5 Epiphany/Year C
Feb 6, 2022
Isaiah 6:1-8, Psalm 138, Luke 5:1-11
Opening Prayer: (excerpt from a litany for Feb 6, written by Bishop Carol Gallagher)
Loving Creator, God of abundance,
You taught the people from the workplaces
you restored their catch and filled their nets
you dwell now in the midst of your people
restored us now to share your bounteous love.
Help us, Lord, to get up again and follow you. Amen
What a wonderful set of readings we heard today on the heals of our annual meeting just last weekend…the gospel reading, in particular…a favorite and well-known story…especially for its’ images in helping us see the call and response aspects of seeking to understand more clearly the role of our faith and beliefs and how they impact our daily decisions and actions throughout our lives…as individuals, and as a community of faith called to follow Jesus, in a way of love that enables healing, freedom from oppression, delivers us from a mindset of scarcity, creates abundance and more than enough for everyone, and promotes and establishes justice for every beloved child of God….
But, I seem to be getting a little bit ahead of myself here…
When I read and listened to this gospel story again this week…what’s really jumping out for me…is that small window of time when a split-second decision is about to be made…when we verbalize our intention…with a yes or a no…and then participate in all that enfolds after that…
Today’s gospel reading is full of such moments of declaring ones’ intentions…with a yes…
The crowds are pressing in on Jesus to hear the word of God….
Jesus sees two boats there at the shore of the lake…
The fisherman are no longer in their boats…they are off washing their nets now…they are done for the day.
Jesus could have told the crowds to go away, he could have kept walking until he found someone else who was already sitting in their boat, getting ready to head out in their boat…but no…
Jesus makes a decision to get into one of the boats already there empty, and looks over and calls out to Simon, whose boat he is sitting in, and he asks him to put out a little way from the shore…
Simon could have said no…I’m too tired…go find someone else…
But, he didn’t send Jesus away. He said, yes…and joined Jesus in the boat, and listened along with the crowds as Jesus taught everyone who was there to listen that day about the love and grace of God that endures forever…
When Jesus was done speaking to the crowds, he could have just made the decision to ask Simon to go back to the shore, now that he was done teaching.
But, instead, he told Simon to go out a little deeper now, and to let the nets down. Jesus most likely knew that Simon and the others had already worked all night, and caught nothing, and were tired. Yet, perhaps Jesus desired to bring the scriptures alive for them, to surprise Simon and the others, to ease their discouragements, and shower them with signs of God’s abundant grace all around them…in what happened next.
Simon could have just said no, firmly sticking to his known story, that they had already fished all night, and there was nothing there to be caught. But, he responds to Jesus, with a yes…still not certain why he was even saying yes. Nevertheless…he says Yes…
And in the split-second decision of wavering between a yes or a no…the yes, even with all of its’ uncertainty…brought in a boatload of fish…an abundance of so many fish, that their nets were beginning to break…
I can only imagine the looks on the faces of the fisherman as all of this was happening… I can only imagine the chaos that ensued trying to handle it all…
Probably overjoyed, bewildered, astounded and overwhelmed by it all, they call out to their partners in another boat, to come and help them.
They could have just chosen to deal with it all on their own and not invited others to help, and the others could have responded No, when asked to help. But, once again…an invitation was extended and a yes answer revealed that Jesus, in the midst of them, was uniting them in love and care and support for one another.
There were so many fish…there was so much help…more than enough…
After all this happened…Simon Peter wasn’t even sure what to make of it all…maybe he was doubting all along, saying “no” under his breath, every time he said yes to Jesus…and feeling a bit humbled to have been called by Jesus to help him by using his boat; perhaps he was feeling unworthy to participate in and behold such a miracle…
All the others who were witness to this catch of fish were amazed too…and I imagine a little afraid, also…
What happened next after witnessing all Jesus taught, seeing the abundance of fish that were caught, and as we heard, all involved saying “Yes” to Jesus and to each other?
First…Jesus, assured Simon Peter …to not be afraid at all that he had just been witness to…to not be afraid of all the varying emotions that were most likely swirling around in his mind and his heart…
Jesus goes on to tell him… “from now on you will be catchers of people”.
Maybe Simon Peter is shaking his head again now…wondering what Jesus was talking about???? Catchers of people????
Or maybe, Simon Peter understood in some small way…what he meant…After all, Simon Peter did call out to invite others to join him in helping him with the miraculous catch of fish that was about to break their nets and sink their boats? Maybe he did “catch people” in this net of love?
The gospel reading ends today…with another affirmative response to Jesus…Simon, James and John say “yes” to following Jesus…
When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him….
During these past couple of years of the pandemic, we’ve been thrust into a lot of yes and no decision-making moments, in the midst of so much uncertainty…We’ve probably had to leave a lot of things behind, that we have loved…and we’ve had to learn new ways of trusting where our faith is leading us now…
I’d like to believe that you, along with me, have surely seen some abundant blessings fill your nets to overflowing during these uncertain times:
*because you have had the courage to say yes (when what you really wanted to say was no because you were afraid),
*because you have had the courage to trust the prompting of the Holy Spirit, as she nudged you forward to imagine something new (when you were tempted to say, “but we’ve always done it this way”),
*because the Holy Spirit nudged you to go someplace hard, that you’ve never had to do before…
*because the Holy Spirit nudged you to invite someone else to join you in your faith journey, encouraging them to answer yes to explore with you what it means to follow Jesus in 2021 and now in 2022…
Last week, we had a few new people say “yes” to joining the vestry, to serve as deanery and convention delegates…In our pledge campaign for this year, we had many returning pledgers and new pledgers say yes to making a financial commitment and gift to the church this year…we have new people responding to help with the worship services, with the upcoming work on the church buildings, and with outreach in the community…there is always, always, always, always room for more people to be invited and to be engaged in this work of the church, in our places of worship, and most assuredly, out in our communities and the neighborhoods where we live…
It really does take all of us, to be engaged in this kingdom-building, life affirming work of God…
So, the next time you find yourself in a moment of uncertainty, in a moment of decision that leads to declaring yes, I will follow you Jesus…Remember, that this work of God, is never something we do alone….God’s amazing grace goes with you always…
Rev Julie Platson
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, AK
Hymn after sermon: Amazing Grace
(sung by Ali Hosford)
1 Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
2 ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!
3 The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.
4 Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace that brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
5 When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.