Epiphany 5C

Luke 5.1-11

February 6-7, 2010

            If this afternoon at about 6:00 the New Orleans Saints, who have worked and sweated and are about to play the most coveted game of their entire careers; if this football team were to turn to their coach, Sean Payton, throw down their helmets and follow some stranger off the football field to go do something else, something they knew nothing about; now that would seem ridiculous to you, wouldn’t it???

            It would be preposterous.  These men are literally at the top of their game.  They are at the pinnacle of their career.  It just doesn’t get any better than making it into the Super Bowl!  This afternoon as we all get comfy in front of the TV, chicken wings in hand, subs and chili spread like a feast in front of us, we expect them to play their best.  We anticipate watching the Saints give it their all, make the most of their talents and play their hearts out.  For them to walk away at this point, it’s unimaginable!!

            And yet, at the high point of their fishing careers, that’s just what Peter, James and John did.  I read a commentary this week that argued that the huge catch, the amazing boatload of fish was reason enough for the fishermen to drop everything and follow Jesus.  I suppose to her reasoning it makes sense, but not to mine. 

            Peter, James and John are fishermen.  They support themselves and their families by catching fish and selling fish.  Every single night they go out on that lake and let down their nets; trammel nets, mesh nets intended to catch anything and everything that swims by.  Fishermen such as these must fish at night because the fish can see light reflecting off the mesh in the daylight.  There is not a great quantity of fish to be caught in the lake of Genessaret.  Only a few tons are caught each year, but apparently it’s honorable, decent work that makes enough money for these men to feed their families.  In the morning fresh fish would be laid out for the local people to purchase; the men would clean and care for their nets and prepare for the next night’s hard labor.  It’s a living, but a precarious living.  If the fishing is bad at night, dinner will be sparse the next day.

            As we encounter these men, they are tired.  They were out all night the night before and they caught nothing, absolutely nothing.  They have nothing to take home. They have nothing to sell.  It’s not a good day to be a fisherman. 

            Along comes Jesus.  He needs to use the boat to teach the multitudes that are crowding the fishermen out of their space along the water.  And this man who knows absolutely nothing about fishing, tells the experts how to do their job.  He tells them to let down their nets out in the deep water.  And for whatever reason, they do.  They let down their nets and Wow!, they catch so many fish that the boats are in danger of sinking.  It’s the catch of a lifetime.  There are so many fish they could be set for life, take the wife and kids on a Disney Vacation, finally pay off the orthodontist, bulk up the 401K, open that sushi restaurant they’ve always dreamed of!  Instead, at this pinnacle of their fishing career, the high point of their life------they walk away.  The follow Jesus away from the water, everything they know, to fish for people, whatever that means.  It truly baffles the imagination.

            Even from Jesus’ point of view it’s stunning to walk away.  There were enough fish in that boat to fund a huge ministry.  They could have set up a soup kitchen and fed the hungry—sustained the widows and orphans with bouillabaisse—provided shelter for the homeless with the proceeds from the sales, handed out tracts and hired a dedicated youth worker.  This is a truly perplexing story to me.

            Maybe this isn’t a first time encounter between Jesus and Simon.  Maybe they’ve been cooking up this scheme all along.  Jesus has already been to Simon’s house, after all.  Simon’s mother in law was ill with a high fever back in Chapter four.  Jesus stood over her, rebuked the fever and it left her.  Jesus and Simon even had dinner together that night, for when the woman was healed she immediately got up from her bed and began to serve them.  So there is some history between Simon and Jesus.  So maybe Simon is so aware of Jesus abilities that he’s already decided to be part of Jesus “team,” grabs his two buddies and off they go.  Healing?  Miraculous catches?  Authoritative teaching?  Who wouldn’t want to follow this guy???

            And yet, I think it’s more than that.  I think that it’s more than just wanting to be part of the team.  I think that for those fishermen at water’s edge, as well as for us, discipleship is about a different way of living; a different way of being.

            We are all quite aware of how the world works, what the world expects.  We are expected to play by the rules of the game, only the winners succeed.  We are to get up in the morning, get in our boats, catch our fish, pay our bills so that we can have nice houses, well behaved children who play at least two sports, a well trained dog and a well maintained car. 

            The slogan’s we live by sound something like these:  “Just do it.”  “You are number one.”  “Heaven helps those who help themselves.”  It’s your life.”  “You deserve a break today.” 

            They are lonely, isolated slogans, centering on the self.  Jesus invites us to turn away, to leave behind isolation and self-serving ways of being to join him in a community where none are excluded and all are invited.  Jesus calls us to forget about winning and focus on serving. 

            A friend of mine pointed out to me that there is no “I” in team.  A bit cliché admittedly, but true. It’s not about Peter and the boys changing jobs on their own, it’s about Jesus intersecting their lives and livelihood and calling them to follow. In each case it’s not something one does on one’s own, it’s something one does with the help of God.

Being part of a team means contributing individual gifts. Drew Brees is a great quarterback, but without a strong offensive line, wide receivers and running backs he’s on the field alone with 11 guys coming after him.  It is working together that makes it all happen. It’s allowing the coaching necessary to take place so that we might improve not only at our position on the field but within the context of team as well. If they don’t set aside the self and play for the others, the whole team fails in its mission.

We, like the disciples have been called to leave everything we value and follow on this strange journey of discipleship.  We’ve been asked to join a team that plays by rules very different that those we have ingrained in our brains. 

Why are you here?  Why are you following?  You could be in bed right now.  You could be out having breakfast with the family at Denny’s.  That money that you’re going to put in the plate, it could buy you another pizza or so tonight.  Heaven’s knows that the time you’re spending here could be used to read the paper this morning or clean the house or change the oil in the car.  But something interfered with those things.  Something has caused you to drop everything else you need or want to do and follow. 

Being here this morning, following the call of Christ is not about winning or being the biggest church or giving the most money.  Being a disciple means knowing Christ and following Christ into the world to extend the Gospel to those who are in need of a word of grace and mercy.  With Christ at the head, we do not just feed the hungry but sit with the hungry.  We do not just welcome the stranger, but extend the boundaries of the community such that there are no strangers here.  We do not just pray for the sick but offer healing in Christ’s name. 

I don’t know exactly how this whole “fishing for people” is going to be played out over the next months and years for us.  But I know that we are in it together and with Christ as our head, we will sustain each other and love each other through whatever comes.  I know that Jesus leads us where our gifts will best be used.  And even at times, when it seems very silly or even stupid that we are walking off the field, we will be headed in the right direction.  Amen