Partly based on George H Morison’s sermon
Our text for today is from John 21. When we read the Gospels and meditate on the little scenes that are described, it is amazing to me how these simple stories contain such wisdom. I have to learn again and again that they are like treasures waiting for me to find. They teach me about myself and more importantly they teach me the character and nature of God. It’s easy to read the bible quickly, out of duty. We are not always ready to listen to what to Lord has to say to us, as we read. Jesus understood this; He used parables so that His teaching was easier to remember. As we mull over these stories in our hearts, God’s Holy Spirit whispers to us the deeper meanings of these stories; if we have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to His Church.
Jesus liked to tell stories and so does John. John recounted little stories, true stories, in his Gospel account. These parable-like stories contained a deeper spiritual message. If we come with a hunger for God to speak wisdom to us; if we come with an open heart and a listen ear as we read; if we come hungry for God to pour out comfort into our souls; then He will. Meditating on His word is what I am talking about.
Our passage today starts after the trauma of Calvary and what a week that was for Peter. In began with that triumphant entry into Jerusalem; Jesus acclaimed by many as the Messiah. Things were going better and better, then, out of the blue, everything went so, so wrong. The authorities turned on Jesus, Peter in his panic betrays Jesus, and final Jesus is put to death of a cross. Peter’s hopes had been shattered, his best friend had been killed in a brutal way and he had done nothing to stop it.
But as we all know Jesus is the Lord God; and so even death could not be the end. On the third day Jesus appears to the disciples and to Peter. The tears that Peter must have shed, the despair he must have felt; then wow, Jesus has come back from the dead, but how? What did this death and resurrection mean? The worst part of that dark week of was over. Christ had risen. Even so, did the events that had taken place make complete sense to Peter?
Often when we have struggled through a terrible event, a situation that we have no control over, the clouds of confusion descends and we lose our way. We all have experienced a situation where a person we love has left us, or a situation where we have made a big mistake and wish we could change things. In such hours people and men in particular often turn, instinctively, to the things they know. For Peter this was the common, hard work, of fishing. It is almost as if the hardness of the task is a help.
So Peter gets up and says “I’m off out, I’m going fishing.” Peter and his friends go fishing, and this is not the quiet, leisurely, modern activity done with modern fibre-glass, state of the art fishing gear. This was hard manual labour. So they work hard all night and nothing, for all their hard work they catch nothing in the night.
Jesus stands by the side of the lake and cries out “Children have you any food?” There was only one answer to a straight question “No”. We may be near to Christ and yet be starving for spiritual food! Then He said to them “Cast your nets of the right side of the boat”. They do as they are told and behold they catch a load of fish. At this point the disciple John, the beloved disciple, the one who God gave the sharpest eyes, recognizes Jesus and he says to his friends “it is the Lord”
Now the words that I want to dwell on are these “Cast your nets on the right side”. What do these words suggest to me? They suggest three important truths:
· First what we long for is nearer than we often think. (repeat)
· Secondly, we should never be afraid to change our method. (repeat)
· Third, Jesus can manage things for us better than we can ourselves. (repeat).
1. What we long for is nearer than we think.
On this morning, on the Sea of Galilee, this truth was apparent. As the disciples threw the nets out, suddenly they caught a harvest of fish, quite unexpectedly. They came across what they where looking for. All that night they had worked hard, in the cold dark sea and nothing, not one single fish; they had lost heart, they were weary, hungry and hopeless. They might have been saying to themselves “I can’t understand it, this sea has completely changed; there used to be so many fish but now it seems as if there is nothing.”
But you see the fish were there, plentiful as ever, they were not far away in rivers and creeks. Cast your nets on the right side of the boat, for there are hundreds of fish waiting. What they had worked hard at, all night, was not far away. What their hearts were hoping for was not far away. Consider how Peter and Thomas and John remembered this event years later. It would have been one of the sweetest memories, a vivid reminder that what we long for is nearer than we think.
When I am reading the bible I am struck how often God seems to repeat himself. And I take it that if God repeats himself his is bent on engraving this truth on our hearts.
There are so many examples of people, who are struggling through difficult times and at the point of despair God shows them his plan. I shall restrict myself to one example from the Old Testament. Consider Hagar who fled with her son Ishmael. As she fled through the desert, the heat, the lack of water took their toll, and her womanly strength had given out. There was no water, there was no sign of water and her child was dying. So she cried out to God. There God opened her eyes and would you believe it within a stones throw of where she was there was a well. She and her son managed to reach Egypt. Now as a silver haired old woman she would remember the truth that things we long for may by nearer than we may think or imagine.
Every one of us needs to learn this lesson. We can be so negative in our thoughts that we believe that the best is not possible. But all we long for, happiness, love, peace and the presence of God, like those 153 fish, are just here. You see we think that what we want is far away, but today’s message is God is able to do more abundantly than you can think of or even imagine. For the power at work in us raised Jesus from the dead, and He who began a good work in us will carry through to completion. The pity is we live our lives as if we don’t trust this.
This blessing is just a boats breadth away, and for some they miss out by working and toiling all their lives in the dark. It is easy to move from one thing to another, move away from one church to another, and move from one relationship to another. The grass is not always greener in another place. You see you carry yourself where ever you go.
Brothers and sisters believe that the kingdom of God is within you. Believe that the greatest and best blessing is just here. The things we long for, the things without which we cannot live our lives, the things than can turn our night to day, these things are always nearer than we can think of or ever imagine.
