"Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." (Luke 5:10). 

Our Gospel reading is yet another story drawn from the early days of Jesus’ ministry; another story which sets the pace and defines the themes of the ministry that he and the disciples will share. It is the story, in fact, of the call of Jesus’ earliest followers, especially of their leader Peter. Luke’s Gospel sets the story of this call within the context of a miracle of manifestation, distinguishing it from Mark’s Gospel in which the same call rests solely on Jesus’ authority, without benefit of miracle. Luke’s treatment of this call, however, fits with this season of Epiphany, in which Jesus is manifested, and in which his power is shown forth; not least of all in the calling of the disciples and the beginning of the mission to all corners of the world.

The miracle, of course, is the miraculous catch of fish. Peter and his associates have been laboring all night and have caught nothing; Jesus directs them to the deep water and the resulting catch of fish comes close to breaking their nets. The point is not that Peter, James and John are incompetent fishermen, and that Jesus is a more clever angler than they, but rather that disciples are necessarily dependent on their master. They fail until they take instruction, and then the catch that follows is more than could be hoped.

There is even more here in this miraculous catch than fish, however. "Do not be afraid" Jesus says, "from now on you will be catching people." The miracle points forward to a different catch, an even more important harvest; one that the disciples will turn their hand to with unbelievable results after Jesus’ death and resurrection. From now on the fishermen will be fishing for people, as Jesus reveals to them that this miraculous catch points forward to their missionary call, not only to Jews but also to Gentiles. God is claiming all peoples, all nations, and bringing them into fellowship with him in Christ through the ministry of the apostles and their successors. And the results are unbelievable, straining the very nets of the Church, as a tiny group of Jewish believers in the Messiah grows and becomes a Church with a universal mission. As God promised Abraham, his family (the family of faith) is to be more numerous than the stars in the sky or the sand on the seashore.

Jesus’ words to Peter remind us of the evangelical focus of our community. We are called to catch people; to proclaim, welcome, form and send. Bishop Michael Marshall at our Diocesan Rally last year told the funny story about Episcopalians interpreting our Lord’s words to Peter as if fishing meant going down to the seashore with buckets, and waiting for the fish to jump in. And we even, the Bishop suggested, believe that evangelism consists in teaching the fish to transfer from one bucket to the next! Jesus never suggests that the sort of fishing he is teaching his disciples consists solely in waiting for people to come to church, or even waiting for them to leave the Presbyterian bucket to transfer to our own. Jesus’ call is for the disciples to put down nets in the deep water, where the yield will be truly miraculous.

That is a challenge for us at Christ Church, Covington, but one which I think we have to accept. It is a part of our Diocesan vision; but far more important it is a part of our Lord’s commission to the Church, ingrained in the very pattern of his own life and ministry. It’s one of the reasons we have worked hard on Newcomer Ministry at Christ Church, but that is only the beginning. Seek the lost, welcome the searcher, reach out to those on the fringes. This can be deep water indeed; and the catch can even threaten to sink the boat. In Luke’s Gospel, the miracles which follow are the cleansing of a leper and the healing of a paralytic, not to mention the call of a tax collector, the enemy of the People. Lepers, the paralyzed, traitors: challenging work indeed, to incorporate material like this into the kingdom of God.

One last note in the story. Peter’s response to the miraculous catch is to fall down and say, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" (Lk. 5:8). Curious, but with the ring of truth. Peter’s cry reminds us that the work which Jesus calls us to, the work of reaching out to and transforming the world, is work we can only do in faith and repentance. It is work that can only be done if we acknowledge Jesus as Lord, and turn to him for forgiveness for all the mistakes we have made and will make as we go about this work, and the daily business of our lives. Like Peter, we will need to be grounded, looking always to Jesus for the grace and help that we will need as we do the work of evangelists and carry out our ministry.

The Rev’d John Bauerschmidt is Rector of Christ Church in Covington.

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