Fishing on the other side of the boat

 Through this Easter season I have been preaching and teaching on several of the "post-resurrection" appearances of Jesus. The focus has been how do we live out our Easter faith every day of the year and was planned in part by a great series offerd by GBOD (The UMC General Board of Discipleship) called "Living the Resurrection".  

One of these post-rez appearances by Jesus is found in the last chapter of John's gospel, verses 1-6.

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.

The story is not only an appearance by the resurrected Lord to his disciples (again), but also is a miracle story, the miraculous catch of fish (153 fish apparently according to verse 11). 

I have preached on this pasage many times, and at the heart of it the story is so multi-faceted. We have Peter, the spokesperson of the group announcing one day that he was going fishing. And from that announcement Thomas, Nathanael, James and John, and 2 other unnamed disciples go with him. Volumes of books have been written on Peter's statement alone, "I'm going out to fish", and the theological implications of what he might have meant or might have been feeling. Personally, I think perhaps it was a pretty day and Peter thought it would be a good day to fish. I know some people like that, though that's not me. There are no good days to go fishing for me, unless it is to order dinner at Bonefish. But I do have friends who, when the mood hits them and the sun is shining a particular way, can't wait to go fishing. 

But of course the big deal of the story is that after fishing all night, since the fish would have been closer to the surface at night than during the heat of the day when they would swim further down to stay cool, these professional fisherman catch nothing. Then Jesus, whom they don't realize, tells them to throw the nets on the other side of the boat. 

I have preached on this many times over the years as well, the fact that they didn't know Jesus. This is a recurring post-resurrection theme, the people closest to Jesus don't recognize Jesus because perhaps they don't expect to see Jesus. I wonder how many times we don't recognize Jesus because we aren't expecting to see Jesus in some particular place, or in some particular person?

Well, the disciples, for some reason, listen to the man on the beach whom they don't recognize and try the other side and catch a boat-load of fish. 

Trust what Jesus is telling you to do is the easy theme of this, I suppose. Or at least that is how I have preached this one many times. 

But this year I have been particularly struck by the idea of "other side of the boat fishing". 

According to Matthew's gospel, when Jesus called Peter and his brother Andrew to be his followers, Jesus said, "Come follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people" (Matthew 4:19). 

"Fishers of men" is how I think I memorized that verse when I was younger. 

This is a missional concept that the Church has used since in terms of its evangelistic nature. 

How we fish, in some ways, is how we offer them Christ. So, here is where this has led me. Are there ways that you or your church have found to do some "other side of the boat fishing" over the last year?

I have read so many wonderful stories of churches who have adapted to a new style of worship that was forced upon them by the pandemic, and yet they have found it a new way to fish. Front porch ministries, online worship, and church feeding programs have conencted in new ways in which we never had to do before, and in so doing I think we are fishing on the other side of the boat. 

I wonder if in the midst of trying to figure this all out in the spring of 2020 our Lord Jesus might have been telling us, "throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some". And maybe we have. 

I would like to invite you to share what you have experienced as "other side of the boat fishing" over the past year. Or what ideas do you have for the church to cast its net on the other side. 

What does the other side look like where you are?