Where is our church?

Where is our church? What is our church address? Who are the ministers of our church? Would the ministers of the church be willing to stand up? We shall return to these questions again. For now, let us step into the Gospel reading, Luke 5.1-11.

Introductory comments

My husband and I are very proud of our sons. They are chefs. They work extremely hard. They came home late from their shift on a particular day, frustrated, tired and demoralised. It had been a particularly slow day with few orders. The kitchen closes at 2 p.m. They had started to clean and pack up the kitchen early as there were no customers. By 2.10 p.m., the kitchen was spotless, the grill had been cleaned, the floors washed, all the appliances were off and sanitised. It was at this moment that a rather large order came in for a big table. Everyone knew the restaurant policy, that the kitchen closed at 2 p.m. At 2.10 pm, everything was shutdown. Nevertheless, the chefs were forced to start everything up again and prepare meals for a large table. A similar thing is happening for the fishermen in Luke 5.1-11.

Into the Gospel text: Luke 5.1-11

Peter and his colleagues are in their boats, in the shallows. They have finished cleaning and repairing their nets and preparing the boat for the next day’s work. Sure, they have had a poor catch, but tomorrow is another day, right? It is at this point, at the end of the day when everything is cleaned and packed up, that Jesus, a carpenter who probably knows little about fishing, suggests that go out deep again and let down their nets for a catch. Remembering how despondent our sons were in a similar situation, I am amazed at Peter’s willingness to go fishing again.

Jesus says, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answers, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." An abundant catch of fish follows, Simon is literally overcome. There is a self-effacing pattern of model of leadership in the kingdom of God at play here. In the same way that Mary was humbled at the call of God on her life so too is Peter: “But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man” Peter’s response is an allusion to the response of someone else, who while daydreaming in church one day, was confronted with the Holy.

Into the Hebrew Text: Isaiah 6.1-13

While going about his routine religious duties in the Temple, Isaiah sees a vision of God's glory and experiences a call to serve as a prophet to his people. The out-of-this-world vision makes sense in the context of Scripture. Thseraphs are fiery creatures. They cover their faces reminding people that both Moses and Elijah believed that one could not see the face of God and live. In Exodus 3:6, “Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God”. In 1 Kings 19:13, “When Elijah heard it [the heavenly voice], he wrapped his face in his mantle”

“Isaiah’s” call to ministry would become one of the most quoted Old Testament books in the NT. The vision of Isaiah provided key ideas that helped the early Christians make sense of their experience of Jesus. Jesus is the answer to Isaiah’s vision. Jesus becomes the place where heaven and earth embrace in marriage, and God’s love heals, enlightens and liberates. In Luke 5 Jesus shares his calling first with Peter, then with all the disciples and then with us.

Jesus’ call and our call

Jesus starts expanding the circle of blessing by asking Simon to join him inside it. He wants to use the boat as a kind of pulpit to speak to the crowd on the shore. We too are drawn into this sacred circle of blessing. We too become the place where heaven meets earth and the love of God is poured out to us and through us to heal, enlighten, and liberate… We become the place where all God’s promises come true. We become the place where poverty and hunger disappear, and the forces of destruction are muted once and for all.  It is our glory to collaborate with Jesus together with Peter, James, John and Andrew and all the disciples down the ages and across the globe. The guidelines are simple. Everything begins with a sincere response to God as made visible in Christ; it continues with humble repentance, and it ends with the promise, "Do not be afraid; from now on you [singular] will be catching people."

The sermon by rights ends here.

However.

Many will hear this as an invitation to ministry, to do more. To do particularly churchy things. Many will hear this invitation as an expectation, to sign up for parish council, to do more Bible Studies, to join more community organisations, to teach Sunday School, to prepare food for the homeless. Please continue to do these things, as they are a blessing to us; however the call is deeper than that… read on.

Others will hear the invitation to ministry as an invitation to be more — to be kinder, more generous, more loving, more religious…more.

The call is more powerful than that.

Ministry involves being just who you already are and doing just what you already do…with one difference…you understand yourself as God’s person in God’s world and for God’s world.

 The point of our sacred space and our sacred actions is to consecrate the way we see our ourselves and consecrate how we see what we do.

 As we consecrate bread and wine, the ordinary things of this world to be an extraordinary channel of God’s grace, so our eyes are consecrated to see the munificent mundane in everything we do as Eucharist action. If we limit our sacred work to our prayer time and our worship time only, friends, we are in big trouble. The point of the Eucharist is that we learn to see everything we do as eucharist action. The holiness with which we receive the body and blood of Christ is no different to the holiness with which we prepare meals, clean the kitchen, make our beds, mow the lawn. The respect and reverence we learn to adopt in receiving Holy Communion is pointless unless we learn to see that all we touch is holy too. Imagine the transformation that is possible if we treat the average broom and the average task of sweeping with the same sense of prayer we have for Holy Communion? These ideas are inspired by two sources, Brother Lawrence who taught the practice of the presence of God and the Rule of Benedict which has had a significant influence on Anglican Spirituality.

Brother Lawrence writes: When we walk in the presence of God, the busiest moment of the day is no

different from the quiet of a prayer altar. Even in the midst of noise and clutter, while people’s voices are coming at you from all directions, asking for your help with many different things, you can possess God with the same serenity as if you were on your knees in church.

The Rule of St Benedict describes what is expected of the cellarer, who is in charge of groceries and other food stores: Chapter 31:10. Qualifications of the Monastery Cellarer “ He will regard all utensils and goods of the monastery as sacred vessels of the altar, 11 aware that nothing is to be neglected.”

Concluding comments

Jesus expands the circle of blessing and shares his ministry with Peter and then with us.  We are called to minister. Our baptismal vows are our ordination – we shine as a light for Christ in the world. Where is the Church? Wherever God has placed us. Who are the ministers…the bishops? All of us. This is not a text about doing… it is a text about seeing, about how you see your identity. You are already doing God’s work, being God’s person – do not be afraid.