During the season of Epiphany,
we have focused on many of Jesus’ “firsts.” His first visit by gentiles, his
baptism, his first miracle (turning water into wine), his first sermon in his hometown
of Nazareth. Today, we are going to focus on Jesus calling his first disciples.
The stories we have heard in the season
of Epiphany on are not necessarily coming to us in chronological order….Jesus already
had some disciples with him when he went to wedding at Cana and preached in the
synagogue in Nazareth. None the less, the call of the Disciples is important
for us to note because their response to Jesus was imperfect, just as all of us
are imperfect. Here the story of the calling of the fishermen as it is found in
Luke, chapter 5, verses one through eleven:
One day as
Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding
around him and listening to the word of God.
He saw at the
water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their
nets.
He got into
one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little
from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
When he had
finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let
down the nets for a catch.”
Simon
answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught
anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
When they had
done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to
break.
So they
signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came
and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees
and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”
For he and all
his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,
and so were
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be
afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their
boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Message A
Surprising Catch
When future ministers enter the
seminary and start the process of becoming authorized for ministry in the United
Church of Christ, they are asked to tell their “call” story over and over
again. We are asked to explain, to articulate, what happened to us that
conveyed to us we were called to become Christian ministers. For some pastors, there are a series of minor
incidents that cumulatively contribute to eventually feeling “called” to
ministry. Some people have more of an instantons
call story – a moment when they feel like they are almost struck by lightning
with the “call” from God.
Most ministers in our tradition are
not born knowing they will become ministers. We don’t accept nepotism in our
tradition – sons don’t inherit churches from their pastor fathers like Joel Osteen
and Franklin Graham did. Instead, each congregation calls their pastor after a
vote of the congregation members. Therefore, most pastors are not groomed for this
work. Instead, most pastors start out thinking they are going to do something
else professionally and then they have a calling to ministry that interrupts
that plan.
Most ministers don’t lead
particularly pious or holy lives before they are called to ministry. Most of us
were regular people with all of the warts and flaws that go along with leading
a regular life. I went to seminary with
former farmers and soldiers, former businesswomen and teachers, former biologists
and professional chefs. Some of my classmates had done things the rest of the world
considers unsavory – people who once were strippers become ministers. People who
once were drug dealers and who served time in prison become ministers. People who once were attorneys or police
officers or car dealers become ministers.
This morning, we read the story of Jesus
calling the fishermen to follow him and become his disciples. Simon Peter
responded in a very human way – he fell down at Jesus’ feet, he bowed down
before Jesus, and said Jesus should go away from him because he was a sinful
man. Simon Peter did not feel like he was good enough to be in the presence of Jesus.
Simon Peter did not feel like he was worthy to become a disciple because he was
a “sinful man.”
We don’t know exactly why Simon Peter
considered himself a sinner. But, we know that most of us struggle to follow the
teachings of God and Jesus. We don’t practice the Christian faith perfectly. We
have moments of devotion when we allow our faith to be the guiding force in our
lives, and we have moments of failure when we allow other things to take
precedence in our lives. We aren’t perfect….Like Simon Peter, we are all sinful
men and women.
Despite our flaws, Jesus calls us to
follow him. Jesus was realistic, he knew his disciples would not be perfect….Simon
Peter messed up again and again. When he stepped out the boat to walk towards Jesus
as he walked on water, Simon Peter doubted and started to sink into the water. When
Jesus was being arrested, Simon Peter tried to defend him and cut off the ear
of the servant of the high priest. After
Jesus was arrested, Simon Peter famously lied and denied knowing Jesus three
times. Jesus knew Simon Peter wasn’t
perfect and wasn’t going to become perfect, but he called him anyway.
And, as the background stories of my
fellow ministers inform us, Jesus continues to call imperfect people to follow
him and serve him. This has been consistent throughout the history of Christianity.
Saints of old described their sinful early lives. Both Martin Luther and Martin
Luther King, Junior, succumbed to sin on occasion. St. Paul, the greatest Christian
evangelist of all time, started out as someone who sought out Christians,
persecuted them, and had them murdered. Even
when we try to follow Jesus, we don’t get everything right.
Jesus calls us to serve him and to serve
God, despite our failures.
We may not all be called to become
ministers, but we are all called to follow Jesus. Just as Jesus called his
first disciples to walk away from their boats, Jesus calls us to take risks for
him. Sometimes, in order to be loyal to Jesus, we can’t be loyal to our employers
or families. Sometimes, in order to be loyal to Jesus, we have to do thing that
make us uncomfortable or put us at risk. Sometimes, in order to be loyal to Jesus,
we have to stand up to our friends and go a different direction than the crowd.
But, when we follow Jesus, we are
assured we are doing the right thing. God asks us to keep God’s commandments,
and we are infinitely blessed by doing what God asks for us. God’s love for us
is infinite, it lasts forever, and follows us from this world to the next. God’s
grace is abundant, so even when we fail, we are forgiven and loved by our God.
Jesus calls us to follow him. All of
us, people who mess up and people who fail. People who try to get things right,
and sometimes have to try over and over again before we succeed. Jesus calls us
to follow him, so let us keep trying to follow today and all days.
May it be so. Amen.
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