WHERE ARE ALL THE FISH?

John 21:3-6

“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.”
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
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.

After the resurrection of Jesus, Peter and six other disciples were in Galilee on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  They were expecting to meet Jesus at some point because he had said they would find him there.  Peter decided to go fishing and the others went along.  Some of these guys were professional fishermen.  They had been catching fish on the Sea of Galilee since they were children.  They fully expected to catch fish but they worked all night and caught nothing.

As dawn began to break a man stood on the shore and shouted out to the boat asking about their catch.  When they reported their failure to catch even one fish the man told them to cast the net on the other side of the boat and they would catch some fish.  What amazes me is that Peter and the other fishermen agreed to do this before they recognized the man was Jesus.  Why should they do what some guy on the shore told them to do?  They knew what they were doing!  We know the rest of the story.  They caught so many fish that they couldn’t bring the net into the boat and John recognized that the man was Jesus.

This got me thinking.  In Matthew 4:18-20 Jesus called Peter and Andrew to follow him saying, “I will make you fishers of men.”  They followed Jesus for about three years but had not gained much of a following.  Jesus had been crucified and then he rose from the dead and appeared to them.  They went up to Galilee to wait for him but they probably didn’t have a good idea of what they were supposed to do.  They had been filled with terror when Jesus was put to death and then filled with joy when he rose again.  Now they were just waiting and were probably wondering what would happen next.  At least fishing was something they knew how to do!  But they caught no fish.

They had probably had bad nights on the lake before.  This wasn’t the first time they had worked all night and returned with empty nets.  The astonishing thing was that Jesus filled their nets for them!  All of their knowledgeable efforts were fruitless.  All they had to do was obey Jesus.

I’m a pastor.  I’ve been a pastor for a lot of years.  I know pasturing pretty well by now.  I’ve been in Shafter for almost 3 ½ years.  Our purpose here is to reach people with the gospel and lead them to faith in Jesus.  In other words, we’re fishers of men.  Our nets aren’t empty, but they sure aren’t as full as I would like them to be!  What to do?  Read more books on church growth?  Do more advertising?  Attend seminars on reaching postmodern America?  Work harder?  This is what I think God wants me to hear from this passage:  “I know where all the fish are.  You just keep doing what I called you to do.  Be faithful and obey and keep throwing the nets where I tell you to throw them!”