Pastor Dan Eddy
John 21:1-14
Cast on the other side
10-8-11
Merrill “Joe” Francis’
Funeral
Grace, mercy, and peace be
multiplied unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. Amen.
The text for this
morning’s meditation is the Gospel reading from John 21 verses 1 to 14 read
just a few moments ago.
In Christ Jesus, dear
friends and family assembled to remember the life of Joe Francis.
Let me direct your
attention to one of our banners showing a fishing boat and nets used in Jesus’
day. And as we look at this banner I have to ask the question: “Was Joe Francis a good fisherman?”
That was the question I asked Larry, his son, that past Monday as Nettie, Penny
and him met with me to discuss the details of today’s service. I knew Joe loved
to fish. He frequently talked about it in our conversations before he was
diagnosed with cancer.
As Larry was contemplating
the question, he let me know that Joe wasn’t just a fisherman but a bass fisherman…catch
and release. From what I understand the sport of bass fishing involves seeking
the right place, knowing where to cast your line.
So I asked Larry again. “Was your father a good fisherman?”
“He enjoyed it,” Larry said carefully answering the question. “He caught fish.” And then Larry reflected on a time when the two
of them were in a bass fishing tournament, and things weren’t going well. Joe
blamed Larry for his dad not catching any fish. Joe said, “It’s the way you’re pointing the boat. It’s scaring the fish away.”
I wonder if that was the excuse
Simon Peter used on his fellow Disciples as they were trolling all night to
catch fish and caught nothing.
The Gospel Lesson for this
morning is more than an account of bad night of fishing turned into the
greatest fishing story ever. This incident that happened sometime between
Christ’s resurrection from the Dead and His ascension into Heaven was meant to
remind Jesus’ Disciples the as well as us today that putting our trust in Him
would mean casting the net on the other side.
But what does it mean to “cast your net on the other side?”
Night time was the
preferred time to do fishing in the ancient world. And before these men were
called to follow Jesus as His Disciples, they were fisherman. It was more than
a hobby; it was a business; it was their livelihood, a way of life. It was hard
work. Much like Joe worked hard to provide for his family. Whether it was
selling newspapers or delivering groceries at age 5 to support his family then,
or serving his country being a part of the National Guard or running his
business to provide for his wife and children. Joe was a hard worker like the
Disciples.
Now Jesus grew up as a
carpenter. What in the world did He know about fishing? O yeah, three years
prior to this, before Jesus called His Disciples, He had them drop their nets
into the sea during daylight…against conventional wisdom, and the Disciples
caught so many fish…the nets broke. Jesus
breaks through conventional wisdom to show us He can see what we can’t.
So here it is sunrise,
daybreak, no fish…and this strange guy standing on the shore a football field
away is telling them to cast on the other side. At first the Disciples didn’t
recognize Jesus. And maybe they were wondering why they should listen to
someone so far away. What was He seeing
that they weren’t?
Many things in life keep
us from recognizing Christ and His love? Sin does that. It veils us from God.
Our self-centeredness makes our Lord seem quite a distance from us…like He
doesn’t know what we’re going through as we face family turmoils, financial
problems, and health struggles. Joe faced all of those in his life…at only age
5, seeing two older brothers parish in a house fire….experiencing the economic
pains of a struggling business, and then to top it all off being told he both
lung and brain cancer. I could only imagine that at times it felt like the Lord
was a lot more than 100 yards away.
But it’s at those times when we are at the most
vulnerable points in our life that we are in the best position to trust in
Jesus, because He can see things we don’t. He remembers the past better than
we, and He knows what’s ahead in our future.
Faith in God is Him seeing
what we don’t see and trusting His sight over ours. Jesus saw from 100 yards away, probably in the
misty haze of daybreak, a tremendous school of fish that the Disciples couldn’t
see right under their nose.
“Cast your net on the other side,” Jesus said. When the Disciples did…they hit the
jackpot. Jesus allowed them to win the fishing contest that day, because He knew
the right place to cast the net.
And that day Jesus
revealed Himself in a way where the only response could be one of faith, and
that response was what John, the Apostle said: “It is the Lord.” Jesus was the only one that could do this.
You see casting your net
on the other side is living a life of faith in Christ where you do what most
people don’t do. It’s involves going against the grain of the world. Joe lived
a life of casting his net on the other side.
While an increasing number
of families in the
When most people don’t have
time to serve in the Church, Joe helped build one as one of the founding
members of House of Prayer in
When you leave here today
and you're exiting the church I want you to hold onto the iron rail that Joe
and Larry put up many years ago where they used the trees to bend the pipes, laid
the cement footings, and welded the rails all together.
And when you're going down
that ramp, holding on, I want you to think about your faith in Christ. It’s
like that iron post. It can withstand anything, but it may not always look
pretty. I know Joe would've preferred people painted it a different way but it’s
rock solid. An atomic bomb could go off in Norwell and everything destroyed in
the area and I bet you those iron rails will still be standing. That kind of
faith comes when you cast your net on the other side. Faith in Christ succeeds
when all else fails.
