In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus is standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret where Simon Peter and others have been fishing all night without success. The fishermen, having given up, are cleaning their nets. Jesus steps into Simon Peter’s boat and begins preaching to the crowd that has been following him. When he has finished speaking Jesus says to Simon Peter, ―Put into the deep water and cast out your nets for a catch.‖ Simon Peter follows Jesus’ instruction and nets a ―huge number of fish,‖ filling two boats almost to the sinking point. Then, the fishermen bring their boats back to the land. They are completely overcome by the catch they have made, Luke tells us, and Simon Peter falls at the knees of Jesus. Jesus says to him, ―Do not be afraid, from now on it is people you will catch.‖ Whereupon, the fishermen leave everything, and follow Jesus.
Whether we’re farmers, or construction workers, or computer programmers, or homemakers, or teachers, or preachers, or even fishermen, we come together each week with Jesus in our midst. And just as he preached God’s Word to the crowd at Lake Gennesaret, he is also preaching God’s Word to us, and he is waiting for our response. He is waiting for us to leave everything and follow him.
There is a scene in a novel called ―My Lady of the Chimney Corner‖ in which ―the lady‖ has gone to comfort a grief-stricken neighbor. Gentle as a fallen leaf, she puts her hand on the neighbor’s head and says, ―God takes a hand whenever he can find it and just does what he likes with it. Sometimes he takes a Father’s hand and lays it on a child’s head in understanding. Sometimes he takes a Doctor’s hand to relieve a patient’s pain. Sometimes he takes the hand of a Mother to give guidance to a child. And sometimes he takes the hand of a poor creature like me to give comfort to a neighbor. They are all hands touched by his Spirit, and his Spirit is everywhere looking for hands to use.‖ Jesus is looking for your hands. Jesus wants to use them! Take His hand in yours - FOLLOW HIM!