Dear Members and Friends of St. John,
Recently my fishing adventures have been more fishing
than catching. I have been on four trips
this year seeking to catch a king salmon, but so far neither I nor anyone in my
boat have caught one king. I might not
even have had a bite! Perhaps a series
of texts between my wife, and I capture fishing so far this year. Kathy sent me a text message on June 5 asking
for a “Fishing Update?” My first set of
messages read, “Cold, rainy, windy, flat tire, No Fish.”
That message was sent after the trip I took to the Deska
River with my daughter, Mary, and our good friend, Dave Nufer. While fishing on that day we saw about 50
boats and watched only 4 of those boats actually catch a fish. But, we were not among the four boats doing
the catching. Some people have asked me,
“Why would you want to sit in the cold and wind and rain for hours not catching
any fish?” In fact, Kathy herself
replied to my text with her own, “Not fun!”
I can understand that there are people who might not have
enjoyed that trip. However, the reply I
sent to Kathy had a different tone. “Had fun; Laughed a lot; Helped a family
that was stuck; Left boat at Diversified for new tires and bearing grease.”
We didn’t have to catch fish to have fun. Actually, even on that cold, windy, rainy day
we enjoyed the outdoors. We saw
wildlife. We helped some others. We enjoyed one another’s company and we
laughed A LOT. There is a reason my
hobby is called “fishing” and not “catching.”
But, if you can learn and enjoy from the fishing part of this exercise,
then any fish caught are a bonus, and those fish can even be seen as a gift
from God. If you can enjoy the journey,
then the destination might even be more sweet.
In a way fishing can be a picture of our Christian
life. At first being a child of God
sounds like an easy choice, a “no-brainer.”
The All-Powerful Lord and Creator of the World loves us. He sent His Son to pay the price for our sin
so that, by believing in Jesus, we might live with Him in heaven,
eternally. God calls us to follow Jesus
through a life of faith, and obedience, and love. What can go wrong when we follow the All
Powerful God who loves us enough to die for us?
What can go wrong when our end is heaven?
But, even though God loves us (John 3:16-17, 1 John
4:7-10), and even though Jesus has “all authority in heaven and on earth”
(Matthew 28:18), following Jesus can be a difficult journey. Time and again Jesus warns and teaches His
disciples that when we follow Him we will face trials like he faced. Consider the words of Jesus in John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you
may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have
overcome the world."
Or, consider also the
experience and teaching of St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5. “3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles,
so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have
received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our
lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. The life of a Christian is not just eternal
life in heaven. The journey to heaven
goes through the wilderness of this world, a wilderness that is full of failure,
pain, and loss. (See also Romans 5:1-5, 2
Corinthians 2:8-10, etc.) Just like
people ask me about fishing, some have asked about following Jesus, “Why would
anyone want the trouble?”
Actually, the answer
to why one would follow Jesus can take a lifetime to explain. But, at the risk of oversimplifying the
answer, I would tell you three reasons to follow our Lord in faith, in obedience,
and in love. First, life is full of
difficulty whether one follows Jesus or not.
Don’t you want the God who loves you to be with you through the trials
of life? Second, the end of the journey
is worth the trials we face. Knowing
that Jesus has “overcome the world” and has heaven waiting, makes it worthwhile
to endure the troubles of following Jesus.
Finally, and practically, in this world, there are lessons to be learned
and joys to be experienced even in life’s trials. So, I follow Jesus trusting Him to teach me, to
forgive me, and to save me. I pray you
will do the same.
On June 5th, though we did not catch any fish,
we did spend time with good friends and family.
That in itself is worthwhile. We
were able to share God’s love by helping a family in need. And, I did prepare my boat for more
adventures by getting new tires, AND new bearings on my trailer. Maybe we will catch a king salmon later this
year. When you can enjoy and learn from the
journey, then the destination is even more sweet!
A
Child of God, Learning God’s Love Through the Trials of Life . . . and Fishing,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. Here are some
pictures from our Family Camp held at Eklutna Lake Camp, June 16-18. https://goo.gl/photos/YFgsTB7evXQdsauP6
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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE
PASTOR’ - I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to
all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have. (I am regularly
adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this
e-mail for the first time.) However, if you do not want to receive this
e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for
this message.
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