Now I’m here to tell you
that Joe Francis didn’t lived like a saint. He was a saint…but only by the Word
of God and the waters of baptism…that brought him faith that saved his life
from eternal destruction in Hell. But that didn’t mean Joe always lived like a
saint. He, like all of us, was born with sin, lived with sin, committed many
sins…more than we are conscious of; more than we want to admit. Joe’s words and
actions hurt others, and he had regrets. Our good works don’t save us. Only
faith in Christ Jesus alone.
But, faith in Jesus means
trusting Him when all else fails you in your life…when you can’t see what God
can.
Jesus was there for the Disciples
serving them breakfast, even though they failed to support Him in His most dire
hours suffering and dying on the cross. But He could see what they didn’t.
And Joe suffered much
these past few years, losing his remaining brother, facing gout, having teeth
pulled, pain in his feet, and then the word just over 2 ½ months ago…lung and
brain cancer…and then the clincher, untreatable pneumonia.
I remember visiting Joe in
the hospital just a few weeks back, and presenting him with a giant birthday
card signed by the members of Christ Lutheran the day before his 71st birthday.
It was a happy occasion. Nettie who had been by his side these many
years…through thick and thin…who herself was just released from the hospital as
a patient…was there with him. It was joyful occasion. And there was optimism
that the test results he was going to get the next day meant Joe would again
beat the odds and be released from the hospital. But less than 24 hours later, Joe
received the worst news of his life. There was no more that could be done.
Nettie said at first Joe
was angry…but then he accepted it. He cast his net on the other side. And as a
result Nettie said it turned out to be a happier time for him. She said, “He started to enjoy his living wake,”
because of all the people who came to see him at the hospital and at his home.
Joe with all the troubles
and turmoils of this life hung onto
that iron post of faith and learned to let
go of past pains. He learned to confess his sins; he learned to forgive
others. These past few months were a time of repentance and renewal. In the
past he held in his emotions a lot but in the end that changed. As family
members put it he went from the bristle to the meek.
The night when he received
the news there was nothing more they could do…Joe’s family held a birthday party
in his room at South Shore Hospital. And after a time eating, drinking, and
laughing, Joe asked me to lead him and his family in confession and absolution,
a time of devotion and prayer as we all held hands to receive God’s blessings
of forgiveness and comfort.
Joe went to sleep that
night fully ready and expecting to wake up in Heaven in the Lord’s arms. But
God wasn’t done with this fisherman yet. In fact Joe woke up the next morning
singing the hymn you will sing in a few moments: “Here I am Lord, is it I Lord, I have heard you calling in the night. I
will go Lord if you lead me. I hold your people in my heart.”
And Joe did. His last week
of life here on Earth he did more ministering here than the minister (point to
me). In fact the Friday before Joe passed…Larry called me to say that even
though he was in hospice care, Joe wanted to come to church on Sunday one last
time. Joe was casting his net on the other side.
It was touch and go
turning his wish into reality…Joe was having rough nights sleeping, and even 45
minutes before the service, Nettie called me telling Joe might not make it to
the service. But then right before the sermon…Joe was wheeled up the ramp and
came into the sanctuary and sat right there in his wheelchair and listened to
God’s Word.
That morning he received
that assurance of forgiveness and life when he ate Christ’s real body and drank
His true blood right there from his chair. I’m sure it tasted better than any
fish, any meal he’d had. For that meal gave his mortal body and soul,
immortality.
And then Joe cast his net
on the other side one more time. At the end of the service, right before the
benediction, Joe motioned me that he had something to say.
Now I thought I heard what
he said. A lot of people couldn’t hear him. And even though I was only inches
away I didn’t fully get it all until I edited the audio the next day for some good
people who couldn’t be here…so just to be clear here is the last thing Joe said
to his brothers and sisters in Christ here at Christ Lutheran: “I want the congregation to know that dying
is not an unhappy thing. It’s a happy thing. It’s just every now and then
someone, somebody is stuck in between, in limbo, and we just have to wait it
out whether good, bad, or indifferent.”
Jesus Christ made Joe
Francis a good fisherman, because by faith, casting his net on the other side,
Joe was seeing the glory of the Lord more and more. Like a good bass fisherman,
he knew the right place to fish and where to cast his line…in the Church.
You know, after the
resurrection of Jesus, the Disciples saw the glory of Christ more and more. The
events of our Gospel text were just the start of many great things to come.
They were leaning more and more on the iron rail of Christ, casting their nets
on the other side.
Joe Francis and the
Disciples were seeing what God was seeing, because this life is not all there
is…and Joe knew that. He knew there will come a Day when all who have faith in
Christ will be assembled for an everlasting feast as our Old Testament reading
from Isaiah 25:6-9 alluded to.
And that meal will be even
better than the food we are about to eat at the Viking Club, because we, like
the Disciples, will be dining with Jesus in
the flesh. And Joe will be there serving breakfast to his family in Christ,
just like he did to his own earthly family for many years. And everything will
be just right…just like Joe always wanted for his family.
The next life will be more
vivid that this one, and Joe wants you there with him and Him (point to the
cross). So despite what the world says…cast your net on the other side and put
your trust in Christ for forgiveness of your sins, the power over death, and
the perfect life to come that will never, ever end.
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O
death, is your sting?" Thanks
be to God! He gave Joe Francis, you and me the victory over death by faith
alone through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.