February 9, Epiphany 5C (Luke 5:1–11)

Harold was a stubborn Finn. He said so himself. He walked permanently stooped over, said C. S. Lewis was his favorite theologian, and was steadfast in his presence and participation in the Saturday morning men’s Bible study. I can still see where he and his wife, Alice, sat in the church—lectern side, about halfway back, on the far aisle to accommodate her wheelchair.

I think it was at the Saturday morning men’s breakfast. We were eating oatmeal or scrambled eggs and working through the Bible passage, and I mentioned my sermon for the next day, which was on this Sunday’s gospel text, Luke’s version of the call of the four fishermen. I thought I had a clever sermon title: “How Jesus Wrecks Our Lives.” I had grown up with this Bible story, always with the emphasis on the invitation, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people!” But I had only recently noticed these details: when Jesus gives the abundant catch of fish, Simon and Andrew’s boat begins sinking, and their nets are so full that they are tearing apart. It struck me that the miracle has a dark side. Jesus gives amazing abundance but also wrecks the things they use to make a living, even to live.

I had a sudden insight. Jesus was no “your best life now” Messiah. Jesus wrecks Simon. He shows him that the things he has always counted on can break, sink, tear, fall away. I even started looking at the miracle of the abundant fish in a different way. Sure, it is an amazing catch, but do Simon and Andrew really need all that fish? They live day to day; they can’t put the fish in the bank.