February 4, 2007 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK
Isaiah 6:1-8 + Psalm 138 + 1 Corinthians 15: 1-11 + Luke 5:1-11
There is a wonderful sense of movement in today’s Gospel; and the movement carries the message. Pay attention to the boat which starts at the shore, then “puts out a little.” Finally, it goes to the deep water. There in deep water things happen which eventually lead Peter and the others back to shore. Two different groups of people receive the Word of God:
the crowd and the disciples; those who stay on the shore, and those who get into the deep water. The contrast and the point which Luke makes with these details is very important.
Those who go out, who are willing to leave the shore, those who will go into deep water experience what they have heard. Those who stay on the shore only stand and listen. The disciples in the boat follow the instruction of Jesus, and the consequence of doing so is a blessing of abundance. This experience does not happen for those who stay in the shallows or choose the security of the shore. What we see happening is that those in the boat realize a life-changing, life transforming experience. They have done more than just listen to the Word spoken to them. They have let go of the shallows of life for the sake of the deep.
Isaiah, Paul, and Disciples are in today’s readings all called by God. But these calls are not calls to faith, they are calls to ministry. We are not called simply to life of personal holiness however important that may be.
We are, at least those who get in the boat and push away from the shore, called by God to be sent into this world. In the Gospel, Simon Peter is sent to “catch”. Now think of that image for a moment. “Catch” in the sense of fishing means to snatch up. In the sense of the Gospel, it means to snatch up from death. We must catch the fallen, hold up the stumbling. In more practical ways in this day and time, it means we might insist on fair practices at work, weed out prejudice and violence so that a new a just world may can be fashioned. In other words, we are told by Jesus to “catch” those who are falling through the net of life, those who are struck down by prejudice and injustice.
There is here a challenge to the shallowness of too many who call themselves Christians but stand on the shore. There is an opportunity, a call to put out into the deep, to risk such a change in life that we might get out into the open water. It seems to be the only place where fullness and abundance are found. Once that risk is taken, once that fullness is found, leaving everything is easy, and putting one’s feet on the path with Christ Jesus is the only way to go in this life.
So many times, in life we think and say: “I can’t do it.” and just as many times in Scripture God’s response is: “Of course you can’t. Nobody can, but I can.” The disproportion between our abilities and what we are asked to accomplish in our roles is far greater even that the disproportion between Peter’s ability as a fisherman and the catch he finally makes. What God asks of us is that we put out from the shore. What God asks of us is openness to truth, a willingness to learn, readiness to grow, a sense of responsibility and a generous spirit.
They caught nothing after a long night of fishing for themselves. In the company of Jesus, they do it again, and this time it’s more than they bargained for. Suddenly it’s the fishermen who get caught; caught by Jesus, caught and called from fear to humility, to trust, and to service. It won’t happen on the shore however; you have to get out into the deep.