Tuesday ~ Morning Worship at St Oswald’s 8th February 2022
Gospel – Mark 5:1-11
Some months ago, we had presented to us a Vison for St Oswald’s.
To be Jesus centred, God
dependent, Missionary disciples.
Who are being church in a
variety of ways.
Resulting in us becoming a
more diverse community and serving God in the world.
How is this sitting with you
right now?
This Tuesday Gathering is
certainly part of being church in a variety of ways.
What about yourselves, as
individuals, how do you think you are getting on being and becoming more a
Jesus centred, God dependent, missionary disciple?
This story we heard written
in Luke’s Gospel I think has some useful insights that may help us in this
endeavour.
First a bit of context.
We are four chapters into
Luke’s Gospel before we hear of any type of calling to specific people to
become Jesus’ disciples.
Luke’s account is fuller than
Matthew’s, and John has a slightly different take on it all, but that’s John’s
Gospel for you.
Luke gives us the extra detail
of Jesus commandeering Simon Peter’s boat as a place from which to preach to
the crowds gathered on the lake side. This detail adds authenticity to the
account as this is the most logical thing to do and from a boat just offshore
it would be possible to speak easily to a good number on the shoreline. It’s making use of the natural acoustics.
Now we may be scratching our
heads as to why Simon Peter should be taking notice of what Jesus’s asks or
says.
In the chapter before we have
another story of Simon and Jesus.
Jesus is in Capernaum which
is on the northwest coast the Sea of Galilee or Lake Gennesaret. (It was not a
sea but a very large freshwater lake.)
Jesus had been in the
Synagogue on the Sabbath and performed an exorcism on a demon possessed man.
When you read stories like
this, doesn’t it make you wonder and think about how tame our Church gatherings
have become.
Much to talk about here on
the way home – well there would be wouldn’t there?
And Simon invites Jesus back to his home for lunch. Simon seems to have settled in Capernaum having moved from his hometown six miles around east along the coast in Bethsaida. However, they find Simon’s mother-in-law is sick with a fever. Jesus heals her, then she gets up and sorts out their lunch for them.
This isn’t the story we read,
but I invite you to note that this indicates that Simon was married. We have no
account of his wife or any children. He may have been widowed
Bear that in mind as we
reflect on the concluding part of the story we did read – notably Luke 5.11.
‘So, they pulled their boats
up on the shore, left everything and followed him.’
Sometimes, just sometimes,
the call of God upon our lives will take precedence even over our families.
Luke 5:1-11 is built around a
fishing story and as we have noted already, Jesus and Simon have already met.
Interestingly we have not met
fishermen before in the Hebrew Scriptures – the Old Testament.
We have numerous other trades
but no mention of fisherman.
Remember that the Jewish
people had no liking for the sea. It was a place of chaos, of monsters, of demons,
of death and destruction.
However, the Sea of Galilee
was very important to the economy.
But
in Jesus’s day, the fishing industry in Palestine was fully under the control
of the Roman Empire.
All fishing was state regulated largely for the benefit of the urban elite. They loved a condiment called Garum, a fish sauce which was immensely popular in Ancient Rome. Fishermen couldn’t obtain licenses to fish without joining a syndicate, most of what they caught was exported leaving local communities impoverished and hungry and the Romans collected exorbitant taxes, levies, and tolls each time fish were sold. To catch even one fish outside of this exploitative system was considered illegal.
In
the film series ‘The Chosen’ this is developed with Simon Peter doing some
‘moonlight’ fishing with Matthew spying on him and reporting his activities to
the Roman authorities.
https://watch.angelstudios.com/thechosen
Could
it be that is what lay partly behind Simon’s words, ‘Go away from me Lord,
for I am a sinful man.’
Are
there things in our past that might make us make the same declaration?
Take
heart from this story, for Jesus’ moves swiftly on to invite Simon to join
Jesus in his work, fishing for people. Seeking to draw people into the ‘Kingdom
of God Community’ that Jesus was declaring and demonstrating. Remember Simon’s
mother-in-law and the demon possessed man.
It
is interesting to note that John in his Gospel presents this story post
Resurrection and with Simon, now better known as Peter, being reinstated, and
invited once more to follow Jesus as a key figure in the new Jesus Community.
Is
this John setting his own time scale? Or might it be that we do have the same
miracle twice with Simon Peter receiving an invitation to follow Jesus and then
a fresh invitation when he thinks he has blown it big time by denying he knew
Jesus. Take heart, remember that phrase from a few weeks ago, ‘if you’re not
dead, God’s not done.’
And
in this story, with such an abundance of fish caught, it would mean enough food
for everyone because there would be enough to sell to the Roman’s, pay the
levies and still feed the local families.
This
is Jesus’ version of what levelling up means!
And
finally, and very importantly note when and where this event takes place.
It
is not in the Temple or even the local synagogue. It is out and about in the
middle of the stuff of life. It is in the middle of story about a fruitless
night spent fishing, labouring away. Sore hands, aching backs and possibly
grumbling tummies. And nothing to show for all the hard work.
It
is into this very ordinariness that Jesus steps and makes it extraordinary. Jesus invites us to sail out into the deep and
put down our nets – into the ordinary, into the familiar.
How alert and attentive are we as go about our day, perhaps doing the same old same old. Familiar patterns, regular routines.
Safe, comfortable, maybe a tad
boring, but at least it’s secure.
Perhaps
we might need to clean our glasses, put new batteries into our hearing aids,
because, maybe, just maybe, Jesus will step into our own routines and turn our
ordinariness into the extraordinary.
Are
we ready for that?
Do
expect that?
Are
we looking and praying for that?
As
I begin to draw to a close let me remind you of another story that involved
fish, but this time not a huge catch, but just two small fish, possibly the
simple lunch of a young boy who found himself before Jesus in front of a huge hungry
crowd.
A
sinner – yes.
Doing
pretty ordinary things most of the time – yes.
Haven’t
got a huge amount to offer in face of the need – yes.
Yes,
yes, yes and a thousand times YES.
Then
Jesus says, come follow me and I will help you fish for people.
Today
we are invited further and deeper into understanding just what it means to be a
Jesus centred, God dependent, missionary disciple.
