There was background noise—the waves lapping on the shore, the wind blowing, the seagulls crying out, the people themselves probably made a certain amount of noise. So people wanted to get closer to hear. To hear God's word, they got closer to Christ.
Then Jesus got into a boat. This enabled him to share the word with everyone there—not just those who were able to crowd close to him. People could space themselves out along the shore. The water would serve to amplify his voice. At Leslie's summer cabin in Montana, the cabin sits on the banks of a small bay. Sometimes, you can hear the people across the bay talking and it sounds as though they're right next to you. The water reflects the sound back and it carries a long distance.
But getting into the boat was just a temporary measure. Jesus was already thinking ahead, to when he would pass the torch to followers. The church always needs to do that: find the leading edge that God is pointing toward. The next thing was to recruit people who could and would help him.
Efren Reyes is a national hero in the Philippines: he's a pool player, possibly the best in the world. It is said that he can envision three or four moves ahead, so he knows what he needs to do to get there. I think the Lord is always thinking three or four moves ahead. He's always recruiting people to help him get there. You know, most of them must have thought they had just come to hear a nice talk, but by the end some of them were being sent on a mission trip. By the time the church service was over they had a new assignment from God.
Notice whose boat Jesus got into: Simon's boat—better known as Peter. All of a sudden there's a relationship established. Jesus might have said, No, I won't use somebody else's boat. I want to have the upper hand here. I don't want to be beholden to him. But he got into Peter's boat—and that was the start of something big. Peter represents the church. When we allow someone to help us, we let them into our lives. Remember the story of the woman at the well in the gospel of John? The first thing Jesus said was not, "Let me tell you what's missing in your life." It was, "Could you give me a drink of water?" He gave her the dignity of being able to help him first. We sometimes hear about the need to let Jesus into our lives. This is true for us all. The really great news is that Jesus allows us into his life—his purpose, his mission, his outreach to real people. The great thing is that we are part of what Christ is doing in the world.
Jesus of course used words to teach. He also offered a concrete example, in the form of an overflowing net full of fish. These men could relate to a full net without any further explanation. He met them where they were when he said, "Put your nets down into deep water." This was something they could understand. They did that about every day. Jesus starts with a place that people can relate to. He starts with their agenda, not his.
It did take some faith on their part. If they had had full nets all along, it wouldn't have made much of an impression on them. Well, thanks for the advice, Lord—but we've been doing just fine without you. Instead, Jesus met them at a place of need a place of discouragement—even failure. What they had been doing just wasn't working. Their business, at least on that day, was failing. If you've ever been part of a business that had tough times, you know the kind of fear and discouragement that can go along with that. Peter even lodged a little protest: "Lord, we tried that already." We can cut ourselves off from God's plans if we take that position. We already tried that, and it didn't work. It might be that the first time was just the prelude to success. The main difference here is, Jesus was calling. It wasn't just the fishermen trying it again on their own. It was different—because it was at Christ's call.
Peter seems to have understood this. "But since it's you saying it, Lord, I'll give it a shot." When we listen for the call of Christ, it doesn't matter if we've never done the thing before, or if we tried it a hundred times: the call, and the One calling, is what matters. Discernment is key. The key question: "Is this what the Lord is calling me, or us, to do?"
There are some possible reactions to the giant catch of fish, after they'd been failing all night. One is, "What a deal! We can make a huge profit here. Let's have Jesus stick around." That's what happened in the gospel after Jesus fed the crowd of 5000: they wanted to make him king so they'd always have an abundance of food. There are always those who want Jesus around simply because of what they can get out of him. We, in fact, are meant to be his servants—those who seek and do his will.
Another reaction is what Peter demonstrated: "This is a holy man. Next to him, I see all that I am not. Lord, go away from me! I'm too sinful to be near you." The encounter with Christ is the encounter with the Other. We see in him what we are not. At some level, Peter's shock, Peter's bitter realization of his own condition, must be ours as well. Without it, as one author declares, there can be no redirection of our inner life toward God. Martin Luther said the grace of God comes in answer to our terror of holiness. In a way that Peter didn't fully understand, he was afraid to come that close to the power of God, the purity of God, even the awesome love of God. That's what Jesus embodied for him. And like Moses at the burning bush, and the people before the majesty of God at Mt. Sinai, Peter trembled.
Quickly, though, Jesus said, "Don't be afraid." I wonder how many times in the New Testament those words are spoken. They are words of grace, kindness, and reassurance. He doesn't want us to be paralyzed with fear. He says "I have a job for you. You're going to be reeling in people." Jesus calms our fears by giving us a significant task.
Now think about that image. When you catch a fish, you don't stop to transform its life, or teach it a new way to swim, or convince it of something it doesn't believe. You just haul it in. The work of putting someone in touch with God is God's work—but we have this role to play. Pray them in. Invite them in. Let them experience the presence of God here in the worshiping community. That's what changes people—not our charm, or our spirituality, or our theology. God, present in and among God's people. So our plan to reach people must be simply to put them in touch with God.
There's a book called, Just Walk across the Room by Bill Hybels—and it's about pointing people toward God in a way that's natural and inviting and relying on the Spirit rather than ourselves. It's based on prayer for others and simple encouragement to come to church or to small group or to join in some mission project. The title, Just Walk across the Room, refers to a number of encounters that happened because someone took the time to cross a room or talk to a neighbor or converse with someone at the store. If you think about the chance meetings with people we have in life, and how a seemingly minor introduction or choice led to a whole new path in life, you see the importance of what Jesus calls "fishing for people." Just by being open to the Spirit's lead, we can affect someone's life, and someone's relationship with God—the most important relationship of all. The premise is that God is creating opportunities all the time if we have eyes to see. And it's not a big, uncomfortable confrontation—it's a natural conversation, planting seeds, inviting. There's also this about a net full of fish: it's indiscriminate about which fish go in. Bill Hybels writes, "As you view people through the lens of what I call 'radical inclusiveness', you have new eyes to see things as Jesus sees them." Is our vision of the kingdom one of radical inclusiveness? From the beginning, the church is meant to be multicultural, multiracial, open to—as the Book of Order states--all kinds and conditions of people—even the ones whom we think might be the most unlikely candidates.
This morning, the same one who called Peter and the others, calls and invites us. Here at this table, we find bread for the journey. We hear the call to be fishers—to invite in those whom God has prepared—to be disciples in our time and place. We hear the call to put out those nets—and see what comes up.
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