Luke 5:1-11
One day Jesus was standing beside Lake Gennesaret when the crowd pressed in around him to hear God’s word. 2 Jesus saw two boats sitting by the lake. The fishermen had gone ashore and were washing their nets. 3 Jesus boarded one of the boats, the one that belonged to Simon, then asked him to row out a little distance from the shore. Jesus sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4 When he finished speaking to the crowds, he said to Simon, “Row out farther, into the deep water, and drop your nets for a catch.”

5 Simon replied, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and caught nothing. But because you say so, I’ll drop the nets.”

6 So they dropped the nets and their catch was so huge that their nets were splitting. 7 They signaled for their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They filled both boats so full that they were about to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw the catch, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Leave me, Lord, for I’m a sinner!” 9 Peter and those with him were overcome with amazement because of the number of fish they caught. 10 James and John, Zebedee’s sons, were Simon’s partners and they were amazed too.

Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on, you will be fishing for people.” 11 As soon as they brought the boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.

We’re continuing our “kind of a Baptismal Vows Series” this week, so you can go ahead and bookmark page 38 in the hymnal now if you like!  

 The first week we read the story of the Baptism of Jesus alongside our Baptismal Vows and noticed how there was real risk, for John the Baptist, in accepting the freedom and power God gives us to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.  With freedom and power comes risk and responsibility.  Maybe we’re uncomfortable with risk, but we trust God enough to accept the risk.

Then, we visited the uncomfortable verses about evil doers from Psalm 36, revisited the English translation of the Apostle’s Creed, watched a little Star Wars, and pulled this all together to say that Resistance is about saying Yes to Love.

Then we did our annual, Book of Discipline Mandated review of our Safe Sanctuary Policy, because our Congregational Vow to the Baptised includes our promise to provide a community where they may grow in their trust of God.

And I reviewed with you how to report a clergy person who does harm.  Look up the Oregon Idaho UMC webpage and use the staff page to find the Bishop and District Superintendent’s contact info. 

Last week, we turned the page in our hymnal to p36 in Baptismal Covenant 1, looked at how Thanksgivings in Baptism and Communion liturgies are stories of God’s salvation and that the word that Jesus used that we translate as, “Salvation,” is Sozo – which means salvation in this world and the next.  And we remembered that in our Baptism we recognize that this Spirit of the Lord is upon us.

Today we’re going to start with our Bible reading, so you can keep that handy.  It’s in the inside of your bulletin.

In today’s reading, Jesus is just beginning his public ministry.  Jesus has been traveling around teaching and healing people, so he’s starting to draw a crowd of people desperately in need of help.  And when people are desperate, they can get a little pushy, so Jesus is about to get pushed right into the lake!

So Jesus just climbs on into Simon’s boat and asks him to row away a little and proceeds to use Simon’s boat as his pulpit.

So, imagine you are just getting off work, and some preacher hops into the back of your work truck, asks you to pull up onto the sidewalk and starts preaching.  I’m not sure I would have been as accommodating as Simon, after working all night!

But Simon is totally willing to help out, so when Jesus is done preaching he tells Simon to try fishing again, as a way of repaying Simon for his time.

But Simon is exhausted because they’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.

If you’ve got a pencil or something handy, underline verse 5 where it reads,

“Master, we’ve worked hard all night and caught nothing. But because you say so, I’ll drop the nets.”

This verse made me think of you.  All of you, the faithful remnant of this church, who have worked so hard…

• all through COVID, 
• You worked hard to hold the church together through absent clergy, 
• in an aging building, 
• Working so hard to try to hold things together with broken systems and a shrinking budget
• Working so hard, even when you have been tired and worn out
• Working so hard while your beloved congregation shrinks

You have worked so hard and seen so little results for so long, and yet, when I came here two and a half years ago, you were willing to try again.

Not because of your faith in me, but because of your faith in God.

As it should be!  I’m not Jesus, I just work for him!
It is Jesus, not me, who has called us 

• to go farther than before
• To row out beyond our depth and trust God to do what we cannot do on our own
• To drop our nets into the community, even though we don’t expect to catch  anything

And I have felt just as out of my depths as you have!

I mean, does anybody know how to do Church in this post-COVID, post-Christian, post-modern world?

But, like Simon, you have listened deeply to Spirit and despite your doubts you have rowed out into deep water and cast your nets and here’s what you have caught.

