Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C

LUKE 5:1-11
I WONDER WHY PETER AGREED TO GO OUT AND TRY AGAIN AT THE REQUEST OF JESUS? PETER AND HIS COMPANIONS MADE THEIR LIVING BY BEING EXPERT FISHERMEN. THEY KNEW WHERE THE FISH WERE LIKELY TO BE; THEY COULD READ THE WATER LIKE A BOOK. IN FACT, IT WAS BEST TO FISH BY MOONLIGHT, AS THEY DID, SINCE THE FISH WOULD COME TO THE SURFACE AND THEIR SILVERY SCALES WOULD BE VISIBLE. SO HERE WAS A MAN WHO OBVIOUSLY KNEW NOTHING ABOUT FISHING, REQUESTING THAT PETER TRY ONCE MORE. AND IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, WHEN THE FISH SWIM OUT INTO DEEPER WATER.
AND IT WASN’T JUST A MATTER OF DROPPING A LINE IN THE WATER. THE NETS HAD BEEN CLEANED AND REPAIRED AND WERE FOLDED UP WAITING FOR THE NEXT EVENING. THESE NETS WERE HEAVY AND UNWIELDY, WITH WEIGHTS ON THE CORNERS. YOU HAD TO THROW THEM OUT JUST RIGHT, LET THEM SINK INTO THE WATER, THEN PULL THEM UP AGAIN. HARD WORK. AND WHEN YOU WERE ALL THROUGH YOU HAD TO SPEND AN HOUR OR SO CLEANING AND FOLDING THEM AGAIN. IN ADDITION TO BEING AN EXPERT, I SUSPECT PETER REALLY LIKED TO FISH. AFTER JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN, AND THE APOSTLES WERE WONDERING WHAT TO DO NEXT, PETER TOLD THEM HE WAS GOING TO GO FISHING.
AND AT FIRST PETER WAS GOING TO TELL JESUS TO STICK TO PREACHING, BECAUSE IF PETER HADN’T CAUGHT ANYTHING, NOTHING COULD BE CAUGHT. BUT SOMETHING IN JESUS’ TONE, SOMETHING IN THE WAY HE LOOKED AT PETER – MAYBE SOMETHING HE HAD SAID IN HIS SERMON TO THE PEOPLE MADE PETER ACT AGAINST HIS INITIAL IMPULSE – “AT YOUR WORD WE’LL TRY AGAIN.”
MOST OF US HAVE AT LEAST ONE TALENT OR SKILL IN WHICH WE TAKE PRIDE. AND WHEN WE ARE EXERCISING THAT SKILL, WE RESENT IT WHEN SOMEONE TELLS US HOW WE COULD DO IT BETTER. EVEN IF IT’S TRIVIAL, THE SKILL IS PART OF OUR SELF IMAGE, AND DOING WHAT WE DO BEST IS A REWARD IN ITSELF. AND THIS IS THE LAST PLACE WE WANT GOD TO TOUCH OUR LIVES; IT’S WHERE OUR CREATIVITY, OUR SENSE OF WORTH, OUR INDEPENDENCE ALL COMES TO A POINT. WE DON’T MIND ASKING GOD FOR HELP WITH THINGS WE DON’T DO WELL OR THAT WE CAN'T CONTROL, BUT WE’D RATHER HE JUST STOOD ASIDE WHEN WE ARE ENGAGED IN SOMETHING WE REALLY DO WELL.
BUT JESUS SHOWS PETER TWO THINGS IN THIS MIRACLE. FIRST, A TIME WILL COME WHEN HOW YOU DEFINE YOURSELF WILL BE SHAKEN TO THE CORE. SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN THAT WILL SHOW YOU THAT YOU ARE NOT INDEPENDENT, THAT THE WAY YOU SEE YOURSELF IS NOT REALITY. PETER SAW HIMSELF AS A MASTER FISHERMAN, BUT THIS TIME ALL HIS SKILLS HAD BEEN FOR NOTHING. WAS HE THINKING ABOUT HOW HE WAS GOING TO SUPPORT HIS FAMILY IF HE COULD NO LONGER FISH? WAS HE WONDERING IF HE COULD HIRE HIMSELF OUT TO WORK ON A FARM IF HE HAD TO GIVE UP HIS INDEPENDENT BUSINESS?
