Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. Jesus addressed these intriguing words to a group of frustrated fishermen who had toiled all night with no success. Their economy was easy to understand no fish, no food. These men were tired and the last thing they wanted was advice on fishing from a carpenter. But that is precisely what they received. Put out into the deep, Jesus said, and let down your nets for a catch.

This story is about a magnificent catch of fish. But in reality, it is a call to the Church to move beyond the familiar and to find new ways of sharing our faith with people who do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. We like to fish in the shallow, familiar areas, gathering people who are very much like ourselves folks who know the hymns we like to sing, have had similar experiences to ours, and share our style of worship. But today we are called to be mindful of those at the margins of society, those who are under water in their lives and often feel like they are drowning. And, of course, we must remember that when we demonstrate concern for people most at risk, our results reflect the disciples’ experience when their nets began to break.

The miracle is not in what these fishermen gave up, but rather in how the power of God, present in Jesus Christ, could get them to walk away from their nets, from everything that had defined them, and to assume a new purpose for their lives: serving Jesus Christ. The danger we face is that we can too easily become like Peter and the others, afraid of the deep water skeptical of doing things we have never done before wanting to forever dangle our feet in the familiar.  Please remember that the story of the magnificent catch of fish and the call of the disciples is not a command to get busy. There is no power in a church that wants to change the world without first being changed by Christ.