Sermon 8/20/17
Luke 5:1-11
Singing the Story: Lord You Have Come to
the Lakeshore
“Lord, you have come to the
lakeshore looking neither for wealthy nor wise ones. You only asked me to
follow humbly. You know so well my possessions; my boat carries no gold and no
weapons; You will find there my nets and labor. You need my hands, full of caring,
through my labors to give others rest, and constant love that keeps on loving.
You, who have fished other oceans ever longed-for by souls who are waiting, my
loving friend, as thus you call me. O Lord, with your eyes you have searched
me, and while smiling, have spoken my name. Now my boat's left on the shoreline
behind me; by your side I will seek other seas.” Cesáreo Gabaráin
Last month I asked you all to guess at my favorite hymn as
part of the “Year 1” quiz I handed out, and I shared with you that Be Thou My Vision is top of my list.
It’s long been my favorite hymn. But I have to tell you that another hymn has
been creeping up my list and knocking on the door of first place, and that’s
the focus of our sermon today: Lord, You
Have Come to the Lakeshore. For the last few weeks of summer, we’ll be
looking at the stories behind some of our congregation’s favorite songs. About
a year ago, I gave you all a congregational survey, and I’ve chosen some of the
top hymns from that survey to explore in the next few weeks. Who wrote these
hymns and why? What are the messages of faith the authors of these beloved
texts are trying to convey?
“Lord, You Have Come to the
Lakeshore” was written by Monseñor
Cesáreo Gabaráin, a Spanish priest, born in 1936. Gabaráin studied music as a
child in schools that were part of the local seminary, and he continued his
studies both in music and theology, and was ordained to the priesthood when he
was 23 years old. He served his ministry primarily as a chaplain, both at colleges
in nursing homes, but eventually he served as part of a parish ministry as the
head of religious education. He became known for his work with young people and
with athletes, cyclists especially. He spent his summer vacations ministering
to cyclists at the Tour de France, and connecting with well-known Spanish
soccer players. (1)
Some of the changes from the Second
Vatican Council in the Catholic church opened the door for more creativity and
flexibility in sacred music, and Gabaráin took advantage of that freedom. His
hope was to share the good news through music and bring others into a
relationship with God. Gabaráin said, “I went to seminary when I was very young
– when I was eleven. The seminary was very musical and there I learned music
very well. Later, when I was a priest, I was particularly involved with the
children of several large schools. Then – out of necessity – I began to
compose. I went to meet the children and they began bringing their guitars. I
saw that with the old songs and Gregorian chants I would not be able to teach
them much. So then I began to compose out of a pastor’s necessity, intending to
share the things and ideas that I was trying to convey to the children.” (2)
His most popular hymn is one of four
of his in our United Methodist Hymnals, officially titled, “Pescador de
Hombres”, or “Fishers of Men.” The translation of his hymn in our scripture is
what we know as “Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore.” It was known to be a
favorite of the late Pope John Paul II. The hymn is based on the stories in
Matthew, Mark, and Luke that recount Jesus calling his first disciples. The
melody calls to mind the gentle “rocking boat by the lakeshore.” (1) Gabaráin said, “[When] you ask me what makes
me most satisfied with a song, it is not that the popes like it. What interests
me most, and is more important, is that a missionary deep in the jungle can
tell me that a song has helped him to evangelize.” (2)
He died of cancer in 1991 at just 55
years old. Gabaráin’s obituary shared that while he was travelling in the Holy
Land, tour guides would sometimes claim that his hymn was composed on the Sea
of Galilee, when in fact it was written in Madrid. But Gabaráin would simply
smile to himself. (1)
I think Gabaráin’s beautiful hymn
brings our text from the gospel of Luke to life, and evokes in us a deep sense
of need to respond to God’s persistent call. In our gospel lesson today, we
find Jesus preaching and teaching, the crowd gathered, and the setting, the
lake of Gennesaret, also known as the Sea of Galilee, where many fishermen
would be busy at work. When the scene opens, we read that Jesus is standing by
the lake and the crowds are “pressing in on him to hear the word of God.” What
an image! They’re impatient – anxious – hungry to hear God’s word – that’s how
excited they are about what Jesus has to say. They want the words that he’s
about to speak. Have you ever been so eager to hear the Word of God?
Now, in the chapter before this one,
after his baptism, after spending 40 days in the wilderness, Jesus had just
begun his ministry, marked by preaching and healing, including a woman
described as the mother-in-law of Simon. But we haven’t yet met Simon, really,
until this passage we read today. When Jesus encounters Simon Peter with his
boat, he’s already connected with him through the act of healing. So, with the
crowds pressing in, Jesus sees fishermen washing their nets and their boats
nearby on the shore, and he gets into the boat of Simon Peter and asks him to
put out a little way from the shore. This way, Jesus can comfortably teach the
crowds from the boat without being smothered by them in their excitement. When
he’s done teaching, he turns to Simon, and tells him, “Put out into the deep
water and let down your nets for a catch.” Not a suggestion – not a question –
but a direction, an imperative. Peter responds in a way that I admire, since I
think most of us wouldn’t respond so openly. Jesus wasn’t a fisherman; he was a
carpenter, and now a teacher; Simon Peter
was the fisherman. And Peter knew where to fish. And Peter knew that they had
already been fishing all night without catching anything. But Simon Peter
didn’t respond that he knew better than Jesus, or that they tried what he said
already and it didn’t work, or that this new way wouldn’t work. He said
instead, “Master, if you say we should try it, we’ll try it.”
