Limiting Out

 

Something from the tackle box:

       Jesus later appeared to his disciples along the shore of Lake Tiberius.  Simon Peter, Thomas the Twin, Nathanael and the brothers, James and John, were there, together with two other disciples.  Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing!”

       The others said, “We will go with you.”  They went out in their boat.  But they didn’t catch a thing that night.

       Early the next morning Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize who he was.  Jesus shouted, “Friends, have you caught anything?”

       “No!” they answered.

       So he told them , “Let your net down on the right side of your boat, and you will catch some fish.”

       They did, and the net was so full of fish that they could not drag it up into the boat.

       Jesus’ favorite disciple told Peter, “It’s the Lord!”  When Simon heard that it was the Lord, he put his clothes that he had taken off while he was working.  Then he jumped into the water.  The boat was only about a hundred yards from the shore.  So the other disciples stayed in the boat and dragged the net full of fish.

       When the disciples got out of the boat, they saw some bread and a charcoal fire with fish on it.  Jesus told his disciples, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.”  Simon Peter got back into the boat and dragged the net to shore.  In it were one hundred and fifty-three large fish, but the net did not rip. (John 21:1-11 CEV)

        One of the things that will put me in an enthusiastic mood for the start of the fishing season is when we experience a beautiful and mild arrival of spring.  When the sun has been shining brightly on the newly budding leaves and the tulips and daffodils are stretching their colors up to a relatively warm and cloudless sky, the water in the ponds, streams and lakes all start to look invitingly fishable to me.  Come to think of it, the mild days of spring do something to put me in a grand mood for praising God for his creation, and his promise that I will someday enjoy a redeemed creation for all eternity, as well. 

Tinker's Creek this morning

       Well, that full bloom of spring is finally here and, wouldn’t you know it, trout season opened this morning.  So I took my lightest weight fly rod and spent two wonderful hours on Tinker’s Creek – along with a lot of other fishermen.  Opening day is bound to bring pretty high traffic levels to any decent trout stream. 

       While out there I met a nice young man named Joe, fishing a ways downstream from where I was working my buggy whip.  Joe was fishing with worms and managed to pull three nice brown trout out of a honey hole under the covered bridge ( right where I would have set up had he not gotten there first).  He was very pleased with himself, and rightfully so.  I told Joe that I had had a nice fish on my line just upstream, but that he shook off pretty quickly.  Truth be told, - it might have been a snag, - but it could have been a fish! 

       The scripture passage I pulled out of the tackle box to start my story with is one of my favorites.  It involves men who decide to go fishing when they could have, and probably should have, been doing other things.  I am a kindred soul with those disciples in that respect.  I love the Lord, - but I also love to fish, - and I’m not the only one I know.  There are several other enthusiastic fishers of fish, who are also members of the very church that I serve as pastor.  One of the folks in my congregation who likes to fish is Buddy Walker.

       Now, I like to do all kinds of fishing, but one thing that Buddy and I have in common is that we both like to do a lot of our fishing with fly-rods and little, teeny tiny, hand made artificial bugs and spiders that float on top of the water as bait.  This sort of sets us apart from most other fishermen. 

       Buddy lives right on Jordan Lake, just four blocks down the road from the parsonage, on a stretch of shoreline that I like to wade into and fly-fish along.  There’s good firm bottom, and plenty of room to work the old buggy whip, right next to Buddy’s place.  I’m sure this is one of the reasons that Buddy likes the spot where he lives so well.

       While all fishermen share a common bond in our love for the sport of angling, the difference of opinion between fly-fishing enthusiasts and those wed to all other fishing methods can be pretty passionately held.  You are either a dedicated angler or a true nutcase to be a fly-fisherman, depending on which side of that divide you come down on.  We see fly-fishing as a pure, graceful, even artistic, way of catching fish.  A way to fish that isn’t for just anyone.  A way to fish that is superior to all others.

