Come On Out
This is the reflection sent out to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. Take a look and see what stands out to you. Then let me know your thoughts via Facebook or my blog.
Luke 5:1-11
5Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3He 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. 4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7So 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. 8But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; 10and 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.” 11When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
This month we are celebrating the Season of Creation. The overall theme for the month is wisdom. This Sunday is Ocean Sunday and we will explore together the waters of our earth and how we interact with them.
Many of Jesus’ interactions with his disciples took place in the Galilee, where there wasn’t an ocean, but a lake, a small lake. It is approximately 13 miles long, and 8.1 miles wide. Compare this with our own Chautauqua Lake at 17 miles long and two miles wide at its greatest width.
One of the things that struck me in this passage is Jesus’ command to “Put out into the deep water…” Deep water isn’t safe. You can lose control in the depths and cannot quickly return to shore. It is one more way in which Jesus is asking his disciples to trust him.
The disciples had to be exhausted after fishing all night long without success. Washing their nets, done after fishing, they were packing it in. After Peter had tiredly complained that they’d spent the night fishing, he responds to Jesus with these words, “Yet if you say so, I will” (v. 5). Peter, speaking for the rest, accepts Jesus’ challenge simply because Jesus had issued it.
Think about baptism and its continued work in our lives. “When this truth and promise are joyfully remembered, baptism renews its work and power and the heart is once more joyful and content; but not because of the person’s own work…but because of the mercy of God, who in baptism promised to keep him forever” (Martin Luther, Sermon on the Holy and Venerable Sacrament of Holy Baptism, 1519).
Is Jesus calling us out into the deep, where we do not have the control we would like to? May we have hearts that respond as Peter did, “…if you say so, I will.”
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