AND IN THIS MOMENT JESUS REVEALS TO HIM A RADICAL TRUTH; YOU REALLY CAN’T DO ANYTHING, PETER, WITHOUT GOD’S HELP; BUT WITH HIS HELP, YOU CAN DO FAR MORE THAN YOU EVER COULD ON YOUR OWN.
AND THAT IS A LESSON MOST OF US STILL NEED TO LEARN; NOT JUST AGREE IN PRINCIPLE, BUT UNDERSTAND DEEP IN OUR SOULS THAT WE ARE BETTER OFF BEING SLAVES OF GOD THAN OUR OWN BOSSES; WE BECOME REALLY EFFECTIVE, REALLY POWERFUL, WHEN WE TURN EVERYTHING OVER TO JESUS; BUT IT IS HIS POWER, HIS EFFECTIVENESS THAT WORKS IN US, NOT OUR OWN. THAT IS WHY PETER’S FIRST REACTION IS TO SAY, “DEPART FROM ME” BECAUSE THE HARDEST THING FOR A HUMAN BEING TO DO IS TO SURRENDER EVERYTHING TO ANOTHER PERSON, EVEN IF THAT PERSON IS GOD HIMSELF. IT IS MUCH MORE ATTRACTIVE TO AVOID THE CHALLENGE, TO HIDE, TO ERECT BARRIERS – ANYTHING TO GUARD OUR INDEPENDENCE, OUR EGO, OUR PLACE IN THE CENTER OF OUR OWN UNIVERSE.
AND TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, I’M LIKE PETER. I REALLY DON’T SEE HOW JESUS COULD WANT ME TO BE HIS INSTRUMENT; I’M FLAWED, I’M A REAL MESS WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT; I’M NOT ONLY A SINFUL MAN, BUT I DON’T EVEN WANT TO CHANGE.
BUT JESUS GIVES PETER AND HIS FRIENDS A CHALLENGE; FOLLOW ME, AND WHAT YOU VALUE NOW, WHAT YOU THINK DEFINES YOU, WILL SEEM LIKE NOTHING. LET GO OF YOUR BOAT AND YOUR NETS AND EVEN THOSE SKILLS YOU’VE DEVELOPED OVER A LIFETIME, AND LET ME BE THE CENTER OF YOUR LIFE, LET ME DEFINE YOU. GIVE UP BEING SIMON THE FISHERMAN AND I WILL MAKE YOU PETER, THE ONE WHO WINS SOULS, THE ONE WHO FEEDS MY LAMBS AND MY SHEEP, THE ONE WHO WILL BE THE ROCK ON WHICH I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.
JESUS HAD ANOTHER ENCOUNTER, PROBABLY MORE THAN ONE, BUT AT LEAST ONE, IN WHICH HE OFFERED A SIMILAR CHALLENGE TO A RICH YOUNG MAN. “IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BE PERFECT,” HE SAID, “SELL ALL YOU HAVE, GIVE TO THE POOR, AND COME AND FOLLOW ME.”
THE RICH YOUNG MAN WENT AWAY SORROWING, BECAUSE HE HAD MANY POSSESSIONS. PETER LEFT EVERYTHING TO FOLLOW JESUS.
LORD JESUS, DON’T GIVE UP ON US. PETER DIDN’T BECOME WHAT YOU WANTED HIM TO BE OVERNIGHT; YOU HAD TO TEACH HIM AND FORGIVE HIM AND EVEN AFTER YOU LEFT HIM IN CHARGE OF THE CHURCH, HE WAS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS UNTIL HE DIED. HELP US TO LEAVE WHAT HOLDS US BACK AND FOLLOW YOU; AND NOT GO AWAY SORROWING BECAUSE WE CAN’T.