       Those others love to remind us - that our method is a lot harder way to catch fish, - a way more expensive way to catch fish, - and a generally less productive way to catch fish, all told.  All of which statements are true, when the comparison is informed by the non-subjective, empirical measurement standards that will tell a lie with that ring of authority which no other opinion can match, regardless of the level of passion with which it is held. 

       And so it goes.  When I’m fly-fishing down by the chapel park at the east end of Jordan lake, where M-50 runs right along the shore, I actually get comments from passing traffic.  Sometimes perfect strangers will honk their horn and give me a big Thumbs Up sign.  Other perfect strangers will honk and give me a different sign, or roll down their windows and yell out, “Fly Fishing &%$#@!”  -  I just smile, wave to them all, and keep right on fishing.  I love fly-fishing, and no one of any other opinion can take that joy from me! 

fly-fishing is beautiful on so many levels

       My friend Buddy has more than once reminded me of a scene from the movie, A River Runs Through It, which has a preacher who loves fly-fishing as a main character.  In this scene the preacher is quoted as saying that, if Jesus loved his first disciples because they were fishermen, then they must have been fly-fishermen, – and no doubt he loved John the most because John was a DRY fly-fisherman! –

       Of course, this is not true, the disciples were all netters, - no more than glorified smelt dippers at best! - Still, regardless of their preferred catching method, they were all men with fishing in their blood, and so I can identify with their predicament in our selection from the tackle box.  

       Here are a group of Jesus’ closest followers who, the story tells us, have already had two encounters with the risen Lord before this episode.  And yet, during a short lull in the happenings of this miracle laden, holiest of times in their lives, repeatedly interacting with a resurrected Lord Jesus, back from the dead, - one of them, Peter, says, - “I’m going fishing!”

       Now, many people have wondered about this ever since.  How could Peter say such a thing with all that’s happening then?  But I understand perfectly.  It’s just the kind of thing that I would likely do in similar circumstances.  I’m not even surprised that six of Peter’s companions responded to Peter’s declaration with, “Now there’s a great idea! – We’ll go fishing with you!”  So off they went, seven men spending the day in the best way they could figure out to spend a day right then, - fishing. 

Wayne and I returning from a good day fishing

       It sort of reminds me of another fisherman in my congregation, Wayne Swiler, and I.  Amazingly, Wayne seems to actually enjoy the company of a preacher while he’s fishing,  (this is not that common of an attitude among fishermen in general, I can assure you of that!) so I frequently take him up on his standing offer to go fishing whenever I have the time and the weather is cooperating.  It’s sort of like Peter and his buddies.  There are other things that I could be doing, and maybe even should be doing, but right now I’m going out to fish, and it’s nice to have a friend who say, “Well then, - I’ll go with you,” and does, - often.

       Now, Wayne and I have had some very good days fishing together, and we’ve had some pretty poor days fishing together.  Every fisherman knows what it’s like to go out fishing and get skunked.  It happens way more often than any of us would like, but it’s just the nature of fishing.  Sometimes they just aren’t biting and you have to be OK with that to become a real fisherman and not give up on the sport. 

       You’ve probably seen the bumper sticker, “A bad day fishing is better than a good day working!”  There’s a lot of truth in that statement.  A bad day fishing can still be pretty nice in many ways.  It’s nice to take fishing pole in hand and just be out on the water in a boat, or wading in a stream like I was this morning, even if you don’t catch anything at all!  I didn’t catch anything at all this morning and I had a wonderful time. 

a good day fishing!

       That being said, I can also say that a GOOD day of fishing beats a BAD day of fishing every time, HANDS DOWN!  Going out and catching nothing just doesn’t compare to going out and coming back with a fish or two in your creel, or a picture or two on your camera if you catch and release.  It’s the icing on the cake.  And then, even better, are those wonderful and rare days when you actually have to quit fishing early, because the law says that you aren’t even allowed to catch any more fish than you’ve already caught for the day! - You’ve limited out!

