St. Luke 5:1-11; 1 Corinthians 16: 13-24
I am sure that every one of us has
felt at some point in our lives just like the frustrated fishermen did when
Jesus Christ found them washing their nets.
They had fished all night and caught nothing at all. As happens so often in our own lives, things
had not turned out as they had hoped despite their best efforts. They were disappointed and frustrated to the
point of giving up. But then the Lord
told them to get back to work and let down their net. They did so and somehow caught so many fish
that their net was breaking; then they hauled in so many fish that their weight
almost sank two boats.
That must have been quite a scene,
and it was so astonishing that St. Peter recognized this tremendous abundance
as a miracle. He fell down before Christ
and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” But the Lord responded
said, “Do not be afraid. From now on you
will catch men.” Then the disciples left
behind their boats and nets and followed Jesus Christ.
That day probably began like any
other day in the family fishing business that they had always known. The men were busy with their work and did not
expect anything unusual to happen. Over
the years, there had surely been many times before when they had caught
nothing. So it was time to wash their
nets and hope for the best the next time.
But in the midst of their disappointment and resignation, the Lord
blessed them in a way that helped them see their lives, and calling in life, in
a new way. Their work would no longer be
catching fish, but bringing people into the eternal life of the Kingdom of God.
The details are different, but Jesus
Christ says something very similar to us all.
No matter what we do every day, no matter how satisfied or disappointed
we may be with our circumstances, the Lord invites us to participate in
bringing the blessings of His Kingdom to the world and all its inhabitants.
Of course, the disciples were called
to a special ministry in the founding of the Church; they had to leave their
old occupations and serve the Lord full-time as evangelists, apostles, bishops,
and ultimately as martyrs. Some
continue to hear similar callings to this day. But most of us will remain right
where we are for the foreseeable future, in the familiar circumstances of our
families, neighborhoods, workplaces, and schools with all their strengths and
weaknesses.
Familiarity often breeds contempt,
and we may be tempted to think that because we do not have our “dream job” or live
in a setting more to our liking that we are somehow failures. When we think in those says, we forget that the
measure of our lives is not in success according to the standards of the world
or even to our own preferences. The
fishermen did not expect a miraculous haul or a new calling in the midst of
their frustration. We cannot place
limits on what God is doing through us and with us even when we are
disappointed, frustrated, and unfulfilled.
Likewise, we may think that really
holy people are all in monasteries, seminaries, and mission fields, not in the
mundane circumstances in which we find ourselves. We may doubt that what we do each day could
be truly pleasing to God and what we are really called to do. We must remember, however, that every bit of
our life and work is called to become holy.
Everything that we do provides an opportunity to be stewards of God’s
creation and to offer our lives and the fruits of our labor to the Lord for
blessing and fulfillment.
For Jesus Christ is present to us in
every human being whom we encounter at work, school, or elsewhere since we all
bear His image and likeness. Every human
being and the entire creation are called to shine with the light of our Lord’s glory. In our daily lives, we are all to become
priests who offer the world back to God for His blessing. We are all to become iconographers who bring
out the beauty of the creation so that it manifests the life of our Lord, so
that it becomes an image of His Kingdom. That is as true for every one of us as it is
for the monks on Mt. Athos and our bishops and patriarchs.
In order for us to accept this high
calling, we must learn from St. Paul about how to work every day as priests and
iconographers of the creation. We need
to obey his teaching to “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be
strong. Let all that you do be done with
love.” Some have claimed that Christianity
is a religion for the weak, for wimps who want to feel better about being the
doormats and losers of life. But those
who take up their crosses and follow Jesus Christ know that this is not a way
for the weak and timid, but for those who boldly step out in faith to resist
the temptation to do what is easy and popular and satisfies our self-centered
desires.
In contrast, the true Christian life
requires discipline, self-sacrifice, and the sort of dogged commitment
characteristic of athletes, soldiers, and others who do the hard work of
sacrificing for a good higher than themselves.
Opportunities to grow in this kind of life are available to us all in
whatever set of circumstances we face today.
Some in our parish care for the sick
and troubled; some take on the great burdens of defending our nation or
protecting us from crime; some provide jobs by running a business or provide
goods and services that people need in order to live a decent life; others
teach; some take care of a home or a family; some go to school; and some are
retired. At times, we all get
discouraged and frustrated; we have conflicts with others or feel neglected or
mistreated by them. At times we may wonder
if there is any point at all to what we do every day. When we feel this way, we must remember that the
Son of God has entered into our world and blessed every bit of it. He wants to sanctify every human being, every
relationship, every responsibility, task, and assignment that we have—and every
word that we speak. Nothing is foreign
to Him; nothing is outside of His love and salvation.
When we live and work faithfully in
our present circumstances, we have the opportunity to transform a portion—no
matter how small-- of God’s good creation for His glory. And we are reminded that salvation is not a
matter of the spiritual experience of isolated individuals, for we all journey
together toward a new heaven and a new earth.
Jesus Christ’s ministry of feeding the hungry, healing the sick,
restoring sight to the blind, and proclaiming good news to the poor shows that
His salvation concerns the real-life challenges that people continue to face in
the world as we know it. He showed God’s
love for the hated Gentiles and Samaritans, for people who had fallen into
great sin and were shunned by respectable people. In His Body, the Church, all peoples and
nations are to be reconciled and united in the life of the Kingdom.
Whether we see it or not, the
circumstances we face each day provide an opportunity to play a role in bringing
salvation to the world and all its inhabitants.
Everything that we do and say at work, school, or among family and
friends should be sign of God’s blessing to those we encounter. We all have the
opportunity to forgive; to work toward reconciliation with those from whom we
have become estranged; and not to let greed, ambition, or power get in the way
of relating to others with honesty, kindness, and decency. Of course, our work must support us
financially if we are to live in the world, but there is a difference between
meeting our legitimate needs and selfishly worshipping comfort, convenience,
and “the almighty dollar.”
Our calling is to use the challenges
and blessings of our daily grind to grow in holiness as we play our role in making
this world an icon of God’s salvation.
That’s how we will become fishers of men in our daily work. For salvation is not an escape from the
world, but its fulfillment. Spirituality
is not about separating ourselves from others, but about serving one another in
Christ-like humility.
Human labor has fashioned wheat into
bread and grapes into wine. By the power
of the Holy Spirit, they will soon become the Body and Blood of Christ, our
salvation, our Communion with the Holy Trinity.
The same will be true of our daily life and work in the world when we
offer ourselves and all our labors to Him.
Then like the first disciples, we will move from frustration to
amazement at God’s blessing to become fishers of men.
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