When Jesus Calls

Kate Thoresen February 7, 2010

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Luke 5:1-11

Gospel Lesson

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ² he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³ He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. ⁴ When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." ⁵ Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." ⁶ When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. ⁷ So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" ⁹ For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." ¹¹ When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

This is the Gospel of our Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.

We were sitting together at a meeting. Suddenly we heard the laughter of a child erupting from the handbag of a woman in our group. We smiled as she said that was her new ring tone for her cell phone. A few moments later our conversation was interrupted with the crowing of a rooster again out of the same handbag. 'Oops,' she said with embarrassment. "That's my voicemail system. Sorry."

Isn't it amazing how many ways people can call us today? There are calls on regular land lines in which there is the familiar ring and we answer it. Or with caller ID and voicemail, we can also choose not to answer! Then there's the mobile phone. Now I Phone. We can even call through computers. Our family now uses Skype. That's a free service on the computer where you use a web camera to have virtual visits with others. So we get to hear our grandson describe his latest basketball game over in Paw Paw, Michigan. Or, we get to see and hear our daughter and son in law in England.

We get calls in many ways. And today's scripture reading is also about calls when Jesus calls. And when we look carefully at this passage we can find several different times when Jesus calls. If you'd like, get your bibles out to Luke 5 on page 54.

First of all let's go back to the setting. Jesus is standing at the edge of the Sea of Gennesaret or the Sea of Galilee. It is early morning, the sea is calm. There are gentle, sloping hills all around. Small purple flowers dot the fields as well as white and yellow ones. Along the shore there are broken sea shells and mostly sand. People crowd around Jesus, so many that he can barely make his voice heard. He spots an empty fishing boat. He gets in it and then asks Simon to push him out into the lake which becomes a kind of natural sounding board within a natural amphitheater of hills, so that all the people can hear him.

When Jesus calls Simon, it comes after a long night of struggle and disappointment for Simon Peter. He is tired. He is probably discouraged after starting off with such hopes. All of his effort feels wasted. . Waiting. Watching. But nothing to show for all of his time and energy spent on trying to catch fish. Perhaps worry and frustration grip him and he is anxious about how he will feed his family.

When Jesus calls to a tired, empty handed Simon, he does not use words. He first simply uses what Simon has, an everyday, empty boat. He does not enlist Simon's help based on his success or even when things are going well. Jesus just steps in and uses whatever common, ordinary resource a person has.

How often have you experienced a time when someone tells you that something that you said or did was exactly what they needed at that moment? And you were hardly aware of anything you said or did was being used to help another? It was so simple. It was so everyday.

There are times when Jesus calls us by using just what we have, even though we may think it's not much. Even when we think that we are coming up short or empty handed. Jesus just gets in and uses what we have.

My own sense of call came from a place of emptiness. It was a time of deep loss. It was when my mother died. I was the only one with her. And as she drew he last breaths, there was such a strong sense of transition into peace, release from suffering and into God's arms. Something nudged me to put my arm around her and say the benediction I had heard so often spoken in church: "May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord lift up his face upon you and give you peace." Even in the midst of tears and emptiness I knew that she was OK.. It wasn't until much later, however, that I began to realize what a gift it is to offer a blessing for someone else. "But then," I wondered, "why wait until the end of a person's life? Aren't we created to share such blessings with all others we meet along our life's journeys?" And this urge grew stronger and stronger to share the words of benediction in worship, in retreat settings, in life.

So Jesus sees Simon's empty boat, gets in it and asks him to push it out into the water just far enough so that Jesus can be in a place where he can reach many people. Jesus asks Simon to put him in the center so that others can hear and receive his life-giving message. When Jesus calls, he makes our ordinary work itself the vehicle of His own real presence in the life of the world. He simply asks that we make him seen and heard among many who need him.

Simon's eyes are opened to recognize God at work in Jesus. He sees the way that Jesus brings healing and hope to all those hungry souls who crowd the sea shore to catch those life-giving words. Simon hears Jesus preach about the good news of the kingdom of God. There is healing in his words. The anxious ones find a new sense of peace. The lonely find a friend. The lost find a reason for living with meaning and purpose. When Jesus calls out to them, he lifts their sights and their spirits into a new realm of living.

Then Jesus comes back and we see another kind of call. He says, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Simon, dear impulsive, practical Simon, begins to argue like Moses and his initial objections to God at the burning bush. But nevertheless, Simon heeds the words. Simon and his companions go out into the deep waters, those waters of risk and unknowing huge problems. Now they are too successful! Now there are so many fish their nets are about to break. The load is so overwhelming that they have to call out for help and all of the boats begin to sink.

The abundance of fish is staggering. It's like a miracle that changes Simon Peter's life. When he gets back on shore, he kneels in recognition of this holy man, Jesus. Simon confesses his own sinful nature. Simon Peter recognizes how much he needs help and that he cannot save himself. His own goodness is not enough. He comes empty to Christ, just as his boat was empty when Jesus used it. Simon and the others see what abundance they find in Jesus Christ himself.

Then Jesus surprises Simon once more with another kind of call. He says, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will catch men." The original Greek word for catch carries a deep meaning: it suggests a strong urgency to save people from death and destruction - not just to tally up numbers. There is a strong moral command here to look beyond one's own self interests into the greater needs of others. It is also an invitation to lose one's own work into the work of God, to let oneself go into a greater trust and faith in Jesus the Christ.

So Simon and his companions leave everything and follow Jesus. Often we think that they left their nets, their boats, their families, their livelihoods and entrusted everything to Christ. But perhaps they left even more behind. Maybe they left their own pride and egos. Maybe they left their own need to control and follow certain ways and their own agendas. Maybe they left their own blindness to the needs of others. Maybe they left their own despair that God was not doing anything in this world. Maybe they left behind their own fear as they began a journey with Jesus that they knew was good and true and right but had no idea where it would finally lead them. Maybe they left their own need to know the future and simply trust in God's future for them.

Today when Christ calls us to this Communion Table, he is calling out to all of us. To each person here, Christ invites you to offer simply who you are, what you've got and where you are to serve God's greater plan. Answering God's call in your life is saying yes to Christ and all that it means. We realize once again that we are not accidental visitors to his place and to our lives. "We are deeply loved creations fashioned for a holy purpose. That purpose is to worship God, love God, serve God and declare God. It is to offer our bodies, minds, spirits and gifts toward whatever Jesus desires."[1]

Your calling is not something you devise, root out, wrestle to gain, choose, aspire to or maybe even naturally recognize. The call of Jesus is initiated by God and controlled by God. The style and situation of these calls may be different, just as there are many styles of phoning or communicating with one another today.

But we do know this: when Jesus calls us to the Communion Table today, we may find ourselves empty and needing to be filled. We may find ourselves full already with gratitude for the abundant blessings in our lives right now.

When Christ calls us to this Communion Table, we come remembering that wondrous Cross on which the Prince of glory died, and to pledge to our inviting Lord, our life, our souls, our all.

All praise and honor and glory be unto you, our living God, who continues to call us by name in all kinds of surprising ways.

All praise and honor and glory be unto you, our living God, who continues to call us by name in all kinds of surprising ways.

Amen

[1] Eugenia Gamble, Christ Calls, We Respond from Presbyterianleader.com February, 2010

©Kate Thoresen 2010