Pt. 1 - Right Water
I. Introduction
You get a line and I'll get a pole, honey
You get a line and I'll get a pole babe
You get a line and I'll get a pole we'll go down
To the crawdad hole honey, sugar baby mine
Oh, hey how you guys doing today? I figured if we can't meet together I might as well go fishing. I never was much for crawdad fishing, but man I love to fish for some sand bass, black bass or crappie. Interestingly enough most of Jesus' ministry was confined to a very small area right around the Sea of Galilee. We would call it a lake. Because His ministry was around this lake it really is no surprise that Jesus used fishing, as well as farming, to teach most of His lessons. The people He was dealing with were very familiar with fishing and farming! In fact, if I am not mistaken, there are at least 5 different accounts involving fish that are recorded in the Gospels. The accounts are Jesus multiplying fish and loaves twice, sending His disciples to get a coin out of fish's mouth, and of course the two accounts where Jesus instructs His disciples to cast their nets again after they had caught nothing. It is the 2nd account of Jesus' involvement in the disciples catching fish, found in John 21, that I want to focus on. The disciples had fished all night. Jesus hollers from the shore and asks them for a fishing report. The disciples report that they have struck out. Zilch. Nada. Since this was after Jesus' resurrection and the disciples had not yet realized it was Jesus asking the question, I am sure one of the disciples sarcastically shouted back . . . That's why they call it fishing and not catching. Then Jesus responds and tells the disciples to cast the net on the right side of the boat and they would find fish there. The disciples obeyed and sure enough the text says they were not able to haul it in.
Jesus is the ultimate fish finder. He simply had this ability to know where to look. Notice, that by simply putting the net in the right water the disciples caught their limit. Have you ever been fishing in a boat and the person in the front who is using the same bait you are seems to be catching all the fish? Same pond. Same lake. Very close together, but different water. Their area of water is where the fish are located. When Jesus arrives on the scene He is born into a very religious society. Everything in Israel was controlled by the religious folks and to some extent it still is to this day. The religious folks set rules on when you could work and when you couldn't. They dictated who was good and who was considered bad. They even collected taxes. So everywhere Jesus was there were religious people. So, Jesus makes a declaration about the kind of fish He is going after. He declares in Mark 2, while talking to teachers of the Law (religious leaders) that “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” The legalism and hatefulness of the religious folks was driving people away from God. However, Jesus' love and compassion was producing a catch in the same water in which the religious leaders were striking out.
Our fishing environment is much like Jesus' day. We are surrounded by churches everywhere. We are enveloped by folks who know about Jesus. We live in a "Christian Nation." And our mission from Jesus is the same mission He had. . .catch fish. In fact, Jesus told us He would empower us to become fishers of men. In order to fulfill our mission, like Jesus, we must learn to fish in the right water. Like Jesus, we must be able to fish in the vicinity of others who drive people away from God and still catch fish. To do that we must go after the same fish that Jesus did. We must examine "our fishin' hole" and spot the sick, broken, afraid, hurt, passed over fish that no one else wants and reel them in.
To catch fish ...
1. We must go fishing again.
Some of us are like the disciples in the first account of a huge catch. They were putting up their nets after a long night of fishing and catching nothing. They were tired of fishing. Jesus tells them to put the boat back out. After using the boat as a platform to preach, He instructs them to cast their nets once more and surprise...they catch fish. Here is the truth. You can't catch fish if your line isn't in the water. You may have tried to fish in the past and come up empty handed. You may have done all you know to do. However, we must remember that evangelism is not optional. It isn't a cool thing to do. It is the only thing to do. I am always amazed by the number of Christians who will debate the Word, but will not share the Word. Too many of us aren't catching any fish because we have quit fishing! We have shelved our nets. We have let empty trips cause us to retire from fishing altogether! I want to remind you fishing is not up to the fish. It is up to the fishermen. For too many of us our idea of fishing is to put all the exertion on the fish. If they are ambitious we will catch them. They will come to or find us. If they are not ambitious, let them go about their business. The lost aren't commanded to go to church. The church is commanded to go to the lost! Get your line back in the water!
2. Quit fishing in the aquarium.
In other words, quit trying to catch fish that have already been caught. We don't need people to just move from one tank (church) to another. We must go after the folks who are far from God and aren't in the tank yet. Caught fish don't need to be caught again! We weren't commanded to steal fish or trade fish. We were commanded to catch fish! The truth is the kind of fish we are commanded to catch won't be in churches. They will be the downcast, broken and hurting people that churches don't typically want!
The disciples caught fish when they threw their nets on the right side of the boat. I recognize that the writer isn't saying right as in correct. It was literally the right side of the boat as opposed to the left side. However, I wonder how many of us miss the opportunity to catch fish because we simply ignore the right water all around us. We must learn to assess the water. Could it be that the job that we hate, dread, loathe, want to leave was actually given to us by God not for work, but for water? Maybe that job is the right water in which we have been sent to be effective fishermen. Maybe it is water that others refuse to fish in. Could it be the school we are in or the neighborhood that we have tried unsuccessfully to move out of is our assigned and potentially receptive fishin' hole? Maybe we keep missing opportunities to catch simply because we fail to throw our bait in the right water! Who do you know who is broke, overlooked, sick, depressed, hopeless, burdened, or maybe even rejected by others? That is the right water. Fish that water. Throw those fish hope, healing and love and you may just find yourself with a catch so large that you can't handle it all by yourself. Then you can invite the other fishermen you know to come and help you land the harvest.
Get your line in the water . . . wait let me restate that . . . get your line in the right water! I promise if you do, then you will start catching fish!
Prayer!
