MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(Revised: 2015)
(Powerpoints used with this message are available for free. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request #162.)
A. Two Sundays ago was Easter Sunday, a very special day to us as we celebrated once again, as we do each Sunday, the resurrection of Jesus, our Savior & our Lord.
But if Easter Sunday is special to us, the world has made Easter Sunday a rather special day, too.
ILL. Those of us who are old enough to feel waves of nostalgia can remember that old song about "The Easter Parade." Part of its refrain goes like this, "In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it, you'll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade."
It also says, "On the Avenue, 5th Avenue, the photographers will snap us, & you'll find that you are in the rotogravure. Oh, I could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet...And I'll be the proudest feller in the Easter Parade."
The Easter Parade on 5th Ave. is really something. Maybe you have seen a part of it on TV. Men & women adorned in the most lavish & elaborate clothing. Some were wearing hats & dresses that must have cost thousands of dollars. One lady said that she had spent nearly a full year making the dress that she was wearing.
But there is something that bothers me. Even though all of this was going on outside St. Patrick's Cathedral on an Easter Sunday morning, it was obvious that most of the crowd had come to parade, & not to worship.
ILL. For some churches, though, Easter Sunday is the biggest day in the year. Over the years I have received a number of church papers from all across the country, & it is amazing to note the attendance in some churches on Easter Sunday.
One church that usually has around 400 present, had 861. Another one that usually has around 1500, had over 3300 in attendance. And yet another mega-church that usually has around 20,000 in attendance had over 35,000! As far as attendance in some congregations, Easter is obviously a very special day!
B. One of the most familiar stories in the Bible is the story of David & Goliath. The odds are overwhelmingly lop sided. Here's Goliath, 9 feet tall, with his helmet, & breastplate, his shield & sword. He is eager & spoiling for a fight.
Over there stands David, with no armor, no sword, no shield. All he has is this little rawhide sling & a few rocks in his hand.
Now if you were taking bets on that, what kind of odds would you give? At least 100 to 1 in favor of Goliath, right? Only fools are going to bet on David. And yet, wonder of wonders, David wins the victory!
APPL. Like David, it would seem that Jesus didn't stand a chance. The powers of the world were all against Him. The Roman Empire was against Him. The Jewish religious system was against Him. And as Jesus was standing before Pilate, hundreds of voices were crying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!"
They whipped Him & put a crown of thorns on His head. They mocked Him & spit upon Him. Then they nailed him to a cross, & He hung between heaven & earth until He died! He didn't stand a chance, did He?
But 3 days later God raised Jesus from the dead. Angels announced, "He is not here; He is risen!" (Luke 24:6) The stone had been rolled away, & the victory had been won!
C. But as far as the world was concerned, nothing had changed. Tiberius was still the emperor in Rome. Pontius Pilate was still the governor of Judea. The Sadducees & the Pharisees were still squabbling among themselves.
Jerusalem was still Jerusalem. As far as the world knew, nothing had changed, everything was exactly the same.
But the world was wrong, because the resurrection of Jesus made a difference. It made a difference in the lives of the disciples of Jesus. The men & women who followed the resurrected Christ would never be the same again.
The world might look the same, but the way in which they lived in that world would never be the same again, for Jesus was alive! He had won the victory over sin & death.
Paul could write, "Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through Jesus Christ, our Lord." (1 Corinthians 15:57)
ILL. I can remember in high school some exciting football & basketball games. In the closing moments of the game, if our team was ahead, & victory seemed assured, our cheer leaders would stand up & shout at the top of their voices, "Let's yell 'Victory!'"
And we would all shout together, "Victory, victory, that's our cry. V I C T O R Y. Are we winning? Well, I guess. McKinney High School, yes, yes, yes!"
We were excited. We'd hug each other. Everybody knew that our school was the greatest, & we had just proven it again, because we had defeated our foe.
APPL. That same kind of spirit ought to permeate the church. There ought to be a spirit of excitement & joy. Jesus Christ has won! No more do we have to fear death as the great unknown. No more do we have to live our lives feeling all alone, frustrated, unsure, with no one to guide us. Jesus is alive!
I. JESUS & THE MIRACULOUS CATCH OF FISH
A. With that in mind, turn with me to John 21:1 14 where the apostle John tells about one of the appearances of Jesus after His resurrection. Listen as I read:
"Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, & two other disciples were together.
'I'm going out to fish,' Simon Peter told them, & they said, 'We'll go with you.' So they went out & 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 & you will find some.' When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
"Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord!' As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, 'It is the Lord,' he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) & jumped into the water.
"The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, & some bread.
