John 21:1-19 Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 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.
Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net to 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 there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.
When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish 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, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go." (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow me.”
Reflection The disciples did follow Jesus. For nearly four years they listened to him preach impassioned sermons, watched him restore sight to the blind, free lepers from their plague, feed enormous crowds, expose hypocrisy, challenge power mongering and greed, and treat outcasts and sinners with respect and forgiveness. The disciples walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus, found shelter from dust storms and slept with Jesus. They bickered, laughed, wept and shared four passover meals with Jesus. But when things go south and they watch their teacher, their friend being beaten and crucified, the disciples run away, lock themselves in a hidden room, and almost immediately return to the way they were four years ago - fishing for fish.
After four years of following Jesus and fishing for people still the disciples are unconvinced by signs given to Mary Magdalene of Jesus’ continued presence among them. Four years of following Jesus and fishing for people, the experience of being startled by the presence of Jesus made known to them while hiding in a locked room and a third incomprehensible experience of Jesus’ ephemeral presence with them when Thomas in present, and what does Peter do? He decides to reclaim his business of fishing for fish and the other disciples follow Peter.
So much for following Jesus and fishing for people. Jesus is dead. We may as well go fishing. After four years of living and breathing and finding their way with Jesus, was nothing really changed? I want to shout, “What is wrong with you? Have you learned nothing?” How quickly I leap to judging Peter and the disciples. One thing I have learned about pointing fingers. The finger always bends back and implicates the finger pointer.
In this case the finger of judgment insists we ask ourselves several questions.
For how long have we claimed to follow Jesus? Months? Years? Decades? How has our journey with Jesus effected our fishing habits? Are we fishing for people? or fishing for fish? Which of course begs the question, what exactly does that mean? Let us begin with fish. I believe fish is a metaphor for whatever we think we need. Our fish might be security, safety, affection, attention, esteem, power or control. For what do you fish?
I have fished for all manner of things during different seasons of my life. As a young adult I fished for recognition and esteem, acquiring advanced degrees, working feverishly to publish professional papers and win NIH grants. As a single mom I fished for security and safety, making money based career choices to support my daughter and my self. As a young middle age adult I fished for meaning, practicing Taoism, studying my dreams, meditating, making retreats in monasteries and chanting in convents. As a middle middle age adult I fished for relationship with something more than my self and found my way back to Christianity. As an older middle age adult I fished for ways to give my gifts away for the good of others and found myself in seminary where I learned about fishing for people. After several years being fourth priest in a very large parish I forgot about fishing for people and turned to fishing for influence and power, which stood me cross ways with the senior priest. It was not long into my call to be senior priest at my own church that I remembered who I was following and why I was here, fishing for people.
And still, I am reluctant to us the E word. Evangelism. Fishing for people. I recoil at the thought of being put in the same boat as Bible thumping, in your face tel-evangelists. But as I stumble down lethe’s road I am forgetting the true meaning of the word Evangelism, which comes from the Greek Euangelion and means, good news or good story.
And that, my friends is what evangelism or fishing for people is. Sharing our good stories, our good news about how God is real and present for us in the ordinary moments of our lives; in our suffering and our locked rooms, in our empty nets and overflowing abundance, in the dust of the desert and the mist of the sea, at breakfast and Holy Communion. By sharing our stories and listening to the stories of others we plant the seeds of hope for all people. Sharing our good stories of how God is real for us, this is evangelism. This is fishing for people.
Here is the thing. When for the third time Jesus encounters Peter the other disciples and us tired, hungry and tangled in our empty fishing nets, he spends no time chastising us for forgetting every thing we learned in the previous four years or lifetime. He simply reminds us to cast our nets in the right direction and then he puts a towel around his waist, prepares breakfast and feeds us, again.
This is our story. A story of our comings and goings, remembering and forgetting, being fed and feeding one another. No blame. No shame. Just endless opportunities to begin again sharing our stories and listening to others as we weave together the threads of our lives in the tapestry of our shared “with God” life.
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