Dr. Jon Burnham preached this sermon from John 21:1-19 at Batesville Presbyterian Church on April 22, 2007
Once, after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples at the Sea of Galilee. This is how he did it: Simon Peter and six other disciples were together. Simon Peter announced, "I'm going fishing."
The rest of them replied, "We're going with you." They went out and got in the boat. They caught nothing that night. When the sun came up, Jesus was standing on the beach, but they didn't recognize him.
Jesus spoke to them: "Good morning! Did you catch anything for breakfast?"
They answered, "No."
He said, "Throw the net off the right side of the boat and see what happens."
They did what he said. Note the progression here. Before the disciples recognize Jesus they follow his fishing directions. All of a sudden there were so many fish in it, they weren't strong enough to pull it in.
Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, "It's the Master!" The disciples recognize Jesus after they follow his fishing instructions.
As the story continues we become aware the Jesus is using the fishing incident to teach a deeper lesson. After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" The text doesn't say this but I wonder if Jesus was holding up a piece of fish when he asked Peter, "Do you love me more than these fish?" The fish reminds Peter of his life as a fisherman before he left everything behind to follow Jesus. Peter had discarded many things for Jesus sake. He had left behind his family and his career. Jesus wonders if Simon would like to go back to the life he had know before he met Jesus. Peter responds that he loves Jesus more than anything he has left behind, even more than fish. He is happy he followed Jesus. He would make the same choice again.
Then Jesus has a chore for Peter. If Peter loves Jesus more than these, more than these fish, more than his past life as a fisherman, then Jesus wants Peter to fish for people, to bring people into relationship with Jesus.
Christ is an equal opportunity employer in this regard. Christ extends to each of us the same challenge as he gave to Peter: Become fishers of people! Christ calls disciples to be fishers of people. The purpose of one's faith is to share it, to harvest a catch, to bring others into the net of God's grace. As an old gospel hymn urges: "Bring them in, bring them in."
How do we Presbyterians bring them in? How do we engage in evangelism? How do we share our faith? We share our faith through relationships. We share our faith by inviting others to come and see our church. We share our faith by introducing others to our risen Lord.
A woman was to preach at an African Annual Conference. She was a very bright young woman who had recently receiver her PhD. An African man, who knew fairly good English, was to be her interpreter.
She began her sermon that morning by saying, "I want to talk this morning regarding the relationship of the East and West with special consideration for the psychological and theological implications for Christian Mission."
Many of these words the African interpreter had never heard. He paused for a moment and then turned to the congregation and said, "Mama is glad she is here."
Thankfully, Christ does not call most of us to share our faith with big words and fancy sermons. Christ calls most of us to share our faith through relationships.
We see the relational side of evangelism in the way Christ brings Peter back into the fold. Peter had denied Jesus three times around a charcoal fire in a courtyard near where Jesus' was being interrogated on the night before he was crucified. Now, Jesus addresses Peter in the full light of morning on the beach of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus does not deliver a sermon to Peter on the etiology of ethical behavior towards authority figures. He just shared a down-home breakfast with him and asked him if he loved him more than these fish. That's something we all can do. We can all talk. We can all eat. We can all become fishers of men.
We Presbyterians feel comfortable recommending a restaurant to a friend or family member but we hesitate to recommend our church to them. Evangelism revolves around simple invitations. The reason someone will visit our church for the first time is because we invite them to come. Most of the people who become part of our church do so at the invitation of friends and relatives. Yet we still feel somewhat awkward in extending an invitation to come to church or to meet Jesus. We may believe that such a departure from our usual conversations will strain our friendships.
Yet we Presbyterians have a gift to share with a troubled nation. We have the gift of tolerance and mutual forbearance. We have all kinds in our church. We have people on the left and people on the right of the political issues. Like American society, Presbyterian churches are not in agreement on all the hot button social issues of our day. We sometimes wonder if our church can hang together during these turbulent times. Yet, notice what happens in our gospel story. Jesus tells the disciples, "Bring some of the fish you've just caught." Simon Peter joined them and pulled the net to shore — 153 big fish! And even with all those fish, the net didn't rip. The net didn't rip! One commentator says the part about the net not ripping even with all those fish may suggest that the unity of the early church was maintained even in the face of a diverse and growing company of people. (Texts for preaching. Year C / Charles B. Cousar . . . [et al.]) This story gives us hope for unity amidst diversity in our particular church, in the higher governing bodies of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and for the Christian church at large.
Our church, like America, is a big tent society. We have people of all persuasions in our pews. The diversity of our membership is something to celebrate as Presbyterians. People in our community are hungry to have relationships with people who are like them and with people who are different from them but still treat them with dignity and respect. We know how to make some elbow room in the Presbyterian Church. If we invited people to come, our churches would be growing instead of declining as is in the case in so many of our churches. The fellowship of our church is a gift we can share and it all starts with a simple invitation.
Invite people to come and see what our church is about. How do we invite them? What do you say when you invite someone to church? None of us can promise what a person will come across in our church. We don't want to make promises. Don't say: "Come to worship, and you'll get a lot out of it." Or "Join us for a fellowship dinner, and you'll have a great time." Or "You'll be very welcome in our congregation." Just say, "Come and see for yourself."
Thankfully, you are inviting people and our church is growing. The atmosphere at our recent joint meeting of deacons and elders was very positive. The church officers are excited about the growth in our church. We have experienced growth in numbers and growth in a spirit of fellowship and mission. Attendance is up at services such as the Kirkin' o' the Tartans and our church wide picnics. We have love left over every time we get together and that love is looking for someone to bless. Let's speak to the unchurched friends in our lives and invite them to worship at our church, saying, "Come and see."
The goal of our evangelism is that others may meet our risen Lord. We are learning how to be serious fishers--fishers for people. Take a chance. Invite an unchurched friend or relative to come and see our church. Who knows, with God's help, we might just catch one! We have room in our congregation for all kinds of people. Like the disciples in our story today, Christ challenges us to become fishers for people. Evangelism is part of the package for Christians. As he invited his disciples around the Sea of Galilee, so Jesus invites us, saying, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers for people."
