"What's the Catch?" San Williams, UPC
Isaiah 6:1-8 & Luke 5:1-11
This week a fishing buddy sent me a link to an online magazine simply called Catch Magazine. This magazine is all about fly fishing and contains captivating pictures of mountain streams, colorful trout and underwater photography. This term catch is often associated with fishing, but in a broader sense the terms like catch, catching, or caught up in are highly ambiguous. If you’re a fish, the word catch connotes deceit and trickery, but to a fisherman it connotes fun and satisfaction. Catching the Spirit is a good thing, but catching a cold is bad news. We can be caught up in something wonderful such as being caught up in the beauty of the anthem this morning. Conversely, one can be caught up in a heap of trouble as are the Baptists who went to Haiti last week and wound up in jail.
Well, our scripture this morning from Luke’s Gospel keeps circling around this notion of catch. “…let down your nets for a catch,” Jesus tells Peter. “Lord, we fished all night and caught nothing,” Peter replies. Yet when they did as Jesus instructed “they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break…and all were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken…” Then comes the clincher. “Do not be afraid;” Jesus said, “from now on you will be catching people.”
Our first reaction to Jesus’ announcement about catching people may be less than enthusiastic. Not just because we’re Presbyterian and “catching people” rubs against our reticence when it comes to evangelism, but also because we’re mostly fine with our church just as it is. We’re fortunate at UPC that our church is doing alright. Our membership went up from 550 members at the end of 2008 to 573 members at the end of 2009. We finished the year with a balanced budget, saw an increase in pledges for 2010, the capital campaign payments are on schedule. So far the most part, the health of the congregation appears robust.
For this reason, we may identify with the initial picture of the church that Luke paints for us in today’s story. A well-behaved crowd gathers at the seashore to hear Jesus. Robust fishermen dry their nets in the sunshine. The crowds are large enough that Jesus gets in Peter’s boat and puts out a short distance from the shore. Then Jesus sits down and rocked by the gentle roll of the shallow water he teaches the crowds. Isn’t that a comfortable, bucolic picture of church? If only Jesus had finished his teaching, pronounced the benediction and dismissed the crowd for fellowship hour, we could be satisfied for things to rock along pretty much as they are.
But here’s the catch. Jesus points the disciples away from the safety of the shore line to the dark sea and says, “Put out for the deep water, and let down your nets for a catch.” Isn’t that an unsettling command? It’s hard to know for sure what that would mean for us or where it might lead us. After all, we like to hug the shore line of the familiar and we usually resist setting out for uncharted waters. Besides, we can identify with Peter’s skepticism. In response to Jesus’ command to put out in deep water and let down the nets, Peter replied, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing.” Peter’s reply reminds me of the discouraged fisherman who was asked by a passerby, “How’s the fishing?” He replied, “Oh, the fishing is fine, but the catching is lousy.” That sentiment is widely echoed throughout the church today. Whatever nets the church is letting down these days, the reality is that more fish are swimming out than are swimming in.
When I walked into the seminary library last week, I noticed a book jacket that was posted in the display shelf. It carried the provocative title: Quitting Church. Intrigued, I found the book and checked it out. The first chapter carries the heading: “The Flood Outward: Why So Many Good People Are Leaving the Church.” The author cites pollster George Barna who estimates the number of un-churched Americans is growing by about one million each year. A finding echoed by another survey by USA Today that said more than one in five (22 percent) of Americans say they never go to church. That’s the largest percentage of un-churched Americans ever recorded. The author quoted Presbyterian writer Frederick Buechner who declared: “Much of what goes on in church, I’m afraid, is as shallow and lifeless as much of its preaching and as irrelevant to the deep needs of the people who come to church hungering for a sense of God’s presence that they more often than not never find.” Given all the data about church decline, there’s ample reason for discouragement, especially in the mainline churches. Still, Peter’s comment reminds us that discouragement is nothing new. Peter could well be speaking for Christians today when he said in essence, “Master, the odds are against us. The demographics are not in our favor. The prospects are just not all that good.”
But in spite of his reservations, Peter obeys Jesus’ instruction to try again. “Yet if you say so,” Peter sighed, “I will let down the nets.” Notice that Peter’s obedience preceded any “sign” that Jesus really knew what he was talking about. I expect that you’re like me in that we prefer to have our assurances up front before we go sticking our necks out. Before we launch out on some venture, we want some sign that the risk is going to pay off. Let’s at least do a feasibility study, run the numbers and calculate the odds. But apparently Jesus calls for just the reverse. His followers are given no proof up front that Jesus can be trusted at his word. We simply have to move out in faith. That’s the catch! We will never know Christ and what he can do until we first obey his command.
This is why, Albert Schweitzer’s words that our choir sang this morning resonate so powerfully: “He comes to us as One unknown…he speaks the same word: “Follow me!” and sets us to the tasks which he has to fulfill for our time. And to those who obey Him… he will reveal himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in his fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience who he is.” That was true of Peter. In spite of his reservations and all evidence to the contrary, he obeyed Jesus’ command, moved out in faith, and let down his nets.
Of course, the result was amazing--a miraculous catch of fish. Suddenly a long night of futility turned into the daybreak of overflowing abundance. It’s no wonder that John, in his Gospel, makes this catch of fish part of the Easter story. John sees this story is not just brimming with fish, but brimming with the miracle of new life, success, abundance, triumph, Easter. We disciples, can handle discouragement, we used to that, but resurrection scares us. At least this reversal of fortune certainly scared Peter. He yelled, “Get away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
But Jesus doesn’t go away. He doesn’t leave Peter in his fear. “Do not be afraid,” Jesus says, “from now on you will be catching people.”
Friends, like many of you, I’m mostly satisfied about robust health of our congregation. But Jesus won’t allow us to be content with the way things are. Jesus calls his disciples to deeper waters. He tells us to let down our nets for a catch. I know that the phrase “catching people” can remind us of manipulative arm-twisting evangelism. Someone suggested that rather than use the word “catch” we use “captivated.” Can we present ourselves as a community that has been captivated by the love of God in Jesus Christ? And as venture out in faith deepening our prayer life, enlivening our worship, expanding our service we just might captivate others who will become caught up with us in the life and mission of Jesus. So someone pull up the anchor, hoist the sail and let’s see what we can catch!