It Depends On Who Is In the Boat with You
Theresa Taeuber read what is, for me, one of the most powerful call stories in scripture… the call of the prophet Isaiah. Certainly, the vision that he describes of a sanctuary filled with angels and incense fires our imagination. And when Isaiah says that the Lord appeared high and lifted up and that just the train of his robe filled the entire temple, the word that comes to mind is one of Karley’s favorites: “awesome”! Yes, it is vision that is ‘awe-inspiring’, but the results of our Congregational Life Survey reveal that most of us have no concept of what ‘awe’ is or how we experience ‘awe’ in worship. And the rest of us probably could not describe it as well as Isaiah did… we would simply be content to say that we would know it if we saw it.
The Prophet Isaiah encountered the presence of God in the temple. But most of God’s chosen prophets… and all of the disciples… encountered God in their everyday lives… while they were at work… and engaged in mundane, everyday tasks. Perhaps, the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning describes it best when she says:
Earth is crammed with heaven,
and every common bush is ablaze with God.
Those who see take off their shoes.
The rest just sit around and pick blackberries.
Does this mean that, perhaps, the Prophet Isaiah was not actually inside a temple, but was captured by a vision of the holy in a very ordinary place? Is it possible that someone else was with Isaiah that day… and that person saw nothing out of the ordinary… and merely went about his business… as Browning puts it, picking blackberries? Is it possible that you and I could miss a vision of the extraordinary just because our eyes are not open to the possibility of God walking into our everyday lives and radically changing them? Might Jesus pass us by simply because we did not recognize him?
When Jesus walked into his life, Simon was having a bad day. He had fished all night with the others and caught nothing. He was washing his nets… removing debris and mending tears… so that his nets would be ready for another fishing venture the following night. Then, this stranger walks up and climbs into his boat. He tells Simon to push off from the shore so that he can sit where everyone can see him and he can teach them about God. Our text really does not explain why Simon agrees to do this, but he does. Maybe he had heard of Jesus and was curious about his preaching. Maybe he was just tired of cleaning his nets and discouraged by the demands of his job and he just wanted to escape for awhile. And maybe Jesus stated his request in such a way that it captivated Simon. Who knows? All we know is that Simon agreed to take him out in his boat.
Then, when Jesus was done teaching, he told Simon to take the boat out into deeper waters and lower his nets. Simon protests… I think because he had finished cleaning his nets and didn’t want to do it twice in one day. But then Simon says, “If you say so, I will do it.” “If you say so”… or a more literal translation is “upon your word.” When was the last time anybody said to you, "You have my word"… and you knew that you could trust that word completely? How many times in the last few decades have we watched and listened to a political figure on television and heard him say, "I give you my word..." and shortly afterward learned that his… or her… word was false? So, Simon says to Jesus, “Upon your word, I will do it”… not realizing that the one to whom he spoke was the word… the Word… and the Truth… and the Life. Simon trusted this stranger… and he put his boat out into deeper water… and he lowered his nets. Suddenly… amazingly… the nets that had remained empty the entire night before were filled to bursting with fish… so many fish that Simon had to ask his friends… his fellow fishermen… to help him bring in the catch… and, when they did, both boats were filled to the point of sinking.
What was the difference between Simon’s earlier fishing expedition and this one? What would explain the huge catch… in the middle of the day… when fish are not known to be easy to catch… and the lack of fish that were found in their nets during the night… and toward dawn… when fishermen normally find fish a little more eager to be caught? Wasn’t the difference only this one man… the one who captivated Simon… who captured his attention… and then his trust? Didn’t the success of Simon’s fishing expedition depend upon who was in the boat with him?
Some people have asked why Simon had to use his nets at all. Why didn’t God make it easier for the fishermen? If Jesus was performing a miracle, why didn’t God simply make the fish jump into the boats? Are there congregations who think that way about their own church growth? “If God wants us to grow,” they say, “God will have the crowds flocking to our doors.” I know Sylma Smith would love that! Wouldn’t we all? Lutheran pastor, Brian Stoffregen, recalls a time when he asked some lay leaders in a church he was serving about evangelism. One member of the group said to him, "They know where we are. We advertise our worship times in the yellow pages and they know when the doors are unlocked." This man apparently expected God to make any prospective members jump through those open doors. That might happen at times, but it is much more likely that a large catch of fish… or prospective members… will drawn in by those who are already in the boat… those who are already members of the church. As Stoffregen says, when we respond to Jesus' word, we are likely to find that the work will be more than one person… elder or pastor… or even one crew can handle. Fish don’t just jump into the boat… and prospective members don’t just jump into the church… they are pulled in by those who are already here.
Allow me to share one more thought-provoking tidbit from our text today. When Simon, and his partners, James and John, showed their amazement at what happened, Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; from now on, you will be catching people.” In Matthew and Mark, when this story is told, Jesus says that he will make them “fishermen”… fishers of men,” but in this gospel, he tells them that they will be catching… catching alive… people. It is a compound verb… to capture or catch… those who are living or alive. Even in English, particularly when we speak romantic relationships, we speak of being “caught” by someone… or “captured” in their net. Perhaps, another word that describes it is “captivated.” How do we “captivate” people with our religion? How are others “caught” by our faith… by stories of our life and ministry with Christ? What “captivates” them? In classic Greek usage, this verb came to mean “to restore to life and strength”… “to revive.” Perhaps, that is the clue. Are others captivated by a vision that revives them… restores their hope… gives life to those who were lifeless? Can we learn to “captivate” people with Jesus’ love? Can they be “captured” by stories of God’s life-giving grace? Do we ever talk about our own ministry… our discipleship… as being “captivated” by Christ? Simon, James and John were “captivated.” They were “swept off of their feet” by Jesus. They left everything and followed him.
Does it make a difference who is in the boat? Yes, it does… for without Jesus in the boat, we will not “capture” or “captivate” anyone. But note that it is not Jesus who is doing the work. Those fish are pulled into the boat by those who are already in the boat. What have you done lately to lower your nets to capture the fish who swim by each day? What have you done to pull in the net and bring those fish into the boat? Have you told anyone the stories of the work that Jesus is doing… stories that might “captivate” them… or “capture” their imagination… and give them a vision of the holy? Did you notice that Jesus was only speaking to Simon? Perhaps, today, he is only speaking to you. You, too, can learn to “capture”… to “captivate”… others in a way that restores life… restores hope. Let’s listen to the one who is in our boat. I am convinced that we could learn a lot from him. Amen.
Luke 5:1-11