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February 4, 2007 Luke 5:1-11 (with reference to 1 Corinthians 15:1-11) Rev. Steve Gehlert I couldn't wait for this Sunday to get here. You see, something had been on my Christmas wish list for years, and finally, I got it. But, as happy as I was, I wanted to use it for the first time on just the right Sunday. So, I read through all the lectionary texts, to find just the right one, and there was no doubt, February 4, listen to this summary of the gospel passage, "After a night of fishing failure, Jesus tells the disciples to put out into deep water and then cast their nets on the other side of the boat and there is a miraculous catch of fish." I thought to myself, "That's it! That's the Sunday! I can start using my new, mobile pulpit, then!” Yessiree! If Jesus told his disciples that one day they'd be fishing for people, and making great catches, then I'd better make sure that I had a chance to fish for them where they're waiting to be caught. So, do you see what this means? No longer to I have to stay up here and angle for those in the front few rows, while two third of those in the sanctuary, are too far away for real contact. Now, without having to work like a slave to get my sermon next-to-memorized, in order to move out of the chancel, I can take leave my notes right where I need them, give it a push and be off to where I really need to be fishing. So, this Sunday, I'm going out to the really deep water, where I've seen a school of fish gathering and growing over the last month or so. It started out with our youth, who, as they say, "always sit in the back," and who've been joined recently by many of our confirmands. I'm going out because, I suspect that, like any school of fish, they think that there's safety (and a lot more fun) in numbers. Remembering what it was like to be young (yes, I was once), and knowing what it's like for many who are older, I suspect that being here is much more about being together than it is hearing, listening to, and responding to God's word. I'm also going out because, first to them, because our gospel passage has some surprising things to say about what can happen, when you fish where Jesus tells you to fish. So, youth, confirmands, all of us, let's think about this story. It's pretty amazing. First of all, think about who tells who what to do. Eight of Jesus' twelve disciples fished for a living. Jesus was a carpenter. Yet, after they, the professionals, had fished all night and caught nothing, Jesus, the novice, the amateur, has the nerve to tell them what to do. "Doesn't he know," they must have thought to themselves, "it's the wrong time of day (night is always better) and the wrong type of net" (their nets were made to use at night; fish could easily see one in the daytime). But, perhaps, just to humor him, or to show him he doesn't know everything, they do it! They obediently row out to deeper water, where they'd probably spend most of the night, and cast their net on the other side of the boat (as if that were going to make a difference). But it does! They catch so many fish that the nets begin to break. They are totally astounded as they call in their partners from other boats to help them haul it in. Then, when they get them all into their boats the weight of all the fish is so great that the boats start to sink. Simon Peter senses that this is much more than coincidence, there is something awesome, powerful, holy, going on in this incredible abundance. So, Jesus is on a roll; after all that unpleasantness in response to his preaching in his hometown of Nazareth, he has a great crowd pressing in upon him to hear God's word by the lake. Then, following a frustrating night of fishing failure in which the disciples caught nothing, he enables them to have astounding, net-bursting success. It's comforting to see Jesus' sermons so well received, and then, to see him, master of the Word, become master of fishing. We so often feel so powerless over the forces of nature, so impotent in the face of sickness, failure, and death, so it's thrilling to witness the awesome power of Jesus. He moves from failure and scarcity to life and triumph. It's wonderful. Or is it? The reaction of Peter – the premier, though impulsive disciple, the first person of the church – to all this abundance producing power is, "Get out of here; I'm a sinner!" That's the last surprise, that the captain of the boat admits his wrongdoing, openly confesses who he is: a sinner." If that's hard enough for anyone to do, how much harder is it likely to be for a boat captain (even with a crew of 3 or 4, and a leader of a holy man's disciples. But that's what he says, "I'm a sinner." Interesting, though, what he says at the same time. "Get out of here!" Peter moves from the security of fixed, failed reality – "We fished all night and have nothing"– into full, open, new un-contained reality. But the water is now deep and dark and the dawn carries with it an odd threat. In a moment Peter senses the gap between his world and the new creation of Jesus. Peter moves from calling Jesus even so exalted a title as master to the even more exalted O Lord! It's then that things get unmanageable and scary. It's then that Peter comes to see his situation as a lack of faith rather than a lack of fish. It's then that he blurts out, "Get out of here, Jesus," literally in the Greek, "Get out of my neighborhood!” Though Jesus tells us, "Don't be afraid," when he promises to teach us to fish like him, it's scary. Get out of here, Jesus. Last Sunday they wanted Jesus out of Nazareth because of his preaching. Now they want him out of Galilee because of his fishing. But Jesus' response is just as surprising. He responds to Peter's confession with both an assurance and a commission. First he says, "Don't be afraid." Then he says, "From now on you will be catching people." Jesus isn't interested in guilt, in pointing out faults, at making sure that people are well convinced of their sinfulness. He knows how crippling that can be. He knows what resistance it can stir up. He knows that when our egos are threatened, we become more resistant, less likely to change and grow. Maybe that distorted, hammer them with guilt heritage, makes it all the harder for our society to admit that we need to change and do it. It's as if we feel that there's shame involved. Look at our resistance to civil rights in the past or environmental concerns like global climate change today. Why would we be the only developed country to resist acting. Why would China have tougher auto emission standards than we do? Perhaps because we've connected admission of wrong, with shame, rather than seeing it as an opportunity, to change, to grow, to become better people, working for a better world. All Jesus wants his disciples to do is recognize their wrong, their sin, because that recognition can be the basis of what he really wants them to do, which is be changed, transformed, into true disciples. He wants them to recognize all the abundant goodness that they can do if they turn their lives around, follow him, listen to him, love and serve him. So, I'm out here, in the deep water, in the midst of a school of young people, fishing for disciples. What do I want to say? It's simply this, don't let your ego get in the way of the grace God wants to give you. When something happens or something is said that makes you aware of your weakness, your failings, your sin, you don't have to take it as someone trying to lay on the guilt, and respond by trying to keep them or their message out of your life because you don't like what they make you feel about yourself. You can hear Jesus' words to Peter, "Don't be afraid." You can take the experience, instead, as an opportunity to recognize your humanness, your need for grace and forgiveness, and trust that God will grant those good gifts. Then, having done that, you can hear Jesus' words to Peter as words for you as well, "From now on you will be catching people." It's the recognition of our humanness and our need for God's grace and forgiveness that can help us be able to speak the truth in love, without seeking to condemn or lay on guilt, and show that same grace and forgiveness to others, that God in Jesus has shown to us. It's that combination of honesty about ourselves and trust in God's grace and power to enable us to do great things for God, that "catches people," that hooks them, and brings into the Jesus boat. Remember what Peter and the other disciples learned that day, what we're looking for in life, with all its frustrating days and nights when we get nowhere, when we catch nothing, is not someone who will assure us that it's not our fault, and we might as well go on doing whatever we've been doing, because, after all, what else is there to do? Nor do we need someone, if we are able to recognize our fault in what's wrong, who keeps us focused on our weakness, inadequacy, and sin. We need someone who will speak the truth to us about what's wrong and what we need to do, and then, when we've seen the error of our ways, be content with that recognition, and call us to something new and greater beyond it. |
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