February 7, 2010
 
Scripture:         Luke 5:1-11
 
Sermon:           “Teach a Man to Fish”
 
            Turning our hearts and minds now to the word of God, let us read together the scripture lesson for the day.  Turn with me to the Gospel According to Luke, chapter 5, where we will read together the first 11 verses.  You can find that easily on page 84 of the New Testament in the pew Bible.
            “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”  You’ve heard that before.  I understand that it is a Chinese Proverb.  “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”  Some folks believe that it’s in the Bible somewhere.  It’s good wisdom wherever it came from.
            You can take that literally, of course.  No harm in that.  If you really do show someone how to use a rod and reel with the right kind of bait and so on, he or she could survive on the delights of the river for as long as the fish were in good supply.
            But, the proverb has just as much truth to it if you don’t take it literally.  We like to quote these words as if they were in the Bible whenever we’re confronted with things like poverty.  We could provide a meal for folks when they are hungry, you know.  We can give them clothes and so on.  But, if we could teach them different life skills they might actually have a chance to improve their situation for the long run.  Maybe get a better paying job to take care of a family.
            It’s a good philosophy, I think.  A lot of truth to that.  A lot of truth.
            The problem is that it takes a greater commitment to actually teach something to someone.  Right?  It takes truly investing in someone’s life to sit down and show them how to do things differently.
            Maybe that should say something to us about the ways that God invests in our lives.
            Jesus played around with his own fishing metaphor a time or two.  It happens, you know, that several of his most dependable friends and followers were fishermen.  What better way to communicate with them than by talking metaphorically about fishing?  Listen to this story and see how he does it.  This is the word of the Lord…
 
            Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.  He got into one of 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.  When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”  Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing.  Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.”  When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.  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.  But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”  For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; 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.”  When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.”
 
