Sunday Feb 7th, thoughts going in

Luke 5:1-11 1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." 5 Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will fish for people." 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Some key thoughts/ideas going in…
The readings continue to be about unlikely instruments/circumstances that reveal God’s glory in Jesus. Answering the call & leaving everything also seem to be key thoughts.

Vs 1: by “hearing Jesus,” the crowds are hearing the word of God (logon tou Theou).

Vs 3: Sitting teaching in a boat, or teaching in a synagogue or teaching on a hillside; regardless, TEACHING is the primary programmatic function of Jesus. As exemplar, we could say that it is also supposed to be the primary programmatic function of the Church.

Vs 4: “Put out to the deep.” This is an interesting turn. The teaching session is over. Jesus could’ve said “thanks” to Simon & asked to be rowed ashore. Going to the deep is necessary, tho, to catch the great shoal of fish. Was this Jesus’ “payment” for use of the boat, or simply THE SIGN used to draw these fishermen to him as disciples? (if so, it initially backfires in vs 8).

Vs 8: Simon says: “go away from me…” this is a normal response to a theophany. Jesus responds “don’t be afraid” (mey phobou, words of absolution). This is ALWAYS God’s response to the penitent sinner (cf the prayer of humble access: “but you are the same Lord, whose nature is ALWAYS TO HAVE MERCY).

Vs 11: What is the relationship between “leaving all” and following? I sense that the “all” would’ve inhibited following….
Going in to this Sunday, to say nothing of the casual worship service that will occur tonight, I have multiple thoughts swirling around in my head. First, I think this is the sort of text that confronts us with the TWO JESUSES issue. Critical scholars love to talk about the “historical Jesus” and the “post-resurrection Jesus.” The historical Jesus was the man, the apocalyptic prophet who lived two thousand years ago. But as far as they’re concerned, he also died and stayed dead two thousand years ago. On the other hand, the post-resurrection Jesus, or the “Jesus of faith” is the Jesus of mythology that came into existence when his followers wanted to keep following him, even though he’d been killed by the Romans. I read an interesting blip online about this, and related to the text:

“There’s a reason why Marcus Borg, in The Heart of Christianity, labors to disjoin the "pre-Easter Jesus" from the "post-Easter Jesus." it is easier, I think, to be in the boat with Borg’s historical Jesus -- wisdom teacher/movement initiator/social prophet -- than with Jesus the Resurrected Christ who rocks the heck out of my dead and dying world. Though Jesus tells us, "Don’t be afraid" when he promises to teach us to fish like him, it’s scary. Get out of here, Jesus.”

That is a very good point. The wisdom-teacher Jesus who died and stayed dead two thousand years ago isn’t very scary, doesn’t call us to do much, and doesn’t radically change our lives. Of course, as a brief aside, he’s also not there with us in our dark moments of the soul or walking with us in the valley of the shadow of our death. From the text, it’s obvious that the “two Jesuses” are actually one and the same.

Which brings me to Simon’s reaction: "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" I can think of two reasons why he reacted like this. The first is close to Isaiah’s reaction in the 1st reading for the day (Is 6) where—when confronted with the scene of the heavenly throne room—Isaiah says: “woe is me, I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips.” In other words, he is seeing/witnessing something SO HOLY, the realization of his own un-holiness is enough to make him believe that he is going to DIE in the next 2 seconds…..that it’s only a matter of seconds before lightning strikes him dead where he stands. This could very well be part of what’s troubling Simon. Being in the presence of THAT MUCH holiness (for only that could produce the miracle he just witnessed) was massively uncomfortable given his own un-holiness, so he does the only natural thing, he asks Jesus to LEAVE. [Interesting sidenote…..last week’s reading from Luke 4 where the entire town of Nazareth rejects Jesus is followed by this week’s reading where the Chief of the Apostles, initially, rejects him also].
But there’s also another side to this rejection that bears mentioning. I cannot help but think of the dialog between Jacob Marley’s ghost & Scrooge:

Marley: You will be haunted by three spirits…
Scrooge: [whose countenance fell at these words] Is that the chance and hope you mentioned, Jacob?
Marley: It is
Scrooge: I think I’d rather not

In other words, there was a ‘comfort’ of sorts that Scrooge had in who he was. To one degree or another I suppose the same is true of Simon, and the same is true with each & every one of us. It even sounds a bit pious to say ‘leave me alone, Jesus, I’m not good enough for you…’ when really, if we’re honest with ourselves, it’s more like: “leave me alone Jesus, I’m not good enough for you….and besides, I’m pretty comfortable being not good enough.”
What follows is another fork in the road in the story. Just like Jesus could’ve left as soon as he was done teaching the crowds, he could’ve left NOW. “Ok, Simon, you want me to leave, I’m outa here.” But he doesn’t. He ABSOLVES him (“fear not”), and that produces a CHANGE that is every bit as miraculous as the great haul of fish. Simon, and his companions, leave all for a life of discipleship.

Cheers,

TM