This morning’s gospel portion relates the well known story of the ‘miraculous catch of fish’.  It just begs for some grand fish story to start out the sermon – so how can I resist?  Unfortunately, I don’t have any grand fish stories.  Oh I fish plenty.  I have all the best gear, read all the magazines and even watch fishing shows on TV – but it always seems that wherever I am, fish aren’t.  I am one of those hapless fishermen who always hear, ‘Boy, you should have been here yesterday, we were just killing them!’  I can relate to Simon Peter cleaning his nets that haven’t had a thing in them all night.  Unlike Peter I don’t make my living from fishing so I can’t relate to the frustration and worry about a night of work with nothing to show for it – but this morning’s text isn’t really about fishing, let’s take a look at what the story is really about.

            This story in Luke is very familiar to most of us.  At times it is called the Miraculous Catch of Fish at other times it’s referred to as the Calling of Peter.  It occurs early in the ministry of Jesus.  He has been preaching in the region around Capernaum and he is now leaving to begin preaching in Judea.  Although there may be many people traveling along with him, none of the disciples has been chosen – but he has met several of them.  We know this because earlier in Luke we read about Jesus healing Simon Peter’s mother-in-law.

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            As our story opens, Jesus is at the shore of Lake Genessaret which is also called the Sea of Galilee.  He is surrounded by a crowd of people who have come to hear the word of God.  These must be people who believe he has something to say because they are pressing in around him – perhaps to hear him better.  But it’s really hard to talk to a crowd of people when you’re in the middle of a crowd of people – your voice just can’t carry very far.

            So Jesus looks around and sees two fishing boats nearby.  The fishermen are busy washing their nets after an unsuccessful night of fishing.  Jesus gets into one of the boats and one of the fishermen rows out a little from the shore.  From there he sits down and teaches the people.  Sound travels well across water so this is a good place from which to speak.  Luke doesn’t tell us what he says to them but it must be pretty good stuff because when he finishes speaking to the crowd on the shore, he turns to Simon and says, ‘Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’

            Simon answers, ‘Yeah but, Teacher, we’ve been fishing all night and haven’t caught anything – but if you say so, I’ll try it again.’

            Simon Peter and another fisherman, possibly Andrew, row out into deep water and let down their net.  When they pull the net up, it is so full of fish that the net begins to break. So they call to their buddies in the other boat to come and help.  Even with four men and two boats when they get all the fish out of the water, the boats are so full that they begin to sink.

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This is a lot of fish.  One of the commentaries I read said that each of these boats probably measured 26 ½ feet long, 7 ½ feet wide and 4 ½ feet deep.  This is really a lot of fish – and in a place where not that long ago there had been no fish at all.

            When Simon Peter sees all this, he falls down at the feet of Jesus and says, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’  Jesus simply replies, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now you will be catching people’.

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When the boats get to shore, Simon Peter, along with James and John, leave everything just where it is and begin following Jesus.

            And so the first three disciples are called and begin to follow Jesus.  Pretty short story – nothing incredibly dramatic going on – at least not on the surface.  But what does happen here is a tremendous leap of faith on the part of these three people.  It is the kind of leap we see throughout the Bible.  It is the kind of leap that we too are called to make if we are to be followers of Christ.  So let’s take a closer look at those few verses we just read:

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As our scene opens, Jesus is surrounded by a crowd of people – and Simon Peter is not one of them.  Why not?  Where is he?  He’s over there, cleaning his nets. 

            Simon Peter has seen the power of God in the healing of his mother-in-law – and yet, he is not among the crowd of people.  Like so many of us, he thinks he’s too busy.

            He’s busy working – He’s been working all night so he’s also tired, sweaty and dirty.  So there he is going about his business and perhaps --we are not told for sure – perhaps not paying much attention to what is going on at the shore.  Fishing all night and catching nothing is a pretty serious business when fishing is what you do for a living.  Simon is probably not in a very good mood.

Jesus asks Simon to take the boat out from shore and sitting down in the boat, Jesus speaks to the people.  Whether he wants to or not, Simon is stuck out there in the boat, hearing the message.  Isn’t it funny? – God does whatever it takes to get our attention.

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Many times in our lives it can seem as though the Lord can’t see us.  We may think that God is busy elsewhere doing something more important, or that since we are not looking each other in the face that we have escaped the holy notice.  Sometimes we think that because we are too busy for God just now that we can put God on hold: ‘not now Lord, I’m busy saving for that new house’ or ‘not yet Lord, I’m not done having a good time yet’ or ‘not now Lord, I’m just too busy mending my nets’ - or we may think that by sitting and quietly warming a pew in the back of the church that we can escape being called upon to do much of anything that we don’t want to do.

