Beyond the Patio

I’m Going Fishing
We’ll go With You
John 21:1-19

Here was Peter with the other disciples down by the Lake of Tiberius which was another name for the Sea of Galilee, where they had left their fishing a few years before in order to follow Jesus.  They had followed him and seen him do many wonders and talk of many things. He had given them hope. He had given them a promise. They had followed him sometimes in bewilderment, sometimes in blind trust, but they followed him day after day, week by week, month by month, and they hung on his words, and he became the only life they knew. Then he started talking about dying, and all too soon he was betrayed, tried, condemned, crucified, and the hopes of the messianic kingdom, the messianic reign, fell and all his followers fled before the end.

Here were a few of them down by the sea of Galilee where they had begun — silent, motionless, not knowing what to do, facing the cold ashes of a fire that had gone out. Jesus is dead. They were a leaderless rag-tag band of fishermen who for a moment had been given something more to live for than a hand to mouth existence. I can see them, standing there, one or two of them leaning on one of the boats pulled up on the shore, looking longingly out to sea, another one kicking a stone or two, throwing one to see if it would skip on the water. They were waiting for someone to say something, to give them some direction.

Peter is the first to speak… .who else? “I’m going fishing”.They replied, “We’ll go with you”. 

Disappointment? (yes) Discouragement? (you’d better believe it) Regret? (all that the human heart is capable of.) It’s all summed up in these words.

How could something and someone that promised so much be so wrong? How could one so sure of himself be so mistaken? Could they ever trust in another person again?

They were angry no doubt, contemptuous of idealism, suspicious of enthusiasm. They ought to have known better than to follow some fanatic. 0h! they knew about the empty tomb and the rumors that some people had seen the Lord even after his death — those stories are always circulating about dead heroes.

Peter says, “I’m going fishing”. 

I’m going back to what we were doing before Jesus came. I’m going back to what I know – a life that I can handle. I’m going to try to forget that this ever happened.

They replied, “We’ll go with you.”

*

I can relate to Peter here, can’t you?  With the message of Christ for the last two thousand years, the world has not changed that much. Nations are still opposing one another. Cruelty to other human beings still exists.  Murder, killing and violence takes place not only in what we call the trouble spots of the world but on our own streets as well. There is little peace and no increase of love in the world. We can say with Peter and the disciples, “What’s the use?”

What’s happening in the church of Jesus Christ after all these years? Sometimes it seems like just another huge bureaucracy that moves at a snails pace. There are so many issues to deal with and so many needs to consider in the world, and the church is stuck in trivia, all the little niggly things that seem so momentous in the minds of many people. Everyone has their own individual idea of what should happen but they have no intention of doing anything themselves. We get all caught up in power struggles and church politics. Sometimes we are given a new vision of what the church is all about and what ministry is all about for a moment, then it fades and we are back in the same old rut. Then there are the seven last words of the church, “We’ve  never  done  it  that  way  before.”

We question within ourselves, “What really is the purpose of life?” Why devote ourselves to the task of the Christian faith with it’s message of love and self-sacrifice?  Selfishness makes better sense. Greedy grasping brings dividends. “ME” is really the most important thing to consider in any decision. The greatest satisfaction in life is to put yourself forward. Forget everyone else, “Pull the ladder up Jack, I’m OK” What about others? What about the other two thirds of the world population who don’t have anything? Forget them. Look at what love and sacrifice got Jesus —dead at the age of 33. Let’s go back to the beginning and start all over without any talk of this radical view of life. Let’s just indulge ourselves and hide in the midst of all our possessions and modem day gimmicks – hide from rest of the world, flee from God, and what God might have us do.

There we are down on the shores of the Lake of Galilee with Peter and the others looking at a sign, “no walking on the water”. We hear Peter say, “I’m going fishing,” and we say “we’ll go with you.”

*

Well you know it wasn’t all that good out there on the water. They didn’t catch any fish. It was almost as if someone said, “Don t worry things could be worse” They didn’t worry and sure enough things got worse. They were at a new low. It was pretty dark as they approached dawn. It is always the darkest before the dawn.  It was not only dark outside, but on the inside as well. Fishing wasn’t the same.

How do you wipe out those years with Jesus anyway? How do you wipe out a relationship? They were with him for three years. They watched him. They talked with him. They cried with him. They laughed with him. They remembered how he was able to turn things around. Where there was hatred, he brought love. Where there was sadness, joy. Where there was despair, hope. Where there was darkness light. The lame got up and walked. the dumb opened their mouths and praised God. The lepers were able to leave their lives of isolation behind and were embraced back into the community. Do you remember Zachaeus? Nicodemus? the woman by the well? and Lazarus coming back from the grave? incidents were coming back to them. Image after image. Who could forget them in a million years. The wind blowing softly in his hair! The sun glistening in his beard! His strength in one instance, and his gentleness in another! The hope in the coming reign of God that he inspired in them… a hope that could not be defeated no matter what happened…. a faith, a hope, a love that would remain for ever no matter what they experienced to the contrary in the world.

No wonder fishing couldn’t satisfy them anymore!

*

They started coming into shore. They were just as much in the air as ever. They were at a new low. You can almost hear the water splashing against the side of the boat. Slowly the suns rays began to lighten up the world. As they got closer to the shore they could see the figure of a man there, calling out to them, “Do you have any fish?” It seemed like Deja vu all over again! a reply that they had heard a few years before. They answer, “No” The man shouts to them, “Cast your nets on the other side.” They had heard this before also. One of the disciples shouts, “It’s the Lord.”  Peter hears that. Impulsive as he was, he didn’t wait. He jumps into the water. He didn’t even wait to help the others pull in the large catch. He goes splashing through the water to Jesus.

Jesus says to him, “Do you love me?” “You know that I love you”, “Feed my lambs” (carry on my work) He repeats the question. “Do you love me?” “Yes Lord” “Tend my sheep” (it’s your work now) Again he asks, “Do you love me? “You know that I do.” “Feed my lambs“(see where it takes you).

It really is the Lord! He is present with them in some way or another even after his death. He really couldn’t be defeated! His vision is true! His cause is worth it! Their embryonic faith is restored. They are to change from that time on. Just  read about it in the Acts of the Apostles.

*

“It is the Lord!”  That makes a difference.   It certainly changed the disciples from a frightened little band of stunned and disillusioned fishermen into the hard core of the Christian church.  What would have happened had they stayed fishing?  Instead, they went from there into Jerusalem, and Judea, and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the world preaching and living the way of Christ.

“It is the Lord!”  We know his presence among us even now through his Spirit within us and in the midst of us. That makes a difference for us.   Because of this, things do matter.  Because of this, we can’t give up.  Because of this, the self-sacrificing offering of life is vindicated and justified.  Because of this, we know that our life in Christ is not in vain. Because of this, we are part of a higher destiny.  Because of this, we can stand up and say, yes and shout and declare wholeheartedly:

“I believe in God, the Lord who sits above the water flood, the Lord who reigns for ever. “

_______________________________________________________________________________________