A Communion Meditation, February 7, 2010
Seward, Alaska, Rev. Peter K. Perry
Epiphany 5C, Luke 5:1-11
Listen to this week’s message…
He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. (Luke 5:3)
I’ve heard this story since I was a child… Jesus, escaping from the crowds, gets into the boat with Simon. They push off a ways from shore and in my mind’s eye, I see Jesus standing in the prow, teaching the crowds on the shore, the fisherman in the boats mending nets, while listening to the prophet speak. Then, of course, after he is done teaching and preaching, Jesus tells Simon to go out to the deep waters and throw out their nets. Simon tells him, “That’s not the way we fishermen do it, carpenter!” But Jesus tells them to do it anyway, they do, and … Yowza!… they bring in the biggest catch of fish they’ve ever laid their fishermen eyes on! And they realize in that moment, that this passenger, this prophet who tags along for the ride through their work-a-day world, is in fact One who will change them… in ways that they might not understand, and ways they might not want… and so they say, “Go away! Leave us alone, because we are sinners. We are afraid.”
The Jesus says to them, “Do not be afraid, but know this: from now on, you will fish for people.” And the story says that when they got back to shore, they left their boats and nets and lives behind, and they followed him.
When I read this familiar story again this week, the verse that jumped off the page at me wasn’t the one about catching people. It wasn’t the one about the fisherman dropping the nets to follow Jesus. It wasn’t the one about the miraculous catch of fish. It was, rather, verse 3… “He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore.”
That verse got me to thinking about all the times Jesus gets into boats in the New Testament. It is a recurring theme. Boats played a large role in Jesus life and ministry — they are mentioned 50 times in the Gospels! And today, there is even a museum in Israel featuring the fairly well-preserved remains of a first century fishing boat – the Jesus Boat, they call it. And for the right price, you can go out on the Sea of Galilee in a modern-day replica… you can sail on a Jesus Boat! Of course, the originals didn’t have Cummins Mercruiser diesel engines, GPS and sonar. But I guess, based on this morning’s story, they didn’t need a top-of-the-line Fish Finder!
There are other stories of Jesus in boats… there is the one about the storm that comes up suddenly while Jesus sleeps. And there is the one about him sailing off to a foreign country in order to escape the crowd. There’s the one where he walks on water and invites Simon Peter to do the same thing. Reflecting on all the various boat stories got me to wondering: what happens when you get in a boat with Jesus?
So I posted that question on my Facebook page! Now those of you who aren’t addicted to Facebook like so many of us need to understand that my Facebook friends (which now number nearly 500!) come from every corner of my life… Seward friends, clergy friends, family friends, friends from High School, friends from seminary, friends from former churches, friends I see every day and friends I never see… friends who think like me, and friends who don’t… and it was fun to see how some of them replied to the question: what happens when you get in a boat with Jesus?
Lori in Anchorage says, “You become a disciple…”
Howard (whom I’ve never met because he was a college classmate of Karen’s who friended me in order to keep up with her) says: “The disciples start singing, “Don’t Rock the Boat.”
My cousin’s wife Cindy says, “You catch a lot of fish!”
Seward’s very own Rebecca writes, “I think you don’t have to worry about sinking.”
Episcopalian friend Robert from Seward suggests simply: Stormy weather?”
Pastor Julie in Ninilchik says, “You go fishing and sometimes you walk on water!”
Cameron Padgett, 8 year old grandson of Skip and Marie, says, “You finally find him!”
My friend Joyce from Prescott, who lost her husband this week, took a minute away from her grieving to write: “I can tell you, I wouldn’t get into a boat WITHOUT Jesus!”
Kathy, my old friend from High School band days says, “It becomes a wonderful journey.”
My clergy pal Mark from Nevada had perhaps my favorite, “What happens when you get in a boat with Jesus? I think you find yourself in Alaska!”
And my clergy friend Laura in Vienna, Austria pointed out correctly that I asked the wrong question: “No, no, Peter – it’s not what happens when you get in a boat with Jesus, but what happens when Jesus gets in the boat with YOU. Peter was already in the boat, doing his everyday thing, when Jesus got in.”
Well, there’s probably a sermon in every one of those responses, but there’s a football game coming up and we don’t have time for that today…
So let me boil it down to a couple of simple truths, whether Jesus gets in the boat with us, or we get the boat with Jesus, there are some things that are going to happen. Now you know that I am thinking like a preacher today, so getting in the boat with Jesus, is a metaphor for including God in your life. There are some things you can count on when God gets in your boat.
First, you will learn. When we travel with God we are always learning something new. Maybe that goes without saying, but when I read the boat stories, it always seems that someone is learning something from Jesus… the crowd on the shore, the fishermen in the boat, the disciple walking on the water… the boat is a classroom, a place where God teaches us a lesson or two. No matter how much we already know, there’s always more to learn, and when we ride with Jesus by our side, the learning becomes a lifelong experience. Eight year old Cameron recognizes that the best way to find God, to find truth, to understand what it is we are all about, is to let God ride in our boat.
Second, there will be storms. The storms of life don’t disappear when God is a part of our lives. Some folks think that God magically protects them from all sorts of bad things, but the truth is, and you know it, bad things happen, even to faithful people. But as my friend Joyce says, remembering the storms of her life as she coped with Bert’s advancing dementia and his month of active dying, “I wouldn’t get into a boat without Jesus.” Becky knows it, and so do you: even when the storm is raging, “you don’t have to worry about sinking.”
Third, you aren’t always going to want to follow the course God sets. Like Howard says, sometimes we disciples would rather not “rock the boat.” Simon Peter laughed at Jesus when Jesus told him to fish the deep waters, “Lord, we’ve been fishing all night and haven’t caught a thing, but we will humor you just this once.” And the nets overflowed… We don’t always know where it is that God is going to lead us… as my colleague Mark down in the desert so pointedly reminded me… God might even set sail for a place like Alaska.
Fourth, you will be changed. It may not always be perceptible, and it certainly doesn’t happen all at once. But when we invite God into our boat, God changes us. Julie is so right when she says “You go fishing, and SOMETIMES you walk on water.” Jesus says to the disciples, “Don’t be afraid! You will still be fishing, still be doing what you’ve always done, but from now on, your fishing takes on a new meaning, a new purpose… you are fishing for people.” When God is in your boat, your view of the world changes, and you start to see things the way God sees them… and that gets you ready for the last thing.
Be prepared for a surprise. When you invite God into your boat, be ready for the unexpected. Be ready for the overflowing nets… be ready for walking on the water… be ready for the storms to be stilled, and be ready to sail to unexpected ports of call. As Kathy says, your life will be “a wonderful journey.”
“He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore.”
It certainly seems like a simple enough request. I wonder if Simon Peter had offered the boat. Or did Jesus commandeer it? It really doesn’t matter, I suppose… for on that day God got into Peter’s boat, and nothing was ever the same again…
Sisters and brothers, you who would invite God this day into your boat… perhaps for the first time, or perhaps offering the invitation as to an old and dear friend who has sailed with you often, hear the voice of God saying, “Put out a little way from the shore…” Pull in your anchor, prepare your nets, and raise your sails… God is aboard! Amen.
Peter,
I’m a UM pastor in rural northern mountains of West Virginia. Thank you for posting this wonderful sermon that has spoken to me in ways that I cannot begin to list here. God bless you and the boat to which you are called and for reminding me that the boat in which I find myself this day has the One who will see me through this storm.
Posted by Jim Martin on March 1st, 2010.