Sometimes You Have to Give Up—Psalm 138; Luke 5: 1-11
In 2013, I bought a small cottage in Shirley Hills and had it fixed up. Most of the changes were cosmetic, but the bathroom had to be gutted and redone. It was an unchanged Pepto pink from the 1950s that had faded and stained into some kind of rusty/pink mix of a vomit color. The day I moved in I went in late at night to take a shower. But the knob on the new shower would only turn 60% of the way, and the water was cold. [SLIDE 2]
I called my dad, who advised there was a safety device to keep it from getting too hot, and I had to remove that. And that required removing the knob that controls the water. All I had to do was unscrew the tiny screw, pull the handle off, and remove the safety device. Simple enough? But one thing was not mentioned to me when I began this: turning the water off. [SLIDE 3] As I removed the handle, I was met with a blast of cold water that pummeled me back against the tile in such a way that Bugs Bunny would be proud. And at that point…hot, tired, irritated, soaking in cold water, I gave up. Thankfully my neighbor came over and helped me finish the work because torching the place for insurance money 5 hours after moving in was simply a bad idea. Sometimes we need to recognize when to give up.
[SLIDE 4] Many years ago, there was a saying that became popular and was on the bracelets and other trinkets sold in Christian stores. We had moved from “What would Jesus do?” to “Let go and let God.” For those reared in the church, it made sense and was a great reminder. For those who were not, it felt like a fragment of a sentence. Let God what? The uncertainty was a bit overwhelming for folks who needed a clear answer. But in our Gospel for today, we hear idea echoed.
[SLIDE 5] Simon, who would be known as Peter, had been fishing all night. He and his co-partners James and John had worked hard but caught nothing. It was now morning, they were tired, but Jesus said go one more time to the part of the water he directed them and try again. This time the nets were full to the level of overwhelming in a way that could only be seen as miraculous. Instantly, Simon, James, and John recognized the power and the miracle.
Sometimes we have to follow that saying of “let go and let God.” We are a people of smarts, abilities, and that gives us a false sense of control. Simon was a skilled fisherman. He knew where the fish were, how to lure them, and what he needed to do for his job. But all his knowledge, skills, and experience couldn’t make a fish appear. It took Jesus to do that. In some ways it’s good that the saying is open-ended: Let go and let God. There’s no real answer for what God can and will do. God can take any human to any place, give them the strength to do anything, and call them to a mission they never thought they’d do.
Pulling in so many fish was the illustration Simon, James, and John needed. When you follow Jesus’s direction, the results are overwhelming. But Jesus then calls them to know that they will no longer fish for actual fish in the sea. They will soon be fishing for people who need to know Jesus’s love and teaching. The implication was clear. If they follow Jesus, they will build for the kingdom just as those nets were overwhelmingly full. The example showed that fishing for people was going to be a calling from now on.
Their response was both perfect and powerful. When they landed on the shore, they left everything behind and followed Jesus. They let go and they let God. Sometimes you have to give up. Their way of life as they knew it was over. From here on they would be marked as disciples, leaders in the Way that Jesus was teaching and showing to others. God had a plan for each of them to change the old order of things by showing and preaching the love of Jesus to the world. Just as it says in the Gospel, they left everything behind: boats, nets, fish, livelihood, and followed Jesus that very day. [SLIDE 6]
Even as God had a plan and a calling for each of the disciples in the first twelve followers, God has a plan and a calling for us today. Most of us struggle with being able to follow it. We have work, doctor’s appointments, care providing duties, future schooling, finding a new place in life being on our own for the first time in awhile, looking forward to retirement and new horizons. Life changes at a rapid pace, and that doesn’t even include the external worries and pressures we face on a daily basis. Still, in the midst of it all, Jesus calls the same way: give up. It’s not a give up that ends in hopelessness, as if nothing more will go on. It’s a give up that transfers the leadership and struggles from us to the Holy One, redeemer and sustainer of life.
I love how the Psalm phrases it, “The Lord will work out [the] plans for my life—for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me.” Indeed, we often don’t know where God will lead us. If you had told me in March 2008 that I would spend the next 13 years pastoring a church in Macon, Georgia, I would have laughed hysterically. Another good friend of mine is the same. She grew up in church, loved God, and remained faithful. However, about three to four years ago she felt like God was calling her to more than her Geico job. And so she set out to be a lay minister with just a preaching certificate.
But sometimes when you give up, when you let go and let God, God uses the most unexpected things to guide you in life. The first time she preached in a church, an old, retired preacher came up and told her she had a calling. She listened. She gave up everything, went to seminary, and has made ministry her full time work. I know from experience with the Rev. John Carroll who preceded me here, that when those old, retired pastors bring you a word, you better listen.
[SLIDE 7] We are also called to be fishers of people. There are a couple of ways this can be done. The old-school tried and true method is straight up evangelism. Just start asking, “Have you heard about Jesus?” In our modern era, this is a struggle. Forty years ago, faith was so central this wouldn’t have been a problem. But we live in a time when people not only are skeptical of the church, they dislike the entire concept and find it traumatic. Offering grace and hope to a weary soul is still the main priority of our calling, but the methods are different.
We must live as proof of the faith we believe. Let others see the love of Jesus in and through us: feeding the hungry, comforting the broken hearted, being peacemakers in an angry world, keeping both the Sabbath and the church holy from political influences. These are things that will be the living proof of faith. Then we simply say, my faith teaches me to love and care for others in this way, just like Jesus did in the Gospels.
Jesus called the disciples to be fishers of people. I haven’t fished much in life, but it requires tremendous patience and a good bait on the hook. There needs to be a reason for the fish to come, and we have to wait, sometimes patiently for a long time, until there’s a bit on the end of the hook. Simon, James, and John fished all night and got nothing. But at some point, the nets will be full, when our work and our lives are filled with Jesus’s direction.
[SLIDE 8] In 2013 I learned that plumbing was not my calling. I had to give up and get someone with greater expertise to help me get it right. Life on this earth is easier if we are willing to let the One who created us, redeems us, and sustains us also be the one who guides us and directs us in our daily path. So, let’s begin to practice reliance on God more and more. Maybe we can even simply let go and let God.
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