"When Jesus Enters the Situation" by Steve Eason
May 29, 2011
Dr. Steven P. Eason
When Jesus Enters the Situation
John 21:1-14
Introduction
Last Sunday I returned with nine other people from our church from an 11-day trip to Congo. (You can’t get there from here!) This church has been in partnership in Congo for the past eighteen to twenty years. You have built schools. You have supplied materials and leadership for the Good Shepherd Hospital in the village of Tshikaji. You have paid salaries for missionary workers and hospital administrators. And you have provided leadership, compassion, prayer and moral support for people in a part of the world who have all but been forgotten. It is a desperate situation and no easy place to affect change.
Dr. Jerry Barron and his wife Midge, who is a nurse, were on this trip. Jerry collected and delivered several trunks of valuable medical equipment and supplies, as well as conducted several surgeries while he was there. Midge would take food that we had brought for the trip and feed patients who had no food. You can’t imagine.
Mike Clement represented us at the hospital board meeting. For two and a half days they labored on strategy…in French! Fletcher Wright traveled to Congo from Malawi. He has been in many conversations in both countries concerning strategic plans and accountability.
Anne Wright and David Ibsen met with officials from the Congolese Presbyterian Church with plans to create a model girl’s school. If you can educate the girl child you have a chance of breaking some of the cycles of impoverished thinking and behaviors in the family system. We interviewed candidates for the position of principal, we looked at several possible sites and we chiseled a covenant agreement.
Catherine Eason and Kaye Yearta, two CPA’s, spent hours in a hot room with an interpreter reviewing the financial systems of the hospital.
And Elizabeth Little, Director of Global Outreach for our church, orchestrated all of that and managed to get twelve of us over and ten of us back, with all of our luggage and no one got sick! Elizabeth does a phenomenal job.
We all attended church on Sunday. Part of our group went to the Village Church, which is held under a tarp, and the other group went to the Mission Church that is held in a rundown school building. I was a part of that group and was asked to read this scripture in John, Chapter 21. Pastor Sylvain Kazadi preached in Tshiluba, the native language. Pastor Bob Rice, a Presbyterian missionary, sat next to me and interpreted. I took notes on what was an excellent message, not only for Africans but for Americans. And so I told Pastor Kazadi that I was going to “steal his sermon” and, with my own spin, preach it this morning here at Myers Park. From Congo to Myers Park, hear now the Word of God.
* * *
After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” 6He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. 8But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. 9When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
* * *
This story happens after the resurrection, but apparently everything is not fixed and not everybody is clear on what has happened. Simon Peter decides to go back to what he was before he met Jesus. He decides to go back to fishing. Peter was often the first one to lead, to be the first to jump in. And the others would follow. So they have gone back to what they knew before they had known Christ.
Simon forgot his calling. He was going back to something that was familiar, something that he knew, maybe to something he could control. He forgot his calling to another life, another way, another agenda, another purpose. Sometimes leaders forget and they lead people in the wrong direction. Sometimes the leaders get lost and need to be found.
But why did Peter turn back? Why did he go back to fishing? Maybe it was because he was discouraged. We can’t always measure the success or results of our ministries. Sometimes we never see the change, but are called to simply throw a pebble into a pond and know that the ripple-effect will be unending. We may never know the results. Maybe Peter was discouraged and needed encouragement.
They went back to fishing but they caught nothing. They didn’t even catch a small fish. They come up just as empty in the fishing world as they had come up empty in the world of ministry. Now they’re discouraged in two places. They haven’t fixed anything.
And just after daybreak, Jesus comes to them, but for whatever reason, they did not know that it was him. And he said,
‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’
(21:5)
He calls them, “children.” These are grown men, so why would he call them “children?” Could it be that they were behaving like children? Maybe they are not mature enough yet in their faith to stand up to the trials and tribulations. Maybe they are not strong enough to face the opposition, to make the sacrifice. Maybe they take their toys and go home when things don’t go their way. Maybe Jesus just sees their potential and loves them as children.
