The
Penny Drops ~ Extreme Fishing
Luke 5:1-11
When I
was a girl every summer my family went on holiday; and every year we went to
the same house, in the same village in North Wales and for the same fortnight;
and every year we met up with the same families. There were as far as I can
remember 6 families who all went at that same time. Between us we had a
selection of dinghies and canoes and we loved to swim in the Irish Sea!!
It was
here that I learned to swim, and to handle a canoe, and indeed to fish... I
grew up loving the sea, and loving to go fishing, mostly trailing off the back
of the boat, but also with a rod off the rocks.
One
summer when I was 14 or 15 years old had been particularly hot; for some reason
there were very few fish being caught... in fact the dads were a little frustrated
– for by the middle weekend they hadn’t actually caught anything at all. My
friend Liz and I asked if we could take the big canoe out and do a little
fishing ourselves... and so we did.
This was
a big wooden Canadian Canoe, wide bodied, very stable and ideal for trailing
spinners and feathers. Out we went, into deep water and around the quiet cliffs
and bays along the coast – it was truly idyllic... to our surprise after just a
few minutes we realised we had caught something... and to our even greater
surprise when we pulled the lines in we had each caught a couple of beautiful
fat mackerel!!
We put
the lines out again and repeated the manoeuvre and once again brought up
mackerel... our excitement was tempered by the effort it took to stun them, but
we carried on for a little while before turning and making our way back to the
beach. The incredulity from our fathers, and indeed all of the men and brothers
in our families was joy to see!! And within minutes the beach was void of men
as they leapt into their own boats and canoes and headed out – really not
wanting to be outdone by two girls!! The men did not catch anything that day –
but the mackerel was delicious!!
Fishing
is a combination of skill and luck – if the fish are there a good fisherman
will make a catch, but if they are away somewhere else it doesn’t matter how
skilled you are... Jesus was a craftsman - a carpenter; his undoubted skill was
not really transferable to fishing, nevertheless this did not stop him from
offering advice to the fishermen out in their boats.
Timing
though makes all the difference.
Peter and
his brothers and friends had already met Jesus. They had listened to Jesus
speaking... listened to Jesus teaching – had witnessed Jesus healing. They knew
this man was different. So when he approached their boat they were ready, they
were ripe for the catch.
I suspect
that a couthy old fisherman like Peter would not have responded so favourably to
his suggestion had Jesus not been known; because fishermen know their trade, know
how to read the water and know the right and wrong time of day – fish do not
bite in the middle of the day – they come up to the shore region at evening
when the water insects are at their most active so to put out and lower the
nets at this time of day really was ludicrous.
For Peter
– still at this point Simon of course – this was a pivotal moment – Jesus had
been in the region for some time, teaching and doing amazing things and Simon
had most likely been on the periphery for a while;
Then
Jesus came to his home;
And Jesus
healed his mother-in-law;
Jesus had
healed many others too
For this
stubborn old man life was about to change forever.
I am sure
that it was no accident that it was Simon’s boat Jesus chose
Jesus –
God, knows each of us better than we
know ourselves
God puts
people, opportunities, events and experiences into our lives and it is up to us
whether or not we respond
In God’s
terms we are all fishers:
We can go
out to life’s big ocean expecting nothing
Or hoping
for that elusive catch against all the odds
The
catch?
Well the
catch could be another person; or an unexpected opportunity
It could
be a second chance
Or a conversation
that blesses and encourages
Truth is
we don’t know until we take up the challenge
Take a
risk
Step out
in faith – uncertain of what it is we let ourselves in for
And when
we do, life can change, realisation dawn – the penny drops.
Simon would
become Jesus right hand man
And
becoming one of God’s fishermen doesn’t mean you need to suddenly turn into a
preacher or teacher – Simon Peter certainly didn’t! it took him years, and
years to get to that point.
God’s
fishers take up the opportunity to show God’s love
To share
Jesus Good News
And make
a difference – and we do it all the time without ever realising
We bring
our children for baptism
We share
our joy and our hope
We tell
the stories of our faith
We will
not always know the impact we have had – but God will know
The boat
is our lives
Jesus
asks to use our lives
To teach,
to show, to challenge and to accept
To love,
to care, to simply be;
Jesus
comes in many guises
God sends
people into our lives, for a moment, for a short time and for a lifetime
We may
lose touch
We may
never leave them
We may
remember and we may forget
That is
life
But when
our paths cross things will happen...
It is for
us to use those opportunities
To allow
God into every conversation
To help
others realise
For the
penny to drop
Because when
Jesus invites us to cast our nets wide
God knows
what will happen!
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