Many many years ago, back in a time before time, when dinosaurs ruled the earth, I played the part of James (big stretch, right), in my church's adaptation of this particular reading. Yes, the reading in which Jesus reappeared on the beach, and asked his disciples if they had any fish. It's a fun story, isn't it? I know I mentioned this on Sunday, but for the benefit of those of you who weren't there on Sunday, here's the reading and my analysis.
21 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee.[a] It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus[b]), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.[c] 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
John 21:1-14
As I said on Sunday, it's a nice story. It's a story of Peter, waking up early in the morning, and going out on a fishing trip with the rest of the like-minded disciples. No problem there, right? Well, hold on Charlie, because there is a slight problem with this setup. Peter, Andrew, James, John, the rest, they're all out there fishing, partially because it's a nice morning to go out on a boat, but partly because they are going back to their former lives as fishermen now that this whole Jesus thing is all wrapped up. They followed Jesus around for a while, but then he had to go and get himself executed, and then the fun rapidly dries up.
But hold on, because there Jesus is on the shore, and after they've spent an enjoyable morning catching nothing, he tells them from the shore to let down their nets. And this mirrors pretty much exactly the calling of the first disciples from the Gospel of Luke, in which Jesus tells some rather unsuccessful fishermen to let down their nets after a day of catching nothing. See a theme there? You should.
Anyhoo, in Luke's Gospel, they let down their nets, and all of a sudden they are pulling in so many fish that the nets are strained to their breaking point, and the boats begin to sink. Wow! Great, right? Well, only if you're in the business of catching fish. Which fishermen should be.
Hold on, I'll explain. You know that they're out there to catch fish, obviously, because why on earth would you be on a fishing boat, with nets, if you didn't want to catch fish? Why indeed. As I said on Sunday morning, the thing about boats is that they're not all for the same thing. They really really aren't. A paddle boat is not a canoe, and a kayak is not a fishing boat. Boats are all for different things, and one would assume, naturally, if you're in a fishing boat, with nets and all the trappings, that you're there to go fishing.
I mentioned this on Sunday, but the space that we commonly call the sanctuary in the church is also
known as the nave. What is the nave? I'm glad you asked, I really am. The nave is the space in the church where everyone sits, and it's supposed to evoke, for you, the feeling of being in the hold of a boat. And as I say many many times, nothing in a church is there by accident. And the layout of the church is no exception. Have you ever wondered why we have pews and not easy to move, multi-purpose single seat chairs? Probably because you're in the nave of the church, and as such, you're not supposed to be sitting by yourself. You're all supposed to be on the same oars, pulling in the same direction. To what end? Well, you have the same mission as Peter, who is told by Jesus 'follow me, and I will make you a fisher of men.'
The nave of the church isn't just a boat, like a generic boat. It's a working boat. It's a fishing boat. It's a boat equipped with nets and rods and all that stuff. The church is that boat, and the funny thing is, we don't really feel as though it either is or should be for about 90% of the time. We feel as though pulling on board fish would be difficult or complicated, or that they'd be a-cluttering the place up a bit if we hauled them on board.
The nave isn't a generic boat, though we may want it to be. We want it to be all sorts of boats, a paddleboat, a canoe, usually a speedboat filled with supermodels made of champagne flutes, but usually the gist is the same for each and every single intended boat: we want it to be like most boats we would normally go onto, filled with us, and people we like. People who are just like us.
But fishing boats are designed to haul fish on board. They're going to be messy, smelly, loud, covered in guts, all that. They're going to be awash with trouble sometimes, and smelling a little salty. If you are on board the fishing boat, you have to work, you're not just there for a pleasant cruise. You're there to pull fish on board.
You may not like that. You may get a little bit sulky when you consider that the church may end up filled up to the brim with people whom you don't like, and who are not like you. And any of us would be a little bit put out if someone other than our sweetheart hopped into the passenger seat of our paddleboat. But in a fishing boat, you have work to do. You've got a job before you. You have work to do. And do you know what it means when the boat gets so full that it starts to sink? Do you know what it means when the nets are straining, and when the boats can't haul the nets on anymore? Do you know what it means for a fishing ship to be struggling under that burden?
It means that the fishing boat is successful. That it's doing the right thing. It's realizing the purpose for it existing. When Jesus commanded the disciples to let down their nets for a catch, and they did, they brought on more fish than they could have possibly expected, and more fish probably than they wanted to bring in . But that's the deal. You and I, as people who work on board these boats, we feel like complaining when we have fish to bring on. We feel like complaining when we have work to do, as any of us would. Fishing boats, though, are only doing well if they're hauling fish on board. That's why they exist. That's partially why the church exists, for us to fulfill the great commission, for us to be part of that legacy of Peter, being fishers of men. That's why these boats are around.
It's not just that it is a boat, it's what kind of boat it might be. And the kind of boat it is, is a fishing boat. A working boat, a boat that you were pulled into as well, lest you forget. You are part of what makes the boat noisy and smelly and covered with barnacles. You are part of what makes the boat so full that it sinks, part of what strains the nets to breaking point. But believe it or not, that's actually a remarkably good thing. It would be bad for a paddle boat, but it's exactly why fishing boats exist.
PJ.
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