Weekly Seeds: Into the Deep

Sunday, February 9, 2025
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany | Year C

Focus Theme:
“Into the Deep”

Focus Prayer:
Expansive God, help us follow you into the deep. Amen.

Focus Scripture:
Luke 5:1-11
5 Once while Jesus was standing beside the Lake of Gennesaret and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ² he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. ³ He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. ⁴ When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” ⁶ When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst. ⁷ So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’s knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astounded at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” ¹¹ When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

All readings for this Sunday:
Isaiah 6:1-8, (9-13) • Psalm 138 • 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 • Luke 5:1-11

Focus Questions:
Where is the deepest place you have ever been?
What reasons are there for going deeper…physically, mentally, or spiritually?
Why might someone avoid going deeper?
What helps facilitate going into the deep?
What depths still need to be explored?

Reflection
By Cheryl A. Lindsay

Depth may be an exact measurement, a relative comparison, or a subjective perspective. When we state the depth of an object alongside its height and length, more than likely, that is a quantitative, objective statistic. The depth of a swimming pool, a football field, or specific canyon may be measured in inches, feet, yards, or miles. Unless a significant material change takes place that alters the physical reality of those items, the measurement should be consistent no matter who takes it or when it is taken. At the same time, comparisons may not require those exact measurements to be made. The Grand Canyon is deeper than a football field, and both eclipse a swimming pool. The measurements can indicate how much, but are not necessary to declare that evaluation. Perspective may bring in entirely different ways of measuring depth, including qualitative factors. To the person terrified of water, the football field may seem more accessible and not as deep a space as the pool that also has other qualities assigned to it by the subjective evaluator.

The gospel narrative takes place by the Lake of Gennesaret, or the Sea of Galilee, the lowest freshwater lake on Earth that is only eclipsed by the Dead Sea as the lowest lake on the planet. The fishermen did not have much luck that day and were preparing their nets to try again, presumably, the next day. Jesus approached them with encouragement to try again right now. If Jesus proves to be correct, the timing was not the issue so much as the depth of their attempt.

This passage marks a shift in the ministry of Jesus:

5:1–11 shifts the setting precipitously to public space, where his auditors are a crowd closely identified with the 90 percent of the subdominant population—earlier called “the poor.” Merely the appearance of crowds is a sign of differentiation from reigning imperial systems (Scott, 63). Again, Jesus’ proclamation is summarized and gives way to a brief narrative about recruiting coworkers. Following Jesus’ suggestion, Simon and his partners net an abundant catch of fish. Sequence alone leads hearers to presume causation by Jesus and to be astonished, like Simon and his companions. Simon then recognizes a manifestation of the numinous that threatens him, a “sinner.” Thematically, this has to do with manifesting God’s Spirit in God’s commonwealth, a manifestation that dramatizes what God’s commonwealth is. Jesus makes it analogous to collaborating in mission—catching people. They leave all and follow.
Robert L. Brawley

Luke, who authors both the gospel bearing his name and the Acts of the Apostles, understands the aims of the gospel to be expansive and universal. Interestingly, other accounts refer to the large body of water as the Sea of Galilee rather than as the Lake of Gennesaret. Both names are accurate, but the distinction may have been an intentional choice. A sea is a large body of water that opens to the ocean; a lake is completely surrounded by land. Both have rivers and other streams of water that flow to them. In a sea, the water continues to an even larger body of water. With the lake, it is the destination point. Just as Darrell Bock notes that, “The miraculous catch indicates how miracles are pictures or metaphors of spiritual realities. The miraculous catch of fish produces the metaphorical call to catch people. Jesus’ prophetic leading and insight powerfully illustrate his call, indicating graphically the mission Peter has before him.” The extraordinary catch is not the only spiritual reality Luke explores. The location of the lake points to the spiritual dimension of the ministry of Christ. Not that it is landlocked, but that this story reflects the intended ends of the mission.

Jesus has programmatically announced and begun to exercise in Galilee a ministry that brings liberation to persons in need, liberation that is God’s work, God’s sovereign rule effecting social reversal, as Mary’s Song envisages. Thus far Jesus has acted alone, under the Spirit’s empowerment; however, as the sphere of his activity widens and the crowds clamoring for Jesus’ attention grow, he recruits followers who will join him in a ministry of authoritative teaching and healing. At the same time, opposition to Jesus begins to crystallize (on cue: recall Simeon’s prediction [2:34–35] and the first signs of resistance at Nazareth [4:22–30]). Other teachers discover that Jesus’ vision and embodied practice of the reign of God clash with their own and, with increasing intensity, object….The call of Simon commences the next major phase of the story. Jesus gathers followers who will listen to his teaching and witness his mighty acts and thus become qualified to teach and act with authority themselves.
John T. Carroll

All of those streams connect to Christ’s intention for the redemption of the created world. The flow of the story suggests the nature of ministry for those who accept the invitation to follow Jesus into this mission. Those fishing knew how to fish so expertise or experience was not a problem. They chose a good location as evidenced by their eventual net. They had the right tools and equipment…and knew how to use them.

Their reach was too shallow.

An African proverb tells us, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Luke’s framing tells us, “if you want to go through the motions, go shallow. If you want to fill your nets, go into the deep.” This is not about numbers, even though the size of the catch would imply that. Jesus demonstrates his own teaching as they cast their net for the fishers rather than the fish. In this story, Jesus nets the initial commitment of Peter, James, and John.

