Wallace Allison Wallace is the president of IHS, Inc. He has a BA in Religion from Birmingham-Southern College and has served as pastor at several United Methodist Churches. Wallace lives and works in Birmingham, Alabama, USA.

“I’m going fishing.” When Simon Peter said these words to his friends, it was more than a statement of intent. It was an invitation: “Want to go?” It was a question: “Do you have anything better to suggest?” Jesus, the man Peter had come to understand as the son of God, the man he had denied three times, the man who had promised to make him a fisher of men, the man he had seen display tremendous powers, had allowed himself to be crucified. He had been buried and all agreed…he was dead. Dead and buried? But the tomb was empty. Empty?

And Jesus had shown up again. Peter had seen Jesus, not once, but twice. He watched as Thomas touched Jesus’ wounds. Imagine the confusion, the mix of emotions and feelings that haunted Simon Peter as he stood by that shore looking out to sea, watching the endless waves break on the beach. The questions he must have had. What could it mean? How could it be? Jesus? Alive? What would happen now? What would Jesus do now? What would Jesus say to him when he showed up again? What would Jesus say to Peter who had denied the Lord three times to avoid the consequences of being associated with him? The emotions: frustration, dread, anticipation, hope. There were so many questions and so few answers. He watched the waves and knew he was helpless.

Simon Peter, like countless other people across time have done, said to his friends, “I’m going fishing.” His fellow disciples accepted the invitation and together they took their boat and did what Simon Peter knew best. They spread their nets, sat in their boat, fishing, and caught nothing even though they stayed out all night. A futile activity? But you have to understand where they were. They were in their boat. Their nets were spread. They were fishing.

I still remember how, as a young man, a light came on for me when first I heard the words of Henry David Thoreau: “Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” Those simple words gave me a profound understanding not only of my own behavior in times of trouble, but also of some of my best friends and, yes, of Simon Peter. Peter wasn’t after fish. Catching fish would be a minor bonus, a momentary distraction; “fluff,” a bit of extra enjoyment to help pass the time--nothing more. The fish didn’t matter. They were fishing for…something.

Each person is different. Not all of us actually go fishing. I’ve known people who went to the kitchen and cooked. I’ve known people who went to their office and worked. I’ve known people who went riding on horseback. And I’ve known people who went into the field and plowed. Cooking, programming, riding, plowing, they may as well have said, “I’m going fishing.” In all those cases, the people didn’t realize that it wasn’t the fish they were after.

All of which begs the question, “If not fish, then what is it we are after?” That is one of humanity’s greatest questions. Note how the text says it was just before dawn, just before the light came, that they heard Jesus call out to them, “Children, have you any fish?” What a perfect metaphor for life this is. We’ve spent our time using our own nets, i.e. methods, to catch the fish we really aren’t after in the first place. We come up empty and all is darkness. We’re fishing for…something. Just before the light gives us sight, we hear the words of Jesus as he calls to us though the darkness that surrounds us. “Children, have you any fish?”

And then we can see. Jesus bids us come and join him. He provides for us in ways we could not have guessed. Jesus gave them more fish than they expected, but it wasn’t fish they were after. As they drew near to him he had prepared warmth and food. He bid them come and break bread with him. He invited them to begin the day, a new day, with him.

I have to tell you, it is a wonderful metaphor for life. But first, I had to realize it’s not fish I was after. That’s what the empty tomb is all about. That’s what Easter is all about. That’s what life is all about.

We fish without realizing that fish are merely the trappings and things of this world. It isn’t fish we’re after. Rather, it is the connection to God, the need to feel the hand and love of God in our own lives. This is what we seek. God’s presence is what we, as human beings made in His image, need. Without that, we’re just sitting in our own little boat somewhere in the darkness fishing for…something. The tomb is empty, and Easter is all about hope. Easter brings you a new day and there, if you listen closely is Jesus calling out in the darkness, “Children, have you any fish?”

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