“From Empty Nets to Fullness of Life”
Luke 5:1-11
It's funny what things you remember from your childhood. I remember a song that we kids would sing. It was a funny, yet pathetic song from someone who felt rejected and unappreciated. I don’t remember the whole song, but I do remember this one verse. “Nobody loves me, everybody hates me. I guess I’ll go eat worms.” Each verse would end the same: "I guess I'll go eat worms." I think most of us can identify with the mood of the song, if not the dietary oddity. Every one of us has times when we feel like a failure, or the frustration of burn-out at one time or another. On some occasions we don't know why we feel so defeated and unloved; but at times, nevertheless, we do feel that way.
One day Jesus came upon a group of burnt out, defeated men. He met them as they were going about their daily work—fishing. Only, this was a very bad day. They had fished all night and had caught nothing. Now, if you fish for fun, such a period is simply frustrating; but when it's your occupation, a night of empty nets is demoralizing. We say that misery loves company, so perhaps the pain was at least partly relieved by the fact that all three men were in the same boat—literally. Nevertheless, the misery was running very deep. Now it was morning, after a night of failure when Jesus, the rising young preacher, stepped into Simon's boat. "Put me out a bit from the land," he said to Simon; and from that position, Jesus began to teach the people. Now, here’s where it gets interesting. You see, there's no record of what Jesus said. Luke gives us no indication of just how inspiring this motivational preacher was that day. Nor is there any indication of how much attention these fishermen paid to Jesus' teaching. Its as if the lesson that Jesus was teaching was insignificant to the presence of Jesus among these weary fishermen. Because what we do know is that when Jesus had finished teaching he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch" It was really quite nervy of Jesus. What does he know about fishing? The words from the previous chapter in Luke echo here, “ Isn’t he the carpenter’s son?” Perhaps he sensed they were so defeated that they were ready for any kind of counsel, from anyone. Or, maybe there was something motivational about fishing in his message to the crowd that day. Whatever it was, Luke doesn’t tell us. Brilliantly, the author of this gospel leaves the door open for us to hear God’s call in our very own personal way. Most significantly, Luke puts the ultimate importance not upon any words of wisdom but on the presence of Jesus in Simon's boat.
Simon refused at first. "Master, we worked all night for nothing!" This is the language of someone who already feels so defeated and burned out that he doesn't want to submit himself to still another failure. But, and I do mean BUT, in the very next line, Simon says something that reveals to us that he was willing to give this Jesus a chance. Simon says to Jesus, “YET IF YOU SAY SO.” There it is—-there’s the moment when Simon ever so cautiously cracks open the door for God to fill up his emptiness with faith in Jesus. That one little statement, “Yet, if you say so” changes everything. Simon goes from saying NO to saying YES. And, ultimately from empty nets to the fullness of life. It's only a little crack of faith that is all Jesus needs in Simon’s life, and in ours. So they threw out the nets from Simon's boat and hauled in a catch of fish so great that the load filled two boats full.
One little crack of faith changes everything. He could’ve said, “No, we’re tired. No, I don’t want to be disappointed again. No! He could have said NO—-But he didn’t. He gave faith a chance. And in doing so, he gave Jesus a chance.
How often do you give faith a chance?
Simon gave faith a chance and a night of failure and burnout was turned to success—greater success than they had ever known. But, if this was where the story ended, it would be a story about a rather inconsequential little miracle. It might feed our desire for a message of personal success, but it would not be worthy of being called the Word of God. Simon Peter, having cracked the door open for Jesus ever so slightly, saw more than just a miraculous catch of fish. He saw the God behind the miracle. He saw God behind the blessing of the catch. And, instead of responding with the cheers of a winner, he falls at Jesus' feet and begs, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" At first glance, that seems an unlikely reaction to a moment of success. That would be like watching the winner of the Superbowl refuse the trophy because they feel unworthy of the gift. But its not the success that Simon sees. In Simon's moment of financial and occupational glory he catches a glimpse of God behind the blessing. he knows that this was God's blessing, God's glory, not his. He knows that such a catch , this dramatic catch, is a blessing that is unworthy of any praise of human accomplishment. This blessing was not of his talent or skill, this was of God. He knows, that his moment of cracking the door open has now brought him face to face with the awesome power of God. And, the one commanding the power of God is standing right there in front of him. This catch was not his to claim. It was God's--and firthermore, this God had now revealed Simon's weakness and unappreciation of God's many blessings to Simon.
