Fishermen or Fishers for men... no backsliding now fellows...

The Scripture that the Lectionary guided me to preach over this last Sunday (April 10th) is found in the 21st Chapter of the Gospel of John.  It just so happens that I had selected these same verses for a sermon last summer, as a result initially I was reluctant to revisit this bit of scripture.  But, in praying and pondering, I found another 'hook' or message in these verses.

Here so shortly after all the excitement and revelations of the last few weeks, we see the disciples going back to what they understand... fishing.  Jesus approaches them and calling out in a greeting that can either be translated as 'children' or 'fellows', asking the rhetorical question of 'you have no fish do you'.  He then tells them to try the other side of the boat, where they are rewarded with an abundance.

Often the preacher will hit on this hook and say that the message here is obedience, they listened to Jesus and they had a miraculous catch of fish, that's not the message I went after in these verses. Rather, I looked to what it was that the disciples were doing, they had gone back to normal life.  Jesus is no longer with them day-by-day and they have fallen back into their old ways.  They are fishing, and they're failing at it as well... Jesus calls to them "Hey guys, what are you doing?  Didn't I teach you to fish for men and not for fish?"  To drive this home when the disciples fish from the 'other side' of the boat, they catch 153 fish.  Now this seems like such a strange arbitrary number, but it's not... in Jesus' day the ancients believed there were only 153 species of fish.  That's all they'd identified, this number represents all that there is in the world, (as far as fish go) it's symbolizing all of creation.

In my view, the story is reminding the disciples that they have been called to take Christ's message to the entire world.  All that there is in all of God's Creation, to all 153 varieties of human cultures/races/nations (if you will rather than fish).  In our lives we need to worry that so soon after Easter, that we ourselves have already slipped back into our normal routines.  The miracle, the message and the commission of the risen Christ is already a distant memory.  This last Chapter of John (which looks to be an after-thought by the author) reminds us among other things to keep fishing for men, to keep spreading the love and the message or our Lord.

The one point that I ended up having to edit out of the sermon due to time, (we had several unexpected announcements that ate up time early in the service) had to do with when Jesus asks Peter, "do you love me more than these".  Our natural instinct is to think that Jesus is comparing Peter's love to the love of the other disciples, but that's not where he's driving.  What Jesus is saying is "Peter, do you love me more than your boat, your fishing nets, the life of a fisherman... do you love me more than your old way of life".

Do we love Christ more than our old way of life?  Or have we slipped back to our boats and tending our nets?

I encourage you to watch the video (it's a short sermon) and take a listen.

It's a busy week and I need to run, but do watch the video.

Be a blessing to someone today!

In His Grace,
Roy

John 21: 1-19  New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples
21 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus and Peter
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”