Luke 5:1-11 Susan J. Barnes
St. Matthew’s, Austin 8 February 2004
Once upon a time there was the 1928 prayer book. Those of you who remember it will recall that in addition to the prayers and the psalms, the actual scriptures appointed for each Sunday were printed in the book—the full texts were written there. That was handy, of course, but it meant that we read the same lessons on the same Sundays year after year. We read a total of 52 different gospel lessons during the year. We didn’t know our Bible very well.
With the lectionary in our current prayer book, we have three complete cycles of gospel lessons—three years’ full. We know our Bible much better now. And we can appreciate the richness of gospel stories told by different authors, written for different communities. We can better recognize the complexity of early Christian communities.
This year, as you know, we are focused on reading Luke. Some material is unique to Luke, some is shared with Matthew, but on the whole Luke follows the gospel of Mark, which was the source for its structure and many stories.
It’s interesting when Luke departs from Mark, as it does today—particularly in a key story. This is the episode which we would normally term “the Calling of the disciples”. But here, Jesus doesn’t call them. Jesus doesn’t say—as he does in Mark and Matthew (and even in John)—“follow me.” Instead the future disciples make a decision because of a miraculous experience. It’s an experience and a decision that has something to teach us, I think.
Luke doesn’t tell us how Jesus met Simon Peter. The first time we see them together is in the story just before this one. After teaching in the synagogue in Capernum Jesus comes to Peter’s home, you remember, and heals Peter’s mother-in-law of a high fever. At the end of the day, the end of the Sabbath, Luke tells us “all those…who were sick” from the town were brought to be healed. Jesus lays hands on them all; he heals, and from many he casts out demons—demons who call him the Son of God.
Clearly Jesus already had a reputation as a healer. And his work in Capernum that day was spectacular. Jesus impressed the people there so much that crowds came to find him the next morning, and they urged him to stay with them. With all of that, it might be surprising that—somehow--Peter himself didn’t get it. We don’t know what Peter thought about Jesus. Maybe he thought that those healings were fine for other people, but that they weren’t for him. Maybe he thought that he didn’t need Jesus in the way that those other people did. Whatever the case, today’s gospel shows that—different from the other gospel stories, where Jesus meets the disciples and simply says “Follow me”—in this gospel Peter didn’t get it right away. He went on about his business.
Jesus had visited Peter’s home. Jesus had worked miracles there. Jesus had a following large enough to need to preach from a boat. But Peter didn’t get it until Jesus got into Peter’s boat. That’s a metaphor, too: not until Jesus entered Peter’s own everyday life, his working world and wrought a miracle that he could not ignore; only then did Peter get it.
Everybody can recognize it when a dream comes true. Whether we can articulate it or not, whether we know it or not, each of us has visions of fulfillment, of success. For an artist in any medium—a writer, a painter, a composer—they would include making the masterpiece, the work that would be recognized and celebrated as your ultimate accomplishment. For a businesswoman or man it might be landing the absolutely top job, making the biggest deal, landing the top contract. For a museum professional, it might be acquiring a collection of world masterpieces. For a fisherman like Peter, it might well have been a boat overflowing with fish.
Whatever the dream might be, we know whether it’s attainable or not. Peter might have dreamt of a catch like that, but probably knew he’d never have it. He certainly knew that if he had fished all night with no success he would not get much if he went out again.
Out of deference to Jesus, Peter went out again. He went out again, and when his boat was filled to sinking, his nets to breaking, he got it—he got it all, and all at once.
Peter understood that Jesus’ miracles weren’t just for others, but for him.
Peter understood that Jesus was the Lord of his life.
Peter understood that Jesus brought abundant life and grace beyond imagining. Peter understood that, as a sinner, he was unworthy of that abundance.
Finally, decisively, Peter understood that Jesus had a plan for him. Peter understood, and so did the others fishing with him. When they had come back to land, they left everything and followed Jesus.
Henry David Thoreau wrote: “Many men go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.”
Jesus helped Peter understand that it was more than fish that he was after. In fulfilling Peter’s dream, Jesus set him free from that dream, free from that life.
The same is true of us: we’re all like Peter. No matter who we are in our personal and professional lives, we are sinners in need of forgiveness.
No matter what our dreams of success may be, there is something greater underlying them. They are symbols of the ultimate meaning that we seek in life.
Jesus forgave Peter’s sins, and Jesus forgives ours, too.
Jesus freed Peter to pursue the ultimate meaning of life—which is the living and sharing of God’s saving love and grace--and Jesus frees us, too.
Jesus brought his life-giving message to Peter—not in the synagogue, not in the comfort of home, but in the place where Peter was struggling to make his living. Jesus delivered the word at a place, and in a way—in a language---that Peter could truly grasp.
Jesus empowered Peter and Paul and the other disciples to do the same—to go out and meet people where they were, bringing them the good news of new life in Jesus Christ. Friends, as disciples today, we need to do the same—you and I need to do the same.
You are here because you have heard God’s word and you know it matters. But there are countless people whom you know, people who need that forgiveness, who need to find meaning, who are longing for grace. They need our help. They need our help to realize that it is not fish they are after—they are really after God’s life-giving love.
We have been blessed to find God’s grace and share it in the love of this family of faith. We must share it with others outside and bring them in.
In the coming weeks—particularly during the Lenten season--we at St. Matthew’s have a wealth of opportunities for inviting people to visit, to share our life in community, to share God’s love, to share our faith. In addition to Sunday services and adult education classes, we have special programs. They include our Wednesday evening Lenten suppers and speakers as well as the series of Sunday afternoon talks by Bob Lively which will be particularly aimed at people outside the church.
You are a generous and hospitable people by nature. This is something we can do with just a bit more effort. Let’s do it together. Let’s make it part of our Lenten commitment to invite a friend or friends to join us during that season. Don’t just invite them. Bring them. You cannot make a greater gift to them—or to us--than that.
