Did you hear the story about the toddler who fell out of bed one night? Hearing the fall, the father rushed to the room, picked up the kid, dried his tears, and put him back to bed. When things calmed down a bit, the Dad asked his son, “What happened, what caused you to fall out of bed?” Still sobbing, the toddler said, “I don’t know, I guess I went to sleep too close to where I got in.”
Living on the edge is a problem, not just for toddlers, but Christians, as well. Some of us have stepped into the kiddie pool of God’s grace, but have yet to experience the thrill of diving deeper. We’ve gotten our feet wet, but have not yet known the joy of having our souls soaked. When we go deep, our soul is soaked, our soul is strengthened.
When I have a football in my hand and I say, “Go deep!” You run as far as you can and anything is possible. When you go deep in a therapy session it means you searched for truth without fear, trusting in the process of emotional healing. When you go into deep waters you leave the comfort and security of the shore and you move into the possibilities of the unknown. Putting out into the deep waters of faith takes trust and meeting God in the deep where anything is possible. In our gospel lesson today, a carpenter is telling a fisherman how and where to cast his nets- that is crazy, right? Or is it going deep in faith?
Simon had a rough night. He and his partners had not caught a single fish. It was a disappointing day at work. But into this disappointment Jesus meets him. He asks him to take him out in the boat just a little way from the shore, not deep at all. There Jesus teaches the crowd and Simon; within the security of the shore, Jesus teaches them and they were soaked in God’s word.
At this part in Luke’s gospel, Jesus has already healed Simon’s mother-in-law (Luke 4:38), her illness another disappointing time. He healed many people in his town. But now the carpenter is asking the fisherman to go deep. “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon responds, “If you say so, I will let down the nets.” But in the Greek it really means, “By your word.” By your word Lord, I will do this act of courage. By your word, I will trust and take this step of faith. By your word, I will act when I do not see the logic.
Putting out into the deep, is not about what you are doing, but what God is doing. Logically, it made no sense to cast the nets again; they had been doing it all night with no success. But when we go deep, we give up control, we give over to God, we are in a place of trust. God has room to move; things can happen. God is where we live and move and have our being – sense the fullness of that in the deep. When we go deep, things happen beyond our expectations, beyond reason, like two boats overflowing with fish.
Putting into the deep takes trust, means overcoming fear. Not long ago I was truly worried about paying for Cooper’s college. Now I had saved most of his life, but the market took a turn right when I needed the money and I got fearful. I hung around the shore, talked to my financial advisor, and worried. But I needed to move from the shore and from thinking how do I handle this, out into the deep with prayer, trust and allow God to move. So I prayed, I put out into deep water, I gave my financial fear too God. I still did not know how it would all work out but I had a new sense of peace. God did for me as the psalmist declares, “On the day I called, you answered me, (God) increased my strength of soul.” God quieted my fears, increased the strength of my soul, and isn’t that what faith is? Isn’t that going deep? Then a few months later Cooper was awarded a $10,000 scholarship. Now I realize some would say Cooper wrote a great essay, earned wonderful grades and scholarship; which is true. But it was also a time when I put out into the deep with finances and God moved. God used the freedom of the deep water to make things happen.
When you put out into the deep, God increases your strength of soul. Simon went deep in his professional realm, financial realm, and that is when God moved him, called him. He had seen Jesus heal his mother-in-law, the crowd after Jesus healed many, but it was when God touched is livelihood, transforming his bad business day into one of abundance that captured Simon’s attention. When money and faith collide, when faced with the magnitude of God’s power and love, Simon falls on his knees before Jesu, Simon surrenders to God. Rev Tim Coombs points out that the reason Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees and not a Jesus’ feet wasn’t just out of humility but because there were that many fish in the boat. They were literally knee deep in the miraculous catch of fish. Peter was knee deep in God’s blessing. And all because he had listened to Jesus and “Put out into the deep water.”
Basking in God’s blessing, Simon calls himself a sinner before Jesus. That confused me a bit, why did experiencing God’s abundance make Simon Peter call himself a sinner? In this moment Simon is really admitting his utter dependence upon God. I can almost hear him say, “There but by the grace of God go I.” Seeing how all of his efforts, all his work pales in comparison with what God can and will do, when he goes deep. This financial windfall was not about Simon and his work. He was realizing this is not about me and what I do, but about God and what God does. It is not about where you cast your nets, how you invest your money, how hard you work. It is really about God working in your life when you put out into the deep water and trust your living Lord.
During our stewardship season, maybe putting out into the deep means living by God’s word that asks us to give ten percent of our resources to God. We have many generous givers who do that – thank you. Maybe it means if you are giving 4 percent, then going deeper means sharing five percent. Maybe some are in the shallow water where nothing really changes, but gradually God will make it possible to go deeper, trusting in God’s abundance and love. Because this really is about what God is doing, how God makes thing possible when we are out in deep waters.
When our giving becomes about what God is doing then the final act of the disciples makes sense. If they stuck to the shore, Simon, James and John, these three fishermen could fish their entire lives, earn a living for their families, but never accomplish what God wants them and will help them to do: to catch people. Jesus called them and us to be fish catching God’s people. So when they went deep, they saw firsthand God’s love, abundance and miracles. They became willing to walk away from a great catch, two boatloads of fish and their very livelihoods- their boats and nets for what? They left it all to follow Jesus. Follow Jesus who took them out into the deep and showed them a new way, a better way of living with Jesus and catching people.
Now I want you to keep your nets and boats, your livelihood. I invite you to put out into the deep trusting God and sharing your bounty with God’s church. So that we can catch people, bringing them to Christ, showing them God’s love and together put out into the deep waters of faith. Amen.
