Remain In The Boat

In today’s Gospel we hear the story of the calling of Simon Peter. This is one of my favorite stories in the entire Gospel. It is full of so much emotion, wisdom, and we get to see the brokenness of Simon in all of its ugliness while at the same time seeing Jesus poor out so much love upon him. Not to mention, there is that minor detail about a miraculous catch of fish.

Jesus Calls the First Disciples – Luke 5:1-11

While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennes′aret. And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zeb′edee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Patience

With so much richness in this story there is an often overlooked portion that I wanted to focus on today: the beginning of the story. At the start of this encounter we are presented with Simon and company having returned to the shore after a long night of fishing: fishing with little success. They are doing something that have done hundreds if not thousands of times, they are cleaning their nets. Jesus was teaching a crowd of people but his reputation was beginning to build so the crowd pressed in on him. It was becoming hard for him to actually teach the crowd. He needed to get some separation from the people which a boat would provide. So Jesus got into Simon’s boat and asked him to put out a bit from the shore so he could get the separation from the crowd that he sought.

What was it about this moment that made Simon, who was likely exhausted and frustrated after his long night, obey? Why did Simon not simply tell Jesus to get out of his boat and get lost? Yes, Simon had already hosted Jesus in his home, saw his mother-in-law healed, and we hear of Jesus healing all those who came to him (Luke 4:38-40). It is logical to assume that Simon witnessed these miracles and therefore knew there was something special about Jesus. Yet Simon was still human and had a bad night. The easy thing to do would have been to reject Jesus in that moment but Simon did not. So what was it about that moment that made him obey? Was it a look from Jesus? Was it a word not recorded in the scriptures? You could easily spend a lifetime in prayer contemplating that moment.

Once the boat is put out into the water, Jesus proceeds to teach. We have no idea how long Jesus taught the crowds. It could have been a few minutes, it could have been an hour, it could have been all morning long. Regardless of the exact length, for the duration of that time Simon just sat in the boat with the Lord and waited. He did not speak: he just listened and waited. I can imagine the impatience that was welling up inside of Simon. He was exhausted and beaten down by a horrible night of fishing. He was probably a bit stressed as this was his livelihood: the means by which he took care of his family. Yet in that moment all he could do was sit and listen to Jesus teach. He had to wait and be patient.

Finally, Jesus instructs him to go out into the deep for a catch. Notice how it was Jesus who makes the first move: it was Jesus who gave the call to action. It was not Simon who decided he had had enough of sitting around and that it was time to goto work. Simon waited for the Master to give the command and only then did he act.

There is so much for us to receive as we reflect upon this exchange. First and foremost, do we take time to simply sit and be with Jesus. There is a reason why Luke included this part of the interaction between Simon and Jesus in his story. He is showing us how important it is for us to spend time with Jesus and to receive from him. Simon said nothing during this period of time. When we spend time with Jesus do we do the same? Do we sit and allow him to speak to us or are we too busy speaking to him: telling him all the things he needs to do for us. Yes, share your heart with Jesus but then make sure you are silent and that you give him time to share his heart with you.

Second, are we content to patiently wait for Jesus to make the first move: for him to initiate the action. Or are we busy always making our own plans: trying to solve all of our problems based upon our own abilities. Simon had a problem. He didn’t catch any fish. How was he going to pay his bills with no fish to sell? It would have been very tempting for him to say, “Great, Jesus is in my boat I know he said push off a bit but I am heading for the deep waters to drop my net. Lord, your are going to help me right?” Of course Simon doesn’t really listen for an answer from Jesus but presumes an answer and goes about his plans to catch his fish and solve his problem.

How often do we do this? How often do we dictate to Jesus the solution we want him to impose. How often do we pray about a problem but don’t wait for an answer but instead start relying upon our own ideas to solve it? How often do we approach an important decision and fail to pray about that decision? What we see in the exchange between Simon and Jesus is the way our relationship with Jesus should and needs to operate. We sit with the Lord, quietly and patiently and we receive. We receive from him and only when he is ready to send us do we act. We allow him to initiate and direct our response.

Be content to simply sit and be with the Lord: to listen to his voice. Be patient and wait. Wait for him to give you a command, to guide you into deep waters, to lower your nets. When you are content and patient and allow him to guide you, your nets will always be breaking from a bountiful catch.

Additional Resources

1. Bible

2. Daily Mass Readings

3. Catholic Commentary On Luke

4. Additional Commentary On Luke