Acts 9:1-6                                                                                                                              Carol A. Solovitz

Psalm 30                                                                                                                 Easter 3 C

Revelation 5:11-14                                                                                                                April 22, 2007

John 21:1-19

Go Fishing ~ Meet Jesus

 

 

 

Your pastors must be confusing you these days.  First, Pastor Gary spoke about baseball in a sermon, and now I’m speaking about fishing.  The next thing you know, Pastor Wayne will be talking about motorcycles and Intern Eric about grandchildren!  It’s a little known fact that I do love to fish; yes, I even bait my own hooks and handle the fish I catch.  I’m also a Pisces, so I must be qualified to preach about fishing.  Even more significantly, I am a follower of Jesus, who had a soft spot for fishing.

Jesus met his first disciples – brothers Andrew and Simon Peter – at the Sea of Galilee as they cast a net into the sea.  A little farther down the beach, he saw brothers James and John in a boat mending their fishing nets.  He called them all to leave their nets and fish for people instead, and they followed.  Often in his ministry, Jesus went back to the sea and his fishing buddies.

That is why, after Jesus’ death, we should not be surprised to find the disciples back by the sea.  They had never been anything but fishermen.  Their crucified Lord and Master had made several resurrection appearances to them and even empowered them with the Holy Spirit and the power to forgive or retain sins.  Still, they left Jerusalem and returned to their nets to catch fish rather than people.  Dare I say, “sole instead of souls” ?  Had they abandoned the ministry to which Jesus called them?  Or did they simply not know what to do with what Jesus had given them? 

At any rate, they left Jerusalem, and we find Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John and two other disciples at the sea.  Peter is the decisive one.  “I am going fishing,” he declares.  “We will go with you,” they all concur.  But it was a rough night of casting nets and hauling in nothing. 

The next scene is one that can be seen in an amusing light.  Just after daybreak, they saw someone standing on the beach who yelled to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?”  “No,” they answered.  The man responded, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.”  And they did.  What I find amusing is that they had been fishing all night.  Don’t you think they had already tried casting the net to the other side of the boat?  Don’t you think they had done that over and over the whole night long?  Then this guy appears on shore to suggest they do it again.  They did not recognize the guy as Jesus, but they tried the right side of the boat anyway.  And were they glad they did, because the net was so full that they couldn’t haul it in!  That is the moment when the disciple whom Jesus loved – John – said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”  How fitting that they first met Jesus when they were fishing, and their final hours with Jesus involved fishing.  Go fishing – meet Jesus.

By the time the fishermen and their catch got to shore, Jesus already had a fire going.  He who had shared with them a meal of his own body and blood was now ready to cook fish for breakfast.  Before the fish fry, though, they took time to count their catch – 153 large fish.  [An aside: The first parish that I served, Prince of Peace in Brooklyn Park, was proud of the fact that at their first assembly, 153 charter members signed the constitution.  Those were some pretty large fish, too, enough to build a strong and active congregation that continues to do the work of the risen Lord.]

Jesus told his friends, “Come and have breakfast.”  Coming to the fire, they ate the bread and fish he gave to them.  John tells us that “…none of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord.”  Not counting his appearance to Mary Magdalene at the tomb, this was the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after his resurrection.  It also was the time that Jesus commissioned them and gave them instructions to carry out their ministries.

Changing the metaphor from fish to sheep, Jesus told Simon Peter three times to take care of his sheep – to feed them, tend to them, all in the context of loving Jesus.  The message is the same:  “Go fishing – meet Jesus; love Jesus – go fishing for more disciples.”  OR  “Be a sheep – meet Jesus; love Jesus – become a shepherd.”

Jesus said, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”  We don’t have to be experts at fishing or sheepherding or even theology.  The key is to continue to do to others as Jesus does to us; to love as Jesus loves us.  How do we do that?  We keep casting the lines.  We keep throwing the nets.  We keep feeding and loving and forgiving and sharing the good news.  We keep baptizing, and we keep partaking of the meal he gave to us.  And above all, we continue to be strong in mission, in offering ourselves and our treasures so that others can hear and experience the good news we share.  We keep stirring the waters of baptism by teaching everything that we have learned about the love of God that has come to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Other disciples went fishing, and we were caught in their nets.  We have met Jesus, and now we are called to go out and fish for more disciples.

 

Shall we pray?  Lord Jesus, thank you for casting your net and your love in our direction so that we may be counted among those who share your mission and your name.  Amen