Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of Fish

¹Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way:²Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³“I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

In moments of uncertainty we retreat to what we knew and are safe with. It is like you going home to mum when you are sick. You know you are safe and you know your role.

The disciples are confronted by life without their leader. Jesus has been crucified and is missing. The disciples are scared and confused, so they retreat to fishing, because they understand it. They are safe with fishing, they know what they are doing and they need something to retreat to.

⁴Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

⁵He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.

⁶He 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.

For the disciples this return to fishing was empty. It was never going to be fulfilling again, because they knew more.

It is like test driving a new Bentley continental. Handcrafted leather seats, dual zone heating and cooling, 5.1 surround sound stereo, full timber interior, V8 engine uncompromised sophistication and style. Test drive that and then climb back into your ten year old Magna, torn seats, broken heater, AM radio with one speaker, starts with a cough. Having just driven a Bentley your drive home would be fairly unfulfilling. Because you know there is more out there.

I have seen friends come home from witnessing the poverty of the two thirds world and not being able to slip quietly back into ‘normal’ consumer driven lifestyles. Because they know more.

The disciples had lived with Jesus, followed and learnt, experienced and participated in the transforming work of God. They knew there was more to their existence. Therefore fishing was unfulfilling, never the same again.

In this moment of confusion the disciples go fishing because they have to do something, they have to do anything! But it is an empty experience, almost as empty as the disciple’s nets.

⁶He 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.

What a stupid comment. When you lose your keys and someone says ‘did you look where you last put them?’ You would assume that professional fishermen would know what they were doing. I wouldn’t ask an accountant if he remembered to carry the one, or a mechanic if he had tried turning the key. Of course the disciples had cast their nets on the right side of the boat! They were disillusioned, not stupid!

This is not a question about the fishing technique of the disciples; it is about the fulfillment of the disciples. Are they doing what they know to be right! Are they doing the things that righteous in the spirit of God?

⁷Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. ⁸The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.

⁹When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

¹⁰Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”

¹¹Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

In hearing the voice of the risen Christ, giving insight and direction, their life suddenly has renewed meaning! Their nets are full they are reloaded with meaning. This is not a story about fishing; this is a story about responding to the call of God within the fear and confusion of life. The Call to be in right relationship with God, and all creation, even in those moments where insecurity and confusion cloud our reason.

There will always be times in our lives when we are treading water, doing enough to get by, it is in those times we must listen more closely for that quiet voice that calls us to do the things that are right, to live more graciously, to love more wastefully and to follow the call of the risen Christ.

^{Mark 9:38-50}

³⁸“Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

³⁹“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, ⁴⁰for whoever is not against us is for us. ⁴¹I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.

⁴²“And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. ⁴³If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.^{[a] 45}And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.^{[b] 47}And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸where
” ‘their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’^{[c] 49}Everyone will be salted with fire.

⁵⁰“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

Jesus was not worried about his name being used to do good by someone he has no control over.

A woman I know moved from the Churches of Christ to the Uniting Church. People acted as though she had committed a sin of some kind. She had her reasons but people seem to take it personally that someone has moved congregations.

Anna,  doesn’t call herself a Christian, left the church in her early 20’s, works with the Red Cross supporting trafficked women. Because she doesn’t go to Church does this make her ministry and love something we should value less?

A number of years ago I met an editor of the Big Issue. Big issue is a magazine sold by homeless people as a way of supporting themselves and giving them some pride in who they are. He confessed he did not like the Church very much and was not a Christian. Is his ministry any less amazing because of this?

As for Jesus, he does not worry about who is providing people with love and support, as long as it is happening.

So what is the difference between us as a Church community caring for people and those outside the church caring for people?

Caring for people is the essence of who we are. The Church exists to glorify God and doing that requires taking responsibility for the community of the world. We lose our reason for existing if we stop caring for people. It is as simple as that.

God is doing things that are beyond our control. Working through people who wouldn’t call themselves Christians, but whose understanding of their humanity causes them to see a world that is crying out for love.

So many people in this community go beyond what a normal person would do in order to care for someone, sometimes someone they don’t even know, not because they are paid to do it, or for the glory of it, but because the depth of their relationship with God means they know no other way!

We are called to be the salt of the earth and our flavour is about Glorifying God in this place and we do that when we recognise the call to care for people.

John 17:20-26 

Jesus Prays for All Believers

 ²⁰“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: ²³I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. ²⁴“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.²⁵“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

 

Nature of Prayer.
A connectedness to a divine being of love who is at the center of all creation. When we pray we open ourselves to the possibility of love permeating our being and guiding us towards a future that reveals the kingdom of God!

Integrity in prayer.
²⁰“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 

This prayer is one that is at the core of Jesus’s mission in the Church. Uniting all his followers, drawing people together in the mission of revealing God’s kingdom to the world.

We have all prayed prayers we don’t really mean.
Prayers to stop us swearing, prayers for a new car, prayers for rain, or sunshine, thankfulness for a meal of cabbage, tofu and broccoli when we were still full from lunch, things that in the grand scheme of things have no real bearing. These are not prayers of integrity.

If we look at the prayers of Jesus throughout the Bible they are prayers that are generated from the deepest moments of his soul. Prayers of integrity call on God to enter our deepest, most pertinent thoughts, fears, hopes and celebrations. Prayers like these confront our humanity.

Our Prayers of integrity reveal those parts of ourselves that require confrontation and action.

How can we pray for peace with integrity if we are not prepared for hard task of making peace with our own enemies, both internal and external?

A prayer of integrity must come from a place within us that understands our own fears, our own bias, our own prejudices. Without allowing God’s in to those aspects of ourselves, how can we participate as a vehicle of peace if we are ignorant to our own conflicts.

A prayer for healing for others requires that we ourselves are open to the help and grace of God for healing of our own damage, our own wounds. When we pray for the healing of someone else we too must open to restoring love of God that surrounds us, even in our darkest places.

Our prayers require participation.
The hand-pass prayer.
“God help the homeless people because I find them uncomfortable to look at.”

“God, help my friend, because I want to watch the football.”

“God, make it rain in the catchment areas that surround Melbourne because I don’t want to change my shower habits or spend money on a water tank.”

A prayer for rain or sunshine or for food for the hungry requires us to participate. We must examine our water usage, our grocery items and our energy use if our prayers are to carry meaning.

When we find ourselves in our darkest moments, when life seems to have no meaning for us outside of pain and we pray that desperate prayer of “God where are you!” We are required to open our eyes to that small glimmer of light that God shines through those who care deeply for us.

God gave us eyes to see, ears to hear and a brain to discern. For our prayers to have integrity we must participate with God in seeing them happen.

Prayer is interconnectedness with God that exposes our own humanity and puts us into contact with the loving spirit of God that is in and through all creation! In praying we are inviting God to look upon us warts and all and move us towards the kingdom of God. A kingdom where the broken are made whole, the lost are found and we are united in the love God.

²⁰“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: ²³I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.