Homily offered by Dcn. Michael Schlaack on Luke 5
As humans we tend to be creatures of habit. In most cases we get up at the same time and perform the same daily tasks, often expecting different results at the end of the day. In our Gospel account today, four fishermen are finishing up the tasks remaining from an unsuccessful night of work. After spending the night on the water, they now must clean and mend their equipment in preparation for the next night’s work. Except for the Shabbat, the weekly Jewish observance of the day of rest that begins on Friday nights, these four men can expect to perform their ritual every night for rest of their workable years, just like their fathers and their father’s fathers spent their lives.
With predictable work habits comes the predictable results. The Gospel accounts does not provide much evidence as to whether the fishermen ever changed their routine. Did they consider a different location? Maybe some other location further down the shore would have produced better results. Or maybe rather than giving up they should have continued working until they succeeded.
Whatever their reasons for giving up that day, our Gospel account finds them amongst a crowd of people on the shore of the lake of Gennesaret. The crowd had gathered to listen to Jesus preach about the Kingdom of God. In the previous chapter we read that Jesus had already developed a following amongst the people as He moved through Capernaum, healing the sick and driving out demons. It should be interesting to note that Jesus even healed Simon’s mother-in-law, who was suffering from a high fever (Luke 4:38). So, by the time Jesus reaches the point in today’s Gospel His reputation should have already been established and His purpose no surprise to anyone. Yet, the four fishermen seem to be standing to the side, focusing more on their unsuccessful enterprise from the previous night.
It can be easy to get wrapped up into the habits of everyday life. Our preferences tend to lean toward the safer side that will give us the most predictable outcomes. The four fishermen in our Gospel lesson--Simon, Andrew, James and John—had probably been practicing their trade for several years. By their understanding, the safest place was near the shore, not out into the deeper waters. They tried their luck the previous night based on their own wisdom and experience, which told them that it was time to pack it in for the day and worry about tomorrow’s catch tomorrow.
On the surface this Gospel account may seem like a simple story of faith: Faithful obedience in Christ’s commandments will bring us an overabundance of prosperity. While this is true in some circumstances, we should not be expecting big earthly rewards every time we are obedient. There is, in fact, an even greater lesson to be learned.
Even though this lesson focuses on faithful obedience, we should also read it in light of our own struggle as ministers of God’s Word. The zeal of being one of Christ’s disciples, willing to take the Good News to the lost and dying world can lose its luster if we are too quickly disappointed by the lack of results. Like the fishermen in the Gospel account this morning, we may believe that we are doing everything right: The right tools, the right timing and the right audience. But still for some reason our catch comes up short. Despite all the time and effort, we can’t seem to haul in even one little “fish” for Christ! It certainly cannot be our method of fishing since we’ve been doing the same thing for so many years. We are comfortable never going too far from the shore; maybe our missionary focus never leaves the four walls of the church building, and we are quite literally “preaching to the choir.”
Programs that are geared towards making the Christian experience better for the members of the parish are all great and can certainly help to strengthen the faith and bonds of friendship within the community, but at some point, we need to take the leap of faith and push away from our familiar shore. Jesus teaches us that as the “light of the world,” we need to let our light shine beyond the four walls of our church building:
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:14-16).
And sometimes this means heading out into unfamiliar territory where people do not think and believe the same way we do. In other words, we need to take risks with our Christian faith, understanding the witnessing may lead to opposition to the Gospel message.
We can certainly see this happening in our Gospel lesson today. After teaching the people near the shore, Jesus instructs Simon to “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4). Now it was time for Simon to put his faith in practice. He must have been familiar with the miraculous abilities of Jesus to cure the sick and demon possessed, but Simon seemed skeptical about Jesus’ ability to change the luck of the team of fishermen. “But Simon answered and said to Him, ‘Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless, at Your word I will let down the net’” (v. 5). You can hear the doubt in Simon’s voice. But the turning point in Simon’s life occurs when he says “Yes” to Jesus, allowing faith to fill the void left by doubt. “At your word I will let down the net.” It is the giving in to the will of God that helps to set us on the path of obedience. Jesus Himself demonstrates this in the Garden of Gethsemane just before His passion, and at some point, each of us must also make that same commitment to put our doubt aside and step out in faith.
When we are willing to cast out into the deep, unfamiliar waters and let God be our rudder, we will be able to witness the beauty and the strength of the Gospel in action. Many of our parishioners are participating in the Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry (OCPM) and have taken on “prison pen-pals.” I am sure that for most of the ministry team members, this is certainly unchartered waters for them. But by living a life in obedience to Christ, they may someday be counted with the righteous “sheep” who will inherit the Kingdom that was prepared for them. (Matt. 25:31-46). There is, of course, no guarantee that their actions will result in success, but by not trying we are certainly guaranteeing failure.
Each of us, by the virtue of our baptism, have been fully equipped to be able to “catch men” (v. 10). What do you think made the four fishermen in today’s Gospel obey Christ, even though human logic would say otherwise? At this point in their walk with Jesus, how much theological instruction did they have? What they did was demonstrate the importance of faithful obedience to Christ. And as Jesus point out, even though the catch of fish was impressive, their catch of humans will be even greater. This was a promise that had yet been unfulfilled; the four fishermen may not have even understood what Jesus was talking about when He said, “From now on, you will catch men” (v. 10). This promise was enough to cause them to leave everything and follow Jesus (v. 11).
For many centuries the ancient mariners followed the contours of the shore as they traveled the seas. They had no reliable means of navigation outside landmarks along the coast. To venture too far away from the familiarity and safety of shore could result in being lost at sea. The “deep” was an unknown and foreboding place where men and ships disappeared without a trace. The safest bet was to stick close to the shoreline, never being too far away from the safety of dry land. But as our Gospel lesson demonstrates, the biggest catch is usually the farthest from the shore. In order to reach the multitudes, we sometimes have cast our nets into the deep, risking our own comfort in order to make the catch. Our willingness to sail away from the safety of the shore based only a promise is the solid foundation on which our Christian faith is built.
Our calling as Christians requires us to sometimes leave the safety of shore and cast our nets in the deep. While the prospect of working in unfamiliar waters can be scary, we must remember that Christ is always with us, just as He promised (Matt. 28:20). It is up to us to now take that step of faith and move out of our comfort zones so we can fulfill Christ’s commandment to us. We must never forget that no matter where we are sent, we will never fish alone, no matter how far we must go from our familiar shores.