"Jesus said to them, 'Bring some of the fish you have just caught.' Simon Peter climbed aboard & dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, 'Come & have breakfast.'
"None of the disciples dared ask Him, 'Who are you?' They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread & gave it to them, & did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to His disciples after He was raised from the dead."
II. FIVE LESSONS FROM THIS STORY
Now this was an amazing event, & I believe there are 5 things that we need to learn from it.
A. The first lesson we learn is the importance of obedience. They had fished all night, & as experienced fishermen I'm sure they had tried everything they knew how to do to catch some fish. But they had caught nothing, & I can imagine how tired & frustrated they must have been.
Sometimes, as Christians - as fishers of men, we get tired & frustrated too, don't we? Then go back & read this story, & realize that what God wants of us is simply to do what He has told us to do.
He doesn't require that we be expert fishermen. He simply says, "Obey me, & I'll supply the fish." And I'm convinced that God is still saying, "When you do what I have asked you to do, I'll bless that every time."
B. The 2nd lesson reassures us that God does provide. I don't know about you, but if I had been throwing a net out in the sea all night long, my stomach would have been ready to rebel, hungry for something to eat.
Here were 7 of His apostles after fishing all night, discouraged, tired, & hungry - & Jesus does something about it.
First of all, He provided a catch greater than they would have ever imagined. And besides that, He had a meal already prepared for them on the shore!
Doesn't that suggest that whenever we're in need, or hurt, or cold, or whenever we're lonely or sad or whatever emotion we're experiencing in life that the risen Lord is there to reach into our lives & help us?
C. Then the 3rd lesson is that God doesn't give up. Right after these verses beginning in vs. 15 to the end of the chapter is a touching story of restoration as Jesus asks Peter the question, "Do you love me?" time & time again.
Jesus didn't give up on Peter. He just kept reminding Peter of His great love for him, & encouraging him to love in return, & then to serve, "to feed my sheep."
In the same way, God doesn't give up on us, either. He is always there, & when we stumble & fall & when we fail, He is there to pick us up & brush us off, & send us on our way again to serve Him even more than before, if only we will let Him.
D. The 4th lesson is that God is anxious to give us direction in our life. Here we are with our neat little plans. We've got it all figured out.
Then God says, "But have you listened to my plans? Do you know what my direction is for your life? Have you been sensitive to the Holy Spirit as He strives to speak & to minister to you?"
And when we're sensitive to that, our lives will be lived in harmony with Him.
E. The 5th lesson is that God wants us to be fishers of men. In Luke 5:1-11 there is a similar story. Jesus had been teaching the multitudes from the boat of Simon Peter. After He had finished teaching, He turned to Peter & said, "Put out into deep water, & let down the nets for a catch."
Peter answers, "Master, we've worked hard all night & haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." (Luke 5:4-5)
So they go out to sea, & you remember that on that occasion, they threw out the nets & caught so many fish that the nets began to break. There were so many fish that even when another boat came to help them both boats started to sink.
Luke 5:8-11 says, "When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees & said, 'Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!' For he & all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,
"and so were James & John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, 'Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men.' So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything & followed Him."
CONCL. The crowds of Easter have gone back home, but the Lord's message is still this, "There are a lot of people who are lonely & lost & hurting. People who will never know the joy that you & I know as Christians unless somebody takes the time to tell them, & show them.
ILL. Jeff Strite. a preacher in Indiana tells this story about his own Dad. He said,
My Dad was known as "a man’s man." Hard worker, hard fighter, & a hard player of baseball & basketball. He was attractive to women & he loved to go out & dance.
Now, it’s not that dad was a stranger to church. He wasn’t unfriendly to church, it’s just that God held little interest for him. He just didn’t need God to run his life.
After he married mom though, they settled down as married couples did. Mom, a deeply religious woman, never failed to go to church, but Dad always had work to do. And - well, church wasn’t all that important to him anyway.
But after awhile, mom’s church going got to bothering him. He accepted the idea that he might go to hell, but the idea of being there without the woman he loved troubled him.
So Dad decided to force mom to avoid church - to quit going to church. And he asked her if she would feel comfortable in heaven if he were in hell.
Mom was the quiet type of Christian who didn’t try to force her faith down dad’s throat, but now she had the opportunity to speak about it. How should she respond to his question?
She thought for a few moments & then asked him: "Lowell, would you really feel comfortable about me going to hell if it meant that I was there with you?"
The simplicity of her response led Dad to change his way of thinking, & he turned his life over to Jesus. Why? Because bring in hell wasn’t a comfortable concept to him, especially when it involved someone he loved.
Adapted from Jeff Strite, Church of Christ at Logansport, IN.
INVITATION
