Fishing & Getting Caught

Sermon on Luke 5: 1-11

SCRIPTURE:
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 gotten 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.
4 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 burst. 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’s knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were astounded 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.

MESSAGE:

It’s been a day

You know the feeling: You’re coming to the end of your day. Whether that be a regular routine work day or a day full of routine chores and errands. Maybe you didn’t manage to get as much accomplished as you wanted. Maybe you had a project you were working on or an event you helped with and now all that’s left is… the clean up.

You’re tired. You're ready to go home.

Such is the case for Simon Peter, James and John. They and their crews have been going about their usual routine. They’ve just come ashore from a fruitless night of fishing. They’re tired. They're washing out their nets. They’re ready to go home.

Then suddenly, Jesus approaches asks to borrow Simon Peter’s boat so he can row out a little ways and teach the crowds from out on the water. Well actually, he doesn't just “borrow” the boat; Jesus asks Simon Peter to put his boat back in the water and take Jesus off shore.

When he’s finished teaching, Jesus tells Simon Peter to take the boat our further into the deeper water, and let down his nets. Simon Peter is skeptical - he tells Jesus they’d been fishing all day and hadn’t caught anything. But he does as Jesus is asks, and this time the nets catch so much fish they are on the verge of breaking.

They call the other boat over, and everyone is out there, helping to try to pull in the nets and haul in all the fish.

“Seized with amazement”

And then we hear: “He (Simon) and all who were with him were astounded at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John.”

Another version of the passage (closer to the Greek) reads: “Amazement 'seized' him and all who were with him.”

So, the men were astounded. Seized with amazement. They were caught up in the moment, in this miraculous catch of fish.

But they weren’t just amazed or astounded. As they are grappling with what’s happening, and it sounds like it was pretty chaotic - nets breaking, Simon and his helpers calling for assistance from the other boat, everyone trying to reel in the nets as fast as possible, the fish filling up both boats to overflowing, the boats starting to tip and sink from the weight…

In the the midst of all of that, Simon Peter falls to his knees before Jesus, and pleads with him “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

That’s not just being “seized with amazement”. Simon Peter is having an experience of divine power breaking into his regular life and as that is happening, he’s also having a “lightning bolt” moment - which is why this is an epiphany story. Suddenly, he sees himself and his life in high relief. He becomes acutely aware of the smallness, sinfulness, messiness, screwed-upedness of his life.

What I hear in Simon Peter’s words to Jesus is: “I know I’m encountering God right now, and I’m in awe. But I’m also afraid. I’m afraid to show God my life.

I’m not worthy.

Do we want God to show up?

It can be a bit unsettling, can’t it, when God decides to show up on the shore of our work day, or home life, rather than just in church or some planned church or outreach-related activity?

Maybe you’re struggling to get the motivation to get out of bed.  Maybe, like Simon, James and John, it’s been a long and frustrating day at work and you’re feeling exhausted and grumbly. Not at your best, for sure. Not showered and shined and best foot forward with your best smile on.

And that’s when God decides to show up and stop you dead in your tracks with an encounter with the divine that floors you; that shoots a lightning bolt through you.

Yeah. It’s a bit unsettling. Maybe it’s a bit more than that.
Maybe it brings you to your knees in awe.
Maybe you try to send God away: “Not right now; I’m not worthy”.

Sometimes, we find ourselves right there with Simon Peter. But here’s the thing. While Peter is acutely aware of his unworthiness to be called to be a follower, that doesn’t stop Jesus from calling him.

Perhaps that’s even WHY he’s called! Because on the presence of the holy, he’s able to allow his ego o fall away. And that allows him to hear and respond to Jesus’ call to follow. A divine call on our lives requires us to let our ego fall away. And until we’re able to do that, we will confuse our own desires and motivations for God’s call.

Catching… and being caught

Jesus then looks down at Peter and (as in my imagination I see Jesus gently helping him back up to his feet), he says, “Don’t be afraid.” And of course, in Luke’s gospel in particular, we’ve heard that before. In fact, just about every communication from God, via one of God’s messengers or envoys, starts this way.

And then Jesus says something strange: “From now on you will be catching people.”

Now this is a well-known story. Christianity is full of images of Jesus and the disciples and the nets full of fish, with the caption “I will make you fishers of men” or “From now on, you’ll be fishing for people”. Our hymns are also full of the same imagery.

And… given the zeal - and sometimes misguided ways - in which the church has embraced this directive, it’s understandable that the image of “catching” people may not sit all that comfortably with us. And if that’s the case, we have a couple of choices. We can shy away from the image, or, we can lean into it a bit and see if there might be some new “takes” we can find, so fresh ways to understand this idea.

I decided to google, beyond “catching fish”, what else one could “catch”.