       I’ve only limited out a handful of times in my whole life (a couple of those times have been fishing with Wayne Swiler, so I do have a witness)  and believe me, it’s way better than getting skunked, which I’ve done many, many, many times in my life, including this morning. 

       In the gospel story from our tackle box, Peter and his six fishing buddies are out in their boat all night long – getting skunked!  It’s probably been nice to be out on the water together in their boat again, it always is if the weather is decent, but they aren’t getting any fish!  In that regard, it’s been an unproductive fishing adventure and they are undoubtedly all feeling like it’s been a BAD day fishing.
       Oh well!  As I said, it’s part of fishing.  You will have bad days fishing, there’s no getting around it.  No doubt the disciples have had them before.  Maybe Peter and the sons of Zebedee are all thinking about one particular bad day of fishing they had together, just three short years ago, and how that had turned out. 

       Back then this new Rabbi Jesus had just started teaching in the neighborhood around the shoreline they did all of their fishing from.  The gospel of Luke records it sort of like this:

       One day Jesus was standing by the lake shore with the people all crowding around him and listening to the word of God.  He saw at the water’s edge two boats left there by some fishermen who had pulled up on shore to wash their nets out.

       Jesus got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Peter, and asked him to put out a little from shore, which he did.  Then Jesus sat down and taught the people from the boat.  When he had finished teaching he turned to Peter and said, “Let’s go fishing! 

       Peter replied, “Rabbi, we’ve been fishing hard all night, but the fishing is BAD!  In fact, we’ve been skunked! – BUT – since you want to go fishing, I’m willing to give it another shot.  After all, a bad day fishing is better than a good day on shore washing nets.”

       So Peter went out fishing with Jesus, and this time they caught so many fish that their nets began to break!  Peter signaled his fishing buddies, James and John to bring the other boat to help.  They filled both boats so full of fish that they almost sank!  They had limited out!

       All of them were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken – and a bit shaken up.  This Jesus, whom they had been too busy cleaning up their fishing gear to pay all that much attention to before, was obviously no ordinary preacher who tinkered around with fishing when he wasn’t preaching.  He was GOOD at it!

       Peter got a notion about what was really happening and said to Jesus, “You’d best leave now, because I’m not the kind of man you should be hanging around fishing with.”

       Jesus said to Peter, “Don’t worry about it!  From now on you will catch people for me as abundantly as I just caught fish for you!  We’ll be limiting out in more ways than you can imagine!”

       And so they all pulled their boats up on shore, left everything, and followed Jesus.

       As I said, that scene had played out for Peter and the others a good three years before we see them today in our selection from the tackle box.  What an amazing three years those had been!  They had experienced the wonders of traveling with Rabbi Jesus, - of learning about God from Jesus every day, - of watching him perform miracles in the places they went to, - feeding people, - healing people, - removing demons from people’s lives, - and shedding God’s light and love everywhere they trod.  They could remember the joys of going with Jesus to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover every year.  Especially the last celebration when Jesus was welcomed by an adoring crowd and a big parade right into town!  Everyone there was proclaiming Jesus to be the King that his disciples already knew him to be, for they had come to know Jesus as God’s Messiah over the past three years together.

       They also remembered the horrors of what happened to Jesus after that triumphal day – along with the parts that they had played in all of it, the betrayal, the arrest, the torture, the denials, the execution, the burial, and they all hiding in fear for their own lives.  A rough weekend on everyone for certain. 

       But then – the resurrection had wiped all of that away! – Twice already now the disciples had met with the risen Lord as a group.  Others had met with the risen Jesus as well, one on one, or in small groups.  All of his followers were abuzz with the news and there was no doubt about it, - the man they had all come to know as God’s Son over these last three years - had even won out over death!  -  And yet, - something wasn’t quite finished.

       I don’t know how many times Peter and the others had gotten out to fish for fish together in those three years of following Jesus.  Probably zero.  Life with Jesus had been even better than a GOOD day fishing!  WAY better!  But now – they were out fishing again. 

