2004-08-15 Sermon - Baldwin Christian Church

John 21

This is the final chapter of the four Gospels, and for me it's all about encouragement. When we finished chapter 20, the ending made it sound like THAT was the last chapter in John.

John 20:30-31 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

Chapter 20 was written by an eyewitness who hoped we would believe even if we haven't seen for ourselves. He hoped we would believe these things so that WE might have life through Jesus Christ.

Chapter 21 was written to encourage those of us who bumble and stumble in faith, and that's because it shows we serve the God who gives second chances, and as in my case, third, fourth, etc...

John 21

1. After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise (in this manner, in this way) shewed he himself (Here's how it happened).
2. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee (the sons of thunder), and two other of his disciples.
3. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.

I have this same problem... every week when I go back to my day job. Yeah, it's a very good job; it gives me food, clothes, and a roof over my head. I work with good people, and well, I wouldn't really call what I do for a living "work." The problem for me is that, well, just like Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John and the gang, I've been following Jesus around for the past three years, and when I go back to my day job after the weekend, it just seems meaningless to me.

Fishing for fish fills your belly. It can fill your pocketbook, and as any honest fisherman will tell you, landing a big catch sure can fill an ego. Fishing for fish feeds the flesh, and as long as we're breathing, our flesh has to be sustained... it's a necessary thing. Whoever will not work should not eat (2 Thess 3:10). The problem for me is that I now see my day job in a different light than I used to, and it's not very appetizing to my spirit. In comparison with the big picture (eternity), my day job just seems like a fruitless pursuit.

But, on the other hand, fishing for souls fills the heart. It glorifies Jesus because it gives Him the opportunity to show Himself again and again. As our stature decreases, His can increase, and in our weakness His power is clearly seen. Fishing for souls feeds the Spirit.

John makes no mention here of the gang of seven asking for permission or guidance from the Lord before they go a fishing. They immediately jump into the boat. By all appearances it seems they were acting on their own. "I go a fishing" is a long way from "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matt 4:19).

I certainly won't throw rocks at the disciples because most of the time I don't follow Jesus very well either, and I don't always do what He tells me to do, but for some reason known only to Him, when I do follow Him, He keeps rewarding me for it. When I go off and do my own thing during the work-week, my net always comes up empty, so to speak. But, when I sit down with the Bible in front of me, ready to begin preparing a message, I always begin with the understanding that the Lord has someone in mind for this particular message, someone who'll be there listening to it, someone He wants to minister to, so I start by asking Him for permission to do this, for guidance to prepare it, and for the endurance to finish it. Words cannot describe the rich rewards of serving the King of Heaven. Everything else seems meaningless when compared to this.

That brings me back to the problem I have in getting motivated at the beginning of each workday during the week, when I go back to 'fishing for fishes.' Even when my 'day job' absolutely disgusts me; when it becomes obvious that my trade is enabling people's addiction to their television, opening the door to their laziness, to a slackness of their minds, lasciviousness, and a suspension, even a denial of reality that rips and tears at the fabric of family relationships; even when these things confront my soul, I can go back to this verse, John 21:3. These guys were waiting for Jesus. In Matthew 28 we learn that Jesus had made an appointment with them at a mountain in Galilee. They'd lived off the good graces and kindness of people who supported Jesus' ministry for the past three years, but it's likely that the scandal of the crucifixion shut down their support network. I believe they were waiting for Jesus near the appointed place. It was a familiar, safe place for them, and after all, they're fishermen by trade, probably very hungry fishermen by this time.

So, what's the lesson I can learn from this verse to repair the bad attitude I have toward my 'day job'? Peter, John and the boys didn't ask for permission, for guidance, and for the endurance to do the job before them, or if they did, at least it wasn't recorded in these pages. When I prayerfully ask for these things, these helps from the Lord, before each day begins, before each job starts, before each situation that confronts me, it becomes much easier - in whatsoever I do, to do it heartily, as unto the Lord (Col 3:23). It paves the way for blessings when you turn all control over to Him. Your life is a message, and every day the Lord has someone in mind that He wants to speak to through you, someone He wants to bless with the message that your behavior sends out each day, even on those days when you don't really feel like it, or when you have to do something that you really don't want to do.

