5 OT C ~ Is. 6:1-2a, 3-8; Lk 5:1-11 ~ "The Deep" ~ Susan McGurgan, D.Min.

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!”