EYEWITNESS: Some Casual Fishermen

Wouldn’t it be nice to view things through the eyes of a child?
To be as excited about feeding the goldfish as they are?
To be as thrilled about touching grass as they are?
To be as exhilarated by one frosted cupcake as they are?
 
Today we are looking at another eyewitness account of the resurrected Lord Jesus. In this account, the people who get to see Jesus are filled with wonder. Our goal is to (1) determine why they are filled with wonder (2) how they express that wonder (3) consider what that means for expressing our own wonder at Jesus.
 
Before we begin, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
 
I. Waiting for God

Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. (Jn. 21:1)
A brief timeline of events --- This occurs afterwards. After the encounter with Thomas which is already a week after Easter. Beyond that we don’t know for sure, but it might have taken some time, because the disciples meetup in Galilee.
 
The Sea of Galilee is important to note is located about 100 some miles north of Jerusalem, the last spot that the disciples saw Jesus. That means the disciples had taken a couple of days journey to get back to Galilee.
That’s important, because it isn’t as if Jesus keeps appearing in the same city, in the same house, in the same room. If that were the case, it’d be really easy to say: “There was something wrong with the room. Maybe there was some kind of mirror trick that was occurring. In the end, Jesus didn’t rise.”

The fact that this next account takes place up by the Sea of Galilee which is 100 miles away from the last appearances of Jesus lends credibility to the resurrection.
 
And the reason the disciples went up to the Sea of Galilee? Most likely they are responding to a command from Jesus that he had given them before his death and resurrection occurred. Look at Matthew 26:32. In it, Jesus said, “After I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
Since Jesus said he would die…and he did.
And he said he would rise…and he did.
He probably is going to go up to Galilee, because he said it…

So the disciples head on up to Galilee and they wait.
They wait.
They wait.
And they wait.
They are waiting for God to show up.
Literally.
And Peter…well…he isn’t great at just sitting around and waiting. (Maybe you can relate.)
He isn’t good at just sitting around and twiddling his thumbs.
He has to do something.

So…he does. “I’m going out to fish,” Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” (Jn. 20:3)

Sometimes God says the same to us. Sometimes God calls us to wait…
God told the ancient Israelites to wait for a Savior.
Jesus told his disciples to wait for his resurrection.
And now he told them to wait in Galilee for him to show up.
And that’s okay, right? Because I know that ya’ll are really, really good at waiting.
I know that you don’t have any problem…
When I-440 gets backed up.
When your phone says there’s a 20 minute delay on the drive home from work.
When someone is entering on the “On Ramp” and they do that thing where they drive all the way up to where the lane ends, just so that you have to wait longer.

Humans are real good at waiting, right?

One of the things that Julianna and I have always been looking forward to is becoming parents.
Personally, I think it would be a blast.
I look forward to teaching my kids how to tie a shoe.
I look forward to reading them my favorite stories.
I look forward to training them how to ride a bike.
I look forward to opening the first bag of Doritos with them!
I look forward to telling them about the Savior, about God’s love, about all that Jesus has done.
And…honestly…it has been our prayer and hope for almost 8 years.

So far…
God has said.

“Wait.”

Honestly, that’s hard.
In a society where we hardly have to wait for anything.
Waiting for God to show up is hard.

Whether it’s waiting for God to show up and cure a sickness…
Or to show up and help with finances.
Or to show up and reconcile your relationship.
Waiting for God is hard.
 
But I think if you learn anything from Peter here as he is waiting – it’s this. While you’re waiting for God, you do what you can.
What he could do was fish. In fact, it was his career before the three years of following Jesus. So…rather than sit around and do nothing – he did what he could. He got out the boat. He packed up the nets. He cast off from shore. He went about earning some kind of living.

He did what he could.

And if you’re waiting for God to show up and do something amazing, don’t do nothing.
Do what you can.
Go see a doctor.
Save up your money.
Reach out to those you’ve wronged.
Do something.
Trust God but do something while you’re waiting for God to show up and do something amazing!

II. Jesus Shows Up
 
Which is exactly what happens next.

Because the disciples are out on that lake all night. They are on the lake all night and they catch nothing. (v.3)
And you can imagine that Peter didn’t take that lightly. He and James and John were all fishermen of Galilee. So, they probably said things like:

“We need to try over behind that reedy section. The fish always bite there.”
“Oh, that didn’t work, because I forgot that when the wind is blowing to the northeast at 12 mph, the fish move over by that log over there.”
“Sure. There weren’t any fish by the log, but I imagine that’s because you sneezed, Thomas. You gotta be quieter.”

As they are thinking about packing it up and getting back to shore, they are greeted by the voice of a gentleman about 100 yards off. He calls out:

“Friends, haven’t you any fish?” (v.5)
And the disciples respond with a simple: “No.” (v.5b)

But the stranger from shore responds: “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some fish.” (v.6)

They throw their nets on the right side of the boat…and…When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. (v.6)
 
Which…

I don’t know if you know this or not, but…this had already happened to Peter, James and John.
In Luke 5, way back when Jesus first met them…He stood on shore, told them where to cast their nets, and they caught so many fish they fell at Jesus’ feet and proclaimed Jesus as the Lord.

Maybe John remembers.
Because immediately he responds: “It is the Lord!” (v.7)
 
TRUTH: Jesus lives
 
It’s a bit different than the first truth from the last four weeks, but not really. Again – Jesus appears and does something miraculous by knowing exactly where a bunch of fish are, collecting them all to the side of the disciples’ boat, and telling them when and where to drop net while he’s 100 yards away on the shore.

This is Jesus.
Jesus is alive.
Jesus is alive and still has all of his miraculous, incredible power.

