Fish on the Shore

Luke 5:1-11

One of my favorite memories growing up was the ice cream truck. As soon as my brother and I heard the first strains of the truck’s song floating through the neighborhood, we’d tear out the front door screaming, “The ice cream truck, the ice cream truck!” We rarely had money, but it didn’t stop us from joining all the other kids crowding the truck for a cold treat.

I thought of the ice cream truck this week because Jesus seems to have caused a similar sensation. In Capernaum Jesus cast out a demon with such power and conviction, word began to spread and “reach every place in the region.” Jesus retreated to Simon Peter’s house, but the crowds found him there, bringing all their sick to be healed. People thronged the synagogues where he was teaching, and in our passage today, they press in on Jesus so much that he commandeers some fishing boats to take him out in the water and give him a little space so he can preach.

The story that follows is a familiar one – the calling of Jesus’ first disciples. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell it, how Jesus took a break from his teaching to tell three unwashed fishermen to come and follow him and “fish for people.”

Luke, however, weaves in another element when Jesus asked Simon Peter to let his nets down for a catch. They’d been out fishing all night and caught nothing, but Peter does it anyway. And what a catch of fish! There are so many the nets begin to break, and the boat starts to sink.

It almost sounds like an exaggerated fisherman story, “the one that got away.” But Simon Peter wasn’t laughing – he was sweating bullets. “Go away from me, for I am a sinful man!” he says to Jesus.

It’s important to know that Simon wasn’t groveling here. Luke says he was amazed, along with everyone else. What happened there in the lake was so miraculous, Peter knew he was in the presence of the Holy – and holiness can be dangerous! The scriptures tell it over and over: Moses hid his face when he saw the burning bush; Isaiah cried out “Woe is me, I am lost!” when he had a vision of God in the temple. Both are emblematic of the long-standing belief that no one could see God and live. Not only that: when God shows up, God usually wants something. And that’s what happens to Simon Peter. Instead of dying, he gets a directive: “Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching people.”

Cue the camp song: I will make you fishers of men…You know what happens next. They bring the boats to land, and Simon Peter, and his partners James and John all leave everything and follow Jesus. It’s so familiar, but if you were in their sandals, would you have done it? No job description or offer letter. They don’t go home to confer with their families. They just pick up and go.

Sometimes we are like these disciples, called into something new when we don’t have a full idea of what we are getting into. Times of change are usually like that and therefore take a measure of trust.

In 2016, I was called to a new church with new opportunities. But I was leaving a little congregation I loved and had loved me back. The ministry was rich, and I grieved for the people I was leaving behind. I didn’t want to go.

One evening after I had told my church I was leaving, I was praying on this text and was drawn to this detail: “They left everything and followed him.” I realized that after the great catch, much of what they were leaving on the shore was this beautiful abundance of fish. I thought of the people and ministries I was leaving. How could the disciples leave behind all that they had been working for so long?

And then I saw it in my mind’s eye: Simon Peter and James and John walking away, others from the crowd coming forward – gingerly at first, then with growing excitement. They were helping themselves to the fish – and they were laughing! The sun glinted off the water and the scales on the fish as elderly women picked their way to shore, and children ran to tell others. Everyone celebrating the unexpected windfall and goodness of this gift. Now just a reminder that Luke says none of this. He doesn’t explain at all what happens to the fish. But the Holy Spirit speaks to us when we pray with scripture; suddenly I knew that the changes of my new call were not just a blessing to me but also to the people I was leaving behind. I could see that nothing is truly lost in God’s kingdom, and what we let go of, God uses to create abundance. I felt peace that I could entrust the chapter of my ministry that was ending to God, and open myself to a new one.

As you know, we have called an associate pastor; Pastor Corey will start March 2. Through prayer, conversation, and discernment, our congregation and Pastor Corey have come to understand that God is calling him to serve as our pastor. This will mean change and uncertainty for Pastor Corey and his family. He leaves behind a community of faith whom he loves and a thriving ministry. He has a sense of what Epiphany is like, but there is much he won’t know till he is here.

We are also entering into a time of change in this new relationship. We are called by God as well – called to embrace a new chapter in our congregation’s life. Much has changed in our community since we had two full-time pastors four years ago. Recently I realized that only one of our 12 staff members has had no substantial changes to his job description in that time period. Everyone else has taken on significant new duties, changed jobs, or is a new hire. When Pastor Corey comes, we are not returning to the Epiphany of 2019. It is a new time in our ministry, with different organization and a renewed vision. The goodness of previous years is still there, like the fish on the shore – a gift to us in their time, and now we release them as a gift to others as God sends people and reshapes ministries and communities.

We are Jesus’ modern-day disciples, called to something different than the past. We do not know yet exactly what it will be, but we can be assured that it will follow our mission to grow in faith, to build thriving community, and to transform lives through Christ’s love. With Pastor Corey with us, we will have new leadership in areas of evangelism and welcome, outreach, and service. He will bring new ideas that will require us to be open to change. As he is leaving fish on the shore, we too are taking steps to follow Jesus in hope and trust, believing that God has called us to be signs of God’s kingdom of mercy, justice, and love in this world.