February 7, 2022 – “Full Steam Ahead” (Luke 9:51-62)

“As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them. Then he and his disciples went to another village. As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:51-62

“Full Steam Ahead”

To go “Full Steam Ahead”, well, you are moving forward no matter what you might encounter. Where does this phrase come from? Well, 150 years ago, trains or locomotives ran fast by steam. When a ship’s captain or a train’s engineer shouted “Full steam ahead”, it meant to “put the steam boiler up to maximum pressure so we can go faster”.

Jesus is looking for people who are interested in following him. But, as the text suggests, there are plenty of excuses out there as to why people will not follow. We know we have family obligations. We know what it is like to have too many pressing concerns and responsibilities to offer the time we should to Jesus and the church. And Jesus’ comment that “no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of G-d”, well, that really hurts.

So what do we make of this comment? Well, as I see it, Jesus seems to be saying that no one can do any work, whether it is plowing a field or driving a car if they are distracted and worried. Many in Jesus time must have said they would follow him, but when life got in the way, they turned back and stopped. As such, if we begin the work of G-d, we should begin by first resolving to go on, because there will always be some distraction, some other “more important’ work that will be calling us away. Looking back, leads to drawing back, and drawing back is receding from Jesus — and having a relationship with Jesus is that important. When Jesus calls us to mission, we should be willing to look forward and move forward with trust and faith.

Let us pray,

Lord Christ, Help us to begin every day with the resolve that we will continue — distractions or not — because it is that important — leading to nothing less than eternal life. Amen.

Pastor Dave

February 6, 2022 – Epiphany 5C

“Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”  Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people” Luke 5:1ff

There’s a scene from the movie “There’s Something About Mary” starring Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz where Ben and Cameron are standing by the sea, and her movie brother is fishing. He takes his rod and brings it back to cast it out, when the lure on the end of his rod gets stuck in Ben Stiller’s mouth. It is an uncomfortable scene – you see Cameron standing above Ben with her foot on his head trying to get the hook out of his mouth with people standing around. It is uncomfortable, yet I find is uncommonly funny. This is the image I get in my head when Jesus turns to Peter, James and John and tells them they are going to be fishing for people. Of course, this is not the image Jesus intends…..what with the blood, the hook and the pain.

Let’s do a recap. Jesus has come to the Lake of Gennesaret (which is just another name for the Sea of Galilee) and so many people are coming to hear him speak. He looks around and sees two boats, those belonging to Simon Peter and his business partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and he asks if he can use one of the boats as a pulpit. When he is done speaking from the shallow water, he tells Peter to take the boat into the deeper water and to put down his nets for a catch of fish. We know the story—Peter tells him that they have been fishing all night long and have caught nothing. But he says he will do what Jesus suggests.

You see, we are sent out to catch people for Jesus because Jesus wants to catch all people—when he was lifted up on the cross, he was lifted up to bring all people to himself….but Jesus cannot do that on his own—he needs disciples like you and me to go out and do some fishing for people. And there is no distinction between which fish Jesus keeps—in fact he doesn’t throw anyone back. It doesn’t matter how big, or how small—how long or how short—how beautiful or how plain—Jesus wants to catch us in his net of love and his lure of limitless forgiveness and Grace. And once Jesus catches us, there is nothing we can do that will make Jesus release his grasp on us. Oh, we might swim away once in a while, but Jesus still has us in his net of love, mercy and Grace.

Pastor Dave