In the reading, Jesus is sitting in Simon Peter’s boat, in the shallow waters by the shore after the crowds that came to hear Jesus preach have gone away. Simon Peter had spent the entire night fishing and hadn’t caught anything. Jesus knows that Peter is exhausted from his efforts at fishing all night, and Jesus knows that Peter was unsuccessful, but he turns to Peter and invites him to do something. Jesus says, “Go out into the deep water, and there, let down your nets”. It sounds pretty simple doesn’t it? But is it really? Do you know what Jesus is really asking here? Jesus is asking Simon Peter to have faith in him. To have faith that even after a long night of fishing to no avail, that there is still something to catch out there in the deep waters—to leave the shallow waters and go into the deep. Jesus wants Peter to trust him enough that he would be willing to leave the shallow places in his life and in his work and begin to explore the depths. To go to the limits of what Peter thinks is possible, not only for him but for those all around him. “Go out into the deep water,” says Jesus, “trust me and see what happens.”
I think there is more going on here than just a suggestion of a good fishing spot on the part of Jesus. I think Jesus is making a statement or challenge to Peter, and all of us, to stop sitting around in the shallows and go out into the deep places where the rewards are great—to move from a shallow faith to a deep one.I ask you to just take a moment and think about your life of faith. Imagine that Jesus comes to you personally, or maybe just in a voice, maybe it is no more than a simple thought, and says “trust in me a little more and go out into the deep water.” Just imagine it. What would you do? You know, I think Jesus calls us to this many times in our lives. Most of the time we tune it out. But it is there. Maybe in the feeling of giving more to a cause that you happen across on television, or in signing up to help with something at church that absolutely terrifies you, or even making the effort to praying thanks for your meal in a public place, feeling the stares from people. Jesus calls us all the time to go deeper, and just like with Peter, I encourage you to answer the call, for God’s grace shows up in the deep waters and the rewards are great. Glory be to the Lord our God, Jesus the Christ.
To go deeper on this topic, (pun intended) check out "The Deep Waters" below
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