John 21: 1-19

The preacher said to Nigel, “I didn’t see you in church last Sunday, Nigel. I hear you were out playing softball instead.” Nigel responded, “That’s not true, preacher. And I’ve got the fish to prove it.” As Edna and her husband were preparing for a fishing trip, she noticed her husband looking at her lovingly. “What’s on your mind?” Edna asked. “Oh,” he replied, “I was just thinking what great lures your earrings would make.” And how many anglers does it take to change a light bulb? Five, and you should’ve seen the light bulb! It must have been THIS BIG!

The guys went fishing. They caught nothing. The next morning at daybreak Jesus told them to cast their net on the right side of the boat. They couldn’t bring in the net because it was so full of fish. This text tells me there is a minimum responsibility of the church in this world: evangelize (fish) and pastor (lambs/sheep), and if the church cannot succeed at either or both of these, the church must draw close to Jesus.

Jesus told Peter, Andrew, James and John when he met them on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and told them to follow him, he’d make them fishers of men (fish for people) (Mark 1: 17; Matthew 4: 19). In Luke 5, Jesus told Peter to let down his nets for a catch even though they’d fished all night and caught nothing. The catch was huge. Peter told Jesus to leave him because he, Peter, was a sinful man. Jesus told him in response to not be afraid because from now on he would be catching people. Jesus knew how to catch fish, but he wanted his friends to be learning to catch people as they followed him.

Throughout the New Testament the sheep is used in a figurative sense for human beings. Jesus sees the crowd in Matthew 9 and Mark 6 as sheep without a shepherd. In John 10, Jesus speaks of himself as a shepherd protecting the sheep and willing to give his life for them. The duty of the shepherd was to lead the flock of sheep to food and water and return them safely to the fold. If any had wandered off or were in danger from a predator, the shepherd was responsible to leave the many to find the few and protect the flock from any and all predators. Peter exhorted the elders to tend the flock of God (1 Peter 5: 1-2), and Paul in Ephesians 4 wrote that Christ Jesus gave the gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry and the building up of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4: 11-12). The language and imagery of fish, lambs and sheep in John 21 lead us to understand all of these images represent people – people that collect in large numbers as those drawn to believe the truth of Christ and the power of the gospel and to become members of the body of Christ deserving feeding and protection. Jesus conveyed to his friends and learners that the least they can do in living out a calling to carry on the mission of spreading the Kingdom of God was to evangelize and to pastor, bring many to believe and care for their growth as believers.

In ancient times a king decided to find and honor the greatest person among his subjects. A man of wealth and property was singled out. Another was praised for her healing powers, another for his wisdom and knowledge of the law. Still another was lauded for his business acumen. Many other successful people were brought to the palace, and it became evident that the task of choosing the greatest would be difficult. Finally, the last candidate stood before the king. It was a woman. Her hair was white. Her eyes shone with the light of knowledge, understanding and love. “Who is this?” asked the king. “What has she done?” “You have seen and heard all the others,” said the king’s aide. “This is their teacher!” The people applauded and the king came down from his throne to honor her.

Today’s story is the third appearance of Jesus in the gospel of John after his resurrection. The first two appearances emphasized to all the disciples, males and females, that Jesus had truly died and was raised from the dead. This third appearance in John’s gospel communicates something else. While it was Peter that convinced his friends to go fishing again as if to return to life as it was before, they all encountered Jesus again. This time to call them to recall their first encounter with him and how they left their nets behind to follow him and be fishers of people. Peter, the instigator of this fishing trip, was singled out because of his love for Jesus to feed and tend the lambs and sheep. The issue wasn’t if he was alive or dead anymore. The issue was for the followers, disciples and apostles of Christ Jesus to carry on the mission, and this event at the lakeshore emphasized the minimum for the church – find and gather in the new believers and care for them, evangelize and pastor.

What if we can’t? What if we fail at the minimum responsibilities of evangelizing and caring for the new believers? The story of the king showed us his desire to honor all the successful in his kingdom. He came to find out they couldn’t succeed without a teacher.

It was Jesus who taught the disciples and loved the disciples and encouraged the disciples and breathed on the disciples the power they needed to be his witnesses of his kingdom. It was Jesus who Peter loved, and it was Jesus who told Peter that if he loves him, feed and tend his lambs and sheep, care for and protect the ones who believe and love Jesus like he did. Jesus was their teacher, and Jesus is ours. We will not succeed in the minimums without drawing close to him who said he’d never leave us nor forsake us. We’ll never succeed in the minimums without his breath in our nostrils, the fire of the Spirit on our heads and the word of his truth in our hearts. If we love him, we will care for his babies. If we love him, we will share the simple message that Jesus loves us, and this we know for the Bible tells us so. If we love him, we will draw close to him and learn how to share the good news to anyone and everyone and care for them as Jesus would. If we love him.

(Preached at Lincoln UMC in Lincoln, AL, May 1, 2022)