Catching People

Trinity Episcopal Church, Melrose, Massachusetts

The Rev. Nancy E. Gossling

Isaiah 6:1-8

1 Corinthians 15: 1-11

Luke 5: 1-11

Psalm 138

250 years after the death of the martyrs in Nagasaki, when Japan was again opened up to trade and commerce with the West, there were discovered families who carried on vestiges of the Christian faith. Without the support of an institution called ‘church’; without contact with Christians outside of Japan, there were Japanese families who had continued to baptise their children and to pass on the rudiments of the faith. Today we give thanks - not so much for their deaths, but for their faith and for the faith which they passed on to future generations. May we all have such a faith.
Br. James Koester, SSJE, February 5, 2019

            There seems to be a lot of emphasis these days on “catching people.” For instance, some people brag about how many Twitter followers, Instagram, or FaceBook friends they have. Insurance companies offer clever advertisements promising to protect us from hard times. Business people market their brands and make promises about their products, how they will improve our health and increase our wealth, and even extend our lives. Our churches do the same things. We try this new service or that one, appeal to this group of people or another, analyze the demographics and follow the trends. We put on friendly faces and offer benefits, all in an effort to bump our numbers, and catch more people, because Jesus invites us to do that, right? Sometimes I wonder, is it all in vain?

            My husband, Paul, likes to fish on the waters off Cape Cod. He’s always on the hunt for the right place, the right time, and the best tides in order to catch fish. He talks to friends who are commercial fishermen to find out “where the fish are” and how best to catch them. There have been times when his hooks have come up frustratingly empty, and other times when he couldn’t reel them in fast enough. In times of scarcity, Paul has tried new lures, brighter colors, and live bait.

The landscape has changed as well. With warming water temperatures, along with protective government regulations, Paul has seen more seals and sharks than ever before. Whales, once far off, have come near. Once, with a friend named Bruce, who is a commercial fisherman, he went tuna fishing in deeper waters. He was stunned by the beauty of this fish, impressed by its battle to break free, and yet he couldn’t catch and release it. This fish was part of Bruce’s income, and sold to local markets as well as international brokers, as good food for many people.

            Fishing during the time of Jesus in Palestine was a common occupation. According to author John J. Pilch in The Cultural Dictionary of the Bible, “fishing at the Sea of Galilee became a government-regulated activity that involved catching, preparing, and distributing the fish.” The boats that they used were a little smaller than Bruce’s boat: 26.5 feet long, 7.5 feet wide, and 4.5 feet deep. Like our churches in this diocese, James and John were partners with Simon and part of a local fishing syndicate located in Galilee. They, like Bruce, sold their fish for income.

There are a variety of techniques for catching fish. According to Pilch, “Sometimes fishermen used lines with fish hooks whereas the corporations would use the sweep-net for fishing in deep waters and the dragnet for surface fishing or fishing from the shore.” Ever at the mercy of brokers who capitalized them, 1st century Mediterranean fishermen had no control over their activities because of storms, or unfavorable conditions, and were nearly always in debt.” (p188) And so, like Bruce and many people in our churches, they often had more than one vocation and many skills to survive.

Then here comes Jesus, presumably a local carpenter turned rabbi, and tells Simon Peter how to fish. It would be like me telling Bruce how to fish in the waters off Cape Cod, or telling you how to be the church in Melrose. No wonder Simon initially responded as he did. Perhaps with a heavy sigh, maybe even an eye roll or two, he graciously said to Jesus, “Look we’ve been doing this all night, but if you say so, we’ll give it another try.” I can’t help but draw analogies between these fishing vocations and our churches today, and while I’m making some comparisons, I invite you to continue to do that work on your own as well.

Like Simon Peter, sometimes we’re tired after doing things repeatedly and getting no results. With nets that keep coming up empty, we’re ready to quit. Our numbers aren’t changing; indeed we’ve spent years trying to shift a trajectory from down to up, from scarcity to abundance, from poverty to wealth and we’re ready to call it a night. Larger forces weigh us down; and then suddenly someone appears and says, “Put out (again!) into the deep water and let down your nets.” 

Angrily, we may want to throw in our towels and say, “You do it then!” Or we may cast a wandering eye for a simple solution, a new community, or a different leader. In our dry seasons, and we all have them, we look for new fishing grounds where our nets will be full and we have, as the saying goes, “No worries!” In gospel story after gospel story, however, Jesus repeatedly invites people not to give up, to push out a little farther, and to fish a little deeper.

During such dry seasons in Palestine it was not uncommon for preachers and teachers to roam about trying to catch people. And so, after teaching the crowds on the shore, Jesus invited James, John, and Simon to catch people with him. Does this mean that Jesus is suggesting that we quit our day jobs to follow Him? No. Or leave our current vocations to become teachers or preachers? No. Does this story mean that if we obey Jesus that our nets will suddenly become full and we will have no worries? No. Rather, I think this story is about Jesus inviting us into deeper relationships with God. And sharing our stories.

Jesus’ message about “catching people” was not one of quick fixes or simple solutions; for he knew that transforming lives, and making changes involves long and hard work. His gospel message is not about how to accumulate more people in the pews or balance our bottom lines. Rather Jesus invites us to listen to the word of God, to keep on fishing, and to walk the Way of the cross with hIm. Follow Him by imitation. Follow Him on the journey.

People in the crowds were pressing in on Jesus because they wanted to hear the word of God. Especially when times are hard, we want to believe that there is something more, something greater, and something deeper than just the superficial realities of our lives and in the world. When we’re tired, Jesus gives rest to the weary. When we’re running on empty, Jesus fills our spiritual nets. When we are afraid, Jesus tells us to have faith, not in material things, but in God.

When we’re “catching people” we know where our true treasure lies. We seek first the kingdom of God, knowing that all else will be given unto us. Despite our feelings of sinfulness, we know that we are forgiven, once and for all, because Jesus came proclaiming a forgiveness of sin to all people.

St. Paul reminds the church in Corinth, as well as us, about the good news that he proclaimed to them long ago: that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day. St. Paul tells us to hold firmly to this message, unless we have come to believe in vain. Together, with God’s help, we come to believe in the story of our salvation through Christian community.

Resurrection life is not found in a building or on a boat but rather in people like you and me. In Christ we have been caught and released; and we are set free to live life and live it abundantly.This message of Resurrection life has been passed down from generation to generation through scripture and now through us. We are all preachers and teachers. We are all fisherfolk. We are all evangelists; for we all can be messengers of God’s saving grace. We catch people by sharing how our lives were once empty and then became full. How we once were lost and now have been found. How we were caught and then released.

Are we in the business of catching people or sharing the good news of God in Jesus Christ? When we answer the call to serve like Isaiah did, “Here I am! Send me”, we don’t literally have to drop everything in order to follow Jesus. We don’t need to sell anyone a special package, or a specific program, or a new service. We just need to share our lives and our faith with others. The Rev. Lauren Dow Wegner wrote, “Cast your nets, write your papers, teach your students, balance financial accounts, design the buildings, pour the concrete, make the lattes, lead the meetings, administer the IV’s, answer the phones, sing the arias. Do what you know how to do, and Jesus will use it to draw others into the kingdom of God.” (Christian Century, January 16, 2019)

We are the Episcopal branch of the Jesus movement; and God’s grace is manifest in our lives when we tell people where we found the fish. We catch people when we give thanks to God for all things and in all circumstances, both when our nets are empty and when they’re full.There are plenty of fish in the sea, for sure, and there are plenty of techniques to catch them. Today, I just think we need more fisherfolk who are willing to proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ.

“Do not be afraid,” said Jesus; for God’s grace is never in vain.