“Bring Your Own Fish”

April 18, 2010

(2nd Sunday after Easter)

Acts 9:1-20 John 21:1-14

In the last year or two I have noticed big changes in my children. As they begin to close in on
adulthood, their bodies are beginning to grow larger and stronger and increasingly resemble adult
bodies. One outgrowth of this is that they are much more helpful as we pack and prepare to move than
they were six years ago. Several times last year when we were camping and now as we are moving
furniture and heavy boxes I have been a little surprised at what they have been able to do, and a few
times I think they have surprised themselves. Sometimes however, they will try to do more than they
should. I asked Jonah to help me to carry a game table outside and as we lifted it, he commented that it
wasn’t very heavy and he could probably do it himself. My reply was that it was not heavy and that he
likely could lift it, but that it’s size required that we share the burden. This comparison, while not
exactly correct, may help all of us to understand the way that Jesus operates through the faith and action
of his church on earth.

Scripture teaches, and we believe, that Jesus was and is the Son of God, a member of the Trinity, that
is, we believe that Jesus is God himself, the creator and sustainer of all things. Because Jesus is God
and has, at his disposal, all the power of God, he can, if he so desired, do anything he chooses to do.
For the most part, we get that. The difficult part for many of us is that despite being all-powerful, Jesus
chooses to do things with us and through us instead of doing things for us or simply doing things by
himself.

Today we read the well-known story of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Up until this point, Saul was
one of the most vocal critics of the Christian movement and became one of the most dangerous people
in the world to those who called themselves Christian. Saul believed that the followers of Jesus were
perverting the teachings of Judaism and were leading good Jews away from true faith in God. He felt
so passionately about this threat to his religion, that he had begun to hunt down persons who were
Christian and have them arrested, jailed and even killed. After nearly all the Christians had been
hunted down or chased out of Jerusalem, Saul remained just as zealous and just as passionate as ever
and intended to travel to other cities with sizable Jewish populations and continue to work toward the
destruction of Christianity. (Acts 9:1-20)
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Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the
high priest 2and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who
belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3As he
neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the
ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
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"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.
"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. 6"Now get up and go into the city, and you will
be told what you must do."
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The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.
8
Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the
hand into Damascus. 9For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
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In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!"
"Yes, Lord," he answered.

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The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus
named Saul, for he is praying. 12In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his
hands on him to restore his sight."
13
"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done
to your saints in Jerusalem. 14And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all
who call on your name."
15
But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the
Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16I will show him how much he must suffer for
my name."
17
Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the
Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may
see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes,
and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19and after taking some food, he regained his
strength.

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20At once he began to preach in the synagogues
that Jesus is the Son of God.

The Church of Jesus on earth was being severely threatened by the actions of Saul and possibly by
others like him. As he demonstrated, Jesus was more than capable of dealing with Saul and protecting
his followers. We also know that Jesus was more than capable of healing Saul, showing him what to
do next, and of healing his vision but in this case Jesus chose not to do that. Instead, we see that Jesus
sent Saul into town to think things over for a few days. When Saul remained faithful to God and
continued to pray, Jesus chose not to do things alone but chose one of his followers to find Saul, to pray
for him and to minister to him. Jesus chose Ananias. Ananias is less than thrilled.

Ananias knows who Saul is. Ananias knows what Saul has been doing and he knows why Saul has
come to Damascus. Ananias knows that by doing what God has asked of him, he risks being arrested,
tortured and worse but his obedience triumphs over his own instincts of self-protection and survival.
For whatever reason, Jesus chose not to do everything himself even though he was more than capable.
Instead, Jesus chose to act through a human agent and allow his church on earth, what we often refer to
as the “Body of Christ” to do his work alongside of him. Ananias did not have the power to know that
Saul was in town or to know where he would be staying but Jesus did. Ananias did not have the power
to heal Saul’s blindness, but Jesus gave him that power in answer to Ananias’ prayers. Jesus didn’t
need Ananias or any human to do anything for him, but he chose to do things that way.

