“Fish on!” “Got one!” “This one’s got shoulders!” “He’s staying down.” “This one’s got to be a Northern, he’s running!” “I am trying to get the rod tip up, but he’s too big!” “I’m banking this one.” “That’s a perfect eater.” “I need smaller fish.” “This is what we call catching, not just fishing.” “I measure that one to be 17.85 inches. Let’s double-check.” “He bit me off. First time this week. That had to be the biggest Northern yet!”
“Lets head back to the Rocks.” “Let’s try Honeymoon Bay.” “We’ve had good luck at Old Baldy.” “I’ve gotten all my big pike at Sunken Island.” “Use a #4 Mepps with a black tail for Northern.” “It’s the red hook! As soon as I put on a new jig that didn’t have the red paint worn off the hook, I caught another Northern and Walleye, bang, bang.” “Glenn, lift the anchor again, but don’t bring it in. We’re going to drift for a while.” “Do you want me to throw the anchor again, or drop the anchor?”
“Trump was played.” “You guys all mauered again, big time.” “Why don’t I ever get some decent cards?” “Crack!” “Recrack.” “We got schneider.” “No tricker!”
“It’s your turn to do the dishes.” “Would somebody take out the garbage?” “We’re having fish again?” “We have to have fish for breakfast today.” “Anybody want to try one of these pickled pigs feet?” “Who hid the the Cheetos?” “Time for another new deck of cards.”
“The Rookie has brought us good luck! We’ve never had a Sunday fishing like this.” “The Rookie has brought us bad luck. We’ve been inspected by the conservation wardens. First time in over 30 years.”
These are sound bytes from my first fishing trip to Canada. I was privileged to join Lyle Luchterhand’s group. We left for Open Bay Lodge, Lac de Mille Lacs, Ontario, Canada, on June 15 and returned to the USA one week later.
What an experience! This was the fishing trip of a lifetime-something I had dreamed about since I was a child. Because as long as I can remember, I’ve loved to fish. So it shouldn’t surprise you that one of my favorite Bible accounts is found in John 21:3-14.
The setting is this. Jesus has risen from the dead. He’s already appeared to his apostles twice. Now, he appears to them a third time, but not behind closed doors. Instead, Peter and some of the other apostles were back in their home stomping grounds around the Sea of Tiberias (Galilee). That’s when Peter speaks the words I love to copy: “I’m going fishing!” The other disciples respond, “We’ll go with you.”
All night long, they toil with their nets. They try all the tricks of the trade they’ve learned through decades of experience. They fish the best spots. But by morning? “They caught nothing.” Zip. Nada. Nichts. Skunked. (Think of how humiliating it must have been for John, a former commercial fisherman, to record this by inspiration!)
Then came morning. Jesus is standing on the shore. He asks, “Boys, don’t you have any fish?” “No!” they answered. He told them, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” So they cast the net out. Then they were not able to haul it in because of the large number of fish.”
How many times had they cast their nets in that same area during the night only to be skunked? But when Jesus got involved? They hauled in 153 fish! Large ones! And the added miracle? The net didn’t tear!
This was enough to prompt the Apostle John to shout, “It is the Lord!’ That cry triggered impetuous Peter to jump into the sea-outer garment and all-and swim ashore. Meanwhile the other disciples dutifully dragged the fish-crammed net towards the shore. On shore was Jesus, some bread and a charcoal fire with some fish on it. Our Lord invited the famished fisherman, “Come, eat breakfast. Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them, and also the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.”
I love this account, but not just because I love to go fishing. I love it because it shows me how the Lord uses us, his children called to faith by his Spirit. Peter, the former commercial fisherman still loved to fish. And he could still be the bold, brash, act-first, think-later (maybe) Peter. Yet Jesus used him. The Holy Spirit shaped him, emboldened him, so that on Pentecost Sunday, Peter could stand up with the other disciples and proclaim, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39)
Our Lord also used Doubting Thomas. A tax collector by the name of Matthew. Other fishermen. Even a Zealot. And he still uses us--with all our idiosyncrasies. Our likes and dislikes. Our strengths and our weaknesses. Each of us unique. Each of us a sinner. Each of us saved by grace alone. Each of us privileged to point others to the One who filled the nets with fish and his net with us.
