and they were afraid.

And he saith unto them, 'Be not afraid. Ye

seek Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified.

He is not here, he is risen. Behold the

place where they laid him. But go your way,

tell his disciples, and Peter, that he goeth

before you into Galilee. There shall you

see him as he said unto you.'"

Go tell his disciples, and Peter. Be sure to tell Peter.

Tell that man who’s full of guilt and doubts that he’s

going to see his Lord.

This message is for those who are trying to find their way

back to the Father’s house, trying to find their way back

to God. Those whose hearts are aching to know whether

the Christ they denied and forsook is dead or alive.

"And, if he’s alive, will he accept me after all the

things I’ve done?"

The answer is "Yes," Jesus Christ is alive and you’re

going to see him. And all the sins you’ve committed,

things you’ve done, cannot

keep you from seeing him. Not even those doubts

that linger in your mind can keep you from seeing him

if you want to see him, if you want to come back.

Who was the first person to see Jesus alive from the

dead? The person who probably had the most unseemly

past of any of his followers, Mary Magdalene. But now

her sins are gone, buried in that tomb, never to be

remembered by God again. Mary is clean.

And how kind God is toward Peter who had cursed and

swore he never knew Jesus!

"Tell the disciples, and Peter. Be sure to

tell Peter,"

because Peter is forqiven. Peter’s sins are no more.

They’re buried in that grave.

And now God comes to you with this same message.

- Of course you can see Jesus.

- Of course you can meet your Lord.

"Tell his disciples, and Peter, he goeth

before you into Galilee. There shall you

see him."

If you want to meet Jesus, all you have to do is start

heading for Galilee.

Why were they told to go back to Galilee? Why can’t

Peter just go to the tomb and find Jesus? Why does he

have to travel seventy miles north? Because Galilee is

the place where it all began. Galilee is where Peter

first met his Lord. And Galilee is the place where he’s

going to make a new start.

If you really want to meet the risen, living, almighty

Son of God today, you must go back to your Galilee,

you must go back to the place where it

all began for you. Now, of course,

- you can’t go back in time,

- you can’t go back to that little country

church where you knelt at the altar,

- you can’t go back to those summer days when

your mother first taught you about Jesus.

But, you can go back to what you were when you first met

Christ. Do you remember what you were like when you

first met Jesus Christ? I’ll tell you. You were three

things:

1. Back in your Galilee where you first met Jesus, you

were honest.

- You weren’t wearing a mask.

- You admitted you had problems.

- You admitted you had doubts.

You didn’t walk around pretending to have life all

figured out. You took those questions in simple faith

to Jesus, you started to pray, and you got answers to

your prayers. You got answers because you were honest,

like a little child. But after a while, you slipped into

the old human habit of covering things up, pretending,

hiding behind a mask. And soon you lost contact with

Jesus.

2. Back in your Galilee where you first met Jesus, you

were a listener.

- You used to listen to what Jesus had to say.

- You would sit and ponder his words.

It was important to you to be where his word was proclaimed.

But after a while, you grew careless. It didn’t seem so

important any more. You had so many things to do, so

you stopped listening the way you used to listen. And

when you didn’t hear the word, your faith began to

shrivel.

3. Back in your Galilee where you first met Jesus, you

were obedient.

- When Jesus said to Peter,

"Lend me your boat," - Peter did.

"Let down your net," - Peter obeyed.

"Follow me," - Peter followed.

That’s how you got going as a follower of Jesus Christ.

- You took him seriously.

- You did what he said.

But after a while you began hedging on those commands.

When he said to your heart,

"Stay awake and pray with me,"

you fell asleep like Peter in Gethsemane. When he said,

"You must forgive that person,"

you still held the grudge. And after a while it didn’t

seem so important to obey those commands.

When you left Galilee,

When you left that blessed honesty,

that wonderful habit of listening to Jesus,

that practice of obedience,

that’s when you lost touch. That’s when you became

weak and began making mistakes.

It was not God who let you down, you let God down long

before that thing happened that wrecked your faith. You

had already wrecked your faith on the inside.

So Peter goes back to Galilee, to the very spot where he

first became a disciple. He takes his old fishing boat

out once more and fishes all night long like he did three

years before. And in the morning, there’s Jesus standing

on the shore waiting for him.

Three times Peter had denied Jesus. Now three times Jesus

says to him,

"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?"

"Lord, thou knowest that I love thee."

"Then come, feed my sheep, and follow me on."

And it will happen to you too, today. You will meet Jesus,

a new Jesus, a Jesus a thousand times more glorious than

before. He has gone ahead of you to Galilee. You will

see him there.

All you have to do is go back to what you were when it all

began, Open your heart,

lay aside your sophistication,

be the child you were then. Become honest once

more, Honest with yourself.

- Admit that you’re scared, or hurt, or angry,

or guilty.

- Admit that there are things that trouble you

or puzzle you, and with an honest heart,

start crying out to Jesus.

Become a listener once again. Start listening to his

word. Not just on Easter, or when there’s nothing else

to do, but Sunday-by-Sunday, yea, day-by-day, open your

Bible and let him speak.

Become obedient once more. Start practicing the things

you know he wants you to do. Break with those things

you know he has told you to put away from your life.

If you will return to these things, you will find the

same Jesus that Peter found in Galilee,

- and Jesus will renew your faith,

- and make your heart burn within you.

And this time when he says, "Follow me," you'll follow

him. Not just to his cross, but to your own. You will

follow him forever.