Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Today’s Reading  |  Luke 5:1-11
Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. (NRSV)

Reflection
As far as we know, Simon Peter, James, and John had a reasonable, if challenging, life as hard-working fisherman. After a long night of work with little return, they were occupied with cleaning up and maintaining their equipment when Jesus entered the scene.

Something about Jesus’ presence changed everything. Suddenly where there had been failure and scarcity, there was now success and abundance. Some preachers interpret this to mean that God wants to give us a lot of money, but I think it’s more about abundant life.

I imagine those nets full to breaking with wiggling, flopping fish—food for so many people. I imagine how stunned the fishermen must have felt to see it, after years of dogged persistence and bare subsistence. It would have been hard to believe. It would have been hard to trust that it was real. I imagine the fishermen thinking to themselves, This isn’t happening. This can’t be real.

Can you imagine that moment when the heart, which longs for it to be true, finally believes that it is? Can you imagine the moment when the fatigue and disappointment of hard physical labor with little success gets washed away and replaced with more abundance than they could possibly imagine?

Jesus shows these fishermen that the world is different from the way they thought it was. He showed them a possibility that they couldn’t even imagine. In response to their new vision of reality, they reoriented their whole lives toward people.

What if there is possibility in our world that we haven’t yet seen and can’t yet believe? How would that change your decisions today?

Prayer
Loving God, open my heart, my eyes, and my ears so that I might see the world differently, so I might see possibility where before I only saw failure, disappointment, fatigue, or hopelessness. Amen.

Written by Nanette Sawyer, Minister for Congregational Life

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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