February 8, 2004

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

Luke 5:1-11

 “Bursting at the Seams”

     When we first migrated to Connecticut a little over nine years ago, it didn’t take me long to find a fishing buddy.  Paul took me out on his boat so we could catch some fluke.  We baited our hooks and dropped our lines in the water.  “Nothing to it,” I thought, “I’ve caught my share of fish - trout, blue gill, bass, all fresh water fish of course, but hey, fish are fish!”  As we bobbed around on the sound I figured I was doing all the right things, but my friend was just shaking his head.  He thought it was funny the way I held my rod, the way I moved the bait, the way I tried to set the hook when I got a nibble.  All the while, he was hauling in fish after fish and big ones, too!  Me?…nothing!  Same water, same rig, same bait, but he was catching all the fish!  Maybe I was fishing off the wrong side of the boat.

     Of course, I wasn’t about to ask for advise (men aren’t very good at asking for directions), but I’m no dummy - I started watching him out of the corner of my eye, copying what he was doing.  If I was going to catch fish, this old dog would have to learn some new tricks.  Eventually, I started catching fish, too.

     I like boats and fishing, so I like stories like this one from the Bible.  Peter and his fishing buddies fished all night and caught nothing.  Like me, they thought they knew what they were doing.  They fished there many times before with the same boats and the same nets.  They knew the currents, the habits of the fish and how to read the weather.  But for some reason, the old ways just weren’t working for them anymore.  They came home empty handed.

     “Put out to deeper water,” Jesus said, “and let‘s go fishin‘!  Simon Peter had his doubts: “Lord, we fished all night and didn’t catch a thing!”  Still, he did as Jesus asked, maybe because his soul had been stirred by the powerful words Jesus spoke to the crowd from his boat.  Perhaps he had begun to trust Jesus a little, enough to shrug his shoulders, hoist a sail, give it go and drop the net. 

     To his astonishment, that net sank hard and pulled at the lines.  The boat creaked as it heeled to the side under the strain and it seemed the nets would break or the boat would go under as water swelled to the rail!  Peter cried out to his friends on the shore, “Get your boats!  We’ve hit the mother load!  We‘re bursting at the seams!” 

     The Bible is filled with images of unimaginable abundance, big harvests that are not so much the result of people trusting in themselves, but trusting in God.  Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Moses, Mary, the Apostle Paul - people taking the leap of faith, a step into the unknown and trusting God’s guiding hand to be there.  That’s what Simon Peter did, heeding the Lord, pushing out to deep water.  The result was almost more than he could handle.  He fell to his knees before the Lord.  “Don’t be afraid,”  said Jesus, “Trust me and I’ll show you how to fish.”  And that he did.  Before long, thousands of people were brought into the fellowship of faith.  The disciples were fishing for people now.

     Ever have a dry spell and come up with an empty net?  Have you ever plugged away at something, doing what you’ve always done while wondering why things just aren‘t working?  Have you found your soul hungering, wanting for meaning and purpose?  It might be time to try something new.  It might be time to let go a bit and take a leap of faith, a step into the unknown.  It might be time to reach for God’s guiding hand, push out to deeper water, learn a new way to fish.  There could be a miracle waiting to happen in your life.  “Don’t be afraid“, Jesus says, “I’ll show you what to do.“

     The assurance of Christ’s saving and forgiving love, the promise that he is always there for us, makes it possible for us to take that step unafraid.

     Is there a miracle waiting to happen here, too?  We know all about dry spells and empty nets and we’ve wondered about our purpose and the meaning of it all.  We’ve fished all night but the nets haven’t filled up.  We’ve done what generations before us have done using the same boats and nets, but still, for a number of years now the catch has been getting smaller and smaller.  “Don’t be afraid”, Jesus tells us, “Trust me.  Push out to deeper water.  I’ll show you a new way to fish.”

     The epitaphs on the tombstones of dead churches always include the same six words: “We’ve Always Done It That Way!”  Churches close when they can’t imagine any other way to fish than the way they’ve been fishing for years.  Afraid of not honoring the past or maybe afraid of an unknown future, they fail to see that currents have shifted and new ways of fishing, new ministries are needed. 

     The community we live in and serve has dramatically changed over the years.  Time is moving on and we either move with it or it passes us by.  We either find new ways to fish or hang up our nets.

     I’m happy to say, however, that knowing what I know about this church, about you, that we’re not about to do that.  Many of you are seasoned fisherpersons and you know our purpose is catching fish, not coming home with empty nets.  And I see people taking that leap of faith, pushing out to deeper water, trusting the Lord and opening themselves to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  In fact, I think there are people here who are actually expecting a miracle!  Who knows, maybe it is already underway.

     Why else would “Hot Cat Jazz” be here to jazz up this service and jazz up an afternoon concert?  This is a new way to fish!  And we’ve had a blues concert, too, and chamber singers and instrumental ensembles playing classical music and the Alleluia Players and the Riverboat Ramblers.  This evening, the Flock Theater presents “Antigone” in our sanctuary, part of their ongoing theatrical series here at First Church.  We had a one-man performance in December and an Hispanic children’s theater production in January.  The Lyric Opera held their premier performance in January, too, and have now scheduled more performances.  Our gallery has sponsored a number of local artists and is now featuring the work of an Iraqi female painter.  We’re touching the lives of the needy with our food offerings, the Community Dinner, the Haiti House project, the Prayer Shawl project and a number of special offerings.  We’ve involved ourselves in interfaith community peace services and have hosted a choir invitational event.  We’re seriously considering looking at a whole new way to administrate the church where inspiration and not organization shapes our ministry.  We’re even looking into the possibility of an additional worship service with a different style of music and format that will reach people not attracted to traditional services.  We’re certainly doing lots of things with our sister church, Second Congregational Church - youth programming, book studies, boat building, prayer breakfasts and worship services. 

     We’ve flung open our doors and our hearts, praying for a miracle.  This is what a leap of faith looks like.  This is a step into the unknown, reaching for God’s guiding hand, pushing out to deeper water.  We love the old ways and are thankful for all they’ve given us, but we’re starting to fish in a new way now.  We’re lowering the nets.  We’re hoping for that miracle.