Simon Peter, the fisherman, tells of an exciting change of career

Hey, have you heard the news?  I’ve got a new job!  Well, more than a ‘job’ really –a vocation. I’m joining the teacher.  Jesus.  You know, that new rabbi from Nazareth who has been creating quite a stir round these parts lately?  He’s asked me to go with him and says he’s going to teach me to catch people!  (Not sure exactly what that means, yet – but I hope I’m better at it than I have been at catching fish recently!)

Last night was another bad night.  We brought nothing in. Where the shoals have gone, I have no idea, but certainly they’re avoiding my nets big time!  No doubt they’ll be back again another day; it’s always a bit of the luck of the draw. But someone else will have to catch them. I, certainly, won’t be around to do it!  And neither, for that matter, will James and John.

Now, you may think that all of this is a bit impetuous?  Maybe you are right!  But let me tell you what happened and perhaps you’ll understand what I feel I just have to go.

Our day began, as usual, with us cleaning our nets at the shoreline, our boats pulled up after a night of fishing.    It wasn’t too difficult a job as we’d caught no fish!   The beach, however, was unusually busy.  The rabbi approached us, followed by a crowd who wanted to hear him.   He saw our boat and climbed in, asking if I’d take it out just a little from the shore.

Normally I’d think ’what a flippin’ cheek!’, but I knew exactly what he was after.  The acoustics round here are amazing!  No one has to shout from boat to shore; your voice gets carried by the natural shape of the geography.  It’s handy, when you want to call a mate to help with a something.  Even better if you are a teacher and don’t want to strain your voice.   

I was impressed how he had picked that up so quickly, him being new around here.  But I was also predisposed to help him after what he did for my mother-in-law the other night.  Burning up with fever, she was, and we were getting quite worried about her until Jesus came and spoke to her. Then she was up and about, her usual self, fussing about us all, in no time.  Others had talked about him as a healer; now we had seen it for ourselves.

So, I was more than glad to take him out and sit at the helm and listen.  It would give me a chance to find out more about him.  As it turns out, he is not just a great healer, but a captivating preacher too!  He has an easy way of catching your imagination of drawing you in.  He soon had me hooked! 

After the lesson was over and class dismissed, I was happy to oblige when he asked me for another favour.  The teacher wanted to go fishing!   I told him it wasn’t the best time of day for it, and how we’d been at it all night and there was nothing there, but he still wanted to give it a go.  With a kind of knowing smile, he said ‘Oh, go on, I’ve always fancied fishing. Can’t you head out just a little further and throw out the nets?’

How could I refuse him?   I wasn’t going to begrudge him an hour or two relaxing on the sea.

But that’s not what happened!  Within moments, I could feel a pull at the nets. Attempting to drag them in, I could not believe how heavy they were!  Too heavy!  I had to call to my crew and to James and John in the other boat to come and help.  Together we managed to haul the catch in, filling both boats to the point of near sinking. I’ve never seen anything like it!  It was awesome!  Amazing and scary all at the same time!  When at last we got the boats safely back to shore and took stock, we all laughed in complete amazement, hugging and slapping each other on the back, not quite believing our good fortune. 

And then I remembered Jesus’ knowing smile and, as the penny dropped, my legs turned to jelly.  This was no normal day’s fishing.  Something extraordinary was taking place.  And Jesus hadn’t sent me out so he could enjoy a relaxing boat ride, he had brought me out for this!  He had known this would happen!  He made this happen! 

Then an odd thing happened:  I just knew I was in the presence of God.

It was all too much for me!  Just as the boats had begun sinking under the weight of the catch, so I began sinking under the weight of my own sense of unworthiness.   I didn’t deserve this!  I didn’t deserve him, sat in my boat with me.  I begged him to go!  Implored him to get away from me!  But he was having nothing of it.

“Oh, I am going, my friend, but you are coming with me! Andrew, James and John, you are coming too!  And from now on it’ll not be fish in your nets – I’m going to teach you to bring in people!” 

I took one more look at the miraculous catch, and thought, “Well, we’re never going to be able to better that, are we?!”   A couple of hours with Jesus, and we had been enabled to do more than we ever had in years of working on our own!  I’ve always wanted my life to be fruitful and here was a mind-boggling opportunity.  Would you say no?  No, I couldn’t either! 

So, I’m off on a new path. Who knows where it will take me?  But if he can teach me, even in one small way, to be like him, then I’m up for it!  And if I can learn to fish people out of their drowning waters and into the life that he offers, then let’s go!