Even after all they'd learned, Peter and the boys decided to go out alone, but the Lord had ordered the fish away from their boat that night.

4. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
5. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.

Loosely translated: "My boys, have you caught any fish?" (Asked with the expectation that they'll say "no".) He knew they had nothing to show for their efforts, and true to character, He wanted a confession, an admission of failure before He would meet their needs. It's His style to wait on us to first admit we're empty before He fills us up. Before He gives us strength, we need to feel for ourselves just how weak we truly are. Oh, how painfully slow we are to learn this lesson; to own up to the fact that we have nothing to offer in and of ourselves, and how slow we are to fall on our face before Him.

He's going to teach us here to never make the mistake of leaving the Captain of our boat on the shore when we embark on any endeavour.

The fact that they didn't recognize His voice isn't entirely attributable to their distance from the shore (about a football field length) or even the unusual way He addressed them. Being in a boat, they certainly were not waiting at the appointed mountain meeting place, and I think Jesus may have surprised them by showing up early, at a place and in an hour that they least expected. The warning had been given just a few days before: Matthew 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. What will He find us doing when He returns? Fishing for fish, or fishing for men? I just want to jump out of this boat and swim to Him, but His will trumps my will.

6. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
7. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved (the author, John) saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. (cont.)

Just a few days before, back in chapter twenty, when Peter and John arrived at the empty tomb, Peter "wondered in himself", he was confused at what he saw inside (Luke 24:12), but John understood the meaning of the headwrap having been rolled up and placed in a seperate place from linen cloths, and he believed in the resurrection right away. Again here it is John who remembers, who has 'deja vu', because two or three years earlier this same type of fishing bonanza happened with Jesus in the boat (Luke 5:1-11), and it is John who now realizes, "It is the Lord."

So now that we've humbled ourselves to the point of confessing and owning up to our inadequacy, our inability to get the job done on our own, when we then obey the Lord's command, moving over to the side of the boat that He bids us to, and suddenly our cup runneth over, what do we say people? "IT IS THE LORD."

Now lets back up for just a minute. What would you do (how would you react) if, after hours of unsuccessful, unproductive toil, somebody you don't know comes along and tells you how to do your job, your profession? That would be like somebody telling me that I'd find the problem right away if I'd just flip the circuit board over, even though I've been flipping it over and over while looking for the problem all day, or like telling Rocky that his business would boom if he'd just move the store entrance to around back, or telling President Bush to look in Iran for Osama and the WMD's.

It seems pretty safe to say that person would get an argument from me, from Rocky, and from President Bush, but notice that these haggard, cranky and hungry disciples didn't argue.

Keep this in mind: 1 Corinthians 3:19 ...the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.

I'm not sure about Iran and ol' Osama, but I do believe that if it's the Holy Spirit telling Rocky to make the back door become the front door to Tim's Pizza, then Rocky's gonna need to hire more help. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom, and obedience is a by-product of reverent fear. That's the lesson here. People try to see something that's not there, like there being some signifigance to the fish being on the right side of the boat, but that misses the point altogether. The point is that it doesn't matter what side of the boat you cast the net, as long as it's the voice of Jesus that guides you. Obedience is the key to fruitfulness. There's no murmuring or disputing here. No sass like there was in the earlier episode recorded in Luke 5, just obedience, but it would be presumptious to say that the disciples' faith played any part in this because it doesn't appear that they recognized the stranger on the beach until after the net was full.

Because we have not known Jesus in the flesh as these disciples did, we have to be in tune with His Spirit to know His voice, and that requires us to read in His Word everyday.

