Rev. David Boyd

Scripture Text: Luke 5:1-11

Some of us remember the railroad and how important it was to connect the nation. We were steeped in Canadian history and have imprinted on us the image of Donald Smith driving in the last spite at Craigellachie in 1885. Sir John A. MacDonald's dream came to fruition.

Of course, as we all know—and some of you here worked for the CPR—the railroad fell out of favour for some reason. I only took the train two or three times here in Canada (not including the times I hopped trains as a teenager!). So, in the 60's and 70's, the railroad was falling out of use. I well remember when my grandparents would come to visit in the 60's and 70's when we were in Kenora in NW Ontario. We had to drive to Reddit to pick them up, a little drive from Kenora; it was such a thrill to go to the train station to pick up my grandparents. Close friends of our family and members of the United Church in Kenora were a railroad family. Mr. Lowe, an Engineer for the CPR, would take us on little rides on the trains—which you can't do now!

In the US, there was a study done on the demise of the railroad; this was in the 70's. The study concluded that railroads lost their sense of direction, as it were: "They thought they were in the business of railroads; in fact, they were in the business of transportation." It probably wasn't much different in Canada.

You can probably see where I'm going with this analogy. We in the church think we're in the business of being a church. Well, we aren't. We are in the "business" of living God's gift of abundant life and sharing that abundance and message with others; we are in the "business" of God's mission and life for the world.

In the call/miracle/resurrection story of Jesus going out into Simon's boat to speak to the people and then sending Simon out to catch more fish is the story of the call of Simon Peter, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, to be disciples. It is a story about the abundant gifts of God. It is a story about the first disciples. It is a story about us and what we're called to be about as a part of God's church.

What is interesting to me about this story is that Jesus uses the images and tasks that the people were comfortable with. Knowing Simon from the healing episode of Simon's mother-in-law, Jesus goes to the Sea of Galilee (or Lake Gennesaret) to see Simon; a crowd follow and so unfolds the story we have as told by Luke. And what does Jesus say at the end? "From now on, you'll be fishing for people." Jesus gives these simple images of fishing, nets, boats, water a deeper implication. Jesus takes these ordinary images and says now you will be catching people—there'll be nets, boats, water and fishing, but it will be a different kind. That's Jesus' genius—to use common, every day tasks and images and point to the deeper meanings and connections.

Another interesting aspect to this story is that when Jesus said, "Now you will be fishers of people," the literal translation was, saving men and women alive. The idea of saving in the Greek of this phrase was to save people from the peril of death, which is in direct contrast to the idea of fishing. We fish because we want to kill the fish to eat them. But being fishers of people, means that we are to catch people so that they may taste of the abundant life that God promises and know life in all its fullest.

But isn't this exciting? We aren't called to get people into church to keep the church going or to keep our committees going—that membership model of church is slowly breaking down. We're called to catch people up in the excitement of life. We're called to catch people up in the wonder of living full and abundant lives themselves. We're called to set out onto deep water to put down our nets and catch fish that will feed a multitude of people. We're called to share the banquet of fish, the feast of love, with all sojourners on this journey of life! Isn't that exciting? We're in the "business"—the vocation—of sharing God's love—extravagant, abundant love—with all.

There are lots of ways to do this, but I'll only mention one this morning. We live the vocation of sharing God's extravagant, abundant love with all by modelling this discipleship in our own lives. As I've been thinking about this, I've come realise that this is about remembering that the sacred is an everyday part of our lives. There is no separation between sacred and secular, between holy and profane. Our lives are full of God's presence and love; our task is to remember that reality. Ordinary literally has to with "order" and "arrangement." But "ordain" is related to this word. We are ordained—all of us—to our own lives. In a way, we are set a part, blessed, sanctified, to live our everyday lives. Our calling is to remember this and to share in this with the worldÉ to remember our ordinations and to share in this extravagant and extraordinary gift of abundant love.

In a wonderful line, Suzanne Guthrie, a writer and Episcopal priest, who keeps an online presence at At the Edge of the Enclosure, wrote,

"I'm an apprentice to the paradox of slowing down to see more. Live as if the world will end tomorrow, but live as if the world will never end. Live as if the present is paradise, but don't neglect to muck out the chicken house. Drop your sense of time when the chapel bell rings, and hurry to your appointment with the Eternal Now." ("Faith Matters", Christian Century)