After concluding the teaching session, Jesus directs Simon to take his boat out to the deep and lower the nets (v. 4). In reply, Simon addresses Jesus as “master” (epistata, also from the mouth of Simon in 8:45; 9:33; John in 9:49; unnamed disciples in 8:24; and petitioning lepers in 17:13). The term (one who “stands over” and so possesses authority; Jesus “stood over” [epistas] Simon’s mother-in-law before healing her in 4:39) suggests that Simon recognizes Jesus’ authority, even over his own fishing boat. Simon observes that he and his partners are empty-handed after a full night’s toil, when the nets would in the darkness of night have been more likely to produce a catch; nevertheless, he will comply: “At your word I will let down the nets” (5:5). Jesus’ authoritative word elicits from Simon a trusting, obedient response; even before the miraculous catch that is imminent, Simon is well on his way to authentic discipleship.
John T. Carroll

Perilous times, like turbulent waters, require more than shallow responses. When the tax status of institutions providing for the common good are threatened, stewardship practices, appeals, and commitments need to go deeper. When houses of worship receive warnings that the sanctuary provided to the immigrant will not be honored and may be targeted, our commitment to embodied jubilee and justice in the name of Jesus gets called into the deep. When programs designed to celebrate our distinctiveness through recognition of diversity, equity, and inclusion are eliminated in favor of protecting and preserving the privileged, mediocre, and unqualified, our public witness and ministry creation compels us to go into the depths of human solidarity and belonging.

Shallow ministry allows and even facilitates the spread of a gospel unconcerned with the conditions of people living on the earth as well as the state of the earth itself. It enables false prophets to reject the communal commitments of following Jesus and promises the illusion of individual satisfaction with a self-centered, self-directed, and selfish pursuit of overabundance for some and scarcity for most.

Embodied jubilee declares that if Love can come down from heaven, we can enter the depths of human suffering and lack to catch our neighbors and even our enemies for the kindom of God. Where shallow ministry fails to find anyone, deep ministry reminds us that the needs are great and perhaps even overwhelming.

Yet, still we take our knowledge, training, and experience and do not give up even when the surface seems empty. We keep fishing, searching, trusting….We continue to have that conversation with the climate denier. We contact our legislatures to object to the assault on the rights of trans folx. We interrogate the news we receive and use caution with the news we share.

The deep may yield scary results, but like the mountaintop, we are not meant to stay there. Jesus calls us to cast our nets into the deep in order to capture what needs to be brought to the surface. This is hard work. This is how to fill the kindom.

Into the deep.

Reflection from Voices of People of African Descent
The 33rd General Synod adopted a Resolution to Recognize the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024). As part of its implementation, Sermon and Weekly Seeds offers Reflection from Voices of People of African Descent related to the season or overall theme for additional consideration in sermon preparation and for individual and congregational study.

“She Who Is Forged in the Fire”
Theologian Clarissa Pinkola Estés tells a story about her grandmother Old Katerin, a socioeconomically oppressed, rural, immigrant woman of color who maintained several fires in order to cook her food, heat water for bathing, and keep the house warm. A devout Catholic and lover of the Black Madonna, Old Katerin ritually sifted through the ashes of the fires each night looking for any remnant of burnt wood that resembled the feminine form. Every once in a while, she would find one and would exclaim: “She came to us! She’s here with us!”

You see, Old Katerin was determined to find the Sacred Black Feminine in the ashes. Pinkola Estés writes, “Old Katerin said this Black Holy Mother carried wisdom and knowledge, and understanding about repairing the land and making things grow.” Old Katerin understood that the Sacred Black Feminine not only exists in the ashes of life, She also has the power to heal us and make us grow despite white patriarchy’s devastating impact on us.
Every so often the white male parish priest would drop by the house and derogate Old Katerin’s growing collection of burnt Black Madonnas. Pinkola Estés writes, “He said she was having a mere ‘superstition’ and wanted her to realize the Virgin was actually golden-haired with ringlets, porcelain skin, and rich-colored silk clothing.” But Old Katerin ignored the priest, insisting that God was powerfully present in her burnt, seemingly unimpressive Black Madonnas.
“Old Katerin used to say that this was the point about her Black Madonnas taken from the fire . . . and about us too: That the little dark Blessed Mother was burned, but she was not consumed. She is still here. We are still here. We still hold our holy shapes, no matter what fire we have been passed through. Black Madonna says, ‘Behold my dark face, my burned body, and grow, grow, flourish, flourish. Let nothing hold you back.’ Black Madonna, forged in the fire, leads the way.”

Christena Cleveland, God Is a Black Woman

For Further Reflection
“What are heavy? sea-sand and sorrow.
What are brief? today and tomorrow.
What are frail? spring blossoms and youth.
What are deep? the ocean and truth.” ― Christina Rossetti
“Sometimes I think,
I need a spare heart to feel
all the things I feel.” ― Sanober Khan
“In our deepest moments we say the most inadequate things.” ― Edna O’Brien

A preaching commentary on this text (with works cited) is at //ucc.org/SermonSeeds.

The Rev. Dr. Cheryl A. Lindsay, Minister for Worship and Theology (lindsayc@ucc.org), also serves a local church pastor, public theologian, and worship scholar-practitioner with a particular interest in the proclamation of the word in gathered communities. You’re invited to share your reflections on this text in the comments below this post on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SermonSeeds.