Call to Abundance
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, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 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. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 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. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; 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.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
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Looking ahead at the calendar, I realized that Lent and Easter are not that far off. So, I pulled out my trumpet to see if I could get a head start on practicing some music. I haven't touched my trumpet in years, yet the notes came back to me. The fingerings, the breathing, and articulation were almost second nature. Thinking about my experience with music, I find that we've all honed life skills and, over time, utilized them to various degrees. And since we are only human, there are occasions where we've thought we've forgotten how to do something but didn't. This repurposing of time and talents is what we find in our reading for today, and like the first disciples, we will see that we, too, struggle to comprehend the abundance found in our divinely inspired call to repurpose our lives.
Abundance, compassion, and a repurpose vision appear out of reach when our nets are empty. We all know what it's like to pull up a net devoid of good things. It's a disheartening feeling, one that hurts greater when we realize the loss of energy and resources and pain our hearts experienced. The first disciples understood this spiritually and physically as they were exposed to the elements and worked tirelessly to cast and recast their nets. Can you relate? Can you place yourself in a moment where you felt your energy and hope escape? Empty nets lead to disappointment and fatigue. And fatigue of the body and soul creates a vacuum that tries to fill itself with whatever it can suck up. Are you aware of what had filled your heart when you were done with pulling empty nets into your boat?
Who can say what was going through Simon's mind as he came in, the sun rising, and cleaning his nets when Jesus suddenly appeared. Jesus asks Simon to take his boat out into the lake to preach to the crowd gathered there. Now I don't know about you, but if I were Peter, I imagine at the moment I'd exude the energy of a teenager whose parents just asked them to clean their room. Why? Why do I need to take MY boat out? I just spent the night working with nothing to show for it. There is a time in our Christian life when I believe this is the internal monolog. Jesus asks us to do something after a series of things not happening, and when we're burned out, he asks us to do one more thing. Yet, maybe Jesus poses that last request to fill the vacuum created by our disappointment.
Jesus understands what happens when our disappointment is free to run rampant. It often leads to fear, fear of loss, fear of embarrassment, fear that we will never overcome. In a recent interview, the late-night television host Stephen Colbert talked about the intersection of his faith and comedy. One thing that stood out, in particular, is when Colbert said, "fear is the thing that keeps you from turning to evil devices to save you from the sadness." To say that the last couple of years have been challenging would be the understatement of the year. Unfortunately, we know what evil devices people have used to fill the gap created by their fear and hopelessness. However, we know the first step of correcting this downward spiral; we listen to what Jesus is saying, take our boats out, and cast our nets once again.
Preachers typically use this passage to talk about discipleship or evangelism. And while these themes are certainly present, I would say that today, we hear a message that touches on a renewed sense of hope. Before Simon casts his nets into the water, he turns to Jesus with doubt in his voice one last time to question whether it's a good idea. Soon enough, the nets that were once empty are filled, and not only are they full, they are on the verge of breaking open! Any notions of scarcity were dispelled, and only abundance remained. Hope was restored, and a weary and hurting soul was healed. Jesus then extends a call, the call to become "fishers of people." Not fishers who rope others in against their will, but fishers who seek out those who are hurting, the weary, the lonely, those who were like the disciples before they met Jesus.
We need to hear the words of Jesus today just as much as the first people Jesus called, as we are weary disciples in the year 2022. Jesus tells them, tells us, "Do not be afraid." The call to be fishers of people means that we will pursue "deepwater work." What I mean is that in our pursuit to follow Jesus to a place of healing and abundance, we will encounter others along the way. And remembering how we felt to be in a position of little or no hope, we cast out our nets so that we might pull them out so they can join us on the path to wholeness. Hearing the words of Jesus, we know the abundance that comes from the heart of God. So let us not live with bodies and hands that indicate otherwise. Go, and be fishers of people, go, and with a sense of abundance, use your skills and talents to live as disciples of our living God.