So…if you’re waiting for God.
And you’re thinking…when is he gonna show up.
And you’re thinking…maybe he’s not because he’s not real.

You’re wrong.

Because…again…Jesus lives. And all of his resurrected power still lives with him.
 
And maybe add this to your notes:
He lives…even during the everyday times.
Because what’s unique in this appearance is that it doesn’t occur as a group of people are going to the tomb to mourn Jesus.
It doesn’t happen as two people are walking to Emmaus and discussing Jesus.
It doesn’t occur while an entire room of disciples is trying to wrap their minds around the implications of Jesus’ empty tomb.

It’s while they’re fishing!

Here’s the truth:
God shows up.
He is alive.
He is with you…even during the everyday stuff.

Even when you are trying to get your kids ready for gymnastics and they’re being kinda whiny and hard to work with…Jesus lives.
Even when you are at work bogged down by paperwork after email after Excel spreadsheet…Jesus lives.
Even when you are in the hospital for another routine checkup…Jesus lives.

Jesus is alive…even during the everyday stuff.
 
That’s great news.
And it warrants a reaction.

III. Responding to Jesus!
 
As soon as Simon Peter heard John say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. (v.7)
 
Did you hear that?
Impetuous.
Unhinged.
Fully clothed.
Even – putting more clothes on – before he jumps int the water.

You might call that silly.
God calls it “worship.”  
 
TRUTH: True worship flows from beholding the Risen Savior.

Granted. That might not be what you think of when you think of worship.
In fact, for some of you – especially if you’re not a worship goer – you might think of worship as something you were “forced” to do back when you were little.
Something that mom made you do.
Something that your dad insisted you do.
Something that your parents would do as they dragged you kicking and screaming to worship only so that you sat there with your arms folded “worshiping.”

Newsflash – If your heart isn’t into worship, it isn’t worship.
Look at John 4:23. Jesus says, True worshipers worship in spirit and truth.
 
That means true worship starts in your spirit.
True worship starts in your heart.
And it flows.
 
Like a natural spring of water.
It bubbles.
It flows.
It erupts.
Sometimes just like Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park.

True worship flows, naturally, freely, out of love for Jesus.
Now if you grew up as a Lutheran, you might hear the word “worship” and think of standing up and sitting down, singing beautifully worded hymns, and with four-part harmony coming from the back pews.

If you grew up from a different background, you might hear “worship” and think of candles, sprinkling oils, and chanting in Latin.

If you grew up from a still different background, you might hear “worship” and think of the music – guitars, piano and some drums.

Guess what…
If it’s a heart focused on Jesus.
It’s worship.
Even if it’s a different type of worship.

Take a look at the different types of worship in this section!
John sees Jesus and says, “It is the Lord!”
Peter sees Jesus and jumps in the water.
The other disciples see Jesus and happily steward all the gifts he just gave them and row back to shore.
 
All worship.

It’s important to remember that.

Because…if I start to believe that all people NEED to worship in one particular way…Do you know what that does?
If I turn to my friend and I say, “Listen, dude…If you aren’t on your knees when you’re worshipping God, then that’s not worship.”
Then, do you know what happens?
That guy will probably get onto his knees…
But it’s no longer flowing forth out of love for Jesus.
But out of being shackled to the mode of worship that you told him was necessary.  

Almost like he’s now worshiping the worship.
 
Don’t shackle your friends.
Worship your Savior.
In a variety of beautiful ways.
 
And there are a lot.
You might stand. You might sit.
You might speak. You might shout.
You might play the organ. You might play the guitar. You might play the drums.
You might speak English. You might speak Spanish. You might speak Mandarin Chinese.
You might even do what some of the little children do and speak some form of “Baby!”

 If it is a heart of praise proclaiming Jesus – it’s worship.

One more thing: Worship can be divided into two categories.  

What we’ve talked about so far is WORTHSHIP. That’s what John did. John saw Jesus and proclaimed His Worth: It is the Lord! Lord is a name that means “Master.” It means “leader.” It means “ruler.” For the disciples, it means, “There’s the risen Jesus, king of heaven and earth who rules over death itself and now lives as our resurrected Savior.”

True worship expresses itself in WORTHSHIP.
That’s what we do every Sunday. We worship God by expressing His WORTH in our songs, hymns, prayers, Bible readings.

But that’s not the only way we worship

Because look at what Peter does. He jumps into the water.
And the other disciples start rowing that boat load of fish.
That’s worship, too.
But instead of proclaiming worth, they go to work.

True Worship expresses itself in WORK-ship.

Romans 12: 1 says this, “In view of God’s mercy, offer yourselves as living sacrifices. This is your spiritual act of worship.”  
Because worship is not just a thing that you do by singing praises to God in one worship service on one day each week.  
Worship is something you for the glory of God all week.

When you invite someone to worship for the glory of God.
When you give a gift to his ministry for the glory of God.
When you teach little children for the glory of God.
When you share a passage on social media for the glory of God
When you cook your family dinner for the glory of God.
When you do your family’s laundry for the glory of God.
Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

CONCLUSION:
Because when God arrives, man does he do glorious things.
Look the last part of the account:
When they landed, the disciples saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it and some bread. (v.9)

Jesus had just given them 153 fish.
But that’s not all.

He gives them a net that doesn’t break.
But that’s not all.

He gives them a balanced breakfast!
That’s what happens when God arrives, God provides abundantly.
 
Think about it --
When Jesus arrived, after millennia of waiting for the Savior, He didn’t just provide forgiveness for one of your sins.
Not for two.
Not for 17.
But for all of your sins.

Friends, when God arrives, He provides abundantly.

That’s a reason a to wait.
It’s a reason to worship. Amen.