Henrietta United Church of Christ

Scripture: 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.

*The lake of Gennesaret is better known as the Sea of Galilee. “Sea” in the Jewish language refers to any large body of water.

Sermon:

Let’s imagine what it was like to be Simon, James and John before they met Jesus. Sometimes they’d be out on the lake all day in the sweltering sun, stripped down to the bare minimum as the sweat dripped off them. Sometimes the fishing was better at night, and they had to fish in water as black as ink as they shivered in the cold night. If they were lucky enough to get a good catch, they would strain every aching muscle to haul their catch up into the tipping, rocking boat as their hands chafed against the course ropes. They had to know the fish’s habits, which varied by the time of day, the temperature of the water, and the season of the year. And they had to read the skies to make sure they weren’t caught in the middle of the lake when one of the squalls the lake was known for seemingly came out of nowhere. Historical records indicate that there were at least 250 other fishermen fishing that lake, so they had to know how to compete and negotiate without creating enemies.

Simon, James and John had learned to be both tough and patient; they knew how to work hard and they knew how to work smart; they were perceptive and they were persistent. We can assume they had become masters of their trade as fishermen.

For most of us, becoming a mature adult requires developing our skills, testing them, and honing them in the face of the rigors of our workplace or the demands of our family–or often both. It takes persistent effort to achieve a high level of competence. It takes adeptness to compete with others without making enemies. It takes savvy to advance our career while negotiating workplace politics. And it takes wisdom to find ways to get our own needs met while also meeting the needs of others. We can gain a sense of satisfaction from the little signs of success we receive along the way–recognition, appreciation or pride in our work.

But is this all there is to life–making the grade, gaining some recognition, achieving a sense of mastery over what we do? That’s all many people know. But if that is all there is, then how do you account for what happened in this story about the fishermen? A tough night on the job ended in the morning with the catch of their dreams–enough fish to almost sink two fishing boats! With a catch like this, they could rest on their laurels for a couple weeks and take a much-needed vacation. Or if they were smart, they could leverage their capital by buying out the boat of one of their competitors, and strategically position themselves to maximize their long-term profit margin.

Why didn’t they? Why did they just walk away from the catch of a lifetime to join Jesus’ totally not-for-profit enterprise of fishing for people?

Well, you know they had been listening to Jesus as he taught the crowd on the edge of the lake. They had caught a glimpse of a new kind of reality that can happen when God reigns in your life, instead of your own selfish will, anxieties, prejudices, and resentments. Jesus showed them that even the likes of them could help create a world of love instead of hostility, of forgiveness instead of recrimination, of hope instead of cynicism.

To catch fish, Jesus had told them to put out into the deep water. But they had already been putting out into the depths of their souls as they listened to Jesus talk about what was possible if they let God work inside them and work through them. They saw that the more people who came into the net of God’s reign, the more the world would change for the better for everyone. Maybe God could use the very things that had made them master fishermen–toughness and patience, the ability to work hard and to work smart, their perceptiveness and their persistence.

They left their fish, left their boats, and left their nets, and followed Jesus to learn how to catch people for God’s realm. That decision changed their lives; and that decision marked the beginning of a change in the world, a change that has continued all the way up till today, even as you put some of the fruit of your labor in the offering plate, or offer your time to the ministries of this church, or hone your own ministries in your family or workplace or community.

That choice between being the master of our own life or a servant of Christ, is a choice that we make in almost everything we do. And the choices we make determine the kind of world we live in.

Someone recently sent me a story that illustrates this perpetual choice we have between creating the kingdom of greed or the kingdom of God.

At a fundraising dinner for a school for children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students told about something that had happened with his son Shay, whose obvious disabilities made him different from other kids. He said that he and Shay were walking past a park where some of the neighborhood boys were playing baseball. Shay asked, “Do you think they'll let me play?” Shay’s father knew how much Shay needed to feel accepted and feel like he belonged. And he also knew what it was like being on a baseball team, counting on each person to perform well and competing to win.

Shay’s father hesitantly asked one of the boys if Shay could play. The boy looked around at his teammates for guidance and finally said, “Well, we're losing 13 to 8 and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team. We’ll put him at the end of our lineup. There’s a pretty good chance he’ll get a turn to bat in the ninth inning.”

Shay limped over to the team's bench and sat down with a broad smile. He was on the team! When “his” team scored a run, he excitedly cheered along with his teammates. Now it was 13-9.

At the top of the ninth inning, someone gave Shay a glove and showed him where to stand in right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game, grinning from ear to ear as his dad waved to him from the stands, and cheering with his teammates again when the other team retired without scoring any more runs.

In the bottom of the ninth, Shay's team scored again. Now it was 13-10. As fate would have it, when it was Shay’s turn to bat, it was two outs and the bases were loaded. If Shay struck out, the game would be over.

Surprisingly, the kid who said Shay could play gave Shay the bat anyway. Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly. A teammate helped him adjust his grip and helped him practice a couple of swings. The pitcher realized that Shay’s team had willingly sacrificed their chance to win. Now he had a choice to make. He moved in a few steps, and lobbed the ball in softly. Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher came in a little closer and tossed the ball as gently as he could towards Shay. Shay swung and hit a slow ground ball right near the pitcher.

The pitcher had a choice again. He walked over to the ball, looked at Shay who was kind of frozen in a confused state, and threw the ball high over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all his team mates.

Both teams started yelling, “Shay, run to first! Run to first!” Wide-eyed and startled, Shay ran as fast as his lame leg would allow and reached first base. Now everyone yelled, “Run to second, run to second!” as the second basement waved and showed him where second base was.

By this time the first baseman had the ball, and he had a chance to make up for the ball he had missed in the eighth inning that had allowed Shay’s team to score. But with a smile on his face, he threw short and right, forcing the second baseman off his base, which he was only too happy to do. As Shay struggled toward second, the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home. Everyone was shouting, “Shay, Shay, all the way!”

The second baseman held the ball until Shay had tagged the base and the shortstop had pointed Shay toward third. Then he threw the ball way to the right of third base and well outside the field.

Soon the shouts were in unison: “Shay, run home! Shay, run home!” Panting and sweating, Shay triumphantly stepped on home plate, and he was cheered as the hero who had won the game for his team.

“That day,” Shay’s father told the audience as his voice cracked, “the boys on both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world. By seeing higher than winning the baseball game, they showed what it means to be winners in the game of life.”

And that’s the choice that we have every day we go to work, every time we interact with the cashier at the store, every time we deal with someone we have difficulty with, every time we hear of a need in the world that we have the time and ability to respond to. Are we trying to master life to build up our own kingdom, or are we offering ourselves as a servant to build up the kingdom of God? Is what we do or what we say adding more selfishness, fear, judgment, or cynicism in the world, or is what we do or say adding more trust, love, and hope? Are we in the business of life to add more fish to our boat, or are we in the business of drawing more people into the net of the God who can bring out the best in us and the best in our world?

The kind of world we live in is in our hands, isn’t it? The choice is given to us in everything we do. It’s a choice that either perpetuates the strife of this world, or that links us to the love, peace and joy of eternity.

Put down into the deep waters of your soul. You have mastered so much and you have been blessed with so much. How will you use these gifts? How will you answer Christ’s call to “come, follow me?”