            I’ve always thought that this might have been one of the funnier moments in the life and times of Jesus and his disciples.  I hear this story as if Simon Peter is trying to do one better than the Master.  And it’s funny to read it like that.
            Simon has been fishing his whole life, you know.  He learned it from his father, who probably learned it from his father, and so on down the line.  And men of the sea like this are rough and tumble sorts that figure not too many other folks are cut out for this kind of stuff.
            The story goes that Jesus has arrived along the shore of the lake where guys like Simon make their living.  And there’s quite a crowd pressing in on him as he preaches another of his fantastic sermons.  He can bring life to the mysteries of the scriptures better than anyone you’ve ever heard.  And Simon’s impressed.
            But, when Jesus then suggests that they set sail into the deeper waters in order to catch some fish, that’s when the story gets funny to me.  Sure, Jesus can preach a good sermon.  But, he’s no fisherman.  “What does this land lover know?”  I can hear him saying that to his partners.  “This is rich!  You know this guy used to build houses or something.  A carpenter.  Ought to leave this fishing stuff to professionals.”  That’s what I hear Simon saying.  “Sure he can preach.  But, fish?”
            And he’s mocking the Lord at this point.  Isn’t he?  Do you hear that, too?  He said, “Master, we have worked these waters all night long and haven’t caught a thing.  Fish aren’t biting today, you land lover.  But, if you really, truly want to go fishing, I’m going to put you to work.  Tell me to put out into the deep waters for a catch.  Fine.  Let’s go.  Let’s go catch some pretty little fish for the preacher.
            I think it’s funny.  Men don’t put this much effort into shaming each other unless they actually take a liking to them.  It’s a strange truth about male bonding, I know.  But, we tend to laugh the hardest at our very best friends.  And Simon is yucking it up with Jesus.
            What happens, though, isn’t really very funny at all.  To tell the truth it is kind of haunting.  So many fish wind up in their nets that the boats were starting to capsize and sink.  Seasoned and tough men, fishermen, were completely overwhelmed at how to handle all of the catch.  So completely overwhelming was the entire event that Simon quickly went from laughing at and with his new friend to humbly recognizing that he was in the presence of the Living God.
            That’s a haunting thing, actually.  I know that we long to know God’s presence most of our lives, to know that the Lord really is here in the midst of it all.  But, to actually grasp that for the first time is terribly unnerving.
            My family lived here in this area when I was about ten years old.  1980 or so.  And my sister and I wound up going to Catholic school over in Germantown.  St. Therese.  The church is still there, you know.  The school is closed.  But, the church is still there.  Kind of a Mediterranean looking cathedral with these two twin bell towers.
            There was one day after classes had let out and before our basketball practice started that I got into a good game of hide and seek with some other boys there.  The church itself was open.  And I ran into the sanctuary to find a good place to take refuge.  In this church there was a big tall gate that separated the pews from the place where the altar was.  Some churches have that, you know, where only the priests are supposed to go at certain times during the worship service or mass.
            But, I was just a ten year old Protestant.  I didn’t know all of that.
            As I opened the gate to go inside…hey, we were allowed to wander all over church where I came from…as I opened the gate to go inside where the altar was, I was overwhelmed by the sense that I was entering into someplace different, someplace holy.  I wasn’t supposed to be there.  You know what I mean?  This place was somehow God’s place.  I shouldn’t have been there.  I wasn’t worthy of it.  Ten years old and I knew that I was too much of a sinner to be in that place.
            A hand came across my shoulder.  And the voice of the priest said, “It’s an awesome thing to be in the presence of God, isn’t it?”  I thought he was going to let me have it for sure.  But, he said, “It’s an awesome thing to be in the presence of God.”
            And that is what happened to Simon Peter in the boat.  This miraculous thing occurs that only being in God’s presence could have accomplished.  His fishing nets were bursting with fish.  And then Simon was doubled over with this terrifying reality that God was right there in that place somehow.  In this man, Jesus.  And it was not at all comforting at first.  He looked up from the floor of the boat and said, “Please go away from me, Lord.  I am a sinful man.  I shouldn’t be here.”
            I shouldn’t be here.
            The prophet Isaiah had one of those moments, too.  Sixth chapter of Isaiah and he’s having some kind of experience of actually entering into heaven where God is sitting on a throne.  Angels were worshiping the Lord with that song.  “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.  The whole earth is full of his glory.”
            We long to know that God is all around us.  Don’t we?  Long for it.  I just want to really know.  Given all that seems to confirm that we are lost and lonely and far away from the presence of God, we really long to feel His presence.  And Isaiah found himself there.  In the very presence of God.  Exactly where we think we’d like to be most of the time.  He said, “Woe is me!  I am lost.  I shouldn’t be here.  I am a man of unclean lips.  I live among folks with unclean lips.  Yet my eyes have gazed upon the King.”
            We may long to be in God’s presence.  Broken hearted as we are.  Defeated as we can be at times.  Lonely.  Confused.  We’d give anything to feel certain of the Lord’s presence.  Truth is that we’re also pretty scared of it.  What would God think of us?  What would a holy God think of me, a sinner like I am?  Terrifying, actually.
            Simon Peter fell to his knees, begging Jesus to leave him alone.  We long for that presence, but then it really shakes us up to come face to face with God.  And we think, “I’m not supposed to be here.”
            Yes you are.  And yes I am.
            We may only have moments when the presence of God is unmistakable.  We may only have glimpses of a greater truth around us from time to time.  The miraculous moments.  The compassionate moments.  The moments when love conquers evil.  They may only come in fits and starts.  But, God isn’t confined to sanctuaries.  And God isn’t any less present in the midst of your life when you think it’s nothing very remarkable or promising.  God’s already there.
            You are supposed to be here.  God chose you to be with.
            So, Jesus put his hand on Simon’s shoulder.  Comforting.  He said, “Don’t be afraid.”
            Don’t be afraid.  Do not be afraid.
            I wish I could tell folks not to be afraid of this.  Church.  Jesus.  God.  I wish I could tell folks not to be afraid.  Folks who are hurting.  Folks who’ve been judged and beaten up by notions of God that have no compassion.  I wish I could tell them not to be afraid.  God is already here.  And all of us have already been chosen.  No need to fear.
            I suspect that is exactly how Jesus taught Simon to fish for people.
 
Rev. David James Brown
Park Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)