Sunday, February 9th, 2025: "Gifts: The Gift of Discipleship"
The First United Presbyterian Church
“Gifts: The Gift of Discipleship”
Rev. Amy Morgan
February 9, 2025
Luke 5:1-11
5 Once while Jesus was standing beside the Lake of Gennesaret and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 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. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’s knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all who were with him were astounded at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 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.” 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.She knew what it meant to work hard, to be exhausted, to come up short, to run out of hope. Wilma Rudolph was born into a family of 22 children in Clarksville, Tennessee. Throughout her childhood, she battled every illness imaginable: measles, mumps, scarlet fever, chicken pox, pneumonia and polio, which left her unable to walk for several years. She was turned away from hospitals because she was black in the segregated South, and her family was unable to afford private doctors.
But with the encouragement and support of her family, Wilma kept trying to be who she knew she was born to be: an athlete. She went from paralyzed to hopping on one foot to playing basketball with her siblings to winning an Olympic medal in the span of just twelve years. At her second Olympic games, in 1960, Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field in one year, broke numerous world records, and cemented her identity as “the fastest woman in the world.” She reached the pinnacle of her career, achieved massive success and acclaim, and then she walked away from it all.
Simon and James and John and their whole crew of fishing partners knew what it meant to work hard, to be exhausted, to come up short, to run out of hope. Fishing was a dangerous business and physically taxing. It required overnight shifts that ended with more work mending nets and maintaining boats and negotiating sales. And there was little reward. Rome’s regulation of the fishing trade required that most of their catch was sent to the wealthy and so heavily taxed that very little income was gained. So they fished all night, worked all day, and had almost no fish to eat or money to buy bread.
But Jesus comes along one morning and asks them to put out a little way from the shore. The Greek word translated as “put out” is a nautical term, but it means to “bring back” or “return to its original location.”
After Jesus finishes speaking to the crowds, he uses this term again, telling Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” In this repetition, there is an invitation to Simon and the other fishermen to return to their origins, to go deeper into their original place.
And when they follow Jesus’s instruction, even though it seems ridiculous, they are more successful than they’ve ever been in their lives. This probably set a world record for fish caught at one time on the Sea of Galilee. These fishermen, who have worked so hard their whole lives just to get by are now successful beyond their wildest dreams. And then, they walked away from it all.
When Wilma Rudolph returned home to Clarksville from her Olympic glory, the town organized a parade. But no one in Wilma’s family could attend. Because the parade, like the rest of the town, was segregated. So Wilma refused to attend her own celebration parade until she was assured it would be integrated. It was the first integrated public event in Clarksville.
Wilma retired from professional sports and became a teacher and coach. She participated in demonstrations at restaurants and movie theaters in Clarksville, bringing national attention to the Civil Rights movement in her hometown. She advocated for women’s rights and promoted women in professional sports.
After her greatest life achievement, Wilma Rudolph returned to her origins, went deeper into who she was – as an athlete, an African-American, and a woman. When she walked away from the Olympics, she became more than a runner. She became a mentor, an advocate, an encourager, an inspiration. She became someone who helped others access the same joy and freedom she experienced as a runner. She became someone who brought others more fully alive.
When Jesus invites Simon and his associates to catch people instead of fish, the term he uses is not the word you would use for catching fish. It has nothing to do with fish. The word means “to capture alive.” It’s a military or hunting term. To capture a fish alive would be a strange and difficult task. Fish flop around and jump out of the boat. They had to be caught and killed quickly if they were going to be brought back to shore. To capture a fish alive would have been an act of intentionality and determination for a fisherman. Jesus invites these fishermen to walk away from their greatest success to become – not something different – but something more true to who they are. They are still going to be fishermen. But they are going to be fishermen who, instead of bringing death to fish, bring healing and hope and nourishment and community. They are going to be fishermen who bring other people more fully alive.
Theologian Debi Thomas writes that “When Jesus shows up and commissions the seasoned fisherman, Simon understands the call not as a directive to leave his experience and intelligence behind, but to bring the best of his knowledge and expertise forward — to become even more fully and freely himself.”
When a runner walks away from her greatest achievement, when fishermen walk away from their greatest success, to become more fully and more freely themselves, they discover the gift of discipleship. Discipleship is the gift that comes from consenting to be who God created us to be so that others can become more fully alive.
Simon Peter’s life was certainly changed by discipleship, by following Jesus, learning from him and living with him. But he didn’t have to become a different person. He became more himself, more who God created him to be, as he became more like Jesus. The Trappist monk Thomas Merton wrote that “A tree gives glory to God by being a tree…It is expressing an idea which is in God and which is not distinct from the essence of God, and therefore the tree imitates God by being a tree. The more a tree is like itself, the more it is like [God]. If it tried to be something it was never intended to be, it would be less like God and therefore it would give [God] less glory.”
Discipleship is a gift because it affirms who we are, draws us deeper into who God created us to be, returns us to our most original selves. And it is a gift, not just for us, but for everyone around us. Because authenticity is captivating and life-giving. Being our truest selves invites others to be their truest selves.
Friends, we all know what it means, in one way or another, to work hard, to be exhausted, to come up short, to run out of hope. Some of us have been longing for health and healing, only to encounter yet another complication, another symptom, another misdiagnosis, another treatment that doesn’t work. Some of us have been longing for joy and peace, only to experience another tragedy, another upheaval, another uncertainty. Some of us have been longing for success, only to be hit with another setback, another roadblock, another failure. We have all spent long nights and exhausting days worrying, striving, seething, despairing.
Wilma Rudolph did not start out as a great runner. She started out as a child who was told she would never walk again. Simon and his associates were not great fishermen. They worked all night and caught nothing. We may not feel like we are good at much or have anything valuable to contribute. But greatness is not a prerequisite for discipleship.
One thing I love about the story of Jesus and these fishermen, and the story of Wilma Rudolph, and the stories I get to be a part of all the time, is that they are stories that begin with scarcity and end with abundance. And they are stories where abundance doesn’t solve any problems but is instead the catalyst to freedom from identification with material success. And that freedom is part of the gift of discipleship. Instead of being captive to what we can’t do, instead of being bound by our failures and disappointments, we are free to be disciples of Jesus Christ who bring others more fully alive.
This may not always be easy or comfortable. But as those who follow Christ, when he tells us to get back in the boat, we do it. When he tells us to go deeper, we go. When he tells us to try again, we try. And when he tells us to forget about miracles and achievement and accumulation and success and become more fully and freely who we were created to be, we listen. Because by being our truest selves, we can bring others more fully alive.
Those who claim the gift of discipleship know that scarcity, failure, and uncertainty are not the end of our story. We know that God is a God of abundance. And we know that abundance doesn’t just replace scarcity but liberates us to claim our truest identity, shedding those identities that hold us captive to systems of oppression and injustice.
It is that identity that empowered Jesus’s disciples to make people more fully alive. It is that identity that empowered Wilma Rudolph to advocate for the rights of women and people of color. It is that identity that will empower us to be teachers and nurses and grandparents and lawyers and students and counselors and neighbors and whatever we most deeply and originally are who do what we do to the glory of God and the good of all people and all creation. Each in our own way, we can bring people more fully alive by being exactly who God created us to be.
To God be all glory forever and ever. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment