"Put out into Deep Water" - The Challenge of Christian Living Today
Sermon preached in St Salvator's Chapel, St Andrews on the 4th February, 2007 by Bishop Philip Tartaglia
Readings: Psalm 138 and Isaiah 6: 1-8 and Luke 5: 1-11
Sermon:
1. In this morning's gospel passage, the evangelist sets out the scene in which Jesus is standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. His apostle-fishermen, Peter, James and John are nearby working on their nets. Even though they had just returned from a night's unproductive fishing, Jesus invites them to go back out and try again: 'Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.' To their surprise, their efforts are rewarded handsomely with an extraordinary catch of fish. Peter, James and John are overcome with respect and awe before Jesus. Jesus then chooses this favourable moment to reveal the spiritual and religious depth of this event: 'Do not be afraid. From now on', he says, 'it is men you will catch.'
2. This message of this scene is embedded in my psyche. I studied at the Scots College in Rome, which has trained young Scots men for the priesthood since the year 1600. In the atrium of the College Chapel on a sloping section of wall above the entrance to the Chapel, there is a fresco on which is depicted in vivid colours Jesus calling Peter and his brother Andrew, telling them, 'Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.' I walked in and out of that chapel every day, several times a day even, for my seven years of training. By the time I had finished my course, I guess I had visually absorbed the message of Jesus to me that to be a priest was to follow Jesus, put out into deep water and be a fisher of men.
3. The Lord's invitation to put out into deep water has never been more pressing for Christians and for the Church than it is now. You could say that we have fished the coastal waters until they have become exhausted. The weary frustration of Simon Peter is the frustration of many a good priest or minister today: 'Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing.' Many Church people are dispirited by falling Church attendances. They work so hard and still the numbers creep down a little more each year. At an individual level, many Christians have not been able to resist the tide of aggressive secularism which is sweeping across our country and taking hold of our culture, and have been swept away by currents that are just too strong for them, and they have become in practice post-Christian. Yesterday I heard someone speak of a crisis of transmission in the handing-on of the faith, Another clever person spoke of cognitive dissonance between the faith of the gospel and the post-modern, post-secular world of our times. And these are just some of the problems that Christians have to face these days.
4. So how do we accept Christ's invitation to put out into deep waters? Let me use today's Gospel to frame an answer and point the way ahead for us. The first point to note is that the whole episode is an encounter with Christ which transforms the life Peter, James and John opening up to them new horizons and new possibilities involved in following Jesus and being fishers of men. Christians need to start afresh from Christ. He is the Lord. He is the Saviour. Christians need to renew their faith in him. Any programme of renewal of the mission of the Church has to start again from the person of Christ. We have to allow him to change and inspire us. So faith in him, listening to his word, faithfully following the Gospel, participating in the worship of the Church, growing in a spirit of prayer and devotion this is how we put out into deep water. This is how we prepare to be fishers of men.
5. 'If you say so, I will pay out the nets.' Peter, James and John, against their better judgement, did what Jesus asked them to do and they were amazed at the results. The Church needs to hear again the word of Christ and do it. We too often squabble among ourselves about what Christ is telling us. No, he is not telling us that. No, that's no good for these times. No, no reasonable person could believe that. I am sorry; there is no substitute for the message of the Gospel. I have to say that the Gospel cannot easily be made to accommodate the contemporary liberal agenda. The Holy Spirit has been guiding the Church since the beginning. The Holy Spirit guides the Church today in many ways through pastors, prophetic voices and through people of faith. Faithfulness to the Word of God is what will hold us up when we venture out into deep waters. This is how we will become fishers of men when we offer them what is truly the word of life.
6. 'Do not be afraid', said Jesus. This is a difficult time for faith and there are many problems which beset the Church, problems which range from persecution and hostility, to apathy and complacency, to unbelief and practical atheism even among its members. Yet today and at other key moments in the Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples: Do not be afraid. This does not mean that there are easy answers or easy success in respect of the problems which worry us. This does not mean that the demanding nature of the Gospel is in any way relaxed. Do not be afraid. This means that God's love is unfailing and unconditional. It means that man is redeemed by the death and resurrection of Christ. It means that Christ is with us till the end of time. It means that the grace of Christ is enough for us. It means that we should not be afraid to follow Christ and be fishers of men. It means that we should live our Christian lives with a faith which is ever trusting, with a hope which is ever enduring and with a love which is ever generous.
St. Salvator's Chapel
University of St Andrews
4th February 2007