Today’s Readings: Psalm 79; Genesis 42:1-17; Luke 5:1-11; Acts 18:12-21; Psalm 13
It never ceases to amaze me how quickly our values and perceptions change here in the United States. And in this hi-tech age, the speed of change has accelarated even more. Let me give you an example of this. When I was a child, a huge premium was put on tradition and experience. Merchants would sell their products using tag-lines like “In Business for Over 50 Years”, and candidates would convince voters to lend them their support based upon the number of years they had served the public. In the last 10 years, however, those values have largely fallen away. Most merchants now sell their products using words like “new” or “innovative”, and candidates try to earn votes by emphasizing their lack of experience as a good thing. All of this is to say that we modern folks have lost our patience and are more apt to try to solve our problems by simply changing things around us. Today’s reading in Luke presents a challenge to this modern tendency. For in that passage, we are told the fisherman around Jesus have spent most of the night fishing the waters where Jesus urged them to lower their nets. Their first thoughts must have been, “Why? This area is tapped out. Let’s move on and fill our nets in new waters.” I can’t blame them for thinking that. And yet what does Jesus challenge them to do? He challenges them to do the unthinkable: stay where they are and try one more time. We all know what happens once they followed Jesus’ command. The story challenges me to think about doing the same thing; it challenges me to look at aspects of my life that I’ve written off and revisit them this time – only this time with a new perspective or awareness. Maybe there are some “waters” in your life that you think you’ve thoroughly explored – “waters” that you too have given up on: maybe it’s a relationship or a job. Today, I would invite you to fight the modern impulse to solve the problem by simply moving on into other waters. Instead, think about taking a risk and dropping down your nets one last time where you are. You just might be surprised what yield those nets might produce. Til next time…
It never ceases to amaze me how quickly our values and perceptions change here in the United States. And in this hi-tech age, the speed of change has accelarated even more. Let me give you an example of this. When I was a child, a huge premium was put on tradition and experience. Merchants would sell their products using tag-lines like “In Business for Over 50 Years”, and candidates would convince voters to lend them their support based upon the number of years they had served the public. In the last 10 years, however, those values have largely fallen away. Most merchants now sell their products using words like “new” or “innovative”, and candidates try to earn votes by emphasizing their lack of experience as a good thing. All of this is to say that we modern folks have lost our patience and are more apt to try to solve our problems by simply changing things around us. Today’s reading in Luke presents a challenge to this modern tendency. For in that passage, we are told the fisherman around Jesus have spent most of the night fishing the waters where Jesus urged them to lower their nets. Their first thoughts must have been, “Why? This area is tapped out. Let’s move on and fill our nets in new waters.” I can’t blame them for thinking that. And yet what does Jesus challenge them to do? He challenges them to do the unthinkable: stay where they are and try one more time. We all know what happens once they followed Jesus’ command. The story challenges me to think about doing the same thing; it challenges me to look at aspects of my life that I’ve written off and revisit them this time – only this time with a new perspective or awareness. Maybe there are some “waters” in your life that you think you’ve thoroughly explored – “waters” that you too have given up on: maybe it’s a relationship or a job. Today, I would invite you to fight the modern impulse to solve the problem by simply moving on into other waters. Instead, think about taking a risk and dropping down your nets one last time where you are. You just might be surprised what yield those nets might produce. Til next time…
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