Faith

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
February 6, 2021

5 Epiphany C 

          When I was a child, our parents took us to the little Presbyterian Church near our home, pretty much every Sunday as memory serves me.  My brother, sister, and I went to the preschool at the church, and my sister and I eventually sang in the junior choir.  Church was our Sunday morning activity.  When we moved to Little Rock when I was in the 6^th grade, we went to the nearby Episcopal Church, going to Sunday School each week, serving as acolytes, singing in the choir, and going to youth group.  So, on the one hand, you could say that I was churched as a child, even though our parents dropped us off at the door so as a family we were not churched.  But not until I was in high school did going to church become more than another activity like girl scouts or dance lessons.  In high school, I came to faith, largely through a group of adults who took interest in me, saw potential, showed me the love of God through their care for me, and helped a shy insecure teen become grounded in the faith and a more confident, secure human being.  My parents got me to church and the adults at church helped me form a relationship with God that grows and sustains me through the good times and the hard times.  My gratitude to my parents for taking me to church and to the people at church for nurturing me and guiding me in the faith runs deep.

          This morning, we hear how Simon Peter, James, and John come to faith, a faith that will mature and blossom over the course of their ministry.  The three have fished all night, caught nothing, and are washing their nets when Jesus asks Simon to put out a little way from the shore so he can teach the crowds on the beach.  Once he is finished, Jesus says to Simon “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”  I’m sure “try again” was not exactly what Simon Peter wanted to hear after a whole night of fishing with nothing but fatigue, dirty nets, and aching muscles to show for his effort.  The nets were now clean and cleaning them was hard work no one wanted to repeat, especially for nothing.  Jesus is asking a lot! But Simon Peter follows Jesus’ direction and lo and behold they caught more fish than their nets or the boats could hold.   Simon Peter recognizes Jesus as more than just an ordinary person and says, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”  Simon Peter recognizes who Jesus is, and he is afraid for he is not worthy.  Jesus sees the potential in Simon Peter and says: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”  And the three men leave everything behind and follow Jesus.

          The image of fishing for or catching people to bring them to faith has always been a problem for me.  Fish are caught against their will, cooked, filleted, and eaten or sold for others to do the same.  For Simon Peter, James, and John, this analogy made sense.  Jesus was going to teach them to use the skills and understanding they already had as fishermen to draw people to faith.  For those of us who do not fish for a living, perhaps there is another way to understand what Jesus is up to.

          How does Jesus bring people to faith in him, particularly these three fishermen?  First, Jesus taught.  Jesus got into Simon’s boat with him, and taught the crowds, including Simon, from the boat.  We don’t know what he said, but we know that crowds gathered wherever he went to hear him so his words must have been powerful.  Secondly, while in the boat with Simon, Jesus asked him to put out into the deep water and let down the nets.  Jesus didn’t just tell Simon to do that alone.  Jesus was in the boat with him as Simon does this hard work.  Thirdly, when Simon is overwhelmed by the abundance of the catch, Jesus tells him not to be afraid and calls Simon to follow him.  Jesus does not snag or net Simon and the others.  Jesus gets into the boat with them, leads them to deep waters, and tells them to let the nets down, and they catch the fish.  Jesus brings Simon Peter, James, and John to a faith that will sustain and strengthen them through the challenge and disappointment to come.

          Throughout the gospels, Jesus brings people to faith by teaching with parables that bring the gospel message alive using relevant analogies like yeast, seeds, coins, and sheep to help people understand the Good News.  Jesus heals people who had given up hope, showing them the power of God’s love.  Jesus feeds multitudes of hungry people, showing the concern of God for everyone.  And Jesus preaches the good news with both words and actions.  Jesus is out and about, going where the people are, building relationships, and inviting people to follow him.  Perhaps in the inside out, upside down world of the gospel where the poor are rich and the rich are poor, the outsiders are insiders and the insiders are outsiders, and the strong are weak and the weak are strong, it is also the case that fishing for people is not about nets and hooks and snagging people against their will, but about meeting people where they are and building relationships. 

          We can easily think that if we just had the right space, or another program, or more varieties of worship service, or more parking, or some other tangible thing, we could bring people to faith.  While those things are all very important, and do help bring people to church, they are not the primary way people are brought to faith.  People of all ages are brought to faith or deeper faith in many cases, whether they have grown up in the church, or never set foot in a church, or want to grow the faith they already have, when we meet them where they are, whether here or in the world, build relationships, share our stories, and show them the love of God with our lives.                                                                                          Amen.