       Things were unsettled.  This resurrected Jesus wasn’t with them all the time, not like he had been over the past three years.  It seemed like he would just come and go as he pleased now.  Maybe he wasn’t as interested in them as he used to be.  After all, they had behaved pretty badly in those days of his arrest, trial, execution and burial, - and none more so than Peter! - Maybe Jesus was just gently cutting his ties with them for good with these resurrection appearances, showing them that he was indeed alive, - but leaving them to fend for themselves now, - the partnership over, - the risen Jesus with his Father in heaven, - Peter and the others – left behind. 

       If that was what was going through their minds, as I think it might have been, then a bad day fishing would have seemed better than a good day working for the boss again, to all of them.  And so that’s what Peter and the others had treated themselves to, - a bad day of fishing. 

       But then they saw the stranger on the shore, the stranger who seemed to mock them for being the bad fishermen they were with his cornball fishing strategy suggestion.  I can hear them all grumbling: “ ‘Cast your net on the other side of the boat,’ he says! Like we don’t even know how to fish!  What difference could that make?  Well, we’ll show him!  Go ahead and pitch it over the other side, Nathanael.” 

       And when they did – it was a miracle! – Fishing where there had been nothing before, - they now limited out!  That had only happened to them once before in all their lives – about three years ago.

        John (always one of the quickest disciples) turned to Peter and said, “It’s the LORD!”  And it was.  He was waiting for them on the beach with a fish and bread breakfast ready and waiting for his fine fisherman friends.  They ate that breakfast with Jesus, - and they talked with Jesus, - and the disciples came to learn some new things about what it means to follow the risen Jesus as Lord.

       They learned that he will always love and care for them and that he will always be there to feed them when they need him.  They learned that, if they really loved him in the way that he loved them, they were still to be fishers of folk and tenders of his flock, no matter what else they might be doing in life to get by.  They learned that even though you may claim to believe in him, and even to love him, you still have to follow Jesus to make that stick.  And even though you may not always see him, - Jesus is always there.

Something to take home in your creel:

       Many times in my career as a preacher folks have asked me, “What’s up with the exact count of one hundred and fifty three large fish the bible says the disciples hauled in that day Jesus met them on the beach?  Does the number have a significant meaning we’re supposed to understand?  Is it part of a secret “bible code” we need to figure out?  Perhaps it’s a key to predicting the approaching end times?  What do you think, pastor Mark?” 

       I used to tell them that I did not know for sure what the number signified.  Some say it’s the number of known countries in the world of that day, countries that the disciples were supposed to go and “catch” for Jesus.  Others say other things.  But I always said that I wasn’t sure about it. – But then I figured it out! 

       It’s so obvious!  I now know exactly why it’s recorded that Jesus caused his fishing buddies to catch exactly 153 fish when they cast their net on the other side of the boat, and why they counted and recorded that number. – It was a Fish and Game Warden!

       Fishermen have always been tempted to take more than their legal catch limit, - and there have always been Fish and Game Wardens to patrol and write citations to those who do.  They especially pay attention to those whom they can see are doing really well out on the water!  There is no doubt in my mind that there was a Galilean Department of Natural Resources Officer patrolling the shoreline of the Sea of Tiberius that day, watching them haul in that overstuffed net, and zipping right over to check it out!

       Now Jesus had seen that Game Warden, even though his seven fishing disciples had not, and so he caused exactly 153 fish to be caught up in their net that day.  When the Fish and Game Warden told them to line the fish up and count them out for him, which they did, there would be exactly 153.  When you add the seven fish that Jesus was already grilling on the fire, one for each disciple’s breakfast, you get a total of 160 fish, the exact bag limit of 20 fish per day for each of the eight men standing on the beach getting checked out by a very frustrated and incredulous Game Warden – there on the shore of Lake Tiberius – in the year 33 A.D.