Presiding Bishop Curry and Bishop Brewer inviting Keep Saying Yes to Jesus revival guests to receive prayer from the prayer teams.

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
Sunday, February 10, 2019
Lectionary C

Lowering Our Nets
Reflection on Luke 5:1-11

It has taken me years of adulthood to learn that you “don’t get what you don’t ask for.” I’ve found this very helpful in dealing with the cable company or in buying a new car; however, in the last few years, I’ve found this to be the case when it comes to evangelism.

I say the following with some tongue in cheek, but experience bears it out that, quite often, our “good manners” of being Episcopalian get in the way of asking people to join our church, and even more, to become a follower of Jesus Christ. (Yes, there is a difference)

Imagine the insensitivity of Jesus in our reading from Luke. Simon Peter and the others had just worked all night long. They had washed their nets, stowed everything away in the boats, and were ready to take a break! To make matters worse, they didn’t catch anything after all of that work. And now, this upstart rabbi climbs into their boat, grabs Himself a seat and teaches the crowd. He then tells them to put back out, into deep water, and lower their nets! How rude! Who invited THIS guy?? What does He know about fishing??

I wonder if Peter was really this nice in person, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down my nets.” Something tells me that he was probably thinking something different! Lol.  However, to their credit, they do as Jesus asks. And in so doing, catch so many fish that their nets begin to tear, and the boats almost sink due to the size of the catch!

During our Christmas Eve service in December, I broke a cardinal rule of preaching. I took a moment and talked directly to those who only come to church on Christmas and Easter. I shared that this wasn’t about shaming them, it wasn’t about guilt (we don’t do guilt in the Episcopal Church), it was about an invitation to enjoy the entire story! “Coming to church on Christmas and Easter is like watching the first and last five minutes of a movie … you miss all the good stuff in the middle

Sorvillo

… you miss the whole story! And in a world that is becoming more spiritually dark, if you’re not getting spiritually renewed on a regular basis, it’s like running the marathon of life with only one leg! So … come back! Join us! Give us a 12-week trial and see what God will do in your life!” Guess what happened – people came back. They let me know, “I was here on Christmas Eve and now I’m back to see what happens!”

Don’t be afraid to “let down your nets” and invite people into a life with Christ. This means your friends, your neighbors, yes, even your family, to come, to see, to taste, what the Lord might have for them.  Stop being so polite … and maybe we’ll stop having empty churches.

– The Rev. Dr. James Sorvillo is rector of Church of the Ascension in Orlando.