Jesus, Thy Boundless Love

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[Read John 21:1-14]

Jesus, Thy Boundless Love

                Peter, Nathaniel, James and John, Thomas, and two others – seven disciples in all – went fishing in the days after Christ’s resurrection. They were fishermen. They had a net to cast and depended on the catch. And they were catching nothing all night.

                At the break of day, when the rising sun first started to signal that it was time to give up, a man stood on the shore and called, “Children, do you have any fish?” No, they did not. “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.”

                Fishermen, in their day, would sometimes use someone as a “spotter” on shore, who could see from a better vantage point the movements of the schools of fish. The man on shore speaks as such a spotter, directing the fishermen. And they listen.

                They cast their net on the right side of the boat, and they get their catch. They can’t even lift it up into the boat, the catch is so plentiful. A great catch after a long night of catching nothing… this had happened before [Luke 5:1-11]. John recognizes the Lord’s work and says to Peter, “It is the Lord!” 

                Peter, in zeal and great love, because the risen Lord who proclaimed peace to them some days before had now come to appear to them again, throws on his outer garment and jumps into the water to hurry to the shore. (They were about a football field’s length from shore.) The other disciples drag the haul of fish forward with the boat until they also land ashore.

                The catch is 153 large fish, yet the nets did not begin to break this time. Jesus, risen and glorified, is still man – still as natural and approachable as when Mary Magdalen thought He was the gardener – and has made a breakfast of fish and bread for them over a fire of coals.

                But here’s the point for today: The catch was great, and the catch was the Lord’s. And this is about being “fishers of men” [Matthew 4:19; Luke 5:10]. Bringing people to the Gospel. And the Lord brings in a great catch, not because of us, but only because of His boundless love. “Jesus, Thy boundless love to me No thought can reach, no tongue declare.”

                He loves you, so He gathered you. He loves your neighbor, so He employs you to cast His net to gather them too. You are fishers of men. Individually, and as a congregation. He promises to gather His catch, to lose none, and not to miss any – through His church.

                Jesus’ net is His Word of the Gospel. He casts, like a net, the good news of who He is and what He has done. This net gathers in the hurting and sinners. Heals wounds, forgives guilt, and makes us something new. From lost to found, from darkness to light, from dead to alive again. From strayed to back home again. When we hear and believe. All by Jesus’ boundless love alone.

                By Jesus’ boundless love, Saul, an opponent and even persecutor of faith in Jesus, was gathered into this net and made Paul, a new man, who served the Lord more than the others [Acts 9:1-22; 1 Corinthians 15:10].

                By Jesus’ boundless love, Peter, a disciple of Jesus from the beginning, and a leader, but who fell and failed – denying the Lord three times – is gathered again in this net and gets to confess His steadfast love for Christ three times, as He is recommissioned three times to feed Christ’s lambs [John 21:15-17].

                Jesus’ boundless love, not your merits nor your worthiness, but His boundless love alone gathers you – and your neighbor, who will hear and believe – into His body, His church, and into His heaven.

                The disciples worked hard in their fishing – and did not ever need to lose heart in their work – because the catch does come according to the Lord’s will and in His time.

                And their true task of being fishers of men by the Gospel is your task. To share with others the love of Jesus that you yourself are receiving. To love your neighbor as yourself by endeavoring that they might have the same good thing you have found in Jesus.

                In part, this means forgiving those who have sinned against you as you have been forgiven – loving as you have been loved by Christ. Extending His care and forgiveness out to others. That extends His net.

                And it means, in the various ways the Lord calls us to do so – according to our various callings, abilities, positions in life, talents, resources, relationships, opportunities – as siblings, parents, neighbors, coworkers, friends, citizens – in the ways set before us, to be witnesses of who and what Jesus has been to you as our Savior —

                — Witnesses to what He does for you in this gathering, in your own words – there’s some reason why you come. And as witnesses to the knocking and seeking and asking that you are doing as you seek to know more about who Jesus is, what it is to have Him as Savior and Shepherd —  

                — To invite others into this net with you that they might also believe and benefit as you are benefiting from Jesus’ boundless love for you. To cast the net which has caught you to catch others in it, for their sake.

                And it is through you that Jesus will work. The statistics say something like this, though this might not be exact: Of those who join a congregation and stay long-term – they come, they join, and they stay – roughly, about 2% come in through the pastor. Two percent! Some other small percentages come in through some other ways.           

                About 80% - eighty percent of those who visit, join, and stay – had a relationship of some sort (work, friendship, neighbor) with a current member and were invited by that member. Eighty percent! Roughly speaking.

                And, you can reverse that. They can visit, and then you can form a relationship with them. But it has to be you, the congregation, for it to stick. In most cases. According to the numbers.

                And according to the Lord’s will – because it is His promise that He does work through you. Through what you can do. Through how you can speak it. Because it is His fishing work through His boundless love.

                And we never need to be discouraged – “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes” – that’s the great catch in His net – for by His blood He “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” [Revelation 5:9; 7:9]

                The great catch of sinners saved, lost found, and eyes opened – in Christ’s net – does come because of His boundless love. Worldwide. And here. And He uses our efforts for it. Thanks be to God. Amen.