Got Fish? by Harry Heintz

Text: John 21: 1-14

There are questions we don’t like to hear.

-Did you finish cleaning your bedroom?
-Where is that milk you said you’d bring home?
-Did you misplace this speeding ticket I found in your car?
-Is that your natural hair color?
-What birthday is this?
-Honey, do you remember what day this is?

If you know fishing and you’re fishing on waters you know well and you recently made your living fishing those very waters, here’s a question you don’t like to hear: "Friends, haven't you any fish?” Ouch. What do I answer? “Sure. They’re swimming right beneath this boat.” “Are you kidding? I’m a bass master.” In my childhood we went to Sunday evening worship. We would get home just in time for “Candid Camera.” That TV show would set up people to look silly while a hidden camera was catching the action. I remember one segment set in a pet shop. There was a wall of aquariums with colorful tropical fish. In the aisle was a large aquarium with this label on it: “invisible fish.” The camera caught just the right guy. He went from casual observer to obsessive watcher. He looked from every angle in every possible way. He was going to be the one that saw the invisible fish. Instead the nation watched him get caught by a simple net. I suppose Peter might have tried this line: “We’ve caught a lot of fish, invisible fish.”

“Hey, out there. You fishing men of Galilee on that weathered fishing boat. Have you caught anything?” "No,” they answered. Give them points for honesty. I wonder what that no sounded like: no, or No, or NO!, or what’s it to you, buddy? Don’t you hate it when someone sees you in a moment of failure and lets you know it? When I have a small fix-it job to do at home, the kind any kindergarten graduate should be able to do in, say, two minutes, I don’t want anyone in the house for the next two hours. I want all traffic within one mile of my home detoured. I especially don’t want any members of my family present. If I do it right I’ll let you discover it. If I don’t, please don’t remind me. There is a plumbing truck that says on its sides in big letters: “We repair what your husband fixed.” Have you any fish? No.

Why did they go fishing? The placement of this appearance in the Gospel of John is interesting. On Easter morning Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene in the garden. She goes to the disciples and says, “I have seen the Lord!” Then he appears to the disciples in a locked room, except Thomas isn’t there. There are overjoyed and when they see Thomas they say, “We have seen the Lord.” A week later Thomas, the one we call the doubter, is doubting this when Jesus appears to him and says, “My Lord and my God!” Now it’s a while later. We’re not sure how long. John simply says, “Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee.” Seven disciples are named. Three are well known: Peter, Thomas, and Nathanael. Two are implied: James and John. And two are left unnamed. That means we’re there. Either named or unnamed, we’re there in those seven. With our faith and with our doubts, we’re there. And Peter, true to his nature, speaks up, “I’m going fishing.” The rest join him.

Why did they go fishing? There are several options. Some Bible students see this as a return to what they used to do. Though Jesus was risen and had already appeared, they knew he was going back to his heavenly home. So what had they to do but go back to fishing? Some see this as a way to get some food. And some see this a picture of the global mission of the Church. We remember that Jesus had said to these would-be disciples three years ago, “I will make you fishers of people.” There is a fascinating interpretation from a leader in the Church about 300 years after this. His name was Jerome and he noted that Greek zoology at that time had identified 153 different kinds of fish. So he, being a good preacher, saw the catch of 153 fish as a picture of the Good News of Jesus going into all the world.

Why did they go fishing? I take some little truth from each of those options. Fishing was what they knew how to do. Fishing can be very relaxing. And fishing wasn’t just a sport, but a way of making a living and feeding hungry people. Fishing is mentioned a lot in the Gospels, but never do the disciples catch a fish in the Gospels without help from Jesus. Seems there’s a lesson there about learning to depend on him in everything. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” We’re still learning that truth. What strikes me as far more important than why they went fishing was what happened while they were fishing. They saw Jesus. Again. He keeps appearing in the most everyday places.

Jesus is raised from a borrowed tomb. He then proceeds to appear to his disciples in their everyday lives. He doesn’t appear to them in the Temple in Jerusalem. He doesn’t show up only when they’re gathered for worship. He doesn’t appear when a committee has completes its planning and sends out announcements. He shows up in a garden. He appears on a long afternoon’s walk to an otherwise forgettable town named Emmaus. He arrives on the shore of the Sea of Galilee to help some fishermen catch 153 fish.

Where do we look for Jesus today? I think the more accurate question is, where is Jesus looking for us today?
Here are some of my suggestions:

-Look for him in the needy around us. He loves to reveal himself to people in need and through people in need.

-Look for him where people are rejoicing. Jesus loves to rejoice with those rejoicing. He loves a good party.

- Look for him where people are weeping. Jesus weeps with those weeping. Our tears matter to him. He is well acquainted with suffering.

-Look for him where people are serving. Jesus defined his ministry as serving the Father and serving others. Help serve the community dinner at First Baptist in Troy some Tuesday evening. You’ll see Jesus there.

-Look for him on mission trips. In the last month we have had people serving on short-term trips to the Gulf Coast and to Naivasha, Kenya. They saw Jesus in those places, in the midst of need and in the midst of active faith.

Let me make this clear. I believe Jesus reveals himself when people gather to worship God in places set apart for the worship of God. Jesus regularly reveals himself here, in this very space. I have experienced that and so have you. But if we only look for him here, we’re missing him way too much. The cross of our Lord was not set in a sanctuary and gilded with gold. It was set by a roadside where the everyday folks traveled and turned their heads from the gore of bloodied crosses. When we’re getting this right, what happens in here has everything to do with who we are and what we do out there. And who we are and what we do out there have everything to do with who we are and what we do in here. If Jesus is present when we break the sacramental bread and lift the cup to our lips in here, he is present when we have grilled fish and toast for breakfast on a lake shore. We’re trying to break down that wall between who we are in here and who we are out there, because the Jesus who is present when we gather in his name in here is present when we scatter from here to out there where we live and work. Elizabeth Barrett Browning said it as well as anyone I know: “Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God. . . .” This risen Christ cannot and will not be confined to our sanctuaries.

Here is my simple challenge to us—for the next week, or month, or year, or all our years. Let’s be looking for Jesus where he is looking for us. In our daily living. In the stuff of our lives. In our fishing. In doing our homework and practicing the piano. In our neighborhoods and schools and factories and offices. Yes, in our worship center, too; but never only there. Never only here. If we are looking, we’ll be seeing him out there. And we’ll be saying it in here and out there, "It is the Lord!” We’ll join Mary Magdalene and the disciples in saying, “We have seen the Lord.” He is risen indeed.

an extract from www.ivmdl.org , a website dedicated to lowering the wall from being "in here to being out there".