Deep Space Discipleship
Isaiah 6:1-8; Luke 5:1-11
Delivered at Joy MCC
This morning I
bring you greetings from my home state,
I was amused by
the space theme that dominated some of the pre-game show. The
What I found to
be more scary was the rock band Aerosmith
in space suits. They were part of the
pre-game music and I have to say they belong on a stage instead of a space
shuttle.
Whether it be a Super Bowl show or a moon orbit human beings continue
to be fascinated with outer space. Just
recently NASA has launched a probe to explore the mysterious planet Mars. I find it interesting that the name of one
probe is the ‘Spirit’ rover and its twin is named ‘
The human being
that has captured our fascination with space the most is not an astronaut, or a
rock star, but Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Even as I speak, his ashes are in orbit in
outer space. Yes, there is actually a
All this talk
about space travel gives new meaning to Isaiah’s words from this morning, “HERE
AM I, SEND ME!”
I believe these
texts from Isaiah and Luke are telling us this morning that God is calling us to take a journey—not into outer space, but inner space. The way to God is not up but down. In his vision Isaiah sees God high and lifted
up, but that vision did not lift him up out of himself, it plunged him deep
into the depths of his humanity. Isaiah
saw this incredible celestial vision and said—Woe. Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips.
In our gospel
lesson from Luke Jesus says to Simon Peter:
“Put out into the deep water
and let down your nets for a catch.”
The thing we
remember most about this story is not Jesus’ invitation to put out into deep
water, it is the phrase, “I will make you fishers of
men.” Well, that’s the phrase I remember
from my Southern Baptist Sunday School days.
Of course in MCC we say, “I will make you fishers of people.”
I think we have
oversimplified this story and missed its on-going power for discipleship. We have made this story about ‘soul winning’
and evangelism. But I believe this is
also a story about plumbing the depths
of our humanity, or in other words: When Jesus gets in your boat, you’re in for
some deep sea fishing.
The story begins
on the shore. Jesus is standing by the
But we don’t
have any of the details of what Jesus taught from that boat. What we have in this story is a miraculous
catch of fish.
Imagine what this
huge catch of fish meant for these fishers!
It would be like winning the lottery!
After fishing all night and catching nothing, at the simple instruction
of Jesus, Peter and his co-workers let down their empty nets one more time and
they haul in more fish than they would have caught in a life-time. In contrast to the empty boats at the
beginning of the story, now we have sinking boats full of fish!
This miraculous
catch of fish is an experience of the holy.
It is an epiphany story. An epiphany that Peter will have about Jesus and himself. Simon Peter realizes that he is not just
standing in the middle of two boat loads of fish. He is
standing in the middle of a God moment.
His first
response is not, “Jesus I will leave behind all this fish and follow you.” Like Isaiah, his first response is one of
profound depth and an honest look into his own life. Peter falls to his knees in the middle of all that fish and says, “Go away from
me Lord, for I am a sinful person.”
The Greek word
that is used here for ‘sinful’ is not the traditional word that means “missing
the mark.” It is a word that has a more
general meaning in the New Testament that may have something to do with a class
of person who fell below the basic level of observing the law. In this moment with Jesus, Peter realizes
that he has not missed the mark, instead he has not lived up to the mark. He knew, in that moment, that saying yes to
Jesus meant committing to a lifetime of living up to the mark.
Peter’s first
response to the holy was not a rash, knee-jerk decision to quit his job, and
leave his relationships. His first response was to take a long, deep
look at his life.
How many of us
have said or thought, “If I can just find the right job, the right place to
live, the right relationship, then I can live up to God’s call on my life.”
Like Peter on
his knees in a boat full of fish, there comes a point when we realize that our
calling isn’t about how easy, fulfilling, or successful we feel in our job, or
our relationships. It is about how easy, fulfilling and successful we feel in our own
skin.
It’s about
choices we make everyday, regardless and in spite of our circumstances:
There is an old
Quaker saying: ”Let
You Life Speak” that Parker Palmer uses as a title for a book he has written on
vocation and calling. At first
Palmer—who is a Quaker—thought the phrase meant “let the highest truths and
values guide you. Live up to those demanding
standards in everything you do.”
So he lined up
lofty ideals and studied the lives of people like Martin Luther King and Rosa
Parks, and Mahatma Gandhi, only to find that he had spent a life time imitating heroes instead of listening to his
own heart.
Palmer reflects,
“Today, some thirty years later, ‘Let Your Life Speak’ means something else to
me. Before you tell your life what
truths and values you have decided to live up to, let your life tell you what
truths you embody, what values you
represent.”
Peter’s
encounter with Jesus on
The Greek word
Luke uses is a special term for catching wild animals, not for killing but for
keeping alive in some protective way—like netting a fish for an aquarium or
pond. A better way to translate Jesus’ words
to Peter would be, “you will be catching people alive.”
That first
encounter with Jesus in his boat began a lifetime of God moments for
Peter. There would be many times after
that he would be invited to go deeper and that always meant taking a long hard
look at his life.
There is an
ancient legend that claims when the gods made the human species, they fell into
arguing where to put the answers to life so the humans would have to search for
them. One god said, “Let’s put the
answers on top of a mountain. They will
never look for them there.”
“No,” said the
others. “They’ll find them right away.”
Another of the
gods said, “Let’s put them in the center of the earth. They will never look for them there.”
“No,” said the
others. “They’ll find them right away.”
Then another
spoke. “Let’s put them in the bottom of
the sea. They will never look for them
there.”
“No,” said the
others. “They’ll find them right away.”
Silence
fell….After a while another god spoke.
“We can put the answers to life within them. They will never look for them there.” And so they did.
Sisters and
brothers, there are those moments, over and over again, in our own lives when
we find ourselves faced with the invitation to go deeper. When we way yes, we are raised to newer and
abundant life. We are caught alive.