This sermon was from a couple weeks ago. The Presbytery is focusing on becoming more missional. I think that is going to be important in the church. We are undergoing a huge sociological shift and the church needs to rediscover its roots and mission.

Text1: Isa 6.1-8
Text2: Luke 5.1-11
The 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C


“ONCE A FISHERMAN …”


When a person has done something for a very long time it becomes part of them. It can be an outlook on life, or something they have studied for a long time, or the work that they do in life, but it affects how they see things and what they do. The biochemist and science fiction writer Isaac Asimov mentioned this in one of his books. Take this word (you might want to write it out on your bulletin if you can): U-N-I-O-N-I-Z-E-D. What is it? Most of us would say “union-ized”, that is, having a union made in something, as in, “the company plant became unionized”. But he says, if you were a real chemist you would see the word as “un-ionized”, that is atoms that have no gained or lost electrons and have not become ions. What you have in mind determines how you see things. How you see things determines what you have in mind.
The reading from Isaiah is of Isaiah’s vision of God. He saw the Lord in God’s full glory with angels above. This vision of the Lord’s holiness made Isaiah aware of how far he was from this holiness and he declares that he is not worthy. The Lord sends an angel with a live coal to touch his lips, and his sin is taken away. Then God asks who will go for him, that is, who will be God’s prophet, and Isaiah can now volunteer, now that his sin is taken away. He sees God in a new way because of what God has done to him that changes what he is going to do with his life. God sees the need of the people for a prophet to go to them, now Isaiah sees it too.
The Gospel reading is of the time Jesus called Peter to follow him. There was a crowd at the edge of the Lake of Gennesaret that was pressing in on Jesus to hear him. He got into Simon’s boat and asked him to go out a little ways. He taught the crowd from the boat. Then Jesus tells the fishermen to go out for a catch. They are skeptical; they had not had a good night of fishing. But they do as he says and caught so many fish that they had to call for help because the boat began to sink. Peter knows that this is not an ordinary man, and, like Isaiah, feels unworthy to be in his presence. But Jesus does something like God does with Isaiah. He tells him not to be afraid because he will be fishing from now on for people. He becomes part of God’s plan for the world. But first, he is touched by God’s power.
It is a marvelous story. The first thing to notice is that Peter, the fisherman has been caught. His feeling of sinfulness marked his life when he met Jesus. But his sin is forgotten. He needed to meet Jesus. And he listened to Jesus because of that need. He was caught by being freed. He was freed by being caught. The other thing to notice is that while he has a new purpose, there is something that has stayed the same. He has lived with fish his whole life. Fish are his way of life. He and his partners have a new calling but it is a calling that fit fishermen perfectly. Until this incident they had been working for themselves, but now they will be working for someone else. They fed bodies but after this they will be feeding souls. Some of his life is going to change. He has been catching things all his life. Now he will be catching people for God. He is still a fisherman, but no longer just for himself. God is going to fish by using a fisherman. God is going to use who Peter is for a special purpose.
One of the challenges to the church is that we live in a time in which fewer people are claiming that they are Christians. Perhaps 60 years ago we could assume that everyone who lived around us was one. And so we are reminded from time to time that we need to continue to spread the good news about Jesus to those around us. We need to think like Peter will think in the years to come. How does a fisherman catch fish? Look for hungry fish. What do fishermen do? Spread their nets. That is how Peter will go about the task God has given him. How do we share the good news with others? That depends on what their needs are and what skills and opportunities we have which come from who we are and what we have done. The question is: Where has God put us?
What Jesus did for Peter and his words will continue to tug at Peter, continue to lead him, all the rest of his life. But first the change had to take place in him, before he could share it with others. Kent Nerburn in his book The Hidden Beauty of Everyday Life, talks about how we change how we look at things:
The sky above the park is alive with kites. It is a breezy spring day, and the children are out.
This is a rare occurrence, for kites live best where the spaces are great and the sky looms larger than the land, beckoning the children to look upward and send their dreams flying toward the heavens. Ours is a place of lakes and woods and deep winter snows. Children keep their eyes close to the earth, and send their dreams racing down rivulets of melting waters, or sliding across drifts, or skipping on stones across the shimmering surfaces of lakes.
But on rare days like this, when the sky is both gentle and playful, it calls to them and they take their kites to the open fields, the meadows, the parks, and the school yards and send them skyward to make a playmate of the winds.
Often they fail. These are not children practiced in the arts of the sky, and their kites too often spin out of control, whip crazily in the wind, and plummet heavily to the earth. Other times they never leave the earth at all, bounding fitfully on the ground behind as the children try to run them into the air on legs too short across fields too small.
But on this day, the winds are gentle and the sky is kind. The kites have risen, and the children stand at the ends of their strings, eyes skyward and attention rapt, mesmerized by this connection with the heavens that they can only dimly understand.

It reminds him of the words of Leonardo da Vinci: “Once you have flown, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward.” Peter has seen something new in his life. He has received something he needed and this has made the greatest difference in his life. That is what he sees from now on, that is what he wants to share.
God’s plan is two fold. It is to change individuals and then to use those individuals to help others change. It is to send people to bring the good news of the Kingdom to those who need it around them. How do we find our opportunities? JoJo Jensen sees faith as the roots of the tree supporting our lives but also in another way. Early in life she saw how people can become involved:
A tree’s roots spread out, intermingling with neighboring trees, shrubs, and plants, lending strength, kinship, and balance to all.

I grew up on a street that was the most direct route to the local hamburger joint. It was the place to hang out and be cool, much as the mall is today. Teenagers raced their hot rods at breakneck speed up the street, much to the alarm of the neighborhood parents. With so many little kids running around, they were afraid someone would get hit.
The parents united to find a solution. Each homeowner placed a 4 x 4 piece of lumber in front of his or her house. They created the first homegrown speed bumps.
At first, the teenagers tossed the logs aside. Then they drove over them very slowly, which doesn’t really work for drag racing. Ultimately, they simply found another route to the burger stand. Problem solved, thanks to the interwoven roots of the neighborhood.
Building strong, deep roots takes time and genuine effort.

You have almost limitless choices to spread your roots, if you’re willing to put yourself out into the world.

You can sign your children up at the local pool, YMCA or YWCA, to take swimming lessons, and meet other parents as you enjoy watching your kids together from the stands. If you feel like extending your roots in a creative way, audition for a local play, or you can offer to paint the sets or create the costumes for the next production. If your need-to-help roots are calling for expansion, volunteer at an animal shelter or become a mentor to a child who could really use your attention and wisdom. The stronger you make your ties to the community, the stronger both you and your community become.

In just a few examples, she shows how people can connect with other people to share a common goal. It can be for some way to improve the community. It can also be to touch the lives of others. We have a calling to create a new kind of community, to be a part of how God reaches out to the world. To do that we need to find those who need what he have to share. We need to cast our nets.

Jesus went out to teach one day from a boat and called Peter to serve the Lord. Peter wasn’t the only one who was fishing. It was a good catch. He will be bringing the gospel to others. He will help them hear and follow God’s word as he did. Our calling is not the wind, or the desire to enjoy the outdoors, or even only to the betterment of our lives, but the high purpose of helping others find and become a part of the Kingdom of God. It begins first in us, in what God has done for us. Then it continues as we see life in a new way. “Who will go for us?” God asked. Those who have found a new life and new purpose will go. “Follow me” Jesus said. We will follow once we have been set free and want to help others find that as well. “Who will go for us?” The best answer is “We will.”