Being part of a wonderful catch
Ordinary Sunday 5: 7th February, 2010
Fr John Davis, Vicar of St Peter's, Eastern Hill
For Peter and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish they had taken. (Lk 5:9)
Today's gospel is a familiar one relating to the call of the disciples Peter, James and John. We know the story; its setting on the lake, the fishing boat, the catch, the response of the three men. They dropped everything and went along with this Teacher who had made such an impact on them.
But what a strange catch today's gospel describes. The fishermen were said to be completely overwhelmed. This was something very unusual. Furthermore, it had come at a time of disappointment and discouragement. They were washing their nets after a whole night of getting absolutely nowhere. It was suggested that they go out into deep water and try again. The results were beyond any reasonable expectation, and this was immediately recognised. The crowds are pressing around on the edge of the lake waiting to hear the Lord's teaching or to experience healing and the boats are filled with fish. There is something obvious that needs to be done. The three new disciples decide to follow. And this is presented as a model for the Church.
The catch is amazing.
Catching fish is one thing; catching people is another. Yet the Lord told them that it would be people that they would be gathering in from then on. There the image needs to be let go because the idea of trapping or hooking is not altogether attractive, though it has to be acknowledged that there have been some claiming Christian pedigree who have been happy enough to use such techniques.
This gathering is to be by the attraction of the message, the teaching, the living; the quality and the integrity of what is lived and taught. This gathering is to be of those who are able to share that renewed sense of meaning and purpose in life that was and is from time to time experienced in the Christian community. Later, as the teachings of the Lord developed and the ministry and events unfolded, it would become clear that this was to involve more than the following of a wise and impressive teacher. It was and is to do with engaging the fundamental questions of human living and the life of the world to come. It was and is to do with beginning to understand that God was powerfully present and at work in the person of this Jesus of Nazareth.
So what are some the implications? There are so many. Some will speak to us as individuals more powerfully than others. But here are 10.
- It is an opportunity to join in worship and celebration.
- It is an opportunity for care and for service in a community context.
- It is to do with the potential lifting of great burdens which have had the power to weigh down, to separate and divide. Evil is here placed in the wider context of absolute goodness.
- A God once perceived to be so distant is brought wonderfully close in this Jesus of Nazareth.
- Fellow humans so distant are potentially brought close by the addressing of some of the hardest of issues in our interaction with each other, not the least being the matter of forgiveness.
- It is to do with thanksgiving; most grateful thanks flowing from a growing awareness of God's love and care.
- It is truly to do with a sense and an awareness of being offered a lifeline and thus being saved.
- It results in new priorities. It means gathering with others in groups large or small who share that core sense of God, who are striving to believe, to hope, to trust and to serve. Or who would like to share that, but cannot just now.
- It is certainly rather more than being respectable and well behaved — many Christians are neither.
- It is an affair of the heart as well as the mind.
Consider the images we are accustomed to use in our attempts to put this into words. Fish in nets do not have that much choice in their placement and in any case do not have much of a future. Sheep in sheepfolds, while no doubt grateful for good shepherds, have not chosen their lot. Branches of vines have limited rational appeal. Even being the chickens underneath the spreading and protective wings of a mother hen is somewhat claustrophobic. All these images of community, while initially helpful, can only take us so far. People, human beings do have choices that can be exercised. Being part of the human Christian catch can be very surprising, but these days there are very few involved who have not made some degree of choice in the matter. Even those born into it do themselves have the choice to stay or to go. Those who come to faith in later life may find themselves involved in a Christian community for many reasons, some clear, some not so clear.
Some can with all their hearts join in the baptismal responses:
I turn to Christ
I repent of my sins.
I reject selfish living and all that is false and unjust.
I renounce all that is evil.
A whole new life can be lived alongside others who are prepared to make that commitment.
Others are not ready for that, but want to travel along the Way nonetheless. It could be a need for companionship, for beauty say in music or ceremony, or a simple desire to come to a place where prayers are offered or good works done. Who is to know? But the catch is still amazing.
There is so much. It is easy enough to get discouraged. It is very easy to hope for more and sooner. It is easy to be aware of shortcomings. It is easy to bruise and to be bruised. It is all too easy to be so continually searching for that which really fits the bill and is complete and perfect, that a whole lifetime may be spent in moving slightly discontentedly from one not quite right place and community to another, forgetting that we never in this life actually arrive.
Today's gospel was about call — about the sudden sense of vocation that those Galillean fishermen realised. It is a response to the call to relationship with God in Jesus Christ and with each other, in a community of faith where the invitation to participate is utterly broad and generous. Today's gospel is a striking example of a dramatic change of life direction triggered by something somewhat unusual. Peter James and John impulsively dropped everything. In this early part of the year we are hearing about how the whole thing got going — risks and all. There are no promises about it being simple or easy — just the opposite. But also there is a clear and pressing sense of urgency and significance. This just might make all the difference. All of us are potentially then part of this wonderful catch. Be encouraged.
The Lord be with you.
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