Because you were willing to try:

• Two Pacific Islander Churches have a place to worship, fellowship and share their culture with the next generation.  
• Our Daily Bread Express has been able to feed a multitude of meals to people living with HIV/AIDS, because you were willing to do the deep work of sharing your kitchen.
• Imagine Theater – a children’s theater company who split off from an Evangelical organization in order to welcome lGBTA+ families, has a climate controlled space to store their costume collection, in our basement.
• Because of your willingness to dig deep and share your space – even give up the Library and offices, Rahab’s Sisters has been able to expand their work in our neighborhood to serve even more Fem, Trans, and Queer folks.  And they have been so helpful for some of our Haven Dinner folks who have needed more help than I have been able to provide!
• Haven Dinner, our Queer Young Adult group has doubled in size and even though you don’t often see them on Sunday morning, they claim you as their church!
• Family promise Metro East is growing and serving more families, many of whom are now sleeping in their own beds that you raised the money to pay for!
• A POD Village, transitional shelter is opening soon just 2 blocks away, and we were able to negotiate priority for people living on the streets in our neighborhood and currently being served by Rahab’s Sisters and PDX Saints Love, because you have supported your Pastor in doing community advocacy, have showed up for public meetings to say, Yes In My Back Yard, and have hosted public meetings here in our Sanctuary.
• Our church now has a voice in the Montavilla East Tabor Business Association, and because you supported me in doing this kind of “outside the church” work, I’m now on the Events Committee, which means I have a voice in how future community fundraisers are run!  So we can do charity that helps instead of charity that hurts.
• And none of those flashy things would be possible if not for the tireless labor that quietly happens behind the scenes Every. Dang. Week. by you.  The quiet labor of our Board Members, our Finance Team, our Mission Team.  Did you know that we don’t have a Facilities Manager anymore?  We have Jorja organizing a handful of volunteers, usually the same few people, who show up to meet the contractors that sometimes fix things and sometimes tell us things that we really don’t want to hear!  Alton vacuums and keeps the toilet paper stocked and takes out the trash and many other little things.  Tom and Larry fix things for no pay.  A few volunteers set up and bring things for coffee hour… and so much, so much more work that keeps our nets mended and our ship afloat!

Because of you!  Because of the hours and hours and hours of unseen labor we’re able to do life-changing things like, help a Haven member get his food handlers card so he can get a job.

So Thank You!  No matter how small, or invisible, insignificant you think your part in this congregation is, what you do matters so much, because our community needs us so much right now.

You are making a difference!  Thank you!

Take a look at verses 6 -10.  God filled their nets to overflowing. 
So many fish that their nets were splitting.
So many fish that their boat was sinking.
So many fish that they had to call for help!

They were so overwhelmed that Simon fell to his knees in his sinking, fish-filled boat, and cried at Jesus,  Leave me alone!  I’m just a sinner!

Haven’t we felt that too!

Haven’t we felt that our building was too full?
Haven’t we said, I know that this is selfish, but I’m tired of sharing all our space?
Haven’t we felt overwhelmed by our houseless neighbors, the building, the finances, the paperwork, the political situation we are in?
Haven’t we felt like our ship was sinking and there was only one little boat available to come help us?

And in the midst of it all, Jesus turns to us and says do not be afraid.

Do Not Be Afraid.

Do Not Be Afraid.

For I will make you fishers of people.

And it’s not going to look like how people joined the church in the before times.

But Haven Dinner has doubled in size, and they are inviting their friends to come see this Church who,  and I quote, “is very good at getting resources for people who need them.”

In the year 125AD, a Greek philosopher Aristides attempted to explain Christianity to the Roman Emperor Hadrian.  He wrote:

“They love one another.  They never fail to help widows. They save orphans from those who would hurt them.  If they have something, they give freely to the one who has nothing. If they see an immigrant, they take him into their homes and rejoice over him as a brother.”

There are those who say that very few people would say this about Churches today.  But according to the members of Haven Dinner, you are the church who “is very good at getting resources for people who need them.”

On page 38 of the hymnal, under Reception into the local Congregation, are your membership vows.

I’m supposed to ask you if you will faithfully participate in the ministries of the Church by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your witness (we added witness in the 2012 book of Discipline) and your service.

But I already know that your answer has been and continues to be yes.