Oak Chapel United Methodist Church

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I used to fish. Success and failure, in fishing, is inscrutable. I would choose a spot one day, at a certain time, use a certain hook, with a certain bait and catch a lot. And the next day -- same spot, same time, same hook, same bait -- not a nibble. There were forces at work which I didn't understand or control.

The Frustration of Unanswered Prayer

I've never fished for a living, like Simon Peter, nor have I fished with nets as he did. But, as I was reading this famous story of Peter's calling, in Luke's Gospel, I found myself identifying with Peter's discouragement: "Master, we have worked all night long and have caught nothing." "Why? Last night there were fish here!" I thought of a million good people who are up against it, living lives of frustration if not desperation. Good people, not lazy, fishing all night long, but without hoped-for results. "I have tried for years to make my marriage work," said the woman. "I have prayed," said another, "since I was a little girl that my mother would stop drinking." "We love our son, but nothing seems to help." There are forces at work which we do not understand nor control. "Master, we have worked all night long, and have caught nothing."

Responding to Christ's Call Even at Great Cost

The centerpiece of this story, of course, is Peter's call to discipleship. The fish miracle, at first glance, simply provides him with a good reason to up and follow. But, looking a little closer, we see Peter's decision to follow Christ as more complicated. There is more here than meets the eye. To begin with, such a catch, such an abundance of fish, would have been a windfall for any Galilean fisherman. A boatload of fish meant a boatload of money, and Peter had two boatloads -- like hitting the lottery. So we should understand, first of all, that Peter answers Christ's call, and walks away from his life, at the very moment of economic success -- leaves his boats, his nets and his new-found wealth (flipping and flopping by the sea) and follows Jesus. We would understand had he asked for a few hours to sell his equipment, and all those fish, and deposit the money some place safe, to hedge his bet. (Just as we understand, all too well, that poor soul who asked for a day or two to bury his father, and then he would join the disciple band.) But there is never a "good time" to leave our old lives and follow Jesus. There will always be something that needs doing first.

The Strong Force of Habbit

As long as I can remember I have eaten too much, and (as the result) have been overweight. I mean to diet. I just never quite get to it. At breakfast, I'll watch what I eat at lunch. At lunch, dinner, and so forth. It is amazing what I can tell myself, and what I can believe, when I am hungry. And life slips away, one meal at a time. Presumably all addictions are like that: "This will be my last cigarette," the man says, "but I need this one." "I must have this drink, because I'm under a lot of pressure right now, but after today I'll never touch another drop." Life evaporates on us one smoke, or one drink at a time. Isn't it the same with our addiction to material things -- to getting and spending -- and didn't Jesus know that? Gaining things makes us feel powerful, and having things makes us feel secure. It gives us a rush, which we know is only temporary, but we'll take it. We know that too much affection for such things can separate us from God and even from those we love, but we would just like to enjoy our possessions one more day. And life slips away. So when Peter walks away from this huge catch -- his first chance to make it big -- we know he must have been hit with a big stick.

Accepting Christ's Word that we are Worthy

In fact, it is curious what he does when he first sees all those fish. We might have expected him to sit down in the bow of his boat, like a fat cat, nouveau riche, and count his treasure, tossing a fish overboard now and then just to show how rich he was. But, that was not Peter's reaction. When he sees the great catch, he falls down before Jesus, awestruck, and says, "You better get out of here, Lord, I'm not much good." And Jesus, smiling (because he knows what he has in mind for Peter), says, "Now, come on Simon, don't be afraid. I'm going to make you a fisher of men." And darn if he didn't! This story isn't about catching fish; it's about catching Peter.

Breaking our Habbits By Stepping Off in Faith

Most of us are not selfish, or money-grubbing, or non-caring. I've never really known a Simon Legree. It would be easy to preach in a world where people were that bad. One would simply tell the truth and be crucified. There are some truly bad people today, and for them the radical call of Jesus, to leave everything and follow him, is an earthquake. Most of us are simply caught up in a system of values quite different from the values of Jesus. And we are trapped by it. We have spouses to think about -- does Christ ask me to walk away from my husband or wife? We have children to support, and children need to be educated, and going to school requires warm clothes, and dry shoes. We need a house (yes, of course, a house), and a house needs heat, and light, and paint, and a yard. There is a complete picture there, with all the details filled in, and we can either stay in the picture, or step out of it. We hear that outrageous call of Jesus. We know what he wants. There is something in us that wants to step right up, and out, leaving everything to join him, as Peter did, and the other disciples, and all the saints over the years, but we can't. We are in too deep. So, what place is there for us in this religion?

We take one step. That is the essence of faith: to take the first step down a road whose end we do not know. Peter left many things, to be sure, but he had no idea where he was going. Had he known how poor they would be as they went from one village to another, teaching and preaching; had he known how often Jesus would rebuke him along the way; had he known that Jesus would be crucified, and that he (Peter) would disgrace himself with cowardice when that happened, so that people for centuries would remember him for it; had he known he would become head of an illegal church, and be ridiculed and imprisoned as such; had he known that his life, too, would end on a cross, only with him upside down, because he would say he didn't want his head in the same place as his Savior's. Had he known all that, he might not have followed Christ that day by the sea. Peter's faith was to take the first step.

Take Just One Step and Christ Will Guide You

We have to step off in faith. Life can slip by so easily as, day by day, we find some new reason not to follow him. Don't be frozen in your tracks. Don't worry that your faith may be only a fleeting enthusiasm, that you may not be able to endure the whole journey. Take one step and then another. Christ knows how far and in what direction you are to go, and he will walk beside you, guiding you and giving you strength. He'll use your boat. He'll tell you where to cast your net. Instead of fishing all night without success, you will begin to catch fish.