Calvary Episcopal Church
Memphis, Tennessee
February 8, 2004
The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

From Now On You Will Be Catching People
The Rev. Dr. Andrew MacBeth

Gospel: Luke 5: 1-11
(This sermon is also available in audio.)

Last Sunday morning, we were just beginning our journey to Memphis. I woke up to the sight of the sun rising over Lake Gaston in North Carolina. There on a little cove on the lakeshore, it was easy to see how helpful it would have been that Simon Peter made his boat available to Jesus for a pulpit. If there was a large crowd all around him, sitting in a boat just a few feet off shore would have helped everyone to see and hear what he had to say.

In response to Simon’s helpfulness, Jesus does something special with him as the day is ending and the crowds begin to disburse. He says: “Simon, put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Now, Simon has been up since before dawn. He fished all morning, without much success, listened to Jesus all afternoon, and now it is getting dark. In addition, it is safe to assume that Jesus does not know anything about fishing. Jesus grew up in Galilee, but not on the lakeshore. He grew up in Nazareth, in the hill country, where he would have learned about olive trees and grape vines but not about fishing. So, it does not make much sense to listen to Jesus about fishing.

But Simon apparently knows Jesus. He has not yet picked up the nickname Petros or “Rocky” that Jesus will give him later on. (In fact, the other fishermen who are looking on are probably thinking he has rocks in his head.) But he has enough experience with Jesus, enough of a relationship with him, to trust him. So he picks up his weary bones, grabs the heavy oars, and goes back to work!

You and I are in Simon’s position this morning. In spite of the fact that your Search Committee has done all kinds of work, and that Sybil and I have said our prayers and done our best discernment, we have NO IDEA what Jesus is up to in bringing us together. It did not necessarily make sense for me to leave the ministry I was doing and come here, except from the deep, won’t-go-away feeling that Jesus was asking me to do it. And I trust him. I trust his vision for my life far more than I trust my own judgment. So, at the end of the day, I obey.

You, for your part, must be putting your trust in this Jesus too, because you have set about in many wonderful ways to treat me as your pastor and your friend, without having a whole lot of data other than a word from this mutual friend that we follow. It has been beautiful to experience all the love and trust that has been offered me without waiting for me to earn it. I told the Calvary staff this week that this is a perfect illustration of the meaning of grace, love and acceptance given without warrant. Experiencing your open embrace also makes real for me the sometimes highly abstract idea of the Universal Church. Through our shared relationship with Jesus, we really are made part of something larger than Calvary Church or Eastern Shore Chapel, larger than any one congregation or group.

Simon’s reward for trusting and obeying Jesus’ command to him is an OVERWHELMING, abundant catch of fish. When he gets back to shore and has recruited some friends to help with the catch, he walks up to Jesus and just cannot find anything to say. He falls on his knees and says, “Get away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man.” This is something way beyond what Simon thinks he deserves or can understand.

There’s something about this scene that we could easily misunderstand, because as Americans, we tend to see religion through a Protestant, evangelical, revivalist lens. (I think this even applies to Roman Catholics and to some extent to American Jews!) We imagine that Simon and his friends are being moved from dissolute, irreligious lives to FAITH! This is probably not accurate. Simon and the other fishermen are already practicing the faith of their Jewish mothers and fathers, the most ethically demanding religion in the first-century world. They are already at least somewhat observant–and comfortable enough with faith to be hanging around this traveling rabbi. The great change Jesus works in them has nothing to do with keeping the religious and ethical rules these men already live by. Rather, he gives them a new job that they feel almost comically unprepared for. These rough-spoken, not very worldly fellows are being asked to become evangelists, to join Jesus in, as he puts it, “catching people.”

Brothers and sisters, we have new orders too. Calvary Church has a wonderful history of responding to the needs of its neighbors. If I have anything to say about it, that good work will be continued and expanded. But I have read the parish records. This is NOT a growing church at the moment. And it needs to be. This is not because Calvary needs members. I don’t care too much about that. But because there are so many of our neighbors in this city who are NOT going to have a relationship with Jesus unless they have it here or with some people a lot like us.

That is because right now, in this city, and in this nation, there are many versions of Christianity that mistake following Jesus for Rule-keeping, and have lost the priority of Love. There are plenty of churches for people who want to feel morally superior or socially superior. At the other extreme, there are also churches that have become so unhooked from their founder that they are more like concert halls or educational institutions than churches, having lost the challenge and discipline that is actually involved in following the Man for Others.

We are vulnerable to these criticisms ourselves, of course. But I believe three things can make Calvary a place where we fish for people:

One is real welcome for people, even those whose way of life or opinions may be different from our own.

The second is real challenge: becoming a parish where people can learn a disciplined way of life based on Scripture and Anglican tradition.

A third is real ministry: being a place where people can share, hands-on, in work that makes a difference for our neighbors.

So, if people come, it will not be because [said sarcastically] we have a great new preacher or a wonderful choir or any of those things. They will come because you invite them and because we are a group of people who know who we are and have a vital way of life to share. If you do not feel entirely well equipped for this work, you are in good company. Jesus said to the fishermen, “Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid, from now on you will be catching people.”

So, look around. Who is missing at the table this morning? Where are our own children and grandchildren? And what do we want to offer them? That would be an overwhelming question were it not for the great catch of fish, our reminder that we follow a Lord who has the resources to meet every need--theirs and ours--and to meet it abundantly.

-- And if you believe this, please join in saying…AMEN!

I look forward to sharing this work with you!

Copyright 2004 Calvary Episcopal Church

Gospel: Luke 5:1-11
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 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. NRSV

(Return to Top)