Extending the Peace...

April 29th

Pushing Out Into Deep Water

David Martin, Executive Minister - The gospel story that has been resonating with me for a good part of this past year is Luke’s account of the disciples’ deep sea fishing experience with Jesus. The story strikes me as one that speaks to us profoundly at this time, and now even more so when we find ourselves immersed in a global pandemic. In Luke 5, Jesus invites the disciples to, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” The disciples were mystified as to why they would want to fish in the deep waters of the Sea of Galilee. Deep water fishing was not how you caught fish. Commercial fisheries operated close to the shore with hand-thrown cast nets that could be dragged close to the bottom of the lake. Despite their disbelief, Jesus challenged them to try something new. He asked them to let go of their normal assumptions and to go about fishing in an entirely new way that was totally counter-intuitive for them. It simply didn’t make any sense. In the end, the results are astounding and Peter,  confessing his ignorance, falls in awe at the feet of Jesus. 

We have been swept out into deep waters and are learning how to survive and how to fish in ways we had never anticipated.

We find ourselves today in the midst of an historical wave of social change that is sweeping over both society and the church. So much so, we not sure anymore what it means to be the church and struggle at times with letting go of our assumptions of what we think church should be. We often find ourselves swept into deep waters and struggle to know how to fish in this new environment. We are at times reluctant to let go of our assumptions of what church should be and are not certain how to adapt to our changing social context. And then, along came COVID-19. 

This current pandemic is frightening at times. It is upsetting our assumptions of normal not only for church but also for our social connections and for our economy. COVID-19 has presented us with incredible challenges and has not been kind to us on many fronts. One of the silver linings, though, of our COVID-19 experience has been that we have been forced to let go of all kinds of assumptions. We have been swept out into deep waters and are learning how to survive and how to fish in ways we had never anticipated. COVID-19 has insisted that we begin to envision church differently. It’s been forcing us to ask what is essential about church. What is the heart of who we are and what we are doing? COVID-19 is demonstrating to us that the church can change. It is showing us that church can take forms that are invigorating and meaningful, yet entirely new. Maybe the silver lining behind COVID-19 is that it is showing us that we can change, that we can let go of old assumptions and that we can trust that the Spirit will bless us with the capacity to adapt to the new challenges before us. 

As the church faces new challenges, we need to face them together as a community of congregations and learn from each other and support each other.

Learning and experimenting with new ways of being church is a lot easier when we do it together. As the church faces new challenges, we need to face them together as a community of congregations and learn from each other and support each other. So let’s stay connected to each other as congregations. Let’s also stay connected to the regional and nationwide church, because together we are stronger. Christ is Lord of the church and I for one am confident that the Spirit is leading us. This is a time in the life of the church when we need each other. Let’s commit to supporting each other as we learn new ways, as we adapt to the new social context in which we are living, and together resolve to follow Jesus, especially when we feel he is calling us to cast our nets into deep water.