Readings: Isaiah 6:1–8; 1 Corinthians 15:1–11;
Luke 5:1–11
Today’s gospel is one of the best told stories in the gospel of Luke. It is a simple and yet profound tale, with important implications for us. Today we look at the call of the first disciples, and by looking at that call we find our own ability or inability to hear the gospel brought into focus, along with the extent of our willingness to respond to it.
Over the last few Sundays we have reflected much on the holiness of Jesus encountered in places of worship; in the temple and in the synagogue. Isaiah tells us he encountered God there too; in the smoke and incense of the temple liturgy. Lots of people encounter God this way, in a sacred world cut off from real life. But when we come to Luke’s gospel today, Jesus has come out of the holy places of worship into the workplace. He is teaching from a fisherman’s boat. As we noticed in the synagogue, the people who heard Jesus were mesmerised by him. The people pressed in to hear Jesus because of his natural authority and deeds of power. One didn’t have to be a fool to see that there was something different about Jesus. In a world where life was a struggle, it was not hard to see there was something special about Jesus. He was a very attractive character. They were entertained by Jesus winning debates with religious leaders. Some would be waiting to see if he would perform a miracle. Some even hoped they would benefit directly from a miracle themselves. Some of them enjoyed the piercing and clever ways he put down the rich people or those who held power. Those with insight perceived a deeper reality in him; they knew he was of God and they were hungry to discover more of him themselves.
If the people who gathered around Jesus had mixed motives, a mixture of the motives I just described and perhaps some others; so it is with us. Most of us have mixed motives for following Jesus. Some follow Jesus because they like being with the people they meet at church, or so that their children can come to Sunday School or access a Christian education. Some come to church to get away from their normal environment of home or work to find a place of peace and rest and well being, to have their batteries re-charged. Some of this will have something to do with our own relationship with God. All of us have mixed motives for counting ourselves as Christians, and we shouldn’t worry about that; we should be aware of them and be honest with ourselves and God about them.
There were some people, just a few, who found in Jesus something utterly compelling and irresistible. They didn’t just see that Jesus came from God. They experienced the very presence of God when they were with Jesus. In Jesus’ presence they experienced the actualisation of God’s kingdom. When they were with him, it was like touching heaven. They found him disturbing, sometimes a bit frightening, but they also found him fun and enjoyable. In his presence there was an added richness to human existence they had not known before. The first to experience this humbling and exhilarating awe was Simon. Sitting on his boat on the edge of the lake, Simon listened to Jesus and was won, heart and soul.
I don’t know about you, but I hate having someone else tell me how to do my job. When it happens, I usually pull faces and start feeling grumpy and snap back at people. If you are like me, spare a thought today for these fishermen who had fished all night and had caught nothing. If someone, particularly someone who did not fish, told me to have another go after a long fruitless night, they’d be likely to get some fishing tackle wrapped round their neck. But it was not so with Simon. He was already so captivated by Jesus, that although he was a professional fisherman and Jesus was not, although reason, common sense and fisherman’s lore told him to go home to bed; despite all that, when Jesus told him to let down the nets he did just that.
The great haul of fish that ensued was a sign to Simon of the immensity of the task before the church, and the gravity of its responsibility. This was a huge haul of fish, a massive haul, which had nets tearing and both boats at sinking point. This haul of fish is a sign of the future church, encompassing all races, nations and types of people. The real catch was yet to come, but this haul was a sign.
Peter’s response was one of awe and penitence. Aware of the presence of God, and overwhelmed by it, the first thing he did was to acknowledge his sinful state. This is what we do when we gather for Eucharist. We always begin by acknowledging that we gather in the presence of God (“We gather in the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”). The very next thing we do is acknowledge our sin and our human frailty to God. This is why the penitential rite, the confession and the singing of “Lord, have mercy”, properly belongs at the beginning of the liturgy. Like Simon, James and John, when we realise we are in the presence of God, the first thing that happens is that we become aware of our need of God’s mercy and compassion.
Such was the impact of this scene on Simon, James and John, that they left everything they had to follow Jesus. They left their jobs, all their securities, their possessions, their way of life, and they followed Jesus. From now on, nothing else mattered. There was no where else to go than to be where Jesus was, to do the things Jesus did and to speak and think like him. That is what these disciples began to do. It would involve a life time journey of faith. It will involve a radical reorganisation of their lives to orient them toward God.
Those fishermen left everything for the sake of Christ because they believed God was with them, and because they wanted be involved in God’s mission. Jesus needs followers who are prepared to let go of the present reality to follow him. This can be really hard, even painful. Am I prepared to give up big things, which may include my present job, my present identity and securities for God? That is what God’s call may involve. It’s an inspiring call to an adventure with God that will lead us to places and people we can’t even begin to imagine. When God calls us, we might feel a sense of unworthiness, but we are not banished by God. God sees past our hurts and failures and the messes we get ourselves into. He endows us with gifts. By God’s grace, we are made heralds of his word. He calls and sends us out into the deep, into the unknown to make his glory manifest in a needy world. Our prayer each week needs to involve asking God to guide us, to show us our vocation and our call, and to ask for the courage to respond.
If we want to be part of God’s mission, we must be prepared to let go and let God; let go of our insecurities and our fears and our sense of inadequacy; let go of our past hurts and failures. We need to let go of those things that tell us to hold back. We need to believe in God’s presence with us, and back ourselves as God’s people doing God’s work in our places of work, in our homes and when we are at play. The mission is God’s and God will ensure the harvest.
We might well ask why Jesus chose those fishermen people to be disciples. We might well ask, and so will those who follow after us. We can only speculate, but there are some clues. Simon, James and John were no strangers to hard work, and the business of being a disciple was going to be hard, and it still is. They were no stranger to disappointment, and the business of being a disciple would involve much failure and disappointment, and it still does. Jesus needed people like that, people who could sit lightly to the trappings of life and who had the fibre to leave it all and go where they were sent. He needed people like that then and he still does.
Jesus still needs people with those characteristics. Those fishermen were dead and buried long ago. Since then there have been many, some like those fishermen, others quite different, but all with personalities able to hear and respond to his call. Those people done their bit and they have gone to meet their maker. Now there is only us, we are it. If the gospel is to be proclaimed today it has to be done by us, there isn’t anybody else. If the church’s mission is to continue to be like a great haul of fish it will be because we understand that Jesus needed people like those fishermen then, and he still does today.