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            Hearing the call of God can be pretty intimidating – but hearing the call of God can also be life-changing, life-affirming and life-strengthening.  Each of this morning’s scripture portions relate ‘call stories’ – times when God spoke to ordinary people doing ordinary things and called them to the work of God.  As each of those who hear God’s call encounters the power and glory of the living God each of these ordinary people declares their unworthiness: 

• Isaiah cries out: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.’
• Paul declares himself: ‘least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.’
• Peter says: ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’

Each of these ordinary people was living a pretty good life before God called.  Each was happy in life.  None was looking for a change.  None was desperately seeking anything.  Each was pretty self-satisfied.

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            The good news about a God who is omnipresent and omniscient – that is a God who is everywhere present and all knowing -- is that wherever you are, God is – of course that may appear to be bad news if you are trying to escape notice, but be warned, that like Peter, the Lord will find you -- will get your attention – and will get you to listen.

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Jesus got Peer’s attention when he had finished speaking to the crowd.  He turned to Simon Peter and said, ‘Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’  Notice how understated all this is.  He speaks no command for the fish to form a school.  There is no bolt of lightning, no sign from heaven, simply, ‘Go out aways and let down your nets for a catch.’  How often does the voice of God come to each one of us in just this way – quietly, firmly – against all common sense – ‘go and do’?

            Simon Peter says, ‘Master, we’ve been fishing all night and haven’t caught anything – but if you say so, I’ll try it again’ Simon calls Jesus, Teacher or Master – ep-is-tat-ace in the Greek – appointee over, commander, teacher.

            Against all logic, Simon takes the boat out and  lets down the net.  With one pass of the net, it is full of fish.  It is so full of fish that the net begins to break and they have to call for others to come and help them bring all the fish into the boats.  Acting in obedience to the command of God, more fish are caught in one pass of the net than were caught in an entire night of fishing.  And how often is there evidence of the work of God when we do what he tells us to.  How often does the impossible become real when we can just trust what God says and do as God asks?

            Nowhere do we see that Simon understands fully what has happened.  It can even be argued that Simon Peter, the apostle famous for speaking first and thinking later doesn’t really understand much of anything until after the resurrection – but in this moment, something in him does recognize the hand of God because he falls down at the feet of Jesus and says, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’  Go away from me, Lord.  Just a short time ago Peter had called Jesus, Master and teacher -- Now he calls him, Lord – koo-ree-os in the Greek: supreme in authority – God, Lord and Master.

            Simon Peter cannot yet understand what has happened, but after seeing what has happened, his heart knows that there is something special in Jesus.  In the same instant, Peter’s heart can see how completely unprepared and unworthy he is of the work of grace that Jesus has just shown to him.  He knows now is that he is nothing special and he is a sinful person and in no way worthy of the God’s notice.

            Jesus simply replies, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will be catching people’.

What is important and what we do know is that Simon Peter along with James and John leave their nets – and all those just caught and uncleaned fish - and begin to follow Jesus.  When confronted with the reality of Christ and his grace, we must do likewise.  When Jesus calls us into his pasture, when he calls us into the fold, we cannot refuse.

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As a child, my family lived in a small town in southern Florida.  Like most children our age, my sister and I spent the afternoons running through the neighborhood – climbing trees, playing ball, trying our best to have fun without getting into to much mischief.—until dinner time.  When it was time for dinner, my mom would stand at the backdoor and, in a voice that could be heard for some distance, call, ‘Saaaa-rah Jaaane, Mary Cather-eeeeeeeeen’.  There was no mistaking the call, and no excuse for not hearing it – and ready or not, there was no excuse for being late for dinner.  When we heard my mom calling, we were supposed to drop everything and head for home.

            My Mom knew that we were out playing in the neighborhood playing somewhere.  She knew that we were enjoying our time and not looking for something better to do.  My Mom knew that when she called, we would hear her wherever we were.  My Mom also knew that when she called, we would drop everything and come home.

            The voice of God is calling us by name.  The Lord stands at the door of Heaven and calls each of us home.  We know who the Lord is and the Lord knows who we are – and the Lord knows where we are and how we got here.  The Lord knows where to find us and when our name is called, we will hear.

            We cannot know exactly when the call will come, but we cannot fail to answer when we hear it.  Nothing that we are doing can prepare us to meet the Lord.  Nothing we do can make us worthy to meet the Lord.  Nothing that we are doing can prepare us to do the work of God.  Nothing we do can be more important to us and nothing we have is so important or so valuable that it’s not worth leaving it all behind to follow the call of Christ. 

            All that we have is worthless and like those fish can be left behind when we hear the voice of God calling us to head for home.

            So what have we got planned for this afternoon?  Big dinner with the family?  A few chores around the house?  Big sporting event on the tube we just have to rush home for?  The voice of God is calling us by name, ‘Don’t be afraid, from now on you will be catching people’.

            The season of Lent is approaching.  The period before the celebration of Easter when the whole church looks deeply into its roots and rededicates itself to our God. It is a good time to take time to consider if we have heard the call. Just as my mom called me by name when it was time for dinner, the voice of God calls us by name when it’s time to come home. Come Home, Come on – God is calling us by name – let us be sure to listen.

Amen.