Now if this is true about the blessing of happiness and love, how much more is it true of the presence of Jesus? Let me take you back to that boat. For the disciples, Galilee had so many memories of Jesus. It was the sea shore where He preached and performed miraculous signs. As that boat rocked back and forwards the name of Jesus would pass Peter’s lips “remember the time when He got me to walk on the water.” “As I remember you nearly drowned” said John. How Peter missed his presence. How Peter longed for Him to be near. It was gut wrenching, it was like having your heart torn out. Peter was knotted up with his betrayal of Jesus a few days earlier. He could not live without Jesus. And then, in the morning, He learned that Jesus was standing on the shore and calling to them. Jesus, the one who He long for, was nearer than he thought.
Does any one here say in their hearts “You know I am struggling in the dark. I’ve lost my way. In my depression, I feel that my life has amounted to nothing, it’s a sorry failure, I’ve tried to work hard but I seem to achieve nothing”.
Jesus says to you, here and now, “Behold, I stand at the door of your heart and knock.” “I’m all you need” It is easy to believe that Jesus did miracles in Galilee, in the past. It’s a harder thing to believe here and now He can do miracles with you. He can place your feet upon a rock, He can change your life. Today, is this what you are looking for? Others here may look at you and think that you are well and ok. But you know, within, that you have not found what you need yet. The word today tells you that what you long for is nearer than you dream.
2. We should never be afraid to Change our method.
Just imagine what happened, the disciples could have been fishing all night on the left side of the boat. Maybe there was a fisherman’s superstition about were to place the nets. They were simply doing it because they had been taught to do it that way, they were holding to the common custom in those parts. Then in the morning comes a loud voice “Cast your nets on the right side” Try a new method. Adopt a new plan. Strike out in a different direction. Now just imagine this; what would have been lost if the disciples stuck rigidly to their method and refuse to change. No mighty fish would have been caught, No one would have shouted “it’s the Lord” and perhaps the figure at the shore would have vanished, the hot sun would have risen and they would have had to toil all day achieving nothing.
You see they altered their plans and their new method became God’s plan. They realised that Jesus, the one whom they loved, was near. They ended up having a day of sweet fellowship with the Lord. In the future when Peter and the others were fishing for men, I believe they would have remembered this day and remembered never to be afraid to change their plans.
I believe that in our Christian lives we must remove all fear of failure, if we have been toiling and working all night and find that we have caught nothing; we must cast our nets on the other side. If you have been fishing on the left side and failed long enough. Cast your net on the right side of the boat.
In saying this I don’t believe that Jesus would like us to be changeable and fickle people. There is no more hopeless a character in the world than that of a man who is constantly changing his mind. This is not what I am saying. Consider the disciples; they had doggedly stuck to their plan all night long showing great character and determination.
But to all of us there comes a morning, when the light of Christ dawns on us and we realize that there may be another way. At such hours, if we have character we do not hesitate to change to the plans of God. We cast our nets on the right side of the boat. Our prayers may have been lacking, but we pray now. Our thankfulness may have been lacking but we are thankful now. Our faith in Jesus may have become the habit of religion, coming to church once a week without expectation. We can get into a rut, spiritually and find ourselves toiling all night and achieve nothing. But when we cast our nets on the right side of the boat, our whole being is revived.
Now this is not just a lesson for us as individuals. It is a lesson for the church. I am not saying that we should just change things for changes sake. I believe that the church should be slow to move. Should we have long or short services? ones full of singing or quiet, hymns or choruses? Should we have long or short preaching? Do we need a strong leader or leadership team? Should we be more or less charismatic? What do we want from the church? What kind of church would we love?
But it shouldn’t be a question of what we love. The question is what about the nets? Are they full or are they empty? Where are the fish? Are people being saved? Is the world being redeemed? If not then let the dead tradition of the past bury it own dead, cast your nets on the right side of the boat. Let us not be eager to change our methods. But let us not be afraid to change our methods. The test is are the nets full or empty?
3. Christ can manage our lives better than we can ourselves
Now think of this, Peter and James, had been falling into the sea of Galilee since they were children. They knew every nook and cranny of that lake; they new every bay, every current; the tricks that the wind plays in certain places. They also knew everything about fishing. Then Jesus comes along and gives them some directions. Now did they resent his interference? Were they arrogant; did they stubbornly stick to failing ways?
They did what He said and they found that He knew more about fishing for fish than they did. Whatever we do in life, no matter how expert we are in that thing, Jesus can teach us a better way. Before you do anything we should go to Him and consult him. Tell him about it. Ask Him for advice. He knows far more about fishing than Peter did. He knows far more about building His church than we do. He is the only one that can show us how to grow His church. He is the only one who can make us fishers of men. He knows about how to bring people into His church.
You may feel you know what you are doing; you have been doing it for years, but let me tell you Jesus knows more, He knows better. He knows that only a boats breadth away there is a great blessing, a mighty catch of fish, full nets. Can you cast your nets on the right side? There is a blessing for you personally; a blessing for all the people of God, and for those yet to come to God.
So, in conclusion, let us trust that what we long for is nearer than we think; God is here with us and in us. His wisdom, power and presence is what we truly need. We should be humble to listen to Him and change our method. If we cast our net at His command on the right side we will see such blessing. Let us once again acknowledge that he can manage our live far better than we can, so let us draw close to Him and listen. Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, … he who has ears to hear listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying.
Amen
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