Luke: 1-11 “In the Shallows” 5/19/2019 Rev. Jerry W. Krueger Boardman United Methodist Church
On the Texas gulf coast at Port Aransas, Texas, there is a place called “the flats.” The flats are located on the bay side of the Mustang Island barrier reef, and water is only 3 to 4 feet deep there. The flats contain a diverse and rich aquatic ecosystem with abundant redfish and sea bass in the shallows.
A friend fished there often and took a next-door neighbor fishing in the flats one morning. The neighbor mentioned that he wanted to catch a tarpon or marlin one day. My friend said, “David, to catch the really big game fish, you have to leave the safety of the flats, the shallows, and push out into deep water where the other fish live.”
This morning’s text from the Gospel of Luke, instructs us the same way. We encounter 3 professional fisherman, Simon Peter, James, and John, Simon’s business partners.
They’re actively washing nets from a failed night of fishing when this itinerant rabbi, Jesus, appears with people in tow who want to hear him. Jesus prevails upon Peter to push the boat out a bit, so it can be used as a pulpit, and the shoreline as a natural sounding board. The teaching is completed, Jesus knows Simon fishes for a living and assesses the “no fish predicament”, saying, “Put out into deep water, and let down your nets for a catch.”
Peter knew Jesus was a carpenter, not a fisherman, and what do wood workers know about fishing for a living? So, Peter plays along, and Bam -O! The net is full, ready to bust open with a harvest of fish needing both boats to haul it in. Peter is unprepared for fishing in deeper water, only prepared for what he knows, staying close to the shore, for the predictable catch. But even hoping for a good catch when it occurs, Peter is unprepared.
Luke writes Peter is penitent, realizing just who Jesus is and the power that God has. And the interesting twist to the story, that we too often miss, is found at the end of the text, “When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.”
They get the motherlode haul of fish, bring them to shore, and leave it all behind. It makes me wonder what it takes for us to suddenly move from one stage of shallow water, safety in “the flats” kind of predictable living, to living out in the deep water with Christ.
There are many topics we could discuss with this text:
- The miracle of the catch
- The call to discipleship
- The significance of the seashore
- The absence of Simon Peter’s brother, Andrew. Why is HE not in the story?
- The importance of obedience
- The unique elements of this story found only here and not in Matthew, Mark, or John
- The sense of unworthiness Peter felt in Christ’s presence.
All are important, but today I want us to realize that we all need to launch into deeper water. The deeper water of faith, life, and prayer. We’ve stayed in the shallows long enough; Jesus is calling us into a deeper life.
Related to this text, Psalm 103: 1-2 reads” Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits.”
That is a Psalm of Thanksgiving. And as Christians, we’re a people with much to be thankful for. But reality says we take the Father, Christ, and Holy Spirit for granted, too often.
Think about how wonderful your body is. Cut your arm, it will heal. If there was a car that repaired its own dents or scuffed paint, we would all be stunned. Yet our bodies, created by God, are taken for granted that they will work unfailingly for a long, long time.
If we want a new start, a new lease on life, new power in our prayer lives, the place to find it is in depths of gratitude before God. If you desire to live more thankfully, call upon the Christ to lead you out into the deeper waters of being thankful.
Simon Peter, after realizing the overly abundant catch came from God, falls before Jesus. Peter proclaims he is a sinner and unworthy, and like Isaiah in the Temple, “an unclean men with unclean lips dwelling in the midst of unclean people.”
In the Bible, penitence is a life challenging, often painful process. People cried and tore their clothes, putting ashes on their head. But in reality, we treat sin lightly, and often continue to wade around in the shallows of penitence.
A story written several years ago about a woman who approached Jesus with seven demons inside her. Jesus states he can cast out all 7 and help her, asks her permission, and the woman replies, “Okay, but could you just cast out 6 of the 7?”
There is something in us that wants to hold something, some small secretive thing back from Jesus. Oft times, much of our penitence is shallow and halfhearted.
Facing our own change is difficult. The woman said, “I want the neighborhood kids to play outside together so we can keep an eye on all of them.” After her yard was battered with daily kid traffic, she exclaimed, I want the kids to play together, just not in my yard!”
Penitence comes from a Hebrew word for “repent,” meaning “about face,” turn around, do a 180-degree direction change. If we want a new powerful prayer life, we must relocate ourselves from the shallow flats, out into the depths of penitence with Christ.
And finally, the three named disciples bailed on everything. The sign on the door didn’t say, “Gone fishing.” It must have read, “Left it all to go fish for humanity.”
So, I ask how committed are you to the belief in and of the Christ as Lord and Savior? Is your commitment loitering in the safety of the shallows, or are you moving out into the deep?
Choosing to follow Christ requires us to be willing to only be tethered to Jesus Christ out in the deep. Fully dependent upon him,
Following Christ requires commitment, deep commitment on our parts. Christ speaks to me today, to each of you today saying, “Come on, leave the wading pool. Immerse yourself in the depths of my love for you, thank God for all he has done for you. Confess to God that we have not done all that we could do, and ask him to help us to do better. And finally, tell the Lord God that you are willing to be used as His instrument in whatever role he sees fit.
Hear these words we pray to Christ. Lord, let me serve you with love and peace. Enable me to do your will! Not my will, but your will. Enable me to be your church to others! Enable me to, come what may, even when the world takes the wind out of my sails, be your faithful disciple.
I ask and pray all of this in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.
