Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 149; Isaiah 45:5-17; Luke 5:1-11; 1 Corinthians 2:10-16; Psalm 36
One of the most frustrating expressions a person entering the life of a local church can hear when first offering an idea for ministry is this: “We already tried that years ago and it didn’t work so we shouldn’t try it again!” While such a remark is usually offered in a well-intentioned way (i.e. we don’t want you to waste your energy on an idea that won’t work), what such a remark forgets is that time and circumstances change. That remark fails to acknowledge those changes. In this morning’s story from Luke, we encounter a similar dynamic when Jesus instructs the disciples to do something they had already tried before – letting down their fishing nets into a stretch of water. While the disciples initially fell prey to the “we’ve tried that before and it didn’t work” way of thinking, they did something radical. They submerged their negative instinct and instead decided to follow Jesus’ instruction. Their faithful efforts paid off in ways they couldn’t have imagined. The story makes a compelling point: often the most difficult risk to take isn’t the risk to try something new – often the greatest challenge is to go back and try something you had tried before that didn’t work out. Think about that in the context of your life. Perhaps there is a relationship that you’ve written off… maybe you’re at a job that you’ve given up on… perhaps you’ve resigned yourself to living life without meaning. There are a thousand things it could be. Today I invite you to find an area of your life that you’ve written off, and return to it. Only this time, don’t go alone. Take the spirit of the living Christ with you. Then do one of the most radical things possible – drop your net. You can drop it in a thousand ways – through an apology, through an honest and loving naming of your true feelings, through an act of intentional recommitment: the only limit on how you symbolically drop your net is your imagination and your willingness to risk. Then see what happens. You just might be surprised! Til next time…
One of the most frustrating expressions a person entering the life of a local church can hear when first offering an idea for ministry is this: “We already tried that years ago and it didn’t work so we shouldn’t try it again!” While such a remark is usually offered in a well-intentioned way (i.e. we don’t want you to waste your energy on an idea that won’t work), what such a remark forgets is that time and circumstances change. That remark fails to acknowledge those changes. In this morning’s story from Luke, we encounter a similar dynamic when Jesus instructs the disciples to do something they had already tried before – letting down their fishing nets into a stretch of water. While the disciples initially fell prey to the “we’ve tried that before and it didn’t work” way of thinking, they did something radical. They submerged their negative instinct and instead decided to follow Jesus’ instruction. Their faithful efforts paid off in ways they couldn’t have imagined. The story makes a compelling point: often the most difficult risk to take isn’t the risk to try something new – often the greatest challenge is to go back and try something you had tried before that didn’t work out. Think about that in the context of your life. Perhaps there is a relationship that you’ve written off… maybe you’re at a job that you’ve given up on… perhaps you’ve resigned yourself to living life without meaning. There are a thousand things it could be. Today I invite you to find an area of your life that you’ve written off, and return to it. Only this time, don’t go alone. Take the spirit of the living Christ with you. Then do one of the most radical things possible – drop your net. You can drop it in a thousand ways – through an apology, through an honest and loving naming of your true feelings, through an act of intentional recommitment: the only limit on how you symbolically drop your net is your imagination and your willingness to risk. Then see what happens. You just might be surprised! Til next time…
No comments:
Post a Comment