The Big Catch – Feb 7, 2010 Sermon
Feb 7, 2010
Gospel: Luke 5:1-11
Once while Jesus was standing beside the sea of Galilee, 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.
Sermon: The Big Catch by Rev. Doreen Oughton
Good morning good people. Let me introduce myself. I am Simon, Simon Peter of Bethsaida in Galilee, son of John, brother of Andrew. I work as a fisherman. I want to tell you about something that happened to me that changed my life. A few weeks ago, on the Sabbath I was at the synagogue, and there was this fellow teaching, someone I hadn’t seen or heard before. He was very wise, really helped me to understand some scripture passages that had puzzled me for years. But he was more than wise. There was something about him, a light in his eyes, and the way he would look so deeply at you, you just wanted to be around him. I asked my brother Andrew if he knew who he was. Andrew said it was Jesus of Nazareth. Oh, now I’d heard about him. I’d heard he was run out of the synagogue in Nazareth. I’m surprised at that because his teachings were just great. But I’d also heard about miracles of healing he’d done around the area. Why just a few days before, my wife’s friend suggested she find Jesus to heal her since she’d been running a fever for a very long time. My wife was so worried about her mother.
So I thought, what a great opportunity to see if Jesus could come by, see if he could heal her. I was hanging around to talk to him, as were lots of other people. I was a little hesitant to approach such a wonder worker, but Jesus looked right at me, his eyes beckoning me, as if he knew I needed to speak to him. So I gathered my courage and went over, greeted him with utmost respect, and told him who I was. He asked what he could do for me, and I explained about my mother-in-law, and he agreed to come to my home.
Jesus went to her room, touched her and spoke to her, and in no time at all Mom was up and about and fixing us dinner. We asked where he was staying, and he said he was travelling about, staying with different people. He accepted our offer to stay with us whenever he liked. He came and went over the next few weeks, and every meal we shared with him was rich with discussion and full of joy. We were disappointed when he went elsewhere. Now all this was wonderful, and improved my life, but I can’t I changed much.
But what happened down in the boat, now that, that was different, that changed my life. I’d been out fishing from the wee hours of the morning, returning around mid-morning. It was not a good expedition, very few fish. I was busy cleaning the net Andrew and the Zebedees helped me pull out of the water, and was about halfway through when I saw Jesus moving slowly toward the shore followed by a big crowd of people. I was happy to see him as it had been a few days. He didn’t talk about it much himself, but I’d heard from other villagers about the crowds that gathered around him when he went out. This was a big crowd, and he kept turning and talking to them. He then stopped and said something to them, then came down to my boat and greeted me. He asked if I could do him a favor and let him preach from the boat. That was a really good idea. Everyone would be able to hear him better, and he wouldn’t be so hemmed in. I could continue with my net cleaning, and hear him preach too. It was a real win-win, you might say.
He was a great preacher, and I could see why the crowd loved him. I tell you I felt pretty special out there with him. I was the one he picked, the one who could help him out. But it was getting to high noon by the time the crowds began to disperse. I was pretty tired, being up since 3 a.m., working the nets, and now out in the sun. I started to move the boat in so we could head home. Hopefully Jesus would come home and stay for dinner. And he says to me, “Simon, put out in deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Oh no! Really?! Part of me really wanted to snap at him. I mean, clearly he doesn’t know anything about fishing. Deep water is where you go if you have drag nets, the long ones that reach way down to where deep-water fish are. I just have cast nets. These nets don’t go that deep, so we just try to get the fish in the more shallow waters. We usually have to jump into the water to pull up the nets And what fish are going to be out in the mid-day sun?! It made no sense! But I bit my tongue, and I thought of the things I’d seen and experience with him already. I moved closer to shore and called to my partners, see if they were game, and they said, “hey, why not.” So we went, James and John, Andrew and I, and Jesus. I don’t know if Jesus had ever been out fishing before, but he sure loved being out on the sea. Maybe this idea of casting our net in deep water was just a way for him to have a little boat ride out on the lake.
We were well into the deep water when Jesus said, “Here, let down your nets right here.” And so we did. I mean, even a few more fish would help. So what if I would have to clean the nets all over again. And what happened then, well, it sounds like a real fish story if you know what I mean. But it really happened! We lowered the net and instantly it filled with fish. We weren’t ready for that, hadn’t worked out a system for pulling up the bottom of the net since we couldn’t stand in the water. It was crazy. You should have seen the four of us scrambling. Andrew and I were holding James and John by the legs as they leaned out with makeshift hooks trying to bring up the nets. We’d dump the fish on the deck and lower the net again, and boom, instantly filled with fish. The fish were flopping, we were all laughing and shouting, Jesus was trying to help, grinning that grin of his. We just kept hauling them in, and hauling them in. Finally, when the boat seemed like it was ready to sink with the weight of the fish, we headed back to shore. John was steering us in, and the rest of us just sat, trying to catch our breath.
I looked over at Jesus, and he was looking back at me. I don’t know how to explain it, but everything came rushing over me – everything I’d heard about him and from him, the things I’d seen. And I knew, I just knew he was the son of God, the Messiah, the one I’ve heard about in temple and Jewish studies all my life, the one who would save us. I was overcome. How could such a one come right into my life, sit at my table, ride on my boat, bless me over and over again. I couldn’t stand it, because at the same time this awareness dawned on me, so did the awareness of my life, of how skeptical I was of these teachings, how I broke commandments, fought with my family, oh just all the dross of my life. And he kept looking at me. I swear the man can read minds! I shook my head and dropped to my knees, crying, and said, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” I stayed like that for I don’t know how long. Seemed like a very long time, but it was probably just a few minutes. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up at Jesus, at the face of God as far as I’m concerned! How could I live through that! And he says to me, “Don’t be afraid Simon, Simon my rock (did you know Peter means rock?); from now on you will be catching people.”
Now I didn’t know what the heck he meant by that, but I did know that I was gonna stay by his side. I would go wherever he wanted me to go, catch whatever he wanted me to catch, even if it was the sea monster Leviathan. I looked around and saw the same hope and fear mix in the eyes of my mates as I had felt. We talked more as we moved to the shore, so slowly because of all the fish. We figured out who could handle the sale of the fish while we went to our families to explain how even though we’d just had the biggest catch of our lives, we were going to walk away from it, from our home, from everything. Some might say it’s crazy, but it feels like the most right thing I’ve ever done. Everything seems all turned upside down, crazy is sane, abundance leads to giving up everything, having a great catch turned into being caught, completely caught up in this man and his way.
How about you? Can you get caught up with me? Will you take his word for it that the deep water is where it’s at? Will you put your net out? Can you open yourself up to an abundance of spirit like you’ve never known? Don’t worry about all the things you cling to. If you are even a little bit willing to let go, things will be taken care of. And don’t worry about all that unworthy stuff. You may be sinful, like I was, and continue to be, but he wants you to go with him anyway. Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. You’ll be in the loving hands of God.
May it be so.