Verb: “to catch”
to take hold of something, especially something that is moving (through the air):
The dog jumped and caught the ball in mid air.
I managed to catch the glass before it hit the ground.

To catch hold of :
He caught hold of my arm.

This made me think about other things we could catch:
- Catch a wave? (The Beach Boys sang about that, I think)
- Catch a vision
- Catch with a safety net
 
And then I wondered what would happen if we could looked at it from the perspective of that which is being caught?  So I looked up in Webster’s dictionary some definitions for “getting caught” …

“Get caught up in”: “to become involved in something”
It's easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of activity.
I think we all got caught up in the excitement of the moment.

So now I’m thinking about both catching and being caught up in. Or, perhaps, if we’re talking about discipling, it’s the other way around.

1. In the story, it’s the disciples - Simon Peter, James and John  - who first get caught. And like them, we are here because we have had a holy encounter and have been caught by - or have caught hold of - the holy vision, a glimpse of the realm of God’s love.
 
2. Then, like the disciples, we are asked to become fishers too, to help others get caught up in the vision. And we do that by responding to our own individual call - however that comes to us.  That gets us “involved” in the vision, in the movement, if you will - led and empowered to make our unique offering to it.
 
Catch a wave?

I wonder: what image speaks to you, of getting “caught up” in God’s vision?

Maybe it’s you on a boogie board riding a wave; or on a snowmobile or skis, riding the snow crests. Or sailing a boat over the sea.

Or maybe you’re a leaf letting the wind swirl you up and around. Or a bird, soaring and dipping on the wind gusts, and joining with a flock for a while, until called to move on again. Maybe you’re flying a kite. Or catching someone who’s falling (into depression or despair).

For me, the image that often seems to fit is that of a tree, rooted yet going with the flow, letting my branches (my skills, interests, and attention) be caught by "the winds of God" as the spirit moves. It could be a call to help provide shade, or nourish other plants in the ecosystem I share with others. Or maybe it’s a call to point the way the wind is blowing, or to produce fruit, or provide a shelter for birds.

Maybe there’s an image that you’re working with - this idea of being caught up in the flow of God's spirit.

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Now more than ever, God needs us to re-catch the vision, make it our own (and/or see it break into our lives) maybe over and over when we get a bit weary or complacent. And keep listening for the ways we are invited to participate in it - individually and as a congregation.

So, back to us. We’re having trouble getting up in the morning, or we’ve had a crappy day and we’re feeling distinctly uncharitable about some of the people in our lives and we’re in our living room just wanting to sink into a Netflix show with a glass of wine.

And into all of that, God decides to appear: and then, as we’re seized by the moment, the voice of Love says, “Don’t be afraid. Allow yourself to be caught. To be caught up in the moment, the holiness, the awe of what it means to see into your holy depths and the possibilities for living in the abundance of the kindom realm that is really real, you just need to let ego fall away and see with your heart.”

And then you’ve caught the vision. You’re catching the wave.
And you’re given the grace and whatever else you need to ride it.
You’re part of its movement and its energy. You’re part of the vision.
And you're inspiring others to get caught up in it too.

Don’t go alone

I don’t know if, in midst of all the crazy news coming at us this week, you caught this: Apparently, the outgoing US Surgeon General this week gave the American public one final prescription. It was for three things:
 
Purpose. Service. Relationships.

When we get “caught up”, we find our identity and purpose. And when we ride the wave, living into and embodying our call - this puts us in service to our fellow beings, human and otherwise.

The other crucial element to following our call is: Don’t go alone! Relationships are what sustain us. And help us test our sense of call and ensure it’s not just our ego influencing us.

Even Jesus needed community.

In the chapter before this passage (Luke 4: 21-30), we hear how Jesus is driven out of Nazareth, his hometown.

We often say pejoratively that it’s illustrative of “prophet not welcome in home town”. And while this is true,  we sometimes forget that just because one can expect it, that doesn’t make any less painful an experience, to be rejected by the community you were raised in.

So what did Jesus do after being driven away from his home, his community?

He went and gathered another community around him. He began calling disciples.

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We can’t do it alone. God is with us, yes, and even more so do we find God when we are vessels of spirit and share the light with each other in community.  We are more  resilient when we have a community of compassion and care and solidarity around us, lifting us up when we’re down; reminding us we’re not alone.

Today - in just a little while, we’ll be leaving this place of community and perhaps getting “caught up” in the good energy of brunch with friends. Or in the anticipation and rituals of a certain football game happening this afternoon.

And I do pray, whatever grabs your attention this day, this week - that you will also be open to being “caught up” in the wild and creative and beautiful energy of the divine, however and wherever God chooses to encounter you and call you.

Amen.