John 21:1-14
“A Lesson In Fishing”
By: Rev. Ken Sauer,
Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport News, VA
www.parkview-umc.org
Our Gospel Lesson for this morning takes place in Galilee, near the place where Jesus fed the five-thousand another meal of bread and fish.
Seven of the disciples were together—just kind of hanging out.
Jesus had been crucified, He had been Resurrected and He had already appeared to these men, but there was still some unfinished business.
And, basically Peter says to the other six men: “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going fishing.”
His friends say: “We’ll go with you.’ So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.”
They fish all night, but nothing is caught in their nets.
It is very interesting to note that in the Bible, the disciples, professional fishermen, never catch a single fish without Jesus.
Not a perch.
Not a minnow.
Not a guppy.
So they are fishing all night, without any success and a hint of light starts to sliver on the horizon.
Some guy on the beach has a fire going.
We know the guy.
They don’t.
“He called out to them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’”
“No,’ they answered.”
“He said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’”
“When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.”
And when they caught this incredible amount of fish—they knew that the Lord was with them—They knew that it was the Lord Who had advised them where to cast their net.
Because after having obeyed the Lord—they reaped a great harvest.
They had caught nothing on their own, and it was in this that they were to learn a much needed lesson: self-sufficiency is inadequate.
They must learn to depend on the Lord…if they are going to fulfill their purpose, their calling in this life.
And the same goes for us.
When I was serving a church in Macon, Georgia as the Associate pastor the Choir Director took the Youth on a mission trip to the city of Chicago.
They were there to help a small, new congregation with Vacation Bible School.
After they returned the Choir Director told me about a church they had visited.
She told me about the fantastic space that this church building had.
Everything was brand new!
They had a very expensive playground, an industrial size kitchen with a walk-in freezer, and all new furnishings.
The only problem was—they had no people.
Where were the people?
It’s as if they borrowed the idea from the movie A Field of Dreams—“build it and they will come!”
But this isn’t how it worked.
They had built it alright.
But for some reason no one was coming.
It’s almost parallel to the disciples, expert fishermen, fishing all night—depending only on their own skills and human wisdom—but catching nothing!
Until…until…the Word of God came to them and they obeyed!
A colleague of mine and I were having a discussion a month or so ago, during which I made the comment: “There is no excuse for a church—any church to die…though many are.”
He agreed.
As long as a congregation obeys (to the very best of their ability) the Gospel God will use His Word to save souls—to bring up new disciples, and continue the nourishing of those who have been Christians for many years.
God declares through the Prophet Isaiah: “…my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
And the purpose of God’s Word is to save souls, to teach, rebuke, correct and train in righteousness, “so that the” person “of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
So there is no excuse for a church to die unless, of course, the congregation is no longer listening to and obeying God’s Word.
Or maybe the preacher isn’t preaching God’s Word.
Jesus calls all Christians to fish for people, but if we are trying to do this without the power of God’s Word—we will fish all night and not catch a single one.
In John Chapter 15:5, Jesus says: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
A living union with Jesus Christ is absolutely necessary for our individual salvation, for maturing in the Christian faith, and for making disciples for Jesus Christ.
If we separate ourselves from the True Vine—that is Jesus—we will become dead, good for nothing—and as the Scripture says: “such branches are picked up, thrown in the fire and burned.”
If a church is dying, that’s a very good indication that the Word of God is not being preached, believed in, or taken seriously…and that the people have decided to try and run things themselves without being grafted to Christ and led by His Spirit.
I remember in the first church I served…I was standing in the office doing something…probably making copies one Sunday morning.
The telephone rang and one of the parishioners picked it up.
Obviously the person on the other side of the line had called and asked directions to the church, because the parishioner—with an obvious tone in her voice of someone who is being greatly bothered and doing someone else some great favor was giving directions.
Then, I guess the person on the other side of the line (probably new to the area) was having a difficult time understanding the directions.
“No,” scolded the parishioner in a very angry tone, “I said that you make a right onto such and such a road, take a left at the light go straight two miles and the church will be on your right!”
The parishioner hung up the phone mumbling something to the affect of:
“As if we don’t already have enough people in this church as it is!”
I can’t say for sure, but chances are whoever called for directions to the church that particular Sunday morning either decided to go somewhere else or not to go anywhere.
