Plymouth Congregational Church of Fort Wayne, UCC
February 7, 2010
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

Scripture Lesson: Luke 5:1-11

The Catch of a Lifetime    

"Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing:
nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net."
 (Luke 5:5,  KJV)

Prelude

It's game day.   Super Bowl XVIV.

The flags are flying high.

Party's are planned.

All eyes, seemingly, are on Miami

and the contest between the two

teams left standing:

the Colts and the Saints.

Conversations quickly turn -

who are you pulling for, and

who do you think will win?

Pam Williams, so devoted to Plymouth as our

evening receptionist, has been driving around

town for a couple of weeks proudly flying a Colts flag.

I've been humming:  "O when the saints, come marching in ..."

Just teasing.  A bit.

It's a culturally consuming affair, this Super Bowl.

We are, at best, a culture of the game. 

It's the entertainments that excite and arouse!

Stock market may be tanking, but sales of big screen

TV's are up!  We know how to prioritize what we value.

In Indianapolis, public schools are impacted.

Administrators in the state's largest school district

initially scheduled a two-hour delay for students and staff

on Monday.  That schedule was modified when the

Department of Education said a two-hour delay

did not qualify as an emergency, and would need to be made up. 

So instead, there will be a one-hour delay,

with an additional ½-hour in the afternoon.

The conversation was inspired by the previous appearance of

the Colts in the Super Bowl in 2007 (they beat the Bears!).

Back then so many bus drivers called in sick the next morning

that officials were forced to cancel classes.  Children, it seems,

were left at the bus stop.  That qualifies as an emergency in my book.

Catholic schools in Indianapolis have avoided this question;

they have given Monday off in honor of the Super Bowl. 

It's a big deal - the game.   A lot is at stake.

And like so many, I'll be watching, hoping to

see how the game turns, who might make

Super Bowl history, and enter the rarified air

of legendary greatness, whether on a big run,

a great stop, or possibly the catch of a lifetime,

thrown by either Mr. Manning or Mr. Brees.

It takes a lifetime to get on that playing field.

It takes discipline, devotion, diet, rigorous training,

to step into the Super Bowl spotlight.  So we will cheer

the best we have to offer the world.

          *****                   *****                   *****

Our lesson this morning,

from the gospel of Luke,

speaks of Jesus gaining a

fan base and building a

following.  It speaks to us

of the first followers,

Simon Peter, James, and John,

professionals in the fishing industry,

who had experienced the

catch of a lifetime;

they had their own kind of Super Bowl

moment we might say,

and in the post-game wrap up,

they subsequently turned, vowing to

keep company with Jesus.

Luke 5:1-11.

Within this story, I'd like to circle a couple

of themes for our consideration this morning.

Tickets to the event were much in demand,

so much so that Jesus needed to change the

venue for his much-desired teaching. 

He devises a game plan, and it is quite

strategic.  He spies two available boats, and he

picks one to use as a platform.  It is not simply

a boat, it is Simon's boat.  So, he's got Simon

on board, but Simon is not completely sold

on the route Jesus counsels. 

From shallow water, Jesus directs their course into

deep water, and furthermore, a putting of nets

overboard for a catch.

Simon is not an enthusiast at this point.

He is tired. He is reluctant ... not thrilled with

working overtime. 

There is a parallel with game play.

In the Super Bowl, in all the great arenas

of competition, there is expectation of sustained

effort, throughout the course of the contest.

Simon has been at it all night, seeking a catch,

hoping for something to compensate his efforts.

Simon is the professional in all this.  And he is not

encouraged.  He is reluctant to go deep

and to let down the nets.

Simon isn't quoted in the text,

but we can guess what he is thinking:

this is not gonna' work!

The coach is sending me on a play that will fail;

I may throw the net, but it will be incomplete.

Simon isn't quoted in the text,

but we can hear what he is saying from within:

I've in been schooled in this work;

I've studied and prepared for this work;

I'm experienced in this work;

I'm the expert, and I've got my doubts about this.

Simon isn't quoted in the text,

but we can imagine the conversation taking

place within:  it sure would be nice to have

something for all the effort we've put in;

the science of harvesting fish isn't exact,

and maybe what was missed in the night

might hit this morning; and this Jesus,

he may not be cover material for Field and Stream,

but his word is one I want to trust and test.

