153 red - fin a reflection for Easter 3
Those of you who were very good and came to the Quiet day at Port Fairy earlier in the year now get your reward. You can now have the rest of the day off as I am using what I said then as the gist of today…This fishing trip story is overflowing with resurrection and new life. The huge number of one hundred and fifty-three fish says it all. The significance of the number has been tossed frivolously around for centuries and has not managed to land anywhere successfully. A little more hidden, is the simple but profound meal of bread and fish on the shore. It is delectably barbecued in a way that would make a celebrity master chef blush with envy and the food inspector reach for their trusty clip board and red pen.
‘Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’
Jesus knows our empty boat and our emptiness long before we have had to admit the dreadful and humbling truth that without him we have caught nothing. We have nothing and we are nothing. Unless and until we can own up to our poverty and malnourishment and unless and until we look to him on the shore, then we cannot hope to catch fish.
Something else to notice.
‘They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; The significance of this toiling away unproductively in the middle of night with no results should not be lost on us. Some of the finest ministry I have ever had the privilege to discover has been hidden from me. Is it not possible, is it not probable, that we do some of our finest and most brilliant work when all seems dark around us?
In the story of the miraculous catch there is a bit missing in the narrative. Peter realises who it is on the shore. He puts on his clothes, jumps into the water and goes ahead of the disciples to meet Jesus. The other disciples are left to lug in the huge draught of red fin and perch. So what words are exchanged between Peter and Jesus when it is just the two of them on the shore? We are missing a bit of the story here. What if Jesus said? “Good golly gosh Peter, you look a bit wet.” Or “Hows your mother in law?”
Or…. What if the exchange is that bit we have at the end of the gospel where Jesus asks Peter three times ‘Do you love me’.
Or… what if nothing was said and they spent a few precious moments just the two of them, looking into each other’s eyes. Perhaps there were no words recorded for us because there were none and that would be more than OK. Sometimes, when we least expect it, it's just us and him.There is another interesting quirk that we often skimp over. Watch closely.
“When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.”
Did you notice that Jesus doesn’t actually need the fish? The BBQ already has fish on it. Yet he asks for some from the disciples. Now what’s all that about? Here’s my guess.That while God is God and is all powerful and can do whatever he likes, He wants to take the little we offer and use it for his glory even if it’s just a little morsel for the BBQ. More than that, He desires it, and he craves us, our company and our offerings. “Come and have breakfast” Come and eat with me. Come and enjoy me. Let me see and enjoy you. And in turn I will nourish you, so that tomorrow we can go and do it all again.
The last little bit for today. The disciples move from not knowing who it is on the shore, to knowing that it is the Lord. By the end of the story everyone knows… it is the Lord!
How many times have I not known who it is in the distance or even up close and personal? Or maybe I do know and I am shy, or reluctant, or ashamed of my nakedness. What if like Peter, the Master sees me as I really am? Naked, warts and wrinkly bits, and yet still beckons and calls and wants to have breakfast with me? Perhaps he knows in the deepest and most profound way that I am just a funny old fisherman who doesn’t think that he has caught anything much, but the reality is something quite different. The net is already bursting. It is not broken and there is a feast to be celebrated. Already the Master waits on a distant shore in gleeful resurrected glory and all we have to do is emerge out of the darkness of our grave into the morn, bring some red-fin, and enjoy.