Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

February 8, 2004

St. Luke’s Church, Jamestown, NY

Eric M. Williams

Getting what you want...and then some!

Do you remember the story of King Midas?

         According to the Greek myth

                  he did a good deed and was granted one wish.

He wished for the power to turn anything he touched into gold.

         At first this seemed great,

                  when he turned a twig and even an apple into solid gold.

But later this gift didn’t seem so wonderful.

         Food turned to beautiful but unappetizing gold before he could swallow

                  and then, tragically, when his daughter ran into his arms

                           she became a lifeless statue.

He realized that what he thought he wanted more than anything

         was worth far less than what he had already had.

                  Getting what he wanted taught him what was truly important.

I thought of that story when I read our Gospel today.

         Peter and Andrew his brother were fishermen—

                  partners with Zebedee’s boys James and John.

                           The four of them fished the Sea of Galilee,

                                    hoping more than anything for a good catch.

The fishing was best at nighttime

         and on this particular morning they had returned home empty.

                  Now they were sitting at the shore mending their nets,

                           probably in a pretty bad mood.

Along came Jesus who hopped right into Peter’s boat.

         We don’t know if they had already met

                  or if this was the very first time Peter had laid eyes on him.

But despite his weariness and grouchiness

         Peter agreed to row Jesus out a bit

                  so he could teach the crowd that had gathered.

The boat made a perfect podium.

         It gave Jesus a little distance from the pushier people

                  and the water acted like a natural microphone

                           so that he could be heard by the whole crowd.

After he had finished teaching,

         Jesus had Peter row even further out

                  so they could do some fishing.

You get the impression that Peter, who was really being nice,

         had lost what’s left of his patience.

                  Listen, buddy, he said,

                           I don’t know what fish you’re expecting,

                                    but my buddies and I fished this spot all night.

                                             There are no fish to be found.

Peter was frustrated because he really wanted to find fish.

         His living depended on a good catch.

                  With enough fish he could make a little profit

                           maybe expand to a third boat and some more crew.

                                    If the fishing turned bad his prospects were grim.

                                             The Romans didn’t offer unemployment.

Despite his frustration, Peter did let down the net.

         Where there had been no fish

                  now there were so many the nets couldn’t hold them all.

                           James and John came to help

                                    and soon both boats were so full they began to sink.

This was like hitting the fish jackpot,

         winning the angler’s lottery.

                  The profit they made on this one haul

                           could set them up for a good long time,

                                    maybe help them start a new life.

But that’s not what happened.

         Instead of dancing all the way to the market, the Gospel tells us,

                  “when they had brought their boats to land,

                           they left everything and followed [Jesus].”

These fishermen got their heart’s desire—

         the best catch of their lives,

                  and they turned their backs on it.

Do you know why?  I’ll tell you.

         Just like Midas they learned a life-changing lesson.

                  Sometimes when you get what you want,

                           it shows you what you really need.

Midas learned that happiness was not to be found in gold,

         but in the love of his family and the simple pleasures of life.

When Peter and his friends got their heart’s desire,

         they got far more than they had bargained for.

                  This encounter with Jesus led them to a deeper desire to know God.

                           Suddenly catching fish no longer seemed so important.

                                    And they were ready to embark on a different kind of fishing.

The more you think about it, the more remarkable the story seems.

         Except for this one encounter, they didn’t know Jesus.

                  They didn’t know where they were going,

                           or what they would be doing.

They certainly weren’t qualified,

         but then they didn’t know what qualifications were even required.

                  All they knew is that being with him

                           suddenly seemed like the most important thing in the world.

They may not have known it, or thought much about it at the time,

         but their decision to follow Jesus,

                  to trust God and throw caution and sense to the wind,

                           put them in some pretty good company.

Isaiah was pretty unqualified too.

         His encounter with God left him scared senseless.

                  There he was on an ordinary Sabbath in the temple,

                           when suddenly *WHAMO* he had a vision of God.

And not just any vision.  This was worthy of a Spielburg film.

         God on the throne, filling up the whole enormous temple.

                  Smoke everywhere, the voices of the angels booming like thunder.

                           What am I doing here? he thought to himself.  I don’t belong.

Yet it was this prophet of unclean lips, this mere mortal,

         unqualified and quaking in his boots,

                  whom God sent to be a prophet,

                           to speak God’s words to God’s people,

                                    and to offer a message of hope.

And it was this unqualified unclean prophet

         whose message we are still reading

                  whose words still give meaning and hope,

                           still point us toward the reality of God

                                    and the coming of Jesus

                                             thousands of years later.

You see, we don’t always know what is really important.

         We think we do.

                  We live our lives as if we know exactly what is important.

                           We make our plans and try to accomplish them.

But into every life, sooner or later, God intrudes.

         Jesus has a way of rocking, not just Peter’s boat, but ours as well.

                  He calls us to go farther than we wanted to go,

                           to try harder than we wanted to try.

And when our net seems empty, and our life empty as well,

         when we have achieved our life’s ambition

                  and we still feel empty inside

                           he fills us with an abundance of joy and meaning and purpose.

And then he offers an invitation.

         Follow me and you can have that abundance all the time.

You don’t need any special qualifications.

         I’ll train you as you go.

                  The important thing is just to get started.

We don’t know when that call will come.

         We don’t know what form it will take.

                  Will we know it when it happens and be ready?

                           Will we have the guts to drop everything and follow?

                                    Or will we miss the boat?

410 North Main Street, Jamestown, New York 14701

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