Sometimes those nights of fruitless fishing seem to go on forever, and waiting for the Lord can be a very lonesome thing. Those nights tempt us to go back to our old ways. I've said it before, and it bears repeating: I am far and away the least qualified among you to be standing up here. No matter what happens to you, please don't get discouraged as you walk with Jesus. We will all walk through dry places in this life, and when we're there it seems like the Lord just won't (or can't) use us for anything, but that's not what His Word says:

1 Corinthians 1:26-31
26. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28. And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29. That no flesh should glory in his presence.
30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
31. That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

God is delighted when regular folks succeed at things contrary to the world's wisdom, and that often means that His success comes in spite of our own wisdom, too.

Let this soak in for a minute:

a.) It has never rained. In fact, what is rain? There's a terrible judgment coming, so I'll survive it by building a huge boat.
b.) We're out in the middle of the desert, all three million of us, along with our flocks and herds. We're all dying of thirst. I'll give everybody a drink by hitting this Rock with a stick.
c.) Poisonous snakes are biting us left and right. Let's be healed by looking at a brass snake on a pole.
d.) Let's conquer a fortified city by marching around it silently seven times, then all hollering at the same time.
e.) The only thing standing between us and victory is a ten-foot tall armed professional soldier, so let's send in this little shepherd boy to kill him with just an attitude and a slingshot.
f.) We need to pay our taxes, so I'll go down to the lake, and get the money out of the first fish I catch.
g.) I know this lake like the back of my hand, the fish just haven't been bitin' all night, but the sun's a comin' up, and this guy says I'll catch some if I make a cast on the other side of the boat.
g.) And oh yeah, by the way, would you believe that I can get to heaven because some guy was nailed to a tree?

1 Corinthians 1:20-21
20. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21. For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God (it didn't know His Son, so...), it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

Speaking of foolishness, back to John 21...

(verse 7 cont.) Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.

A hundred yards from shore, and Peter puts on his overcoat and jumps out of the boat. I believe that Peter was eager to see Jesus again, but the only thing that makes sense to me is that he must have been thinking he could walk on the water again (and just maybe he did).

8. And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.
9. As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.
10. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.

What a friend we have in Jesus! He doesn't get upset with the disciples for going fishing when they should have been waiting for Him at the appointed place. In fact, the Creator of the universe has been patiently waiting for them, and fixing them breakfast to boot! The kicker for me and for you is in this second command He gives them, "Bring of the fish which ye have now caught." These guys toiled away all night without any success under their own wisdom, under the direction of their flesh, but when they follow one simple command from the Lord, He gives them a great lesson in service, and He gives them the credit for this huge catch! "Bring of the fish which ye have now caught." This helps me understand the prayer we recite, when we ask the Lord to, "Give us this day our daily bread." It's not our bread, is it? I mean, we don't deserve it, but He keeps giving it to us. Let us never forget to be thankful for this, and let us say, "It is the Lord."

11. Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.
12. Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.
13. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.
14. This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.

It's no wonder they couldn't haul the net into the boat. In the Greek manuscript for verse eleven, the word for "great" is "mega," so somehow the Lord kept that old net from breaking with 153 mega-fish in it. People try to use their own wisdom to make something out of this number, but it all sounds silly to me. John probably wrote this fish story about fifty years after it happened. The number of fish is significant because it lets us know that this day made memorable impact on John. He was an eyewitness who had no difficulty recalling vividly the details of that morning on that beach long ago, and these things were written, "That ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God."

The wisdom of this world will tell you that you're crazy if you believe this. The wisdom of this world denied it even when these wonderful things took place right before their eyes. The wisdom of the world wants no part of the wisdom in this book, but take heart, for even though (like our friend Peter) we bumble and stumble through this life, Jesus delights in sharing these things with us, in giving us a boatload of credit in exchange for a moment of obedience, He delights to share in our joy. All the while He's sowing these things, sowing these truths in your heart, and He's hoping to sit on that shore and share the fruit of the harvest with you.

John 4:36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.