In a similar story we hear a meeting between Jesus and more than half of his Disciples and one of the
last times that they will see him. (John 21:1-14)
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Afterward 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.
4
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
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He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?"
"No," they answered.

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He 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.
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Then 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.
10
Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught."
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Simon 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.

I think this story expands on our idea in some insightful ways. Even though the disciples knew that
Jesus had risen from the dead, they are still back at their old jobs believing that their ministry has ended
and forgetting that Jesus told them that he would transform them from simple fishermen into fishers of
men. They go out into the sea to fish on their own, in their own strength, leaving behind the ministry
that has been given to them and they come up empty handed. They fish all night and catch nothing.
They had to have been tired. The fishermen of this area and of this time period used cast nets that were
drawn in by hand and thrown out, by hand, over and over again. Over the course of the night they
would have cast their nets dozens, perhaps hundreds of times and by morning their arms were sore and
their backs ached. As they come in from their night’s exertions Jesus tells them to try once more and
even though they haven’t yet recognized him they try anyway.

On this last cast, the net is so full that they cannot draw it in and it is then that they realize that the man
on the shore was Jesus. I believe that John recognizes Jesus at this point not because they have drawn
closer to land but because the net is full. It occurs to John that whenever they tried to do things on their
own they failed miserably but when they did the things that Jesus taught them, and when they did
things alongside of Jesus, they were wildly successful. John realizes that they have shifted from failure
to success because Jesus has been included as a part of their effort.

As they arrive on shore they find that Jesus has already prepared dinner or breakfast (it depends on your
point of view, I suppose). For someone who had been working all night, this is dinner. Anyway,
somehow, from somewhere, Jesus has built a fire complete with a solid bed of coals on which to cook,
he has produced fish without any evidence of having gone fishing and he has enough bread for
everyone. Even so, one of the first things that Jesus tells the disciples is to bring their own fish. There
are two interesting lessons here.

First, Peter, in his enthusiasm to see Jesus, jumps off of the boat and rushes to shore but has to go back
and retrieve the fish that they had been given. In this I see a reminder that in our excitement to follow
Jesus we must be careful not to forget why we have been sent here. Peter rushes to Jesus’ side but in
his haste forgets that they have been given a harvest of fish for a reason. In our haste to meet Jesus and
in the midst of our enthusiasm for worshipping him, we must be careful not to leave behind the
mission, the harvest of souls that has been entrusted to us.

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Second, just as we saw in the story of Saul on the road to Damascus, Jesus refuses to do it all. Jesus
showed up out of nowhere. He prepared the fire. He brought bread for everyone and he brought fish
for himself. It would have been nothing for Jesus to prepare enough fish for everyone but he chooses
not to do so. Instead, Jesus tells the disciples that they are to bring their own fish. For whatever
reason, Jesus chooses to make his disciples be a part of what he is doing, to expend their own effort and
to provide from the share that God has already provided to them.

As our children mature and they discover that they can do more than they used to, they want to do
things for themselves but sometimes we need for them to do things alongside of us. As we mature in
our faith in Christ we too often want to stretch out wings and do things without Jesus. Our reminder
today is that although he is more than capable of doing things for himself, he has chosen to do them
alongside of us. Just like adults with their children, we are included not because we cannot do things
alone but because we are intended to learn something from doing it together. The lesson of Paul and
the disciples reminds us that sometimes when we try to go our own way and leave Jesus behind on the
beach, God allows us to fail but we can transform failure into success by following the plan that Christ
has laid out for us.

Jesus has called each one of us to be fishers of men, to go out into the world, to tell his story and to
invite people to meet him. This morning we are also reminded that in our excitement to come to Jesus
and to worship him, we must not forget to complete the mission that has been given to us. We need to
bring what we have caught and offer it to Jesus. Just as he commanded his disciples at his last beach
party, Jesus’ message to each of us today is still to ‘Bring your own fish.’

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You have been reading a message presented at Johnsville Grace and Steam Corners United Methodist Churches on the date
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All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.