Talking or Fishing
February 6, 2010
Luke 5:1-11
It might be good for us today to reflect upon worthiness. Are we worthy to have a relationship with God? We believe that God has made us and saved us. We believe that God has given us the status of sons and daughters and is calling us to eternal life. Are we worthy of that status or of that future?
The simple answer is no. There is no way that we can deserve a relationship with God. In light of God’s action and God’s love for us, none of us are worthy. So that’s the easy part: to understand that we do not deserve God’s love or God’s call. The difficult part is this: what are we to do with this insight? What are the consequences of recognizing our unworthiness? In today’s gospel, Peter has an answer. Peter concludes that, because of his unworthiness, Jesus should walk away from him. Peter sees Jesus’ power in the miraculous catch of fish, and he is overcome by his own sinfulness and inadequacy. So he says to Jesus, “Lord, depart from me, for I am a sinful man.” Peter concludes that he cannot be a follower of Jesus because he is unworthy.
Now the remarkable thing about the gospel is that Jesus does not even stop to engage Peter in a discussion about his unworthiness, but immediately sends him out to preach the good news. Peter says, “Depart from me, Lord, because I am a sinful man.” Jesus says, “Do not be afraid. From now on you be catching people.” Jesus said, “Yes, you’re unworthy, but I call you to be an apostle.”
The situation is not unlike the young man who took a job as a park ranger. And he was given the assignment of supervising one of the big lakes in the national park, where many people came to fish. His job was to ensure that the regulations of the park service were maintained, and he took his job very seriously. He watched the people as they came from day to day to fish. But he couldn’t help but notice that there was one man who brought back at least ten times as many fish as anyone else. And this made him curious and suspicious. So he said to this man, “I noticed the great number of fish that you are catching. Could I come with you one day, because I’d like to see your technique.” The man said, “No problem. How about tomorrow?” So the next morning the two went out in a boat together. The man drove the boat over into a small cove. Then as the ranger watched, the man reached into his tackle box and pulled out a stick of dynamite. He lit the fuse and watched until it was ready to explode. Then he hurled it into the water. There was a thunderous sound, and the water rose from the bottom of the lake. Soon there were dozens of fish lying on the surface. The man began reaching out and pulling them into the boat.
The ranger couldn’t believe it. “What are you doing?” he said. “It’s not legal to fish this way. You’ve broken almost every rule of the park ranger service. If everybody fished this way, there’d be no fish left in the lake. When we get back, I’m going to give you a citation and haul you in for a hearing. I assure you, they’re going to take away your license, and you’ll never be able to come to the park again. This is just unacceptable.” As the ranger rattled on, the man reached again into his tackle box and pulled out another stick of dynamite. He lit the fuse, and just as it was about to explode, he handed it to the ranger. Then he said, “Okay. Are you gonna talk or are you gonna fish?”
In a way, this is what Jesus and Peter’s conversation is like. Jesus says to Peter, “I know you want to discuss your own unworthiness, but I’m not interested. I want you to go out and preach the good news.” The remarkable thing in Jesus’ answer to Peter is that the solution to our own unworthiness is not to walk away but to walk forward, proclaiming the gospel to others. Sure we are unworthy, but God still needs apostles, those who are sent out to proclaim God’s love.
This insight is an important one, because you and I could take any good thing in our life and become paralyzed by our own unworthiness. Do we deserve the faithful love of a spouse? Do we deserve a new relationship after a painful divorce? Do we deserve to be a parent, entrusted with a new life to shape and mold? Are we worthy of a life-long friendship or a rewarding job? Are we worthy to live in this free country? We are not. They’re all gifts. We could easily point to all of our mistakes and sins, to all of our shortcomings and failures. But the point of the gospel is that, despite our unworthiness, Christ still sends us out, so that others might know God’s love through our witness and through our service.
So yes, in so many ways we are lacking and unworthy. But the issue is not our deficiencies but God’s mission and God’s kingdom. And so Jesus says to each one of us, “Do you want to focus on your unworthiness or will you go forth and proclaim God’s love to others? Do you want to talk or do you want to fish?”
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