Psalm 138: 1-3, 8; Luke 5: 1-11
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
February 10, 2019
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down towards your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
for you have exalted your name and your word
above everything.
On the day I called, you answered me,
you increased my strength of soul.
The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever. - Psalm 138: 1-3, 8
Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’
When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.
Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. - Luke 5: 1-11
If at first you don’t succeed, what should you do, church? Try, try again.
Those words were penned in the 19th century by Thomas H. Palmer. Palmer was an American printer, author, and educator. Born in Scotland, Palmer immigrated to Philadelphia and opened a printing shop with his brother. In Palmer’s later years he moved to Vermont to work with his hands and heart. He was a farmer, but he also had a great love of cultivating young minds in education. He founded a library, school, and advocated for education reform. After writing numerous textbooks Palmer wrote a Teacher’s Manual in 1841. The very first page held his timeless words for any student, teacher, or sojourner in life: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
Simon Peter had probably lost count of all the times he had tried and tried again. He was a husband and a fisherman who was in business with two brothers, James and John. They worked the fishing villages were along the Sea of Galilee; a twelve-mile lake. Luke says these men had worked all night fishing which was par for the course.
Fishing was not for the faint of heart. It entailed long hours and took a lot of patience, muscle, and attention to detail; much of a fisherman’s time was spent making and tending to the nets. If your nets got ruined, then you were dead in the water.
I have a feeling Simon had a lot on his mind. After a hard day’s night, he had come up empty-handed. And just a few days earlier Luke says that Jesus had come to the home of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. She was dangerously sick with a high fever. Jesus healed her and immediately she rose up and served Jesus and her family (Luke 4:38-39).
And now Jesus was standing on the lakeshore with a crowd in tow; they were insistent to hear him teach the Word of God. Jesus got in Simon Peter’s boat and taught while they sat idle in the water. You see the water amplified Jesus’ voice. Jesus needed all who had ears to hear and listen. Jesus was on a mission to teach the Word of God; he had a passion to cultivate disciples to serve alongside him in ministry. Jesus knew how to intersect God’s Word with the people’s work and stations in life.
The story implies Peter was in the boat too. I would love to know what Jesus was saying and what Simon Peter was thinking. And then Simon Peter’s vey own private lesson with the Rabbi happened. “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch”….Go ahead and try, try again (Luke 5:4).
In that moment Simon Peter reflected upon his and his partner’s abilities coming up short the night before. Their bodies and their minds were weary from their losing efforts. What was it that encouraged Simon Peter to try, try again?
The Spirit has been revealing three things to me this week:
First Peter humbled himself. When told to try again, Peter could have been a puffed-up professional saying he knew his trade and the luck of the draw. But he didn’t. He acknowledged Jesus’ authority in all things by calling him “Master” (Luke 5:5). Peter had personally witnessed Jesus authority with the healing of his mother-in-law. Jesus’ authority to teach, preach, and heal was the talk of the town in Galilee (Luke 4:14-15). And so, after the nets were dropped and suddenly filled to the point of tearing, Peter was humbled to the point of feeling quite small and in awe of the Lord’s power (Luke 5:8).
Second Peter was teachable. Peter was not an educated man; he learned everything from the school of life (Acts 4:13). Peter learned the benefits of working in partnership with others. He learned from his family the unity of community as the first century was so very communally centered. And now he was learning his first lesson of placing all his trust in Jesus Christ to use his talents to accomplish God’s purposes in the world. Experiencing God’s glory first hand, Jesus told Peter he would now be on Team Jesus to be a netter of people (Luke 5:10).
Third, Peter was acquainted with failure. On any given night a fisherman could come up empty-handed. A fisherman had to persevere and make every day count for the sake of their livelihood. When Peter was called to follow Jesus, Jesus Christ met him at a low point and worked through his human limitations for God’s glory and purposes. As Peter, James, and John left their nets to follow Jesus, the Lord would continue to be at work through their human failure and trials to empower the first disciples and us to persevere in this gift of faith. We know from this side of the cross that the life of faith is not an easy road to walk.
Two years ago I was chaperoning a group of youth at Bethelwoods. It was a weekend retreat to kick off Confirmation – a time to reflect and learn about this gift of faith and for the youth to consider responding to their baptism vows (or consider baptism), make a public decision to follow Jesus Christ and become full members of the church.
One of my favorite parts about our local camp and conference center are the Low and High Challenge Activity courses. Cameron led us in doing the tight rope low challenge course; it was a tight rope at knee height secured along three trees making a squared “U” shape. The object of the course was for all of the members of the group to get on the tight rope and be connected.
What a challenge! The youth and I learned pretty quickly that this course could only be accomplished by working with one another at a slow and intentional pace. It took A LOT of patience, perseverance, and trial and error. It also took a lot of listening to Cameron’s suggestions of what to do to be successful.
We fell off the rope too many times to count but we all knew we had to try, try again, or else we wouldn’t get our lunch! Cameron told us that most groups take 2 hours to complete the challenge. It took this group a youth 40 minutes. We were exhausted when it was all said and done, but we were encouraged, too.
No matter what age or stage of life we are in, the journey of faith is a lot like the stories of Peter and the tight rope low challenge course. When we are at our weakest and lowest moments, Jesus is at work to create incredible opportunities to experience God’s strength working through our human limitations.
When Christ walks beside us, we respond faithfully by humbling ourselves, having a teachable spirit, and trusting that weakness and failure are never the end of our stories. God’s steadfast love and faithfulness in Jesus Christ give us courage to persevere and try, try again; for we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).
True strength does not come from pride or being a lone ranger in life. Rather, the Lord increases our strength of soul when we are connected with God and one another. – connected by hearts and hands. The work of God’s almighty and gracious hands is committed to fulfill God’s purposes through us. And the Spirit is on the move here and now to work through our unique talents and resources to reveal God’s glory and empower us to grow in our commitment to follow Jesus.
When God allows for everything to click together at just the right time with others, it is an amazing moment of praise to feel God's victory come through.
Take a minute and imagine how God is working through your unique passions for camp, law, dance, sports, finance, teaching, music, catering, real estate, construction, mental health, sewing, fishing…. you name it. Christ’s ministry intersects our God-given talents and calls us to work together even in our weakest moments to make Christ known so that others may find the courage to try, try again and persevere in God’s strength.
May it be so for you and for me.
In the name of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.
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