Fishing without bait: May 24, 2020

Year A, Easter 7                                                                     

1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11                                                                                   

"Fishing troubles"

            One of the things we tried with Joshua early on in the quarantine was fishing.   Neither my husband nor I fish so we had no intention of actually using bait and there was no way we were giving him something with a sharp hook at the end.   But still, I thought that casting might be fun for him.  And it was for awhile.  He liked to try to get it as far as possible.  When we were in the backyard, his goal was the roof of the garage.  He also seemed to find particular joy when he could get it tangled in a tree.  When we went to the beach, he had fun, but became frustrated that he did not catch anything.  While I do not fish, I knew that the reason he was not catching anything was that there was no hook and no bait.  But even if he had a hook, I was pretty sure he would not catch anything because he didn’t leave the line in the water for long. He would cast the line and then immediately bring it back in. While his technique was certainly flawed, I admired his positive attitude and hope.  He thought if he could just get it as far as possible, something good would return. 

            I found myself drawn to this reading from 1^st Peter for a few reasons, but primarily because of this line, “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.”   This is a verse that would appeal to me at any time as I tend to be a worrier, but especially at this time in our country and world when anxiety seems to be ubiquitous---it’s even more appropriate.  The word “cast” caught my attention, perhaps because of my extensive fishing experience over the last 10 weeks.  It is not unusual to see fishing language in the Bible.  It was a metaphor often used by Jesus and presumably his disciples as well.  The Greek word translated to “cast” could also be translated to throw.  Throw your anxiety on God. Cast sounds more eloquent, but I think either works.  Because when we are desperately anxious, often we cast our anxieties like my son does his fishing line---we just try to get them as far away as possible. 

            Even when we are intending to do as the text tells us and cast our anxiety on God, it’s as though we kind of throw it at him and then expect something miraculous in return.  That is what fishing is.  You cast something out and expect something different when you bring the line back.  But real fishermen have patience and discipline. They don’t expect to get something immediately.

            Thus when the author of Peter instructs us to cast our anxieties, he also gives some advice.  First before you even cast, you humble yourself before God.  Then you discipline yourself.  Then you resist.  Peter is talking about resisting the devil, but I think we can apply this idea of resistance to all kinds of things. 

            Humility. Discipline. Resistance.  If we are talking fishing, this would mean the opposite of what my son does.  We don’t throw out a plastic fish and anticipate a giant catch.  We don’t pull in the line immediately.  And we definitely don’t throw down the pole in disgust when we don’t get the results we want.  Now we know what not to do. Let’s talk about what we should do.

            I think it is safe to say that people in our world are praying more than usual right now. It is tempting to fixate on quick results, if not a vaccine, then at least a lightening of the burden that each one of us is feeling.  We tend to pray in specifics.  We tell God what we want as opposed to humbling ourselves and asking for God’s direction.  So let’s try to start with humility.  Let’s try to admit that maybe, we don’t know what is best.  Maybe our best interests are not the same as the best interests of all the people of this world.  Humble ourselves.

            The next step is discipline. The way we have been asked to handle the pandemic is a perfect example.  When it started, most of us were doing pretty good at following directions.  But then 2 weeks turned into 10 and the discipline and fortitude we started with---the idea that we are all in this together, has started to slip through our fingers.  And I get it. I am right there with you.  It was one thing when this was during Lent.  We are supposed to suffer in Lent. But Easter…and now it’s Memorial Day and we can’t go to the beach?!?  Discipline is so hard when it last longer than two weeks. 

And Jesus and Peter…they were talking about a lifetime of discipline in our prayer and our actions.  For Peter, the stakes could not have been higher.  “Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.”  You might think that Peter was talking about persecution. He was, but not in the way that Christians were persecuted later.  At the time Peter wrote, the Christians were such a small group they were not a threat to the Romans.  They were more of an inconvenience.  They were not being thrown to the lions literally.  It was more of peer pressure and judgment.   People were trying to convince these new Christians to go back to their pagan ways.  It would make everyone’s life easier.  The threat wasn’t physical, but Peter acted like it was. That is how important, how critical it was for them to continue to practice and live as Christians.          

“Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.”  Resistance is part of discipline.  It is resisting what is easy and convenient. Resisting the people who would tempt us away from the Christian path.  Peter reminds these new Christians that they are not the only ones suffering.  Their brothers and sisters all over the world were also suffering.  It is something that we have been reminded many times over the last few months.  We are all suffering.  We are all in this together.  But that is not quite true.  Some are suffering more than others.  So instead of resistance for the sake of the whole….many are resisting for the sake of themselves and their freedom.  What Peter knew and what most of the early Christians knew was that true freedom was found in suffering and sacrifice, not for the sake of oneself, but the sake of the larger community.

So yes, let us cast our anxieties on God, but let us be careful as we throw our anxieties off, that they not increase the anxiety of another.  We can do that if we act with humility and discipline.  Once we have done that, once we have been as faithful as our strength allows, let us cast those anxieties with the same hope and faith my son has when he fishes---that regardless of our skill or the bait we use, God can take whatever we give him and transform it into something miraculous.

