2.6.22; Not a Fish Story; Rebecca Ellenson; ICCM
Maybe you have heard the fish story about Ole and Sven. They decided to go up north for a fishing trip. They were from Minnesota but had always wanted to go to Canada where the fishing was really good. But they had worried about how much it would cost them. Finally they just decided to go anyway no matter how expensive it would be.
So they got their equipment together and decided to go all out and replace some of the things that were old or worn out. They checked into different resorts and travel packages and after all the arrangements were made, off they went.
Well, they were gone for a whole week. It was the longest real vacation either of them had ever taken. The problem was, they didn’t catch anything worth keeping. They couldn’t come home with little fish
like the kind they caught close to home. They kept trying, expecting each day that the next day would be their lucky day. Finally, on the last day of fishing, Ole caught a great big Walleye, it was 9 pounds. Ole were thrilled.
On the drive home the next day Sven was feeling pretty down, after a whole week of not catching anything. He started to scribble on some paper. Ole asked him what he was doing. Sven said, “Ya, you know Ole, that von fish cost us over two tusen dollars.” Ole shook his head and said, “Vell, ya don’t say. It’s a good ting ve only caught von den.”
I think that would be about my luck too. I grew up spending 3 months out of each year beside a lake. But, noone in my family fished. Over the years I have learned to fish. When the weather is nice, when a breeze keeps the bugs away, when the fish are biting so well that little waiting is required, and when I’m not preoccupied with something else–then I like to fish. But, that doesn’t happen very often. More often than not, fishing, in my opinion, consists of being too hot or too cold, bug-bitten, bored, frustrated with knots and kinks in line, and lots and lots of waiting. It isn’t the times when the big one gets away that are so bad, it’s the times when the big ones stay under the weeds and never even make a splash.
Living close to the fishermen here in Mazatlan I see what it minght have been like to be Simon Peter, James, or John, fishing day in and day out for a living. This gospel story is one of the best told stories in the bible, it is also one of the most well-known stories–perhaps due to the children’s song based on it.
The story has the ring of a tall tale, a fish story which would have left the people in Capernaum buzzing with talk for days. Two years ago, at the start of the pandemic there was a fishing story right here in Mazatlan that got people talking. I saw photos of a great fish giveaway to ant and all takers.
In today’s gospel, though, the remarkable catch of fish is only the opportunity for something even more remarkable. The ripping nets and sinking boats are left behind, ripening by the minute in the hot Mideastern sun. This is not a fish story, it is a story about Christian discipleship, a story about following the Lord regardless of whatever else would keep us back.
Let’s look closer at this story, beyond the huge catch of fish to the human drama. Anyone who has fished more than once or twice can easily identify with Simon Peter at the start of the story. He’s been out fishing all night without catching a thing. He must be tired and hungry and frustrated, maybe even worried about financial matters since he was not just a recreational fisherman but a professional with no catch. When Jesus tells him to give the fishing one more try Simon Peter points out, from his years of experience, that the fishing has not been good.
Knowing what we do about Simon Peter from the rest of the gospel stories we can just about see him shaking his head and muttering, “What does he know about fish–is he a professional fisherman? No, he’s just a wandering teacher. Oh, well, I’ll humor him.” and down go the nets. Then, as usual Jesus surprises Simon Peter. The nets are so full they are breaking. Help has to be called in and even then, the boats cannot hold the whole catch without beginning to sink.
If this were just a fish story the fish would be what Simon Peter reacts to or comments on. The response he makes, falling on his knees in the smelly fish and saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” is hardly the response expected from a fisherman with an overflowing boatload of fish. Neither would it seem likely that Simon Peter and the others would leave this catch, their boats, and everything when they had just gotten what they had only ever dreamed of, if this were just a fish story. We can give credit to Simon Peter in this story for recognizing what is happening. He sees beyond the fish to the power of God that Jesus carries and to his own weakness compared to that power. This is the same response that we see in other bible stories involving God’s call to follow.
Moses, like Peter was out doing his job when his call came, he was tending Jethro’s sheep when the bush burned. What did Moses do? He hid his face and was afraid to look, knowing that God’s power was present.
Gideon was threshing wheat when an angel appeared to him and caused fire to spring from a nearby rock. His response too, was one of fear and a recognition of the commanding power of God’s presence.
Isaiah, too, was filled with fear and a sense of unworthiness when the vision we read about in our OT lesson came to him.
The displays of God’s presence in each of those stories, like in our gospel, are so impressive that they may take over our memories of the stories, as if the burning bush, the fire from the rock, the transformation in the temple , or the boatload of fish were the point.
All of them are aware of their sinfulness and the overwhelming power of God. But, their sin and sense of unworthiness does not disqualify them for the mission of God. Instead, the same power that brought them to their knees in humble recognition also raises them and empowers them and sends them out to carry on God’s purposes.
This is not a fish story. It is about the call to discipleship. Those who encounter our Lord will meet an overwhelming power. It is a power that is so strong that human sin and weakness is clearly evident in comparison. It is also a power that raises up those who are unworthy and sends them out with a mission.
As new followers of Christ Simon Peter, James and John set off to catch not fish but people–that is their mission, and ours, and anyone else’s who wants to follow Christ. Jesus uses a word there for catching people that does not mean to hook them or spear them or capture them as natural resource to consume. It is not a word normally used for fishing. It means to catch and take alive for the purpose of rescuing. Following Jesus is about saving people from death.
The Christian life is not like a fishing vacation, a recreation that is given up when the bugs bite and the fish don’t bite or when the equipment fails or the weather turns bad. Following our Lord is not a hobby, it is not a do it now and then sort of thing. Following Jesus means having a mission, an important mission–to rescue people.
The overwhelmingly powerful God that calls each of us to follow has high expectations of us. In the ninth chapter of Luke’s gospel Jesus clarifies just how high those expectations are.
As they were going along the road someone said to him,
“I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air
have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury
my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go
and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Jesus does not let any of us off the hook any more than he let those would-be followers off the hook. There are people to catch, to rescue. There are hungry people, lonely people, empty people, angry bitter people. There are people who have not known love in their lives, either the love of God or other people’s love. There are people drowning in alcohol or other addictions. There are people caught in a net of greed and self-absorption. We have been given a mission and a call and the power to carry it out. AMEN