Isaiah 6:1-8
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”4 The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”
Luke 5:1-11
Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 He 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. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7 So 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. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; 10 and 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.” 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
Initially, I was going to preach on the Isaiah text, and it's sort of a weird text that comes out of nowhere. But as I pondered what we'll be doing today after worship [the annual meeting] and pondered where we've been the last year--in the last two years--the Lukan text is a better fit. It’s richer, because it easier to relate to (even if you don't fish) because we all are familiar with the call and the struggles of discipleship. And the miracles of Jesus throughout Luke provide us with all sorts of gifts: the experience of witnessing the power of God; the hope of being freed up from all that imprisons us; deliverance from fear, anxiety in the future, as well as regret and shame from the past; the potential for healing from all of our illnesses and ailments; and a drive to want to serve and follow a power far greater than our own reason, even on our best days.
So, I'd like you to take a moment, right now, to choose one of these blessings that you desire today. Is it a hunger to see God's movement in your life? Do you need healing? Is there a need for strength to deal with some internal struggle? Maybe you need help with letting go of something you feel trapped by or stuck in? Maybe you have an honest desire to find peace from the past, the present and the future? Maybe you're yearning deeply to be part of something more meaningful and long-lasting than serving your ego and shallow desires? Perhaps it's only one of these; but likely for most of us, it's a combination.
On the surface, this story, is another one of those stories that has made it into mainstream vernacular. There are actually even a number of films that have used this concept of ‘fishing for people’, for good or for bad, as a part of the plot, as if it's derived from some metaphor from an ancient fable. And it works. When a character is portrayed as having wisdom and the power to ‘train up’ the young buck to go after something much greater than she or he. It can and does stand alone stopping there; hanging merely on the fact that the young student needs to learn a new and a different skill to accomplish a greater good or evil.
Even in as it is told by Luke, that’s a part of what’s going on. The beleaguered fishermen have returned home to shore with nothing but waterlogged nets. Lobstermen call that “changing the water” in their lobster pots. This is not only embarrassing and frustrating for all the fishermen, but it's also disconcerting; because they depend on full nets, not only for bragging rights, but to feed themselves and others as a sole form of livelihood and survival. But Jesus has far more power and authority than a secular teacher of wisdom. And, initially, Simon relegates Jesus to being ‘out of his depths’, “Come on, Jesus, we've worked all night long, but caught zilch.”
Historians bring this complaint and resistance into greater focus because these nets are actually crafted for only night fishing, so they ineffective during the day. So, parenthetically, Simon is saying, “Hey, we just got back. We're exhausted and now you're giving us directions that kind of fly in the face of logic of our own energies, our experience, our attitudes…” but also their egos.” But, then again, don’t we do the same thing when we hear a suggestion by our spouse, our supervisor, a trusted friend or someone with greater knowledge or education or experience? And, if we're honest, we usually even debate further with that source before carrying out the suggestion or the directive begrudgingly, (even just to prove them wrong).
But this is no average companion. He's more their friend and teacher. This is also not Peter's experience in seeing Jesus as more than friend and teacher. He has seen (in the previous chapter) not only one, but two healings--one of an unclean spirit and the healing of Simon's mother-in-law. So, the difference, as small as it may appear, is that Jesus to Peter is much more than a friend and teacher. In the text, the change is that Peter calls him “Master.”
Unlike us, (when we get that suggestion, especially from our spouse or a parent or even a child), we respond with, “If you say so...”, secretly thinking that we know this isn't going to work out, but “whatever” we'll do it. But Peter's intonation is very different from our snark but very much the same as somebody else we know and love, another disciple, the first disciple, Mary. Mary doesn't understand why she's with child and she's told not to be afraid. And her reply is not “if you say so…,” but instead, “Let it be with me according to your word.”
So what's the message here for us? Well, one thing obviously is we have to learn to trust God more. But as scholar Fred Craddock says, Simon's skill is not the issue. The issue is how he's living his life and the choices he's making and not making. At Jesus’ command, he doesn't say, “If you say so.” He says, “If you say so.” And in that trust of Jesus, he changes the course of his life.
But it's not the heeding of Jesus word, for me that's the turning point, it's the acknowledgment that he's a sinful man and he has to change his evil ways. Like Santana sang in the ‘70s: “You’ve got to change your evil ways, baby…” And that's the hard part, friends. We don't want to change our evil ways.
But Fred Craddock, again, helps us here. He says “…notice in Jesus’ eyes, sin does not disqualify Simon. The same power that prompted him to fall to his knees, lifts him into God's service, not away from.”
So what about us? What is the call on our life and our life as a community of faith? Yes, we have to go out and re-catch the fish that are swimming far away in the sea because of Covid, but first we have to get on our knees and present ourselves at the table and fully ask for that forgiveness so that God can meet us there and give us all that we need to be freed up and lifted up again into God's service. But only if you say so.
May it be so. Amen.