“Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the
crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2he saw two boats
there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and
were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging
to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he
sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4When he had finished
speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your
nets for a catch." 5Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long
but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets."
6When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were
beginning to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to
come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they
began to sink. 8But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees,
saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" 9For he and all
who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken;
10and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with
Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will
be catching people." 11When they had brought their boats to shore, they
left everything and followed him.” Luke 5:1-11
There is a whole boatload and more of things that will catch your
attention in this familiar story. There is the crowd that is pressing in
on Jesus--- so much so that he climbs on board Jesus’ boat in order to get
a better visual angle on the crowd --- or maybe just to give himself a
little distance from the press of the bodies against him. There is
Peter’s willingness to let his nets down one more time in the heat of the
morning: going against any logic a seasoned fisherman would have. You
don’t fish in the heat of the day. And why would you bother to drop your
nets where you found no fish all night long? There is the overwhelming
catch: it’s not every day that you catch so many fish your nets are
breaking from the strain. It can’t have been within their experience to
have such a load of fish on board that their boats were actually sinking.
Their stomachs must have been quaking in fear at least a little bit as
they felt their boats sinking beneath them… Indeed, there’s a whole lot of
things to catch your attention in this story, but perhaps nothing quite so
amazing as Peter’s response. I mean, it doesn’t seem likely that a
fisherman’s first response to such an overwhelming catch is to fall on his
knees, begging Jesus to get away from him for he is sinful. For that
matter? Who leaves a couple of boatloads of fish behind to rot in the
morning sun to follow Jesus, unless something more is going on in this
story. Something mostly unspoken. Something under the surface that got
stirred up in Peter and that propelled him and his fishing partners, James
and John, to simply drop everything and go after Jesus.
I mean, it’s just not that easy to leave the old behind, now is it?
You’ve tried from time to time, I’ll bet you have, and it’s just not that
easy. I was with a friend last week who was speaking of her struggle to
give up smoking. She’s quit before, so she knows how to do it and she was
telling me about how she has to be mentally prepared and then she’ll be
able to quit again this time, she’s just sure of it. It’s not that easy
to leave the old behind. In fact, two weeks ago, I drank my last sip out
of a can of diet coke. I was starting to feel it in my stomach and for
some time, I’ve known I’d be better off with out it. I hadn’t planned it
out, in an impulsive moment I just decided it was time. Again. For this
has been my caffeine source for years and years. And I, too, have quit
from time to time: mostly in preparation for overseas travel when I wasn’t
sure I’d be able to get it and didn’t want to be going through caffeine
withdrawal and jetlag at the same time. It’s not so easy, I found again
this week. I mean, I like the old way. I like the feel of the can in my
hand, the sound of it popping open first thing in the morning. The bite of
the taste as I take that first swallow. On those days when I find myself
overwhelmed by all the tasks at hand, I am comforted to know that can will
be just a reach away. Last week after having not had it for three days, I
even dreamed about it: that I had already broken down. I can remember the
sound of the can opening in my dream. In fact, I could even taste it in
my sleep.
So, it’s not easy to leave the old behind. These first followers of
Jesus, they did not take the time to get themselves mentally prepared to
follow Jesus. They didn’t do the logical thing and sleep on it. They
didn’t even bother to clean their amazing catch of fish, they didn’t take
the time to sell their business, didn’t even pause to explain to their
families what they were doing, where they were going, how long they’d be
gone. They just took off after Jesus like they had no choice. They
dropped everything to follow him as though they knew there was only one
way for them now. We can’t say if they ever had second thoughts, if they
occasionally dreamed of their old way of life or not. All we know is that
they dropped it all and they went after him. I mean, I can’t give up diet
coke without dreaming about it. What must it have been for them to have
left behind a lifetime to follow this one whom they had just met?
So it must have been something more even than a miraculous catch of fish
that caught the attention of Peter and James and John. It must have been
something wonderfully amazing they saw in him that would cause them to
leave behind the security and safety of the world that had held them all
of their lives and to take up a this life of unexpected learning and
adventure coupled with all kinds of uncertainty, discomfort, and plenty of
pain. Indeed, Jesus must have been speaking to a hunger deeper than what
they felt for financial security or success or bragging rights to the best
catch ever. Jesus must have put a finger on their desire for deeper
meaning, a greater purpose than what their lives had held before. The
choice was this it seems: they could certainly continue to feed their
families, their communities with their nightly catch. Or they could be a
part of something that would feed the whole world with the faith and hope
that comes with Jesus.
It’s no different for us, of course. Jesus keeps filling our nets with
fish: the abundance of God’s amazing gifts --- and then invites us to see
beyond the gifts to the one who gave them to us. And then to hear that
call to something more.
What is it, I wonder, that you and I are being called to leave behind?
What old things might we be meant to shed so that we might be more fully
about catching, caring for people? Maybe it is something that has to do
with caring for your own health --- making you more fit and energetic for
the good work that is before you. Or maybe it’s letting go of things that
take so much time it doesn’t allow you any freedom to see beyond your
usual routine. Or maybe it’s an old resentment, a festering hurt, a long
nurtured grudge that only lets you see the world through eyes dimmed by
anger or pain. What do your overflowing boatloads of fish tell you about
the abundance of God? And what are you meant to leave behind so that you
can follow along with Peter and James and John? And what do you suppose
that new journey will hold as you take those next steps in following
Jesus?
Oh, there’s a lot to catch our attention in that story of Jesus’ calling
his disciples to fish for people. But nothing more so than Peter on his
knees seeing Jesus and himself as he really is. And then his standing up
and leaving it all behind to follow Jesus into an unknown future that
would change everything. It’s our call, too… not to leave behind a couple
of boatloads of fish, perhaps, but something, maybe a whole lot, for this
new life that will bear your future, too. Don’t you hear Jesus’ call?
Well, don’t you? Amen.
Coming up this week at Salem:
At services at 5 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sunday, we will
remember the students who lost their lives at Northern Illinois University
two years ago on February 14th.
Salem’s G.E.M.s (60 plus and your friends) will meet for lunch and program
at noon on Monday in Salem’s Fellowship Hall.
The annual Shrove Tuesday Cake Auction will be on Tuesday, February 16 at
6 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. This event, sponsored by our Confirmation
Class, will raise funds to ship medical supplies to Arusha, Tanzania, and
Port au Prince, Haiti.
Ash Wednesday service will be at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 17th.
