"Stretching Our Faithfulness"

Sermon 02.07.10
“Stretching Our Faithfulness”

“When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.” Left everything. They had a lot to leave.

Recently, a first –century fishing boat was recovered from the mud outside of the sea of Galilee. The shell of the boat is 26.5 feet long, 7.5 wide and 4.5 feet deep. Now I’m not one of those people that can do the math here, but I can tell you that when this boat is full of fish and there’s another boat full of fish and they are both in the process of sinking from the weight of their catch, and that fish is the primarily item on the diet of the people in Jesus’ era, leaving this profession at this particular time to follow a non-fisherman is perfectly nuts. Yet three people were willing to take that chance: Simon, James and John.

The text doesn’t tell us that they brought in the fish, sold the catch, pocketed the money and then followed Jesus. They brought the boats to the shore, got out and left everything. No doubt their wives also thought they were nuts when they went home to dinner that night.

This call story from the gospel of Luke is particularly compelling, because it asks us to stretch our faithfulness in numerous ways.

First, it speaks to the disappointment of the disciples. It has been a terrible day, and they had caught nothing. They were in the process of washing out their nets, cleaning up, ready to call it a day. It meant no income for that day. They had been up all night and were exhausted and wanting to go home.

Jesus was not part of the fishing excursion to begin with; he happens to be preaching on the shore and is overwhelmed with the crowds. Wishing to put a little distance between himself and the throng, he invites himself into Simon Peter’s boat and asks him to sail out a little bit from the land. Notice that Peter doesn’t grumble or whine. He just sets out in response to Jesus’ request.

This is the first response of faithfulness, and many of us might find it familiar. After a full day of work on a paying job, there may still be work to be done after coming home – church committee meetings, PTA or Boy Scout commitments, taking meals to an elderly neighbor, telephoning to check in on an aging parent. Sometimes we’re just not in the mood or feel that we don’t have one more ounce of energy for anyone. But we do it anyway. Our faithfulness to respond to those in need or our volunteer activities is the first lesson from today’s text.

The second call to faithfulness comes when Jesus asks Peter to sail out a little further and put the nets out again. I can imagine him thinking to himself, “But I just cleaned those nets”. When our efforts have been less than fruitful, it’s easy to quit. James and John and Peter have been fishing all night with nothing to show for their efforts. Nada, zip, zero. Why in the world should we go through this torture again, was their unspoken response. I’ll bet that everyone in the congregation has been faced with a hopeless situation at one time or another. Can I get an Amen out there?

You have been disappointed over and over by a child, you have worried about a friend for months and months, you have stayed in a situation that is unhealthy waiting for a different response to happen, you have time and again hoped for something that has eluded you. Jesus says to the disciples. This time will be different. This time I am going to do all the work for you. Many times we work so hard without a consultation with the Master. Too often, we have said, “Here’s my plan, God, now please bless it.”

It is a stretch of faithfulness to let God work out God’s plan for our life, rather than thinking that we have to do it all. And curiously, in today’s text, this miracle has nothing to do with healing lepers or curing paralytics. Jesus justs asks the fisherman to do what they have always done – let out the nets. Only this time, he’s on board the ship. Maybe we need to ask Jesus into our boats.

The last stretch of faithfulness is the hardest – to give everything up. Unlike the fisherman, we are not being asked to give up our normal means of livelihood (unless you happen to be Pastor Karen) and leave our businesses and homes behind. Giving up means relinquishing the control, letting go and letting God, giving your heart over to the gospel message.

It’s like the story of a twelve-year old boy who became a Christian during a revival service. His classmates asked him the following week whether he had seen a vision or whether he had heard God speak to him. He told them no, nothing like that had happened, and so they laughed and asked how he could think of himself as a Christian. He thought for a minute and responded: It’s like when you catch a fish; you can’t see the fish or hear the fish, but you know he’s tugging on your line. I just felt God tugging on my heart.” Faithfulness asks not for proof, and that is why it always requires a stretch.

The good news from Luke’s text is the one heard so frequently in the gospel: Do not be afraid. Jesus tells the disciples that from now on they will be catching men. Quite possibly their wives wanted to know if this new occupation paid any better than the old one. But what Jesus is promising is that he has better things waiting for you if you are willing to trust him with your life. That’s really risky business and requires a final test of faith.

The disciples were not chosen because of their outstanding qualities and they were not called in holy places and circumstances. Like us, they were ordinary people who simply were asked to change their priorities and commitments for a life that required them to leave everything material to gain everything spiritual. Jesus says leave it, all of it. All of the baggage that we drag around, that weighs down the boats and causes us to sink. Let it sit on the shore, Jesus says. You won’t need it for the next journey.

Many years ago, in an African country, it was decided to put a suspension bridge across a wide gorge. No one could imagine the work involved or even how to get started. Someone finally decided to shoot an arrow from one side to the other. The arrow carried across the gulf a tiny thread and thus a connection was established. By and by the thread was used to draw a piece of twine across; the twine carried across with it a small rope; and the rope soon carried a cable across, and in good time came the iron chain that the bridge was to hang from.

Although often weak in the beginning stage, a seemingly small amount of faith can be stretched and made stronger. Jesus calls us to stretch our faithfulness to the limit, but promises to stand with us in the boat. Hear the prayer from an fisherman in Melanesia: O Jesus, be the canoe that holds me up in the sea of life; be the rudder that keeps me in the straight road; be the outrigger that supports me in the time of temptation. Let your spirit be my sail that carries me through each day. Keep my body strong, so that I can paddle steadfastly on in this voyage of life. May we cast our nets out just one more time in the spirit of faithfulness to God’s word. Amen.