not an opportune time

scripture text: Luke 5:1-11

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ²he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³He 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. ⁴When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ ⁵Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’ ⁶When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. ⁷So 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. ⁸But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ ⁹For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; ¹⁰and 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.’ ¹¹When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.


a reflection

It isn't really an opportune time for any of this to be happening. It's a terrible time for Jesus to stop by the shore and ask to borrow a boat for a teaching. The disciples just got in from a long and unsuccessful night of fishing; they're tired and still have more chores to do before getting some rest.

It is not the ideal time for Jesus to ask even more of them: Get your nets and put out into deeper water and let's do some more fishing! One can imagine the weary fishermen's thoughts: "Um, how about NOT doing that!" (Or, perhaps something a little more salty.)

It's not an opportune time for Peter to be confronted with an apparent healer and "holy man." Peter seems very much in touch with his own dark side at this moment: "I'm a mess! You don't want to have anything to do with the likes of me. Leave me alone."

And, as far as most everyone in the story except Jesus is concerned, it certainly is not a good time for Peter, James and John to be dropping their nets, leaving behind their livelihood, responsibilities and families and heading off to follow this stranger who could very well be a charlatan or some sort of weird cult leader. It seems like such a ridiculous and rash decision. Surely they have other considerations to take into account before heading off in this impetuous way!

It seems to be a quite common human impulse, to want to wait until conditions are favorable before we are willing to step onto new ground or accept a new challenge or possibility.

And, sometimes, if I choose to wait until conditions are just perfect, I never begin at all.

"I'll go back to school once life settles down a bit more."

"I'll quit smoking when the weather gets nicer!"

"I'll be happier once I get through today . . . this week . . . this year . . ."

"I'll take some sabbath time, some reflective time, once I've checked off a few more things on my 'to do' list."

Certainly, there are some things that require that we wait until an opportune time before we move or act. For instance, I am not about to go out and plant my tomatoes or basil in the garden this week. I'd have to break through a layer of snow and ice, and even then it would be a very unwise and untimely thing to do!

Or, if reconciliation is needed in a broken relationship, sometimes we must wait until there is readiness on the part of both persons before proceeding with some layers of that healing effort.

Yet, the story above (and the whole of the gospel story) stands as a reminder that this is not how it is with the God who is Love. God does not require all conditions to be perfect in order to act. God does not need you or me to be perfect in order to call us or to shine out through our lives in love. In fact, it is probably true that when we think we've got our act together and all our ducks in a row, we are most deaf and blind to the One who is calling upon us and wanting to lead us more deeply into life.

Like those first disciples, we're a mess. By the grace of God, we're a fine and beautiful mess! And it is not necessary for us to be otherwise in order to be loved, or to love.