On occasions of big life milestones, we tend to be a people who like to offer sage advice. Whether the advice is about how to approach retirement after decades of work, how to handle parenting to a first-time parent, how to manage marriage, how to navigate divorce, or, like today, how to approach full membership in the body of Christ through the act of baptism. As parents and godparents tentatively offer their children to the Church, in turn, we as a community offer advice and counsel – sometimes formally through things like the baptismal covenant, and sometimes informally over coffee and cake from our own lived experiences.
As I was reading our gospel lesson this week, I was thinking about one of those loved bits of wisdom that often comes up in the life of the Church. I cannot tell you the number of times I have heard a parishioner say to me, “You know what they say the definition of insanity is, Jennifer? Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Sometimes, when we just cannot get some momentum to overcome a problem at church, I find myself doing an “insanity check” because of that old adage. So, imagine my surprise when I read today’s gospel and hear Jesus basically asking the disciples to do the exact opposite of what that bit of wisdom suggests about how doing the same thing over and over again never leads to meaningful change.
Here we are, meeting Simon, James, and John in Luke’s gospel for the first time. These career fishermen have had a rough day on the job. They have been out on the water all night long, using all their normal tricks, fishing in all the right spots, and have come to shore, exhausted, disappointed, and likely more than a bit irritated to have nothing to show for their labor. Into this despondency and frustration, this guy, Jesus, inserts himself and basically says the complete opposite of what that old saying says about doing the same thing over and over. Jesus says to the soon-to-be disciples, “Go back and fish again.” To weary, disheartened men, who have just spent all night doing this work, Jesus says, “Do the work again.”
We do not know why Peter agrees. But we do know the feeling Peter describes when he basically tells Jesus this is a terrible idea. We may not be fishermen, but we know “what it’s like to work really hard at something that matters, and have nothing to show for [our] efforts when [we’re] done. …I imagine we all know what’s it’s like to pour ourselves into a job, a relationship, a ministry, a dream — and come away exhausted, frustrated, thwarted, and done.”[i] For that matter, after the last month we may be having those feelings right now. Whether we are weary from watching the chaos and upheaval of these first few weeks of a new administration, or we are weary from having big conversations about church, we know how resistant we would be if Jesus were to tell us, “Just go back out into the world (or to Hickory Neck) and keep doing the same thing!”
But here is the thing: Jesus doesn’t actually ask Peter to keep doing the same thing. Though the physical action Jesus is suggesting is the same, something dramatic changes in the scene. Yes, Peter, James, and John, are using the same nets, in the same waters, in the same location, using all their same gifts. But this time, this time the text tells us that Jesus gets in the boat with them. Jesus does not shout from the shore what the disciples should do. Jesus gets on that weary boat with them, and heads out into the deep, trouble waters with them. As scholar Debie Thomas says, “This is a promise to cultivate us, not to sever us from what we love. It’s a promise rooted in gentleness and respect — not violence and coercion. It’s a promise that when we dare to ‘go deep,’ to do what we know and love with Jesus at our side, God will enliven our efforts in ways we couldn’t have imagined on our own.”[ii]
As I have been looking at the chaos in the political sphere right now, and even as I have been looking at pretty big changes at Hickory Neck, I have been wondering if Jesus’ only words of encouragement are going to be, “Just get back out in the deep waters and keep doing the good work of the Gospel.” Because lately that has just felt more like “insanity work.” Instead, what our gospel lesson tells us that when we get back to the work Jesus has given us to do, knowing that Jesus is in the boat with us, it means not only will we not get the same results, we are going to be surprised with abundance. Now, I’m not saying you have to accept the promise of abundance enthusiastically. Even Peter protests and then acquiesces half-heartedly. “Yet if you say so, I will,” Peter tepidly commits. So Debie Thomas tells us we can commit too. “Yet if you say so, I will try again. Yet if you say so, I will be faithful to my vocation. Yet if you say so, I will go deep rather than remain in the shallows. Yet if you say so, I will trust that your presence in the boat is more precious than any guarantee of success. Yet if you say so, I will cast my empty net into the water, and look with hope for your kingdom to come.”[iii]
When we baptize little Arthur today, and we decide what bit of wisdom we want to pass along to him, forget about that whole “insanity” advice. Maybe instead, our advice can be something more akin to our gospel. We can tell him, “Sometimes Jesus is going to invite you to do some crazy stuff – to do something that you are certain will lead to the same old results. But just remember, Jesus does not send without getting in the boat with you. Jesus does not send you without empowering you to do the work. Jesus does not send you without the promise that abundance will come.” Our invitation today is to not to just give the advice to little Arthur – but to hear and embrace the advice for ourselves too. Amen.
[i] Debie Thomas, “Same Old Same Old,” February 3, 2019 as found at https://www.journeywithjesus.net/essays/2075-same-old-same-old on February 7, 2025.
[ii] Thomas.
[iii] Thomas.
Seeking and Serving 