Loading...I don’t know if you noticed it, but there is a recurring theme in all three readings this morning.
Each one tells the story of ordinary people, busy people, simple people, distracted people being called to follow God.
Isaiah confessed he was a man of “unclean lips” living “among a people of unclean lips.”
Paul explains to the Corinthians that he is the “least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”
And then Peter tells Jesus to “go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!’
Ordinary people, living in their communities, doing their work, trying to have enough to survive, to get along with others.
Some things don’t change, do they?
We set aside certain people from the stories in scripture who somehow break away from their everyday lives and we elevate them to titles like prophets, martyrs, and apostles, often forgetting the circumstances and situations from where they come. The reasons they, themselves may not think they deserve it.
I don’t think these stories are designed to elevate these people to places that make them closer to God.
I think they are stories to remind us that we all are worthy of God’s love. And because of that worthiness, we are all called to say “yes” like Isaiah, Paul, Peter and the rest of the disciples.
We say “yes” every time we profess our faith, pray our prayers, sing our songs, share the holy meal, and take everything we have learned and go out into the world, confessing our faith through the ways we walk in this world.
I love what students of scripture say are the “Call Narratives” because they remind me that each person has the capacity to show others the love of God. It only takes saying “yes” and trusting that every tool we think we might need will be provided.
I appreciate “Call Narratives” because they remind us that the most unexpected people – young, old, poor, struggling, and even people like Paul who persecuted the early Jesus Followers—they have it within them to change the world.
I find the “Call Narratives” humbling, because in each one of them, the person who is being called does not think they are good enough, and though it may take time or a little convincing, they take up the call anyway.
Did you notice in the Gospel when Jesus told Simon Peter to go back out into the lake after a long day of fishing but not catching, that Peter pointed out that it was highly unlikely they would catch anything. They were tired and it was time to call it a day, and really, Jesus! Our nets are clean and ready for tomorrow! But maybe because Jesus had recently healed his mother-in-law, he gave in, and they went back onto the lake and dropped the nets.
Peter essentially said “No” and then immediately changed his mind. And Jesus rewarded that “yes” with an abundance of fish. So. Many. Fish.
Peter’s response was to try to send Jesus away, because he didn’t believe he was worthy of this miracle. Why do I say that? Because he confesses that he is what has been translated in our version as “a sinful man.”
But consider this: According to Richard Swanson and other translators of Greek, Hebrew and other languages of the day, it is more likely Peter meant he is an “ordinary” man whose lifestyle does not make it easy for him to maintain, for example, a kosher diet, or to attend meetings or worship in the synagogue as regularly as others. He’s just doing what he can to keep his head above water and his family fed. He’s “just” ordinary.
I think most of us probably consider ourselves “just” ordinary. Whether that’s about how often we come to worship or how well we follow the commandments, or how we strive to keep our households fed and safe, we are doing what we can to keep our heads above water.
It’s easy to think we don’t deserve the abundance like Jesus is offering those men and probably a few women, too, on the shore of that lake.
And Jesus just looks at them and says “Pshaw. Of course you are worthy of all of it. I have every confidence in you. So much that if you choose to follow me, I’m going to teach you how to catch the hearts and minds of so many people with the abundant love of God.”
From that moment on, that’s exactly what he did. He took these ordinary people out of their ordinary lives on a lifelong pilgrimage that would teach them what abundant love looks like.
Saying “yes” to following Jesus certainly doesn’t mean we become extraordinary. Saying yes admits that we are not fully formed and that we are willing, over time, to understand that we have much to learn.
The first thing we might need to accept is that however “ordinary” our lives are, however “ordinary” we believe ourselves to be, we are worthy of God’s love.
God provided that fact when the nets became full that night.
Fishermen, tired, hungry, and probably disappointed that there had been nothing in their nets to sell to individuals or fish processors who would salt and preserve fish to be eaten later, or at the very least, to feed their own families, are shown in this moment that there is possibility and hope for the coming days.
It does surprise me that they simply left the boats, full of fish sitting on the shore. This was their livelihood. And leaving it behind seems wasteful.
But remember, at the beginning of today’s Gospel, Jesus had been telling a crowd of people about God, and they were pressing on him, pushing him closer and closer to the water. Jesus went out into the boat to continue teaching, creating a little space between him and the crowd.
It would be likely that at least some of the people who had been listening to Jesus, were still hanging around. Some had probably watched as the fishermen cleaned their nets while Jesus was teaching. They watched as the fishermen prepared their boats reloading the nets and other gear, for the next day.
They might have found it curious when Jesus finished using the boat for his teaching that they didn’t immediately come back to shore but instead rowed out a ways and then tossed the nets into the water. Even though this may be a normal thing, some of those from the crowd probably heard the calls for assistance to load all the fish into more boats. Some of them may have even gone into the water to help.
This miracle of abundance was not only for Peter and the other fishermen, it was for the whole community. Now, all of them would have fish to eat, share, salt, and preserve.
As Peter, James, and John left these fish on the shore, Jesus was ensuring that the loss of this vital business for this community would not leave anyone hungry.
The abundance of fish was a gift for all of them. It was the beginning of a pilgrimage that focused on keeping communities safe and whole. A pilgrimage teaching how bringing people together, creating space for those who have been excluded, shunned, or ripped from the community, whose widows, orphans, immigrants, sick, banned, and outcast, were to be welcomed to the ever-growing table.
A pilgrimage of invitation and welcome, calling others to experience the broad embrace of the loving and liberating arms of our Creator. Amen.
