For Simon and James and John,
it had been one of those nights.
One of those long,
cold nights
when every fish in the sea
seemed to be just a little smarter
than the people in the boats.
It had been one of those nights
when the bottom of the boat
stayed clean and dry,
and the nets came up empty—
time
after time
after time.
It had been one of those nights
that can make a fisherman
dream
of being a farmer
or a stone mason
or even a tax collector…
A night when aching muscles
learned just how heavy
an empty net could be.
Empty nets were bad news
along the shores of Galilee.
Empty nets equaled
empty pockets.
Empty stomachs.
Empty hands.
Empty nets meant idle workers
and empty nets meant that Simon and his partners
failed.
And, just when they wanted nothing more
than to put away their gear and fall exhausted into bed---
Jesus asked Simon to get back in the boat
and take him out onto the lake.
Well….
Why not?
The boat might as well be filled
with something, right?
But it turns out that Jesus wanted
more
than just a boat.
He wanted more
than just a place to preach
or a good view of the crowd.
Jesus wanted Simon.
He wanted James
and John
and every man, woman, and child
standing along the shore.
Jesus wanted to ask each of them,
the same question God asked of Isaiah:
“Who will go for us?
Whom shall I send?”
And he wanted each and every one of them
to answer,
“Here I am, send me!”
And yet,
when Jesus finished teaching,
he turned to those tired, failed fishermen
and said, “Go out into the deep water
and let down your nets
one
more
time.”
Now, can’t you just imagine
The Look
that Simon gave James?
Can you picture John’s face?
After all,
those waters had already BEEN fished!
Those nets had been let down
and hauled up empty
time
after time
after time.
And now, they had been cleaned
and repaired
and put away for tomorrow.
Besides, everyone in Galilee
knew that nets were used at night,
not at noon—
and anyway,
what did a carpenter
know about catching fish?
But Jesus just said,
“Go out into deep water,
And let down your nets for a catch.”
And Simon found that letting down those nets
one
more
time
transformed his life.
The catch they hauled in
strained the nets and swamped the boats.
That catch was so large,
so overwhelming,
it brought Simon to his knees.
Simon knew somehow,
that going back into the deep water
was one of the most important acts of his life.
And he knew,
Somehow,
that the miracle of this moment had
nothing
to do with the piles of fish
covering the bottom of his boat.
That moment wasn’t really about
fins,
and scales,
and oars,
but about Jesus and him.
This amazing catch that tore the nets
and swamped his boat
wasn’t a lesson in perseverance,
or a test of faith,
this was an encounter with the living God—
a call to discipleship
so unexpected,
so profound,
it brought Simon to his knees.
He knew that hereafter,
Nothing
not even fishing—
could stay the same.
From now on,
the answer to the question,
“Whom shall I send?”
Would have to be,
“Here I am, Send me!”
Just when Simon felt like a failure,
God opened up a whole new world.
Just when Simon stood on the shore
Tired,
Empty,
Ready to quit,
God plunged him into deep water
and filled him with shocking abundance.
Just when Simon thought he had
his very ordinary life all figured out,
God called.
This God of Abundance
continues to call people like Simon
and John and James.
The God of Overflowing Nets
continues to call those
who stand along the shore,
believing in their own failure.
The God of the Deep
continues to call those
whose arms ache from the struggle
and whose hearts
long for something more than empty nets
and broken dreams.
People like Simon and you and me.
Throughout our lives,
God invites us to get back into the water
and let down our nets,
knowing that the same miracle,
the same encounter,
the same transformation
is there waiting for us in the deep.
God listens to all our excuses—
“What would I do with all those fish?”
“I’ve fished all my life,
and all I ever caught was an old bucket
and a soggy boot.”
“It’s not the right time of the day.”
“it’s too dark.
Too cold.
Too hot.
Too late.”
But…I don’t even LIKE fish!”
God listens,
Then patiently pries our fingers
from the railing
and directs our gaze out,
toward the deepest part of the lake.
As Simon discovered,
what we find in that deep water
is always bigger then we expected—
a little overwhelming—
and completely out of our control.
What God has planned for us
might give us sore muscles,
ripped nets,
and a boat that is just about to sink.
We will definitely get wet.
Today,
perhaps more than any time
in recent memory,
it may feel terrifying
to leave the safety of shore
and set out for the deep.
Our bad choices
have put many people at risk—
people who often struggle,
even in the best of times.
Today, our world feels
both fragile and dangerous;
a fearful,
beautiful,
blessed and wounded place,
patched together with bailing wire,
and balanced precariously over the abyss
of ignorance,
power,
hatred,
and injustice.
There are many in our world
who feel too “at risk” themselves
to take on God’s risky mission into the deep.
But it is exactly for times such as this
that Jesus came to call us.
It is exactly for times such as this
that Jesus urges us
to leave the safety of shore
and let down our nets
one
more
time.
What God has planned for us
will make our hearts pound
and our hands sweat.
It is guaranteed to send us to our knees.
But it is in times just like this
that our adventures in fishing
will yield a miraculous catch.
When God asks,
“Who will go for us?
Whom shall I send?”
Which of us
will climb right over that pile of fish and shout,
“Here I am, Send me!”
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