I'm surely not gonna' do this every time,

but this time, I'll heed the word he speaks.

Reluctance. 

I'm mindful of the Robert Frost poem so entitled. 

The heart, "still aching to seek,"

but "the feet question, ‘Whither.'"

Reluctance. 

So much of it exists in our lives.

So much fills the church.

We are aching to seek, yet the feet pause.

Dare we venture into the deep,

the fathoms to which Jesus directs?

Is there treason at work, if

we but "go with drift of things" (Frost)?

I hope, if we drift, we drift with Jesus

and wade into lives where his love,

his grace, his mercy is needed;

where joy abounds, where praise is plentiful.

And I hope we might

collude with Jesus,

conspire with Jesus,

plot and scheme,

and so combine,

so commune in our lives

that our intentions as a church are never in doubt,

our love never wavering.

Reluctance.

(I' m preaching for me here)

I possess what I assess a natural reluctance,

a reserve, a cautious nature, not prone to be involved.

Yet - Jesus calls into the deep, to cast nets

in waters thought to be empty.

For there to be a catch, the nets must be lowered.

For there to a difference, there must be involvement.

For change to occur there must be effort.

For us to experience the catch of our life,

think not of what we will gain,

but what glory God will receive,

when we act in concert with Jesus.

Writings exist from a bright light of the early church,

a bishop by the name of Irenaeus, who spoke out against

questionable influences in the church, heretics we would say.

Of one group he once said, they "speak similarly

but think differently" (Valentinians).

Quite an assessment to identify a

complexity of conviction,

in the early Christian movement. 

I think it still exists.

In fact, there are those who look upon us, in the UCC,

as a people who speak similarly, but think differently.

Depending upon who is making this assessment,

it may be spoken with contempt,

or it may be offered as compliment.

I plead guilty of the charge. 

And it leads me to appeal:

so many are reluctant to embrace,

involve church in their lives,

due to some understanding that

thoughts must be suspended or suppressed.

So confess:  I'm spiritual, just not religious

in the organized or formal sense,

which I don't need or want complicating my life.

Yet community is the ground,

the people from which good faith springs. 

We who gather here strive not to think alike,

but with the help of the Holy Spirit, to think with the mind of Christ.

In that state of Mind, we witness to the love

that both frees and unites. 

          *****                   *****                   *****

The nets are cast. 

Lo and behold,

there is a big catch. 

Lo and behold,

the catch is so big,

help is required. 

Lo and behold,

the catch is so much more

than was ever hoped for

or dreamed of,

the vessel upon which they ride is swamped;

they begin to sink.

And there is awareness,

life becomes intensified, clear, momentous;

this event, so extraordinary,

is disclosing of what is holy,

revealing of divinity

in the midst of our humanity.

Simon, his partners James and John,

have made the catch of their lives.

It is a lottery ticket, more fish than

they could ever hope to catch,

an unbelievable bankroll.

After this greatest catch, their lives

turn toward new endeavors. 

Jesus makes known what the story is really about:

from now on the hope is to hook people,

and catch those in need of gospel

that is liberating, healing,

forgiving, just, and true.

We should note:

Simon Peter an his partners, James and John,

haven't simply had the catch of their lives.

They have been caught.  They cut bait,

and move on into the unseen way

defined by Jesus.  It truly is a story, not simply of a new

day, but new life.  And Jesus gains that which

he still needs:  followers, friends, disciples

who will share his journey,

show his love,

shine with his light.

          *****                   *****                   *****

It's game day.

A contest pitting a much favored

against an upstart, underdog.

Who will win? 

Vince Lombardi, no stranger to Super Bowls

in the early years, once said: 

"The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel

are the things that endure.  These qualities are

so much more important that the events that occur."

That's good, I think.  And more so is this thought from

Barbara Pletcher:  "The real winners in life are the people

who look at every situation with an expectation that they

can make it work or make it better."

So - let us take heed.

Beware the drift of things.

Think differently.

In holy communion with Christ,

go into the world with a will to excel

in the things that endure.

Saving grace is knowing, deep down,

that love wins.  So make it work.

Make it better in the world God loves.

For Jesus' sake.