But it’s an interesting question isn’t it?
‘…you have no fish have you?’
(21:5b)
Let’s point out the obvious. You aren’t being productive here, either. This decision is not working out so well for you, is it? You don’t have any more control over here than you had over there. You don’t have any fish, do you?
That would be a sad place to end this story. But when Jesus enters the situation, things change. He tells them,
‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ (21:6a)
When Jesus gets into it, they can’t even haul in the net because there are so many fish. That’s when they figure out who he is.
When Jesus enters the situation they start catching big fish. In fact, they caught 153 large fish. They counted them for us!
The Christian message to the world today is that there is a “right side of the boat.” There is that place where God is at work in our midst, in spite of our circumstances. When Jesus enters into it, he is the resource that we have. It’s not the boat or the nets or the experience in fishing that changed this story.
When we had finished worship in Congo, a young man came up to us telling us his father had died and he had to take care of his family. I think he wanted money but Pastor Bob Rice suggested we pray for him. We knelt right there in the grass on the side of the church, laid hands on him and prayed. Bob said, “You do it.” I wanted to say, “But they don’t teach us this at Duke!”
After we prayed, there stood an elderly woman and six more behind her. They all wanted prayer. They didn’t want me. I’m not a rock star in Congo. They wanted Him. They wanted Christ – His power, His strength.
It’s not the boat, or a new building, or the nets or even thirty-two years experience in fishing. It’s Christ who has the power to transform life.
They fished all night and didn’t even catch a small fish. When Jesus enters the situation, they can’t contain the number of fish they caught.
He could have scolded them for going back to their original occupation. He could have scolded them for forgetting their calling. He could have scolded Peter for leading the rest of them in the wrong direction. But in his wisdom, Jesus chose to reveal himself right where they were in terms they would understand. They understood fish, and so Jesus gave them fish. What he was really doing was reminding them of who he was and who they were, and calling them again to ministry.
When Jesus enters the situation, everything changes. When he enters into their emptiness, into their failure, he turns it into joy and into abundance. When he enters into our hopelessness, he turns it into hope. When Jesus enters into your affairs, things change. And everything we do without Christ is futile.
Imagine those words being preached to people who are living in dire poverty. Imagine living in a simple grass hut with no running water, no sewage and no electricity. You have fished all night and caught nothing. Imagine hearing these words when your life expectancy is in the low 40’s and all around you are children with malnutrition and disease. Imagine sitting in a church in Congo and hearing the pastor proclaim from the Gospel of John that when Jesus enters a situation, everything changes.
I thought to myself,
‘Does it really? Would Jesus instantaneously take away all this poverty? Will Jesus supply running water, electricity and a sound government and economy? Will Jesus clean up this hospital and provide mattresses, sheets, food service and medicine? Will Jesus provide enough food and safety for all these people?’
And then it occurred to me, isn’t Jesus trying to use me to do just that? Wasn’t that why Jesus was using these powerless disciples? Isn’t Jesus trying to use the 4,200 of us here at Myers Park to do just that in the world?
It’s understandable to want to give up, but Christ has no intention of leaving you there. It’s all right to fish all night and catch nothing. Sometimes that happens. It’s just not okay to stay there. It’s perfectly understandable that from time to time we are going to hit our human wall, not only in Congo but sometimes behind the walls of our own homes. Sometimes it’s within the walls of our own hearts. But the Gospel says that Jesus comes and stands on our beach, gets into our boat and shows us where to cast our nets again. You can get tired – you just can’t quit.
People in Africa need to be reminded of this truth, but sometimes Americans need to be reminded of it, too.
I’m indebted to Pastor Kazadi for reminding me that there is a right side of the boat, that when Jesus enters a situation, everything does change. For that, Africans and Americans give our thanks and praise. It is the hope of the Gospel for the world.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Congregation: Amen
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