Into Deep Water

Every relationship has its own story. For any person that we are close to, we can give – if asked – an explanation for how we have come to know that person. This is especially true of friends. Some friendships are rooted in the distant past, in childhood or adolescence, while others are much more recent. For example, Fr. Jason and I got to know each other as adults, but we have been friends now for nearly fifteen years. I still remember the dinner for prospective seminarians at Bishop Sartain’s house when we first met. I remember thinking, “This guy is interesting, but he sure does talk a lot.”

The friendship of Jesus and Peter is one of the most important relationships in history, especially for us Christians. In the Gospel today, we hear St. Luke’s rather interesting account of how that friendship began. Jesus and St. Peter were not childhood acquaintances. They meet as grown men, and as we heard, they are very different in many ways. Jesus is a traveling preacher and healer; Peter – or Simon, as he’s still called here – is a professional fisherman. Jesus’s message is one of repentance, and Simon is very much aware of his own sinfulness. Their friendship begins not because of similar personalities or shared interests but because Jesus gets into Simon’s boat and begins ordering him around.

Peter Paul Rubens, The Miraculous Draught of Fishes (1619)

If this is a startling way to describe it, imagine how Simon must have felt. This famous prophet invites himself into Simon’s boat, and tells him to put out into deep water. And somewhat amazingly, Simon does what Jesus says. He is open to the direct action of Jesus, and thus a relationship begins, a friendship that will shape Simon’s life – indeed, that will remake his life, that will give him a new name, “Peter,” and that will be the foundation for every friendship with Christ that will follow.

Why does Jesus choose Simon’s boat? Because he knows what he will become. Jesus sees Simon as not just a fisherman, but, as he says, as a “Fisher of Men”, as one of his chosen apostles, indeed as the “Rock” (in Greek, “Petros”) upon whom he will build his Church. All of that though is in the future – it’s easy to skip ahead in the story and think of it as a done deal, but the reality is that it’s not. Jesus has initiated an invitation to Simon to a friendship, but Simon must respond to that invitation, cooperating with the grace of relationship that Jesus offers to him.

This is the fundamental dynamic of every disciple. By virtue of our humanity, each of us has a relationship with God; by baptism, that relationship has become a friendship in Christ. God is the one who makes the overture – it’s his direct action, not ours, that initiates the grace of knowing him and relating to him. And yet in Jesus, God also wants to elicit from us a response, an act of faith that allows the Lord to climb into our boat and orient our lives in the direction he has in mind. This is the grace of friendship – this is the grace of vocation – by which we grow into becoming that which the Lord has foreseen all along.

Of course, the flipside to all of this is our freedom to say, “No.” Simon could have said something like “Sir, with all due respect, could you find someone else’s boat?” When the Lord invites us to the grace of friendship, we are free to resist it, either because we are afraid of where it may lead us, or because we’re unwilling to do what it will require of us. How relatively easy it is to decline that offer of friendship – to say something like, “I would prefer not to” – because of false humility or a sense of unworthiness. Note that in the Gospel Simon is ready to that very thing – he confesses to Jesus he is a sinful man and even says, “Depart from me.”

Jesus’s response is very interesting, and very important for us. “Do not be afraid,” he says. God doesn’t want us to grow fearful because of our own unworthiness. We are unworthy, we are sinful, and at times, we experience a renewed awareness of this. When that happens we should be contrite – we should seek forgiveness – we should never grow dejected or afraid. Why? Because God knows what we can become. He knows much better than us what the grace of friendship can do for us, how it can purify us if only we are willing to let the Lord into our boat. All we need to do is extend that trust to him – to respond to his invitation as Simon did, and put out into the deep. As with Simon, Jesus sees in us not just lowly sinners, but saints who can bring others into relationship with the Lord by the way we live. Jesus knew Simon could become Peter – what might he see in us if we are willing to respond openly to his call?

Friends, the reality is that each of us has a story of friendship to tell, a story of our own about our relationship with Jesus. True – its details may not involve fishing, or a literal boat. But it is a story of the presence of Jesus coming into our lives in a radical way, probably in a disruptive way, but in a way that leads to true life. What is the Lord’s invitation to you? Where is he offering you the grace of renewed relationship? Let the Lord’s friendship take root in you, despite your fears, despite your unworthiness. It’s easy to say, “I would prefer not to,” but to do so may mean to miss out on the very destiny for which God has created us. Instead, when the Lord calls, put your trust in him and set out into deep water. Let him set the course and lead you to full and abundant life.