Mixed Metaphors: January 22, 2017

Year A, Epiphany 3                                                               
Matthew 4:12-23                                                                   

            The summer after I graduated college I interned in this tiny church in a tiny town in Pennsylvania.  There was not a whole lot going on in the town, but it was a beautiful place.  Adjacent to the town was a state park with miles of trails and a small lake.  It was a difficult time for me having just finished college and being unsure of where to go next.  I struggled with insomnia.  I slept for a couple of hours and then waited for the dawn.  When I saw the first signs of light, I drove to the state park and walked for miles.  There was one morning in particular when the sun was rising and there was mist on the lake, I noticed a few fishermen in a small boat.  This was not an unusual occurrence, but it struck me at that moment.  It seemed so serene.  For the first time in my life, I saw the appeal of fishing…not enough to actually do it, but while waiting for the sun to rise and bemoaning my sad existence, I thought, that looks like a good way to spend a morning.

Little Buffalo State Park   by David Owen

            Since that summer, I have never had a desire to fish, possibly because I don’t eat fish.  However, when I think of fishing, I still have that image in my head…a couple of men drinking coffee in the early morning with their lines dangling in a calm lake.  When I imagine the disciples fishing, there they are with their poles and whatever they drank in the morning.  I see Jesus walking up to them and saying something like, “Hey do you want to fish for people?” while he made the universal fishing motion of whipping the line into the water and they would think, “We know how to fish, why not?”  I have always assumed that the request made sense to these 1^st century fishermen, while it would make absolutely no sense to most of us unless we were familiar with this story. 

            Usually I do not have problems adjusting to Jesus’ metaphors, but I had to think of it a little more concretely when planning my children’s sermon.  What’s the primary purpose of fishing?  To catch fish.  Why do you catch fish? To eat them.  That is where the metaphor kind of breaks down.  Over the years the fishing metaphor has evolved, and not in a helpful way for our context.  Consider the phrase, “hook, line and sinker.” That means you have tricked someone and manipulated them.  That’s not what happened with Jesus followers.  He was honest from the very beginning.  Or just consider the word hook.  Getting hooked on something never comes out well.  Why are we still using his metaphor??  You may be relieved to know that the disciples were not using poles.  This was their occupation. They were not just out there trying to catch a few fish.  They were trying to make a living.  They were using massive, heavy nets.  That changes the metaphor.

Net fishing is different than pole fishing.  The fishermen would drop these weighted nets into the water and then lug them onto the boat, then sort through the smelly fish.  It was a hard job.  It required long hours, often working through the night. The labor was intense and the outcome was unpredictable. You did not know if you were going to catch anything and if you did, it might not be what you needed.  This was the kind of fishing that Jesus was talking about.  Jesus was asking these men to follow him and create a community of believers.  It would be long hours, grueling labor and there was no guarantee they would be successful.  Why are we still using this metaphor??  I am not sure this is any better than the hook and the pole.

Just because it is not a convenient metaphor does not mean it’s not true. Living is hard work.  We all know that.  Some of us might be in denial, but deep down we know that living a life that is productive and worthwhile requires work.  Being a disciple of Jesus is challenging at times and sometimes being a disciple with other people who (perish the thought) might not always agree with you---is even more challenging.  That said, there is something reassuring about these words of Jesus. They were honest. He was not selling these men something.  He was straight with them from the very beginning.  As the church, we strive for that same authenticity. 

Yet…there is almost always a yet in my sermons.  Yet…let’s consider the metaphor from another perspective.  There had to be more to Jesus’ appeal than just, come with me so I can tire you out.  I keep coming back to the net.  You see, not being someone familiar with fishing nets, when I think of nets, I think of things like safety nets.  Safety nets are there when we need them. They allow us to take risks that we would not normally take.  They give us courage. They make us brave.  What if Jesus was not just the man who was asking them for their hard work and loyalty?  What if he was also saying, “I am always here to catch you when you fall.  I am with you always.  I will give you the confidence to do the hard things.” 

It makes a little more sense… doesn’t it?  No wonder they followed him.  Perhaps he did not say these words, but they could sense a power and compassion in this man and they witnessed that power and compassion almost as soon as they dropped those heavy nets.  As soon as he called his disciples, he started teaching people and healing every sickness and every disease.  If they were not convinced before, they certainly were now.

Here is the other thing about nets. They bend and stretch when we need them to. They accommodate all different people, sometimes many people at once.  That is the church.  Now you might look around and think, well this building appears pretty solid, not net like at all.  That is the church building.  I am talking about the church, the community of believers, the people of St. John’s.  At our best, we are like Jesus in that we support one another through the difficult times.  Not only that, we give one another strength to do the challenging things that are required as humans, but also as Christians who are trying to follow Jesus! We also welcome all kinds of different people.  With each new person, we change a little, we adapt.  We are better for it.    

Maybe being a Christian, following Jesus, isn’t at all like sitting in a boat with a warm beverage and a line in the water.  We all need those moments in our lives, but we don’t want our entire lives like that.  So instead, we fish with nets. Jesus is not on this earth with us, not in bodily form.  Therefore, Jesus has asked us to wield his net down here on earth.  We are the ones carrying around these heavy nets, but we are doing it together.  Not only that, we have an everlasting promise from Jesus. We might be carrying heavy loads here on earth, but his net is always stronger. When we fall, because we will fall, he will catch us and we will get back up again and fish some more.