Unfit for Fishing

Text: Luke 5:1-11

For several years I worked for a man who loved to fish. Every summer he would host a company fishing trip on Lake Erie, where the employees would spend all day in boats trying to catch walleye. I was a little anxious my first time out for a couple of reasons. First, I didn’t have much idea what I was doing; and second, I had learned over the years that I was susceptible to motion sickness.

Well it turned out that I was right to be anxious. Not about not knowing anything. Like many people who are passionate about their hobbies, the guys who loved to fish were more than happy to explain what I needed to do. And for a little while I actually enjoyed myself. But sitting in a boat, even on a relatively calm day, is a moving experience and it wasn’t too long before the movement caught up with me. I spent the rest of my time on the lake “chumming,” as they called it, and receiving a bunch of so-called good advice. Like “eat something,” not good advice, and stare at the horizon, which helped a little once I stopped taking the other advice.

I have fished several times since then, even took my own sons fishing once or twice, but I have never even remotely resembled a fisherman. And I haven’t outgrown the motion sickness thing either. So the reality is that you’ll never see me on one of those fishing shows on the sports channels. You could say that I am in many ways unfit for fishing.

You could not say the same thing about Simon Peter. Peter was a professional fisherman; he made his living at it. Which is not to say that he didn’t have some bad days. Like this one when Jesus shows up. They had been out all night fishing and hadn’t caught anything. So Peter must have been feeling a little down when he carried Jesus offshore to address the gathering crowds.

This is one of many times in the gospels that Jesus teaches without any record of what he taught about. Maybe that’s because of what happened next, with the non-fisherman telling the disciples to head out into the deep water and cast their nets - with outstanding results.

Given that there were so many fish the boats were in danger of sinking, a practical fisherman like Peter might have said a quick thank you and started getting those boats back to shore. Instead, he falls on his knees and proclaims his unworthiness. “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” But Jesus responds, Don’t be afraid, follow me and from now on you’ll be catching people instead of fish.

Have you ever felt unfit for something? Maybe even something that was an important part of your job or your volunteer work in the church or elsewhere? Ever waited for someone to discover that you really didn't know what you were doing?

We’ve all felt unfit to be sharers of the Good News. We know Christ asks us to go into the world and make disciples, but not only do we feel uncomfortable with that, we feel completely unprepared. We don't have all the answers. We may say the wrong thing. We may just not know what to say.

But how prepared was Peter? Or the other disciples? They were working men, not trained, degreed pastors. And they spent less time with Jesus than most of us have spent in church, and just like us, the gospel writers tell us that they didn’t “get” most of what Jesus was trying to teach them. Yet there they went after Jesus’ death, venturing out into the deep water of spreading the gospel, leaving their old lives behind to tell the good news.

It would be easy to listen to this story, declare ourselves unfit to be out catching people, and continue on with our regular ordinary everyday lives as if this story was not about us, and this call was not ours too. But what if we can set aside our fears for just a moment, realize that Jesus doesn’t call us because we’re fit but uses us as we are?

And what if we could realize that it may not be necessary to give up everything and leave it all behind like Peter? What if our lives could be transformed right where we are, with the people we love and know? The last thing those tired fishermen were expecting was a showing of God's awesome power right there, at the end of another workday. Our workdays, too, hold the possibility of seeing God's hand at work in our lives and all around us.

So here's my goal for this year: Talk to one person each month about my faith or our church and if they don't have a church home invite them to Heights Christian Church. It's not much, I know, but I think it’s doable even though 99% of the people I see, meet and talk to on a regular business already have a church home. But lots of folks out there don’t have a church, may not even have a faith, and the numbers are growing. So it’s likely I could find a few to talk to, if I just give up my feeling of inadequacy.

Maybe it’s time for all of us to venture out into the deep water.

-Rev. Roger Osgood