READINGS AND REFLECTIONS FOR THURSDAY, 03 SEPTEMBER 2020

1 CORINTHIANS 3 : 18 – 23                PSALM 24: 1 – 6               LUKE 5: 1 – 11

Collect:

Holy God,

in love  you gave your only begotten Son to save the world:

empower us to follow the example of his obedience

that we will take up our cross and follow him;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen

In the Gospel reading, Luke writes about a lake, boats, nets, and fishermen and yet this story is so much more than fishing. It is a story of life and transformation, Simon’s and ours. Jesus is calling Simon to a new life, new challenges and a new way of being. This happens in the context of fishing because that is what Simon knows best. Jesus comes to us in the ordinary, everyday circumstances of our lives.  Jesus meets us where we are. 

It has been a long night for Simon. He has done everything a good fisherman is supposed to do, just like he had been taught. He has been doing it this way for years; night after night, week after week, season after season. Tonight, however is different. The usual routine did not work this time. The net is empty. Simon caught nothing. 

We may not be fishermen but I am sure we remember times like this. Times when we have done everything right, gave it our best, did all we could, prayed, lived faithfully, worked hard. We did all this and our nets still came up empty and we were left entangled in disappointment, doubt, sadness and grief, anger, fear, confusion. 

Jesus has a new and bright suggestion! “Put out into the deep water and let down the nets for a catch”.  We may be feeling tired and depressed, weary from what we have not caught, we don’t even have the energy to leave the shore, least of all put out nets into deep water.  It may seem there is nothing else to do, but to sit on the shore and wash our empty nets;  nets that now serve only as a reminder of what we did not catch, symbols of the one that got away and all that we have lost. 

Simon protests, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. But if you say so, I will let down the nets”.  Simon’s initial protest turns to resignation. In this resignation, he finds obedience to Christ. He has nothing too loose, nowhere else to go, nothing else to do.

The solution to empty nets is deep water. “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch,” Jesus says.  Whether we are fisherman or not, we are asked to put out into the deep water and let down our nets for a catch. 

There is something about depth that is frightening. Deep water is risky. You cannot touch or see the bottom or what might be down there. You are in over your head. People drown in deep water. And that is the point. The deep is the place where we both drown and swim. It is the place where we are buried with Christ and raised with Christ. It is where we experience the fullness of our baptism, the fullness of divine life. 

Too often, however, we are content to stay in shallow water. It is safe, comfortable, and familiar. If it gets too scary we just step out, back to the safety of the shore, the place we know and are comfortable in. Shallow water is the place of empty nets. The deep, is exactly where we must go. It is what we need and it is what the world needs. 

The world does not need smarter people, harder working people, or more beautiful people. The world needs deep people. People of depth who are willing to be transformed; people willing to go to the deep end, to get in over their heads, to reach where they cannot see, to stand where they cannot touch the bottom, to trust beyond their understanding and fear. This is the place to which we are invited today.

 Every day that we put out into deep water becomes a new day, a day of creation. For just as in the beginning “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2),  a new creation is about to take place.  Jesus will take Simon deep water fishing. He will re-create Simon and his life. He will teach Simon a new way of fishing and show him a new place to catch fish. Jesus will give Simon a new use for his empty nets. 

Simon, however, is not simply bringing up a great many fish. Simon Peter is bringing up the gifts of God – love, compassion, wisdom, mercy, forgiveness, peace, hope, healing, a vision for the future. The deep is always the place of transformation, a place of new life and abundance beyond quantity. 

Let us Pray : 

Gracious Lord,

as you lead us from the shores to the deep water,

may we live the transformation that you offer in our lives,

sharing the many gifts that you give so freely.

Amen