Sunday, September 10, 2017

"Fish" Sermon: John 21:1-14



“Fish”
[John 21:1-14]
September 10, 2017, Second Reformed Church
We saw John reflect on Jesus’ words to Thomas that those who do not see Him in the flesh and believe savingly in Him based on the witness of the Word of God – and the working of God the Holy Spirit in them – are blessed.  And John explains that not everything Jesus did – by a long shot – is recorded in his gospel.  John records the signs he does so those who read his gospel would be convicted and believe that the signs presented in the Gospel can only be understood to mean that Jesus is the Christ – He is the Messiah – He is the Promised Savior, and Jesus is God, the One True God, come to earth in a real human, and the Only Salvation is to believe in and receive the truth of Who Jesus is and the work that He accomplished in history to save all those who will ever believe in Him.
John then returns to the history and narrates what happens the third time that Jesus appears to His disciples after His physical resurrection.
            And we see, first, God created humans to work.
“After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 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.”
Jesus appears a second time to the Eleven – now with Thomas in their midst – and proves again His physical Resurrection to them, and then Luke records:
“Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:44-49, ESV).
            Jesus removes the veil from the Eleven and allows them to understand the Scriptures and that they say that the Savior has to suffer and die and rise on the third day for the salvation of His people.  They now understand everything that happened.  And Jesus tells them to wait in the city for the “promise of my Father upon you…power from on high” – that is, the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit.
            Jesus tells them that they are going to bear witness to the Gospel throughout the whole world, proclaiming the Name of Jesus as the Only Name by which people may be saved, but they are not to start until God the Holy Spirit indwells them and empowers them to do this work.  They are to wait.
            Jesus doesn’t tell them how long they have to wait.  We know they had to wait fifty days.  What were they to do?  Sit in front of their TVs and wait for Jesus to return?
            Peter, never bring the shy one of the Eleven, said, “OK, I going fishing – I’m going back to work until Jesus returns.”  And six others joined him.
            The commentators take various views of Peter going back to fishing, but we shouldn’t think that he has done something wrong – he has not.
            Moses tells us that God created Adam from the dust, and then:  “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15, ESV).
            God did not create us to stand around looking pretty.
            Why did God create us?
            God created humans to bring glory to Him – to show how great He is.  And one of the ways we do that is by taking care of the Creation – by working – by tending the Garden – by doing whatever it is that God has given us the gifts and inclination to do to provide for ourselves and those in our care and to give some away in thanks.  God gives us work to reflect His Image as Creator, Caretaker, and Provider.
            Some twenty years after Peter says, “I’m going fishing,” Paul has to correct some of the Christians at the Church in Thessalonica, who are sitting in front of their TVs, refusing to work, and gossiping about their neighbors, because they are waiting for Jesus to return – they are waiting for the Second Coming.
            Jesus says He will return “soon,” but we know that “with the Lord, a thousand years are like a day, and a day like a thousand years.”  What is a thousand years or a day to the Eternal and Everlasting God Who exists beyond and outside of time – always and forever – (whatever that means)?
            Some of the Christians in Thessalonica thought that since Jesus is going to return soon, there is no reason to go to work.  They told their bosses off – quit their jobs – and waited for Jesus – while they talked about the awful things “those people” were doing.
            Paul writes, “For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living” (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12, ESV).
            Of course there are people who are unable to work, and the church is instructed on how to provide for them, and we have systems in our country that provide for them, as well.  But most people can and should be working.
            And all believers, whether we are working in a paid job or not, are to be using our gifts in the church:  “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4:10-11, ESV).
            Peter, and the six who went fishing with him, did the right thing.  While they waiting for God the Holy Spirit to come, they worked their jobs to make money – to pay their bills and help those in need and thank God through their giving to the work of the Church.
            So they went out on the sea and fished all night – using all their years of skill as professional fishermen – and they caught nothing.  Nothing.
            God sovereignly kept them from catching a single fish to prepare them for what would happen.
            Second, God Sovereignly owns everything and distributes from His storehouse as He wills.
            “Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, do you have any fish?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net on 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 of the quantity of fish.  That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.”
            After fishing all night and catching nothing, the Seven begin to return to shore.  They are about a hundred yards off the shore when Someone – we are told that Jesus has appeared on the shore, but they can’t tell it’s Him – calls out to them in a loving, fatherly way, “Children, do you have any fish?”
            Calling them “children” is not an insult, but a loving term – just as when John calls Christians, “little children” in his letters.
            “No.”  They hadn’t caught any fish – after a full night of toiling on the sea.
Jesus does not ask them if they have any fish because He doesn’t know.  Jesus knows they haven’t caught any fish.  That was God’s Will, so a point could be made.
“Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.”
We might think Peter would yell back, “Look, Mister, don’t you think we know how to fish?  We have been at this our whole lives; we know what we’re doing.”  But he doesn’t.