So they let down their nets, and
begin to catch so many fish that their nets are breaking. They signal for help,
and another boat comes, and still, there are so many fish that both boats are
filled to the point that they can barely stay afloat. Peter, overwhelmed, falls
on his knees before Jesus and says, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful
man!” But Jesus responds, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”
And with those strange words, Peter, along with James and John, the sons of
Zebedee, partners with Simon, leave their boats and nets and everything, and
they begin to follow Jesus.
I think Jesus’ invitation – well, he
doesn’t even really ask, does he? – his announcement that these fishermen will
now be fishing for people is an invitation, an announcement that extends to us
too. In church language, we call the work that we are called to do a vocation. But sometimes I think we do a
disservice in the church when we leave people feeling that the only vocation we’re talking about is people
becoming pastors. Some of you might have read my brother Tim’s facebook post
this week. He’s always so thoughtful in complimenting me and my brothers – I’m
a pastor. Todd’s an acting professor. Jim is a manager working with people with
disabilities. Tim hasn’t ever felt that same tug toward a particular career. But God calls us in so many
different ways. Fishing for people, the life of discipleship, that is simply
committing to trying to follow the teachings and practices of Jesus as much as
we can – this can take so many
different forms. Remember, when we talked about Esther a couple of weeks ago.
Was her calling to be a Queen? Maybe, or maybe not. But her calling was definitely speaking out against
injustice, using her role as Queen to do so. Fishing for people is helping draw
others closer to Jesus, inviting them to walk with Jesus. The ways that we can
do that are endless, starting with the witness that we make in our own lives of
discipleship.
Jesus tells us how we do that –
practice discipleship, and prepare ourselves for a life fishing for people
alongside Jesus. We go to the deep waters, and we put down our nets, expecting
a catch. Bishop Robert Wright says, “Some people don't catch fish because they
don't expect to catch fish. When Jesus tells Simon, "Let's go to the deep
water," he doesn't stop there. He
says, "...prepare for a catch."
What an encouragement. This is a word for us … who go to church
regularly,” he says. “Week after week we go to the deep water of worship, but
do we go preparing for a catch? Do we go believing that a blessing is just
waiting for us? … Expectations count
with God. It's all over the Bible. Expectation is the first-born child of
faith, "the substance of things hoped for." No expectation, no real
faith. When we say we believe in God, we are not saying I am agreeing with some
abstract idea; we're saying we expect the things that God has promised to us.”
Wright continues, “Some people think they know more about
fish than God. It happens to all of us
sometimes. It's not that we actually think we know more than God; it's just
that we behave that way. We hear God's instructions: Forgive a whole bunch.
Bless those who curse you. Give abundantly. Visit the jails. Forget your life
and you'll have a ball ... But we ignore God's invitation to abundance. We say
to God by our actions: I know more about [life], more about healing, more about
forgiveness, more about children, more about money than you do, God … Some
people don't catch fish because they don't go to the deep water, and some
people don't catch fish because they don't expect to. But some people don't
catch fish because they know more about fish than God. People say that the net
full of fish is the miracle of this story, but I disagree. The real miracle of this story is that Simon
decided that God was God and that he would live that way beginning immediately
… Just look at what Simon says before the miracles begin to happen, "Yet,
Lord if you say so...."”
Simon Peter wasn’t called to be a disciple because he was
good at catching people, or fish for
that matter. Simon was called because that’s what God does! God calls us
because God demonstrates grace and love through our lives, because God can use
even us, we, who like Simon, feel overwhelmed with how unqualified and worthy
we are. We just need to let Jesus into our boat, and commit to going to the
deep water again and again, commit to putting down our nets, commit to trusting
God so that we’re expecting a catch. What are you doing to get to deep water in
your faith life? What are you expecting God to do in your life?
In Cesáreo Gabaráin’s hymn, we are reminded that God sees the
humbleness of our boat, the lack of what we have to offer, and God smiles, and
says, “Come, follow me. Let’s seek other seas together. And I will make you
fish for people!” “O Lord, with your eyes you have searched me, and while
smiling, have spoken my name. Now my boat's left on the shoreline behind me; by
your side I will seek other seas.” Amen.
(1) C.
Michael Hawn, “History of Hymns: Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore,” https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-lord-you-have-come-to-the-lakeshore
(3) Rt. Rev. Robert
Wright, “Deep water is where we have to go to get what God has for us,” http://day1.org/1712-why_some_people_dont_catch_fish
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