Out of Nothing

“Let’s go fishing!” Never having gone fishing before, I still recall my father’s simple words when he invited my brother and me out for our first fishing excursion. One might not think that those three words are that significant. To a ten-year old boy who was excited to experience a new adventure, “Let’s go fishing!” caught my attention and made my heart skip.

What a first fishing excursion it was for my dad, he had to teach us all about fishing. He showed us boys the three rods for our excursion. The three of us looked those rods up and down to see if they were ready for the day. He opened up his childhood tackle box to determine what we would need to purchase for our outing. List in hand, the three of us would journey out later to the local K-mart to purchase all needed supplies. “This is hard work!” I remember thinking. “Why can’t we just go catch some fish?”

A little less excited, I kept at it. At the local store, we discussed the benefits to the different types of bait. Should we get plastic bait? Should we go to another store and purchase real night crawlers? Did we need bobbers? All the different questions flooded my mind. “How could it be this hard?” I thought.

Finallly! Finally! All was purchased at the store. We were ready for the next morning. I was an exhausted young boy. Time to call it a day.

The next day was full of its own adventures! It was full of trying to find a shaded place on a hot, humid summer day. We drove to not one, but two places together. It was full of learning how to bait on a line. Putting live bait on a line can be quite the adventure. It was full of casting the rod into the Elkhorn River. Doing so and getting nothing back can cause one to grow tiresome. It was full of disappointment. All that work, we caught nothing.

We caught nothing! Peter and the first disciples catch nothing too! Participating in much harder work than I did and experiencing greater disappointment than me, they had worked all day. Their work was not merely a past time. They needed their haul for the day because it was their livelihood. They did not have the convenience of giving it up and calling it a day. They had to try and try again. And still they caught nothing.

After catching nothing in their nets, Jesus strolls by and sends them out to fish again. Reluctant and resistant, Peter relents and heads out into the waters one more time. And to his surprise, Peter and the other fisherman catch more than their nets can hold. Their nets are breaking.

Finished with the job, Peter falls at his knees and acknowledges his doubt. In his acknowledging the nothingness of his faith, Jesus shows his how much he has received and how he has more than he can imagine before him.

My story did not end as well. We still caught nothing that day. But I had more than I could imagine before me. I had a memory that drew the three of us closer. Out of nothing came something very significant.

Out of nothing comes the most significant thing of our lives. Out of the nothingness of death of Christ comes the gift of the resurrection and eternal life now. Worship with us at 8:00AM, 9:30AM and 11:11AM in person or at 9:30AM or 11:11AM on our youtube channel. Hear and experience how out of nothing, God in Christ gives us more than we could imagine.

Shepherding the Shepherds,

Pastor Craig