Throw down your net!
Homily on St. Luke 5:1-11
Who knew better about how to catch fish than Peter and the rest of the PROFESSIONAL FISHERMEN out in their boats? Jesus? What did He know about fishing?
We see the reasonableness of His suggestion because we see it within the context of His success and His power over water, His power over fish, and that it wasn’t really about catching fish anyways. But more on that later.
All of us are experts in certain things, and we really are called to put our expertise in service to the church. We are blessed by your voices, your organizational skills, your accounting acumen, and, of course, your mastery of the culinary arts. You share this with us and we are better for it and God is glorified in it.
But what about when it comes to the main way that we are called to show our love for God and one another? The one thing that all of us, no matter our age or profession, are called to make the center of our lives, the thing that defines – or should define- our routines and our parish culture?
The Sunday Liturgy. Just as the evening meal should be the center of family life, so to should this Holy Supper be the center of our life. It is the primary way we feed ourselves, the primary way we evangelize our community, and the primary way we transform this world. In other words, it is the main way we become better people – with Christ in us and us in Him; that our community becomes more patient and loving and eager to share the Gospel with others, and it becomes the way that the Uncreated Energies of God work to bring peace and joy to the world that groans in agony.
But sometimes it can leave us feeling a lot like the disciples did after fishing all night without catching anything.
And like them, when we are called to “do it again,” we have our rational and well-founded responses on how it won’t work and how to make it better. This is because we judge it based on our own experience and expertise.
- Is it entertaining? What would increase its entertainment value? (it will never be able to compete with a good concert; and it certainly won’t be worth the hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month that its enthusiastic supporters give). The example of language. The example of shortening it. The example of shortening it. We’ll certainly do what we can to make the music good and the setting beautiful, but we can’t compete with the alternatives if secular entertainment is our standard.
- Is it educational? What would increase its pedagogical value? Better sermons on Youtube; certainly better lectures and Bible studies. We’ll certainly do what we can, but we can’t compete with the alternatives if that is our standard.
Of course, to those who have prepared for it, the Liturgy is enjoyable and educational. But that isn’t really the point.
It wasn’t really about catching fish. It was about living and sharing the Gospel. By following the Lord’s command – in love – they did just that and the world was blessed by their work (much more than if they had just stuck to their professional opinion about fishing).
It’s not about filling our pews or about filling our coffers. It’s about loving one another and the Lord in joy. He has told us to do that here together each Sunday morning – and to invite others to join us (even if it hasn’t worked before).
In hindsight it was obvious that it was right to follow the Lord’s instruction when came to catching fish; it is no less obvious that it is right now when it comes to living and spreading the Gospel.
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