In the land where our Lord was born, lived, and was crucified and resurrected, there is an incredibly beautiful lake called Gennesaret. More often we hear this body of water being called the “Sea of Galilee”, but really, it’s just a large lake in the northern part of Israel.
I remember just about a year ago, cruising on this lake and speaking to our pilgrims about all of the miracles that made this body of water special. This was the lake that St. Peter walked upon the surface to come towards Christ. It was the lake that was calmed during a storm when our Lord, arising from a deep sleep, told the storm to be at peace…causing the disciples to be in awe at the One Who even the sea and the storms obey. But before all of that, this was the lake from which came the first bishops of the Church…simple and uneducated men through whom Christianity eventually would grow and triumph.
We hear in the Gospel this morning, how our Lord was at the lake shore, and entered into Peter’s boat after a crowd of people began to gather. He preached to them from the bow of the ship, which became His pulpit. When Jesus had finished preaching, he told Peter to go out into the lake and lower his nets, to which we hear the all too familiar grumbling that we have when God asks us to do something.
“Lord, we have been at this all night! It’s daytime, there won’t be any fish…but because you say to do it, I will.”
When Peter went to the depths, he cast his net out and immediately it was filled to the brim with fish. There were so many, that the net began to break. It is here that we get our first lesson from this lake of Gennesaret…the importance of Obedience to God. St. Nikolai of Zica comments on this when he speaks, not about the obedience of the Apostles (who only listen to Christ after they grumbled), but rather about the obedience of the fish! The fish don’t have reason the way we do, or the ears to hear with. Despite that, the fish heard and obeyed the word of Christ and swam into the nets!
The fish obeyed…but do we dear ones, who have been granted the ears to hear with…do we simply hear and obey Christ in our own lives? Are we quick to forgive? Generous to others? Loving towards our enemies?
After this lesson from the fish, the Apostles follow suit in their obedience. They had just hit the jackpot. They just caught enough fish to feed their families for a long time. They could realistically sell the rest and probably net them that upgrade on their house they always wanted! A fortune in fish, and what do they do? Christ tells them: “Do not be afraid. For now, you will become fishers of men.” Christ says come…and they leave behind all of their material riches for the even greater spiritual wealth that they were to acquire…sitting and learning at the foot of God. So they forsook all and followed after the Son of God.
Our lives as Christians, and the way in which we emulate the fish and the apostles in this text, is one of obedience and fishing. It is first of obedience, in that Christ calls for us to go out into the deep…out into the world and to put down our net to bring in those who have been lost to the depths of the world. But how are we to accomplish this great task in our own age?
The past several years of inquirers, catechumens, and growth of our own parish community, in the middle of a climate where Christianity is seemingly shrinking, is a testament to the reality of Christian fishing. I have had many priests, Orthodox Christians, and random strangers ask what it is that we are doing differently…and the answer is always the same: “Absolutely nothing.”
Christ is the ultimate fisherman. He labors to catch all mankind in His Love for Mankind. Our Lord’s cross is the hook. The net is the warm embrace of the Church, His eternal Kingdom. Our Savior is the master of the expedition…the captain of the ship. He is constantly in charge, and working invisible to move people’s hearts and arranging circumstances in the lives of individuals to help them to find the Church. Thank God He is the one that is in charge…because they had me try and cast a net into the sea on that boat tour on Gennesaret, and it collapsed tangled into the sea (which is an accurate depiction of my ministry as a priest)
Our one task as a parish community, is to constantly be prepared to receive those whom Christ has caught. We do this through not only welcoming and teaching those who have come by way of Christ through Ancient Christian Church, but by also living that life outside of these four walls. Being a fisher of men is not just the responsibility of the priest, but to us all who are a part of the Royal Priesthood. We are called to constantly be keeping the light of Christ aflame in our hearts, acting as a lighthouse to which we can attract others who are searching for that same destination.
May our Lord grant us all the strength to be obedient to His word, becoming the light that permeates the darkness of the world!