Fishing Tips from the Beach

John 21:1-19

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 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. 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. Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” 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. 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. 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. When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 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. 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. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

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.” 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.” 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. 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.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

When you don’t know what to do, go fishing!  If there is a better piece of biblical wisdom, I have yet to find it!  Jesus was dead and the disciples were next.  Jesus shows up in person and the disciples couldn’t EVEN!  So they went fishing!  And what did they catch?  NOTHING!  Same problem they had at the beginning of Luke’s Gospel.  In that story a mysterious man told them to put their nets back in the water and, BAM!  A ton of fish.  Now, on the other end of a different Gospel, Peter hears another mysterious man on the beach say with some snark, “Hey kids!  You don’t seem to have any fish.  Try on the other side” and, BAM!  A ton of fish.  I think we all know what it feels like to not be able to “EVEN” and when we find ourselves not being able to “EVEN” we know that it’s long past time to get in the boat and GO FISHING!

In our Baptisms we were all taken aboard the Fishing Vessel named “The Church.”  Contrary to many people’s thinking, it’s not a flag waving battleship, nor a billion dollar super yacht, nor a sport fishing charter, or even an “all about you” Carnival Cruise.  “The Church” is a nitty gritty commercial fishing vessel where the hard work of casting God’s net of infinite love into the world goes on night and day.  This net transforms the world… from dark to light, from scarcity to abundance, from death to life.  That is the mission of this boat, and following the fishing tips of that snarky guy over there on the beach is the key to fishing success!  We need to set our nets, our hearts, and minds on the Jesus side of the boat!  Without Jesus it’s dark, and we just row around in circles catching not one fish.  BUT, with Jesus, the Son shines, the darkness retreats, the Spirit blows, the sails fill, the boat goes where there are fish and the nets come up full.

It’s also worth paying attention to the guy on the beach for another excellent reason… FREE BREAKFAST!  In a not-so-subtle nod to the Feeding of the Five Thousand, Jesus invites the disciples to eat breakfast on the beach.  They use fish fresh out of the net, a net by the way, that didn’t let ANY… NOT ONE… get away!  Jesus gives them grilled fish breakfast sandwiches so that they might both be refreshed from the work they’ve already done and also given what they need for the work still ahead.  Through locked doors, down deserted roads, out onto a beach, and into our lives, Jesus comes to us wherever we might be.  We don’t find Jesus, Jesus finds us, directs us, sweeps us up in an unbreakable net, and gives us ALL we need to have an abundant life and to share abundant life with the world around us.

If I was writing this story, THAT’s where I would have ended it.  All of us found, fed, full, fat, and happy, lying on the beach in the Sun.  Boom.  Done.  The End!  But lying on the beach in a blissful food coma is not where we are left.  Found, fed and filled with all that we need as a gift from God, Jesus asks Peter (and all of us) a frightening, terrible question.  “DO YOU LOVE ME?”  It’s frightening and terrible because Peter and all of us know that really loving Jesus isn’t about statements of faith or religious sounding words.  Loving Jesus is about getting up after breakfast and walking back into that “I can’t EVEN” world with our feet and feeding the lambs… caring for the least, the lost, and the last of our world with our hands. 

Loving Jesus, casting nets, feeding lambs and tending sheep… these are the things that our little dingy named Christ Trinity Church calls “creating corners of kindness.” THAT is our calling… day in and day out regardless of the state of the world around us and that really is a daunting call…  But don’t loose sight of the Good News in the enormity of that call.  We have spot-on fishing tips from Jesus on the beach and we are always loaded up with a free breakfast that gives us all we need to do this work!  We really have been, and are being constantly given, all we need to continue fishing, continue feeding, continue tending, continue creating corners of kindness and continue to change the world from what it is into what God intends it to be.  

So my fellow disciples, here’s the take home message:  When the world makes you feel like you “Can’t Even”… Gather here with the crew.  Thankfully receive the generous gifts God continually showers on us.  Get in the boat together and go fishing.  The world will advise you to fish on the selfish, vengeful, and violent side of the boat, but the world doesn’t know JACK about fishing!  Instead, take the advice of the guy on the beach!  Set your nets on the side of kindness, compassion, and love.  Because THAT’S where your nets will haul out abundant life by the ton!  Enough to change the world!   Amen.