If anyone makes the decision to come worship with us some Sunday morning we should consider this the greatest privilege imaginable.
We should do everything in our power to show them Christian love, to let them know they are more than welcome, that we care about them and want them to come back and become a part of our fellowship.
They should be priority number one!!!
That is, their comfort, their feelings, their lives, their souls should be priority number one!!!
I know that Parkview is very good at this, but we must remind ourselves of these truths lest we should forget…and hey, there is always room for improvement.
If we are privileged enough to have someone visit our church, it should be of the utmost importance to all of us that we get this person’s address, phone number, etc…
…and that we contact this person and let them know how happy we are to have worshipped with them.
If they do not return the following Sunday it is of utmost importance that we take it upon ourselves to send them a note or give them a call—letting them know they were missed.
When Sylvia and Jim Tucker visited our church for the first time I wrote them a note and then I went to visit them at their home…maybe later in the week.
One of the first things Jim and Sylvia said to me was: “We got several letters from you guys! Boy, what a friendly church!”
“Several?” I wondered out loud.
I had only sent one.
Then they showed me two or three other cards from people who took it upon themselves to find the address of the first time visitors and write them a note.
To say I was humbled and impressed is an understatement!
I had no idea this was going on.
I hope it still goes on.
And I hope even more of us will send a note to each and every first time visitor whom we are graced by the Lord Jesus Himself to have walk through our doors!
What a blessed ministry… that any of us can do!
If we care enough, that is!
How much do we care about the souls of men and women and children?
Do people matter enough?
Are people important enough to us?
Just think of what Jesus has done—allowing Himself to be crucified and buried.
That’s how important people are to Jesus and we are to imitate His love!
Do we?
We also must be very intentional about praying for new people to come worship with us.
And after praying, we must be very intentional about inviting people to come worship with us.
Now, this may be the hardest part for most of us.
It means that we are going to be willing to make ourselves vulnerable.
“What if the person rejects my offer?”
“What if the person thinks I’m strange for asking?”
Believe me, these are lies straight from the devil in hell himself, and if we let these lies intimidate us and cause us not to tell the world about Christ---we make the evil one very happy, for we are doing what he wants us to do.
I have very rarely run across someone who is hostile to an invitation to come worship at my church.
They may not take me up on it, but almost always the person who is invited is gracious, friendly and it’s even a great conversation starter.
If the person is hostile, hey, I don’t know him or her.
What loss is it of mine?
Also, I will be able to live with myself—knowing that I have done what I have been called—what each one of us—have been called to do…
… “Go make disciples of all nations…”
Jesus says in John chapter 15: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first…If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also…
… When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.
And you also must testify…”
This is our job, our calling, the Lord’s command on any life dedicated to Him—we are to be fishers of people!
Are we fishing?
Not only are we fishing, but are we fishing with the right intentions, and with the Word of God—following the Lord’s instructions?
If so, we will catch fish!
How much more exciting can anything be than that?
To be instruments used in God’s changing the lives of people, of saving souls from sin, death, and hell—to be used for God’s glorious work—nothing tops that!!!
Now, don’t get me wrong.
I miss many opportunities myself.
I don’t always obey the Word of the Lord when He tells me:
“Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will catch some.”
But I do believe we will all be held individually accountable for how well we have obeyed!
When the disciples obeyed Jesus, their net “was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.”
The disciples’ net is symbolic of the church.
“…the net was not torn…”
This indicates how successful we as Christian disciples can be…
This indicates what can happen if all of us individually and corporately would fish as Jesus directs!
This passage is so fantastic that countless sermons could be preached on this text alone!
So, I urge you all to go home and study it on your own.
Also, take a look at the significance of the passage that Virginia read from Revelation as it applies to this one.
When the disciples got to shore with this great catch of fish…
“When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.”
“Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’”
After having obeyed the Lord, after having overcome the perils of this life through the power that comes from obeying God’s word…
…well…
… “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus, we’ll sing and shout the victory!”
Let us pray; Lord You have called us to fish, but not on our own. You have called us to fish as You direct, and if we do so we will share in Your bountiful results. We thank you for the privilege of fishing for people. May we never take it for granted, may we always obey Your command, make us to be instruments of Your will to save all those who will hear and believe. In Jesus’ name and for His sake we pray. Amen.
