May 28thAscension Day – a good day to go fishing?
- by Maurice Martin
I suspect that for most of us Ascension Day on May 14 this year passed by largely without notice, though some Mennonite Churches may have spoken of it on the following Sunday. According to Acts 1:3 Jesus appeared for 40 days after his resurrection, and taught them about the coming Kingdom of God, then ascended into heaven. Therefore, Ascension Day is traditionally celebrated on the sixth Thursday, exactly 40 days after Easter. It is celebrated ecumenically across the Christian Church, following suggestions by various denominations of what to do on that day, or the following Sunday.
Tradition/superstition also answers the question “What should we NOT do on Ascension Day?” Work of any sort was thought to be unlucky on that day. In particular, washing clothes was a bad idea. Some even said if you did laundry on Ascension Day, someone in the family would die. But let’s take Ascension Day more seriously than that!
My dad, following a tradition from his Old Order Mennonite roots, on Ascension Day took us boys fishing for Red Fins at the St. Jacobs dam. Traditionally Old Order dads laid aside farm work on that day and took their sons fishing. Were they following the example of Peter when he declared in John 21:2 “I go fishing?” (anybody want to go along?). When you see the list of disciples who went with him, you recognize that they had been, like Peter, called by Jesus from the fish nets to become “fishers of men” (sic).
It is also in the pursuit of the familiar that we can receive new spiritual insights, if we are open to it.
The tradition of not working on Ascension Day has no roots in that passage. In fact, Peter did not abstain from work; rather he returned to the work from which he was originally called. And when Jesus, from the beach called out that they should cast their net on the other side, they caught so many fish in their net that they could not pull it into the boat. Peter jumped into the shallow water and dragged the net to shore. There, with their risen Lord, they had a lovely shore breakfast of fresh fish.
Based on Jesus’ post-resurrection teachings in Acts 1, which preceded his Ascension into heaven, and the lesson to be drawn from the passage in John 21, a substantive sermon could be written. But this is a meditation, not a sermon. So let us simply reflect on Peter’s words “I go fishing.”
Peter, as we know from the Gospels, had an impetuous character, driven often more by his gut feelings than his head. I surmise that in the midst of the chaos, anxiety and bewilderment that attended Jesus’ crucifixion, Peter was looking for some way toward normalcy. Therefore, his natural instinct was to return to the familiar. Resurrection he did not yet fully understand - fishing he did!
It is also in the pursuit of the familiar that we can receive new spiritual insights, if we are open to it. Anyone who goes fishing knows that it takes quiet patience to catch fish. And in that quiet time, much can be learned and experienced of God. As believers, we stand always in this place between memory and hope. We live our lives between the warp and woof of the fabric of our ordinary daily existence, and the extraordinary which from time to time breaks into our lives, often not anticipated. So, while you may or may not go fishing with Peter, you may find yourself surprised by joy in new spiritual insights.
-Maurice Martin is a retired MCEC pastor.