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“Fishing With Jesus”
- John 21:4-19 |
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The weeks after Easter are a strange
time. We watched Jesus die. We heard that someone sealed his body in a tomb.
Now, the tomb is unexpectedly empty. Some people say they have seen Jesus but
their stories are pretty weird. What do those stories mean? Would you believe
them? There is a story of Jesus carrying on a conversation with a follower, and she didn’t even recognize him. There is a story of Jesus appearing, but then him saying, “Don’t touch me,” and another where he invited a disciple to touch his crucifixion wounds. In the stories, Jesus suddenly appeared in locked rooms, and then, just as quickly vanished again. Another story is told of him being a traveling companion with two disciples and they didn’t recognize him until he had dinner with them that night – but as soon as they recognized him, he vanished as if he were a wisp of smoke. In these weeks after Easter, questions are being asked. Was Jesus really alive? The disciples said he was. Was he some kind of spirit who existed beyond physical death? That’s what non-believers proclaimed. What would happen next? In those weeks after the first Easter (a time of questions and uncertainty), some of the disciples went back to doing what they knew best. The professional fishermen went fishing. As they worked their boat on the Sea of Galilee, some might have even remembered Jesus’ ironic words: “Do not be afraid: from now on you will be catching people.” (Luke 5:10b) Others remembered the words a little differently: “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” (Mark 1:17) At the time, it was a noble vision. Now, Jesus, who had died on a cross, was coming and going at unexpected times like a ghost. And so, Peter and six others went back to what they were doing when Jesus found them: rowing here and there in the darkness – casting their hand-tied nets wherever the water looked promising – hoping to catch something for breakfast and some extra to sell at the market. Jesus had once challenged them to fish for people, but that ministry was set aside. By the way, that night, they weren’t even very good at catching fish. You heard the rest of the story this morning. Jesus called out to them in the darkness. They hauled in a huge, almost unheard of catch and then Jesus served them breakfast. Do you remember what happened after breakfast? Three times, Jesus asked Peter if he loved him. Three times, Peter said that he did. Three times, Jesus answered with almost the same thing: “Feed my lambs;” “Tend my sheep;” “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17) Peter, the fisherman, first called to the ministry of fishing for people, got a new ministry. Jesus asked the fisherman to become a shepherd for the Kingdom of God. Peter’s first ministry was to do kingdom building (fishing for people). His new ministry was to do kingdom tending (shepherding the church). Who would have thought that a fisherman could be a shepherd? He can in the Kingdom of God! We at Bread of Life affirm that every follower of Christ is called to a ministry. We also affirm that God gives us the spiritual gifts we need to do the ministries to which we are called. Your ministry may be different from mine. In fact, it might be different from that of every other person in this room. What are your spiritual gifts? What is the ministry to which God is calling you? Jan Linn reminds us in his book, Rocking the Membership Boat (2001), that your “spiritual gift comes from (your) relationship to Jesus.” (p. 74) The gift is simply who you are – your personality. Your ministry is identifying the passion of your heart (what you care about) – and applying your gifts to it in service to Christ, or to the Church or to others. That’s your ministry. I first felt a call to ministry from God in the summer between my junior and senior year of college. My friends thought that if I went to seminary, I would waste my college training for painting and commercial art. I wasn’t so sure. I went to seminary, hoping that someday, I might have the opportunity to use the combination of my art and my theological education training for God. Early in my pastoral ministry, I received a call to direct the Art and Design Studio for our denomination in Indianapolis, Indiana. When people heard that I accepted it, some of them responded: “Gee, I’m sorry you are leaving the ministry.” My response back was: “I’m not leaving the ministry – I’m just doing a different kind of ministry.” Who would have thought a fisherman could be a shepherd? He can in the Kingdom of God! Who would have thought that a minister could be an artist – or an artist could be a minister? He can in the Kingdom of God! What are your spiritual gifts? What is your ministry? Your ministry might even change as you discover new spiritual gifts, and observe new needs in the kingdom. I have experienced this through my mission trips to Haiti. When I first started going with the Kansas City group in 2001, our ministry was to do construction work. We sawed re-bar, erected roofs on churches, painted walls in schools, and hung doors in classrooms. In 2002, Charlie and Ruth Wallace heard that I had an art degree. They asked me to paint the symbol of CONASPEH on the wall in their office. While I was doing it, Haitian pastors stopped by each day to watch my progress. That year, painting a design on a wall was my ministry. In 2003, when I returned to Haiti, Suanne came with me. The board of directors of CONASPEH asked me to paint that same design on the exterior of the building that houses their offices, school, and seminary. So Suanne and I did. Again, that year, painting a design (this time bigger) on the exterior of a building was my ministry. What is your spiritual gift? What is your ministry? That year, while we were painting designs on buildings, the missionaries (now Sandra and Daniel Gourdet) heard that Suanne and I are trained to lead and train couples in Marriage Enrichment. When we went back in 2004, we were asked to teach a class in the seminary about “The Christian Marriage.” We did it – in ’04, ’05, and ’06 – and will do it again this coming June. In these years, painting a mural on a wall inside CONASPEH’s offices, and teaching seminary students has been our ministry. What is your spiritual gift? What is your ministry? This year, Patrick Villier, the president of CONASPEH, heard that Suanne has a new job in the Shawnee Mission School District. She teaches teachers how to teach reading more effectively. Now Patrick has asked us to expand our ministry there in June to allow Suanne to work with the teachers in the School of St. Andre so that they might become better reading teachers. Who would have thought a fisherman could be a shepherd? He can in the Kingdom of God! Who would have thought that a minister could be an artist – or an artist could be a minister? He can in the Kingdom of God! Who would have thought that an elementary school teacher could be the visiting professor of a Haitian seminary and a teacher of Haitian schoolteachers? She can in the Kingdom of God! Might Jesus be asking you to be a fisherman – or a shepherd – or a pastor – or a missionary – or an artist – or a builder – or a painter – or a teacher – or a – well – you fill in the blank? Claim your spiritual gifts. Answer your call to a ministry where God would lead you. That’s what is required of us when Jesus says to us: “Follow me.” Let us pray. Gracious God, we make it harder than we ought. Help us to understand that you give us spiritual gifts – and they are so natural to us that they are an extension of our personalities. Help us to understand that you call every Christian to a ministry – all we have to do is to listen – and to respond. Put us to work, Lord. In Jesus’ name we ask it. Amen. |