Brief synopsis of the readings: In the 6th chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah we read that God’s glory fills the whole earth. But Isaiah protests that he is a man with unclean lips living in a people of unclean lips. A seraph (angel) came with a live coal and touched Isaiah’s mouth proclaiming “See now, this has touched your lips, your sin is taken away, your iniquity is purged.” God then asked who he should send and Isaiah responded: “Here I am, send me.” In Luke’s Gospel we see Jesus speaking the crowd. Seeing Simon’s boat he climbed aboard and began teaching from the boat. At the end of his teaching he asked Simon to go out to deeper water and put out their nets. Simon told him that they had fished all night with no results but that he would try again. This time they caught so many fish that their nets began to tear and their catch filled two boats. At this Simon fell to his knees and said: “Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.” Jesus told him not to be afraid and from now on “it is men you will catch.” Several of those gathered left everything and followed Jesus.
When we think about what we want, we’re normally pretty good at it. From our earliest days we’ve known that a baby tooth under our pillow will bring us cold hard cash. Before Christmas our parents took us to the local mall not only to get our picture with Santa but also to give him our list. It’s the same thing with gifts at our First Communion and Confirmation. Finally, I hope I need not speak of the Wedding Industrial Complex replete with stores where the couple is encouraged to wish boldly in building their registry.
So what happens when we are given exactly what we asked for? Well, that’s actually pretty good. It’s kind of the definition of a “win-win” where both the giver and the recipient are pleased.
But what happens when we are given more, much more, than we asked for?
Do we answer with unworthiness or entitlement? Are we overwhelmed or satisfied?
We live in a world where, frankly, that encourages greed and entitlement. In the 1990s sitcom Seinfeld one of the characters (George) was the assistant to the traveling secretary for the New York Yankees. When someone congratulated him on the Yankee’s World Series victory he responded: “I have to give at least some credit to the players.”
But we (hopefully) live in a different world, a world of humility. As my homiletics professor from seminary used to say: “As Christians we need to know <emwho we are and whose we are. That means a few things. It means that sometimes we are given more than we deserve and even more than we ask for. It also means that if God asks something of us we will be given what we need.
The people of Jesus’ time wished for deliverance from Roman rule but were given instead both redemption and Eucharist. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve spoken with someone who didn’t receive Eucharist at mass because they thought themselves unworthy. I responded with mixed success that none of us receive Eucharist because we’ve earned it but because we’ve been offered it. I know a man who finds great joy and fulfillment in bringing Eucharist to people in the hospital. One day he offered it to a Catholic who responded that he was not allowed to receive Eucharist as he was divorced an remarried. My friend suggested that they both pray an Act of Contrition (asking for God’s mercy and pledging to continue to attempting a holy life) and that would make him eligible. My friend wasn’t heavily schooled in theology but was well aware that God’s mercy trumps our shortcomings and the man received Eucharist. I pray he knows how well served he was.
In our first reading we see God’s call of prophecy to a man who described himself as having unclean lips. Simply put he didn’t think he was worthy to proclaim God’s message and in fairness he wasn’t. But God’s angel made him worthy not because of who he was or what he did, but because God made him worthy.
We read today’s Gospel through the same eyes. Though he is called Simon in the reading we know him as Peter. He saw himself as a simple fisherman who heard something of Jesus that attracted him. Talk to any commercial fisherman and you will be told that it’s a hard life. They are at the mercy of wind, waves, currents and the location of fish. Some days are diamonds and some days are coal.
This day was a day of coal. They spent the night watching and waiting and pulling up empty nets. But when Jesus suggested they row out and try again Peter shrugged his shoulders and tried again.
It’s easy to overlook this, but when they caught so many fish that they feared the nets would tear it wasn’t good news. Had the nets torn, not only would they have lost the fish, they would also needed to repair the nets. They received so much more than they asked for that they feared disaster.
But to his credit Peter recognized his own unworthiness and asked Jesus to leave him “for I am a sinful man.”
The reason why, thousands of years later, we know the names Isaiah and Peter is because they recognized that their worthiness didn’t come from themselves but from God. We can only imagine how many times Jesus encouraged someone to row out into deeper water, caught an insane amount of fish and thought their success was tied to their talents.
We don’t hear about them because we need to hear about those who recognized their worthiness in their faith. As I said earlier, we live in a world that values greed and entitlement. But I suggest we take the road of Isaiah, Peter, and my friend who offered Eucharist to a divorced and remarried man.
And we celebrate the willingness of his divorced and remarried patient.