So, Simon sees the God behind the miraculous catch of fish and he falls to his knees begging for Jesus to go away from him because he’s a sinful man. Simon, like us when we encounter the miraculous work of God, realized his human limitations—his sinful self, and was convinced that God would want nothing of this fisherman. Surely, this failure of a fisherman would be unworthy of God, But, Jesus responds with just the reassurance that Simon needed. Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will be catching people.” In other words, “Don’t be afraid, God needs you.”
Simon, the pathetic fisherman, was wanted and needed by the Master.
One day, one moment in time, when Simon Peter was defeated and burned out, he cracked the door of faith open just a little, and what he saw behind that door was not just a miracle of fish catching, he saw the face of God, and realized that God had been there in his boat all that time. He realized that he not believed, that he had been sceptical, that he had been behaving as someone who is unworthy of God. But, now this Jesus had revealed the love of God to him. His empty nets of frustration were gone. His new life was now filled with the work that his Lord and master would ask of him. The enormous catch of fish was not of his doing, nor was it his to claim. So, when Jesus set off in a direction other than the claim of the fish, Simon followed leaving the catch behind.
You know, I like to say, there are two kinds of work that we all do. There is good work and there is bad work. The bad work is the stuff we do because we have to. This work leaves us tired, frustrated, and burnt out. But, good work is when we do the stuff that God wants us to do. This work leaves us rejuvenated, refreshed and ready to go some more even when we are tired. The bad work is of our own doing. Becasue the only thing we see, or are in pursuit of, by doing it is our personal gain or success. In our world it is not realistic for any of us to stop doing these things. Often these are the things that pay the bills, and provide for our families. Please do not hear God asking you to leave behind. However, there are lots of things we do that are in the periphery. There are many things we do that contribute to our burnout. These things can and ought to be left on the seashore. Now, at the same time, there is God's work (good work)that we do not do. And so, we get off balance. We do all of this stuff that drains us day after day, and we get into these unhealthy routines. Meanwhile, we don't do the things that have the potential to rejuvenate us in God's grace.
But, we don’t do what God asks of us if we don’t let our hearts crack open the door for faith at least a little. When we hear our Lord invite us, we need to say, possibly just as cautiously as Simon, “Ok, if you say so.”
God has great things He wants to accomplish with us. An exciting new life awaits us. The trouble with our sinfulness is that we’re always assuming we can do this thing called life better than God. God wants to share our lives with us, and we abandon Him in our disbelief. God loves us eternally, promises heaven to us, and we turn our backs on him. Luther once wrote, "Lord I believe. Save me from my unbelief." You know, if there’s anyone who truly has a reason to sing that song about worms and claim, "...nobody loves me,"—-its God.
But, God doesn't mope about singing this song.
He sends his son Jesus to give us a song of praise and thanks. Because of Jesus, we know that God will never give up on us. God will never stop pursuing us. God will never stop trying to woo us into His arms. Jesus reveals to us a God who loves us and is always with us.
Like Simon, let us crack open the door of faith to be able to see God's love for us behind the many blessings in our lives.
Let us pray…
Lord God, we thank you for making us who we are, as we are. We thank you for giving us your good work, and for reviving our souls with the love that never fails. Help us in all that we do to see you behind the blessings. And, send us to others who feel unworthy, and empty that we might share your promise of the fullness of life.
Amen
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