It was one of the first sermons I ever preached. It was
entitled, “If You Ain’t Hangin; You Ain’t Fishin”, and it was based on Sunday’s
text, John 21:1-22.
In this sermon I remember telling at least two stories. The
first was about an old man in Alabama named Dorman Beane. Dorman’s claim to
fame was that he was one of the best fly fishermen in the Southeast. In fact,
he was so good that he was regularly called on to teach others the art of fly
fishing.
What one quickly discovers in learning to fly fish is that
it’s hard to master. The rod, the fly, and the line don’t easily cooperate. Therefore,
in the beginning, many fly fishermen spend more time untangling their line from
over-hanging limbs than they do learning how to move the fly along the surface
of the water. And no one knew this any better than Dorman. Whenever he’d sense frustration
on the part of a novice fisherman, he’d look them in the eye, wink, and say, “Well,
if you ain’t hanging, you ain’t fishin.” In other words, getting all tangled up
is just part of the process. It’s part of the joy of fly fishing.
The second story followed the same theme. One time I read
about a movie theater owner in Charlottesville, Virginia, who ran the same film
every finals week. He didn’t just show it once, he ran it over and over again. The
movie? “It’s a Wonderful Life” starring Jimmy Stewart.
And the reason he’d run that movie repeatedly throughout every
finals week is because he knew that there was no more intense time of
self-doubt and despair than finals week. He knew that it’s a time when many
students can feel overwhelmed and insignificant. It’s a time when they can feel
like a failure and that their life doesn’t matter. It’s a time when many can
identify perfectly with George Bailey and his need for the bigger picture that
only Clarence can provide.
Thirty-five years ago when I came to this text that’s what I
saw – pure, unadulterated hope in the midst of haunting failure. Think of it.
The Risen Lord takes time to come to that beach that morning and do something
He never does anywhere else in the gospels, cooks breakfast and then restore an
unfaithful failure named Simon Peter.
But that’s only one way into the text. There are a number of
themes that run through the economy of words John uses to relate this story.
This Sunday I want to focus on another of those themes – the
reiteration of Jesus’ call to Peter. It’s uncanny the similarities between Luke
5:1-10 and John 21. In fact, what Jesus could never have conveyed to Peter in
Luke 5, He now coveys in the final moments before His ascension. What Peter and
the others could never have understood at the beginning of their walk with
Christ, they now can understand in vivid detail. What does it mean to follow
Jesus? John lays it out fully in the last chapter of his gospel. So, that’s
where we will be on Sunday as we study Jesus on the beach.
In preparation for Sunday’s message you may wish to consider
the following:
- Review the meals that Jesus is a part of in the gospels. At every meal Jesus gives us a glimpse of His power and purpose. What’s He showing us here?
- Why does He point to their fishing failure in verse 5?
- What do you make of their repeated poor performance at fishing (Luke 5 and John 21)?
- Why does Jesus ask Peter 3 times if he loves Him?
- What does Jesus mean in verse 16 when He talks about Peter’s dress?
- What’s Jesus’ point in verse 22?
- How does this encounter with Jesus provide us an answer to the question, “What’s my purpose in this world?”
See you Sunday!