“I’m going fishing!”
Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
“Lets head back to the Rocks.” “Let’s try Honeymoon Bay.” “We’ve had good luck at Old Baldy.” “I’ve gotten all my big pike at Sunken Island.” “Use a #4 Mepps with a black tail for Northern.” “It’s the red hook! As soon as I put on a new jig that didn’t have the red paint worn off the hook, I caught another Northern and Walleye, bang, bang.” “Glenn, lift the anchor again, but don’t bring it in. We’re going to drift for a while.” “Do you want me to throw the anchor again, or drop the anchor?”
“Trump was played.” “You guys all mauered again, big time.” “Why don’t I ever get some decent cards?” “Crack!” “Recrack.” “We got schneider.” “No tricker!”
“It’s your turn to do the dishes.” “Would somebody take out the garbage?” “We’re having fish again?” “We have to have fish for breakfast today.” “Anybody want to try one of these pickled pigs feet?” “Who hid the the Cheetos?” “Time for another new deck of cards.”
“The Rookie has brought us good luck! We’ve never had a Sunday fishing like this.” “The Rookie has brought us bad luck. We’ve been inspected by the conservation wardens. First time in over 30 years.”
These are sound bytes from my first fishing trip to Canada. I was privileged to join Lyle Luchterhand’s group. We left for Open Bay Lodge, Lac de Mille Lacs, Ontario, Canada, on June 15 and returned to the USA one week later.
What an experience! This was the fishing trip of a lifetime-something I had dreamed about since I was a child. Because as long as I can remember, I’ve loved to fish. So it shouldn’t surprise you that one of my favorite Bible accounts is found in John 21:3-14.
The setting is this. Jesus has risen from the dead. He’s already appeared to his apostles twice. Now, he appears to them a third time, but not behind closed doors. Instead, Peter and some of the other apostles were back in their home stomping grounds around the Sea of Tiberias (Galilee). That’s when Peter speaks the words I love to copy: “I’m going fishing!” The other disciples respond, “We’ll go with you.”
All night long, they toil with their nets. They try all the tricks of the trade they’ve learned through decades of experience. They fish the best spots. But by morning? “They caught nothing.” Zip. Nada. Nichts. Skunked. (Think of how humiliating it must have been for John, a former commercial fisherman, to record this by inspiration!)
Then came morning. Jesus is standing on the shore. He asks, “Boys, don’t you have any fish?” “No!” they answered. He told them, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” So they cast the net out. Then they were not able to haul it in because of the large number of fish.”
How many times had they cast their nets in that same area during the night only to be skunked? But when Jesus got involved? They hauled in 153 fish! Large ones! And the added miracle? The net didn’t tear!
This was enough to prompt the Apostle John to shout, “It is the Lord!’ That cry triggered impetuous Peter to jump into the sea-outer garment and all-and swim ashore. Meanwhile the other disciples dutifully dragged the fish-crammed net towards the shore. On shore was Jesus, some bread and a charcoal fire with some fish on it. Our Lord invited the famished fisherman, “Come, eat breakfast. Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them, and also the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.”
I love this account, but not just because I love to go fishing. I love it because it shows me how the Lord uses us, his children called to faith by his Spirit. Peter, the former commercial fisherman still loved to fish. And he could still be the bold, brash, act-first, think-later (maybe) Peter. Yet Jesus used him. The Holy Spirit shaped him, emboldened him, so that on Pentecost Sunday, Peter could stand up with the other disciples and proclaim, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39)
Our Lord also used Doubting Thomas. A tax collector by the name of Matthew. Other fishermen. Even a Zealot. And he still uses us--with all our idiosyncrasies. Our likes and dislikes. Our strengths and our weaknesses. Each of us unique. Each of us a sinner. Each of us saved by grace alone. Each of us privileged to point others to the One who filled the nets with fish and his net with us.
“I’m going fishing!”
Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
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