For whatever reason, they were moved to do as the Stranger on the shore suggested – and the cast the net on the right side of the boat. 
Immediately, 153 fish jump into the net, and they are too heavy to haul into the boat.  God Sovereignly calls the fish into the net and sustains the net so it will not break.
John, who understands things faster than the rest says, “It’s the Lord!”  And Peter, who never finds a leap too far to jump, puts his clothes on, jumps into the sea, and swims for Jesus, while the rest of the Seven sail the boat to shore.
            What just happened?
            Jesus shows the Seven that He is the Creator and Owner of all of Creation, and He distributes what He owns to be stewarded as He wills.  Every fish they ever caught was God’s Will for them to catch, and every fish they did not catch was God’s Will for them not to catch.  God is Sovereign over the distribution of all that He owns.
            That means we need to recognize that everything in existence belongs to God.  Everything we have is only given to us by God on loan to be used in a way that glorifies God.
            Yes, Peter was a trained fisherman with many years of experience, but the only fish that he ever caught were those that God sent and allowed Peter to catch.
            In whatever job you work in, even though you do the work you are called and employed to do, you only receive the paycheck that God wants you to receive, you only receive the benefits that God wants you to receive, you do not receive anything that God forbids you to have.
            That means we have a duty to be thankful to God for all that we have – even what we work for – and to recognize His ownership and control over all of Creation – using and giving what He has given us in a way that pleases Him.
            Do we receive our paycheck, or social security check, or pension check – whatever – and pray, thanking God for it and asking God what we should do with it?  Do we seek God’s guidance for how to use what He has given us to use for His glory?  Do we pray that our use of God’s property would please Him?  Do we consider what God thinks when we waste what He has given us and use it for sin?
            Our God and Savior – the God we worship and serve – is the God Who owns everything and lovingly gives to His children.
            Malachi records God’s promise to Israel, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need” (Malachi 3:10, ESV).
            James, the brother of Jesus writes, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17.ESV).
            I’ve mentioned before, I had a friend who was ranting to me about how she had nothing to be thankful for, and when I questioned her on it, she said that everything she had she earned – that no one ever gave her anything – therefore she had no need to be thankful to anyone.
            Beloved, everything you have and everything I have we have received as gifts – one way of another – from the Hand of our Loving Father.  Let’s not forget that, but be thankful.
            Third, God provides for our daily needs.
            “When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out 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, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.  Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord.  Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.  This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.”
            The Seven arrive on the shore, and Jesus is making them breakfast – fish and chips after a fashion – cooking over a charcoal fire.  Jesus invites them to bring some of their fish, and Peter drags the 153 fish in the net onto the shore.  And Jesus invites them to eat breakfast.  And they join Him without asking any questions.
            This is Jesus, their Lord and Savior, Who just physically rose from the dead, and here He is again, making them breakfast and eating with them.  Ghosts don’t eat.  Jesus is physically alive.
            Why did Jesus make them breakfast?
            Certainly to show – once again – that He is a real physical human being raised from the dead – alive!  But something else, don’t we suppose?
            Imagine, if you will, seven men on a boat on the sea all night long, using every strategy they know to catch fish, but coming up empty.  Forlorn, they sail into shore and are met by their God and Savior Who tells them to cast their net again, and they pull in the incredible – and heavy – load of 153 fish, which they drag to shore.  What might these men need at this moment?
            Suppose you work a long day – a frustrating day – and you get home, what might you need?  (Besides a drink – I knew someone would say that!)  What would satisfy you?
            Perhaps a meal?
            Jesus instructs us to pray for what we need for this day:  “Give us this day our daily bread,” (Matthew 6:11, ESV).  “Father, give us what we need to be the man or the woman You would have us be this day.”
            Again, Jesus teaches:
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“’Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:25-34, ESV).
God will provide everything we need for today – that’s why He tells us to ask Him for what we need for this day – so we will know it comes from Him and that He loves to provide it for us.
Now, we may not receive everything we want or even what we think we need, but God, Who knows everything and knows what is best for us, will give us what He knows we truly need this day to bear His Image to the world and spread His Gospel.
So, let us remember that working – earning an income – is a good and God-honoring thing to do – and we ought to be thankful and use what we receive in prayer.
And let us recognize that everything belongs to God and He sovereignly distributes His property as He wills, and He provides for our daily needs.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, our Loving Father, we thank You that we can come to You as Your children and ask for what we need each day.  Thank You for sending Your Son to invite us to pray for our needs and for promising that You will fill them.  Help us to recognize Your ownership of all things.  Cause us to be thankful and to seek to please You with how we use all that You have given us:  the air we breathe, our bodies and souls, our clothes, our homes, this church building, food and drink – everything we know in all of existence.  We ask this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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