Epiphany 5C
February 6, 2022
Good Shepherd, Wells, MN
Luke 5.1-11
“Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.”
Many of you know that I was in the business world for 16 years, most of those with a company called Minnesota Fabrics. When I was in that world, we’d have regular managers conferences and meetings, typically in a resort setting. We’d be able to get away, talk with colleagues, rest and play, learn and be inspired. We’d usually hear from experts in management who would be part motivational and part content oriented so that they were able to say things in a way we could hear. Yet, as I think back about it, I realize they were saying the same things our leadership had been trying to say, but in a different way. It proves the adage that an expert is someone more than 50 miles away who is not of your organization.
Jesus is no expert fisherman, but he is motivational and an expert in discipleship and he convinces Peter to let down his nets and try fishing again. Peter, James, and John have been fishing all night. (By the way, where is Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother? And what about Zebedee, the father of James and John? Has he handed over the family business to his sons? My experience of men who do so don’t lie on a Mediterranean beach somewhere but rather still keep their hands and noses in the business.) Anyway, they are exhausted (you can hear the weariness in Peter’s voice) and want to go home to bed. Yet Peter humors Jesus, perhaps just to shut him up. First, he takes him out so he can teach to the crowds and then he casts his net in a place he’s just tried earlier to no avail.
Lo and behold, the results are beyond remarkable, an abundance of fish that only God could provide. What’s more remarkable is that the three leave everything and follow Jesus, without being asked. Even considering the heavy taxes the occupying Roman government levies, it would set them up quite nicely. But it’s those words of Peter’s, “Yet, if you say so …” that have been working on me this week. In particular, what strikes me is the reality that, as theologian Debi Thomas says, “we all live in the gap between weariness and hope, defeat and faith, resignation and obedience.”
Organizations, whether they are businesses or churches, often get stuck as they try to move into the future because someone shuts down good ideas. They do so by saying things like, “We’ve never done it that way before.” Or, just as deadly (or more so) is the response, “We’ve tried that before and it didn’t work.” You can hear the exhaustion and frustration in that response along with the desire to be faithful. As Thomas would say, between weariness and hope, defeat and faith, resignation and obedience. What I would want to ask is, “What did you learn when you tried it?” and “Was God in it?”
There are three things I’d like to mention briefly that might guide us as we discern God’s calling into the future. First, God usually comes to us in the midst of the ordinary in life, into our everyday existence. We tend to look for God in the big stuff, and God does big stuff, but usually it’s in the small things. Jesus shows up in the midst of Peter’s everyday work world and does something amazing. Second, God doesn’t ask us to leave our expertise, abilities and skills behind, but rather bring them with us. True, God is going to invite us to be stretched and grow in new ways, but with the gifts we have. Jesus tells Peter to bring his expertise with him, but we know that Peter will be asked time and again to step out of his comfort zone.
Finally, God encourages us with the words, “Do not be afraid,” which may sound impossible to us. It might help to not think of this as a command, but rather an invitation. In my experience, commands are almost impossible to obey. (For example, stop thinking about pink elephants! You can’t do it, can you? You’re welcome.) Rather, Jesus is inviting us into a new way of life, a new way of being in relationship with him. Part of that relationship is asking what God is up to and where God is leading us.
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is in a period of transition, one made more difficult by the exhaustion we feel because of the pandemic. It has taken a toll on our leadership and created uncertainty for the future. We are between weariness and hope, defeat and faith, resignation and obedience. So, Jesus’ words bring encouragement and strength today: “Do not be afraid.” As you come forward for Holy Communion, put out our hands to receive Jesus’ body and blood in, with, and under the bread and wine, be strengthened to respond, “Yet, if you say so.” Amen.
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