Casting into the Deep Waters
Lectionary Epiphany 5:C • Sermon • Submitted
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· 76 viewsJesus directs us to where our nets will be filled
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Introduction - searching for fish
My experience fishing
fly fishing and ocean (deep sea) fishing
go to where you think the fish are
occasionally see them in fly fishing
but, mostly, just use whatever wisdom or knowledge you have and then hope and wait
always had the strong impression that it is a big, deep and vast ocean
rarely caught anything
My experience fishing
Jesus' command
he taught from the boat near the shore
provided natural amplification
in this instance, we don’t know what he taught, but we know what he did
he commanded them
My primary response to the ocean is that it is big and I feel very, very small.It was about exactly a year ago that I was at Lake Gennesaret - the Sea of GalileeNot as vast as the oceanBut when I was out in the deep, I still felt very smallSome experience fly fishing and ocean (deep sea) fishinggo to where you think the fish areoccasionally see them in fly fishingbut, mostly, use whatever wisdom or knowledge you have and then hope and waitI know that there were those with lifetimes of wisdom and experience passed downAnd now there are those with fish radar/scannersBut I always felt like I was throwing my tiny little, almost invisible, line randomly into one spot of the vastness of the ocean hoping for the pure happenstance that something would cross its path and take the baitrarely caught anythinghe taught from the boat near the shoreprovided natural amplificationin this instance, we don’t know what he taught, but we know what he didThat's what this story is aboutJesus' command When he finished teaching, he spoke to SimonPresumably one of the many fisherman there listening to himThey generally fished through the nightDeep water at night was the best fishingWhen they fished during the day, it would be in the shallowshe commanded Peter to go back out into the deep waters and put down his netPeter’s responsesLet down the netsThe passage makes it clear,Not that he was skeptical of Jesus' commandBut that this wasn't they way they did thingsThey didn't fish in the deep in the dayAnd they just finished fishing there through the night and caught nothingEverything in his wisdom, experience - all the data - none of it points to this workingTo top it off, the one telling them to do this is no fisherman - he's a carpenterThis is not supposed to workBut there must be something about him because despite everything in him, he does what Jesus saysHe goes out to the deep water and puts out his netAnd he catches so much the nets are breaking, they get a whole other boat out there, and they are both filled to the sinking pointThe first response Simon Peter has to Jesus was simple obedience. He did what Jesus asked him to do despite it going against everything he'd known his whole lifeHe does it just because Jesus said soAnd the catch was overwhelmingPeter's next response is he fell down in worshipAt Jesus' kneesRudolf Otto tried to look scientifically at religions and 100 years ago wrote a book called The Idea of the HolyHe describes how in all religions, including the Bible, whenever someone drew near to the presence of supreme deity - in the presence of holiness - they always experienced something he called numinous aweHe described numinous awe in a way that is quite biblicalNuminous Awe is an experience of being ripped apart by completely opposing, strong, passionate responses to the holyOne response is to be drawn to it. It's beautiful and awesome and we can't take our eyes off of it.But the other response is repulsion - a desire to distance ourselves as much as possibleBecause the beauty, the perfection, the holiness exposes us for what we areAnd we aren't that - we aren't holyIt perfectly describes Peter's response to JesusPeter's a fisherman. His experience here may rise our eyebrowsBut this experience is speaking Peter's language so that he can see that Jesus is holy - the holy one of GodLater, coming from the experience he has with Jesus that started at this moment, When Jesus asks who Peter thinks he is, he is going to confess that he is the Christ - the Messiah, the Holy One of GodAnd Peter does exactly those two things that Rudolf Otto talks aboutHe comes right to Jesus, and falls to Jesus' knees - he's drawn to himBut he's exposed as well He confesses his sinfulnessand asks for distance between themRemember, they're stuck in a boat together for the momentPeter experiences Numinous Awe - being in the presence of the holy - in the presence of Jesusleft everything and followed himJesus knew just what to sayPeter was scared even as he was drawn to JesusJesus tells him - really commands him with his word so as to make something real - to not be afraidAnd the gospel of John tells a similar story when the risen Christ calls out from the shore to cast his net on the other side of the boat with a similar resultBy that point, Peter is not afraid of Jesus anymoreBut he swims to meet him on the shore when he realizes he's thereJesus reassures him not to be afraid in our story here - And then he modifies his callPeter is still a fishermanBut now of menIt's going to be a few years before we see the fruit of this callWhen Peter gets that reassurance and that call, he doesn't even need to be told what to do nextHe leaves everything, and he follows JesusFor three years he follows himThrough thick and thin Through his own ups and downsThey go from the mountaintop transfigurationThrough his own denials and death of JesusHe sees the empty tomb and the risen LordAnd he watches him ascend bodily into heavenBut starting with Pentecost, Simon Peter is going to be a preacher through whom thousands will come to faith in JesusAn abundance the likes of which Peter hasn't seen since he gets the directions of where to throw the netHe truly becomes a fisher of menIt all started with Jesus asking Peter to do something he never would have done on his ownI was wondering that this looked like in our lives - in my life todayAnd I didn't have far to lookThe session has been preoccupied the last month or two with a hard question put before usShould we as a church go out of our way to accommodate another church's desire to worship in our building on Sunday mornings as wellIt quickly became apparent that this would mean us moving our worship service back And having to figure out if we could manage all that we need to manage between their service and oursI was ordained in 1992. I was a religious studies major in college and three years of seminary after that. I have shelves full of books at home and in my office on doing church. Through the years I've picked up wisdom and adages about what it is we're doing here and best practices in doing itHonestly, when the question first came to me about moving our worship time later and sharing the morning with Grace and Peace, almost none of the pastor in me had anything good to say about itThings like, every minute past noon cuts you off from an opportunity to reach your neighborhoodTwo churches don't fit into the same space in one morningWhere I come from in California, the early services on Sunday are the ones that grow - never the later onesThe vast majority of the data in my pastor background says this is not a good ideaI felt exactly the way Peter did when he said to Jesus, "this isn't going to work"Peter's the fishermanJesus is notBut it took me a short bit of time to remember to ask the most important questionWho's asking me - who's asking us to do this?Regardless of our expertiseWho's asking us to go back out to the deep water and cast the net?That question isn't answered merely by the books on the shelves or the background and experienceIt's answered by a sense of the leading of the Spirit of GodNow, I'd love to tell you that the risen Jesus appeared to me and told us what to doI don't come with that level of assuranceBut I can tell you that I believe the Spirit has been leading us by the handIn ways that he speaks to us and we hearIncluding by this being the passage this morningTo do something we wouldn't normally doAnd I am more convicted than ever that this is not a me or us thing, and it is a God thingIt's going to take some workOrganization and planning that hasn't been our strength in the pastWe don't normally fish in the deep waters in the daytimeBut I think God is calling us to get the nets and take them back out to the deep water and cast them in - To do the workAnd maybe, just maybe, there's a big haul coming in this buildingHere's a detail that I've always missed in this passageThey started hauling in the catch, and it was too muchYou see what they did?They called for another boatAnd they both were filledMaybe it's going to take both of our churches on Sunday morning to be able to fill this place to overflowingAnd you know what we'll do?We'll feel that numinous awe and fall to Jesus' kneesAnd we'll leave everything and follow him
Peter’s responses
Let down the nets (despite his own wisdom)
fell down in worship
left everything and followed him
Our response to the Lord’s direction