Epiphany5                          Luke 5:1-11                                   2/04/07
                                   "Fish Or Cut Bait"
 
I received an interesting piece of mail recently. It is a two page hand printed letter from what
 
I am told is a Muslim woman. In it she argues that Jesus and the concept of the Trinity are imaginings of early Christians.
 
I took the letter with me this week to our Cambridge Springs Ministerium meeting and showed it to the other pastors. All of them have received letters from her - some more than one. I was told that originally the letters were in script which was rather difficult to decipher. I assume the writer realized this and switched to printing.
 
While, of course, I heartily disagree with the writer’s conclusion and can even point to some historical errors, like the claim that Athanasius wrote the Athanasian Creed, I do admire the writer’s commitment to the Muslim faith. I imagine that the letters have gone to the churches in Erie as well, and to hand write so many letters is no small task.
In this day, when some people are condemning all Muslims for the 9/11 attacks and the fighting in Iraq, and some Muslims are even being harassed, it takes courage for a Muslim to share his/her faith.
 
The receipt of this letter fits well with our Gospel for today.
 
We have, according to Luke, the beginning of the Christian Church as Jesus gains His first disciples. There are some interesting features of this account though.
First, we note that these were fishermen. Yes, I realize that’s nothing new. Anyone who has been to a Sunday school class for a couple of months probably has heard that several of Jesus disciples were fishermen.
 
That piece of information is such common knowledge that we don’t really think about it and we should. Being fishermen meant that they were not educated men, nor were they from one of the better classes of people. They were crusty, smelly laborers.
Why didn’t Jesus choose from among the religiously educated. Surely, not all the priests, pharisees and scribes were Jesus’ enemies from the start. Jesus doesn’t even seem to make an effort to win them over.
 
Instead, He puts up with these ignorant, blundering working class people who were far from any church’s dream of a minister. These men were not only uneducated and lacking refinement, they weren’t even very psychologically fit, and would probably would fail any synod’s candidacy screening process.
 
One analysis I have read of Jesus disciples goes like this:
Dear Sir
Thank you for submitting resumes of the 12 men you have picked for management positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests; we not only ran the results through our computer, but also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant. It is our opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education, and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have the team concept. We would recommend that you continue your search for persons of experience in managerial ability and proven capability.
 
SIMON PETER is unstable and given to fits of temper.
 
ANDREW has absolutely no qualities of leadership.
The two brothers, JAMES AND JOHN, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above company loyalty.
 
THOMAS demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale.
 
We feel it is our duty to tell you that MATTHEW has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau.
 
JAMES, the son of Alphas, and THETAS definitely have radical leanings, and they registered a high score on the manic depressive scale.
 
SIMON THE ZEALOT, having pronounced terrorist leanings, would blow apart the harmony of the team.
 
One of the candidates however, shows great potential. He is a man of great ability, and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind, and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious and responsible.
 
We recommend JUDAS ISCARIOT as your controller and right hand man. All of the other profiles are self-explanatory.
 
We wish you every success in your new venture.
Sincerely yours
JORDAN MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS
 
The point of my sharing this old joke with you is to show that Jesus’ main disciples were just average lay people. They had no special gifts or abilities. Nor after they were chosen did they receive advanced training in Scripture, theology, or public speaking. In fact, one was such a long-winded boring preacher that a man fell asleep during a sermon and tumbled out of a window to his death.
 
Furthermore, they heard about Jesus and decided to follow Him, not while at a religious service or even a Bible study. Their sense of call came in the midst of their work.
Another feature worth noting is the distinction between the disciples and the crowd. The crowd hears Jesus, but that’s where it ends. They are passive spectators, receiving whatever is easy, but not willing to commit their lives. Disciples, on the other hand, act.
First they act, by obeying Jesus when He tells them to row out a ways so he can preach to the people. Now, they fishermen has been working all night and dragging nets from the water was hard work, so they were almost certainly worn out. Yet, they put their needs aside and do as Jesus asks.
 
This is followed by an act of utter craziness - divine craziness though. Jesus tells them to let down their nets again. They have spent the night fishing without result and by the time Jesus tells them to do this it is well into the day. If the fish weren’t around to be caught at night, they surely wouldn’t be around in the day time. But, disciples obey even when doing so seems utterly crazy. And just look at the results!
 
I want to make just one side comment here. Notice that Peter says, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." But, Jesus doesn’t do this. He stays right there and engages Peter. He offers him assurance that even as a sinner he is accepted and that he will be enabled to do greater things than just catch fish.
 
The same is true today. Jesus doesn’t reject people who could serve Him because they are sinners or because they lack skills or because they are not special. He waits for each person to realize that catching people is more rewarding and important than anything in life.
 
Finally, they act by following Jesus. Even without an actual call from Jesus, and definitely without any contract, guarantees or promises, they leave everything and follow Jesus.
 
My favorite Scripture interpreter made an interesting point regarding translation of this last sentence in our text. The Greek word that we translate "leave" actually means being freed from. Instead of focusing so much on the great sacrifice the disciples made in leaving everything behind, what if we saw them being freed from the burden of the things in their lives. And freed to follow Jesus with all the excitement and rewards that come with that.
 
Basically, what this story is all about is a decision the disciples made to fish or cut bait. They could have stayed with their boats, continued their lives as fishermen and cut bait forevermore, or they could choose to go fish with Jesus and be a part of the greatest fishing expedition of all time.
 
That same question and choice is ours. Will we fish or cut bait. Will we have commitment equal to that Muslim writer and make an effort to share our faith? Will we give up our excuses that we are not qualified to do ministry? Will we let go, allow ourselves to be freed from the burden of things. Will we follow Jesus and experience the rewards of catching people. Jesus still waits patiently to see how we will respond. Amen