My friends, it is always an honor to be among the friends of Christ. We are ardent believers, and we are skeptics. We are searchers and beggars, together finding a pathway to make real the life God has entrusted to us. The Gospel passage tells us something about the basic encounter we have with Christ, often at an unexpected moment. In this instance, it was the encounter with some fishermen: Simon and Andrew [as well as] James and John and the fishing company they had with their father, Zebedee.

My dad, too, was passionate about fishing, especially ice fishing on Lake Superior. This was the time of year he would go out on Lake Superior and ice fish. It frightened us as a family because we were afraid he would go out too far or get caught on a breakaway ice floe.

He always cautioned us about the ice. Remarkably, he would be rather successful – a few salmon, perch, whitefish, lake trout. He knew where they tended to be. He had an inner sense for the sport. Unfortunately, that was not something I received in my gene pool. My best luck was fishing for smelt – in the springtime, in a nearby river, with a net. And those smelt were so good!

Well, the Gospel tells us today about Simon, whom we’ve come to know as Peter, and Andrew – and their fishing companions, James and John. It describes them as “partners” in a fishing company.

What strikes me in particular is the fact that all throughout the Gospel is this: Whenever they are out on the lake – the Sea of Gennesaret or Galilee in the northern part of Israel – they never seem to catch anything. Except, for example, when Jesus needed to pay the temple tax, He told Peter to put out the line. The first fish [will have a] coin in the mouth worth twice the temple tax, [and He told Peter to] pay [the tax] for the both of them.

Anyway, Peter is the master fisherman who never seems to catch any fish without the help of Jesus. He knows the fishing routine – fishing at night, put out the nets, pull them in in the morning. When the Lord shows up, he’s usually empty handed.

So, when Jesus tells him to “put out into deep water” and “lower the nets for a catch,” it is something that doesn’t make sense from the science of fishing as they knew it. Their obedience to the Lord resulted in an astonishing result. They had so many fish they needed help from their partners, lest the boat sink or the nets tear.

Peter is so humbled by the entire experience. The unexpected miracle of the fish amazed them and those with him.

Jesus invites them, “Do not be afraid, from now on you will be catching men.” Luke reports what happened next, “They left everything and followed Him.”

So often in our lives we live in the tension between doing what we think is best for us, and then we come up empty handed. It is the presence of the Lord and our observance of the Lord’s command that changes course for us. Something amazed us so much that we must pursue it vigorously. It challenges us to think differently – not like the world – and to recall that God’s ways are not our ways.

We are here this morning. I imagine there are a variety of reasons. Perhaps some are here out of obligation, habit, or because someone who’s important to you has invited you. Perhaps you are here because you have said “yes” to Christ’s invitation and count yourself among His disciples. You truly desire to listen to what the Lord may be telling you, or asking you, or inviting you to do today and this week. Perhaps you are here because you are searching because there is a boredom, a malaise, a worry or anxiety, a lack of peace – or need to ask the Lord for a true favor for yourself or someone else. Or, perhaps, you are here today because you are seeking answers for an unanswerable question or seeking a consolation in your life or a new direction. As many people are here today, that’s how many reasons we have, and more. We are brothers and sisters on a journey together.

The fact is, at the heart of it all, we are all here for the same purpose: We are coming to look for Christ. This Cathedral Church provides us with the continuing presence of Christ today and with a place for gathering together those who are seeking to “follow Him.”

The people who came to follow Christ recognized a unique presence that was utterly more than anything they had ever experienced before. So powerful was this experience that they followed Him. Did they understand everything He said or stood for? No, they didn’t. What they found in Christ was Someone who engaged the deepest parts of who they were, a real companion. The invitation was the same for all – “Follow me.” We hear it echoed in the various encounters Christ has along the way.

St. Paul writes to his early Christian communities scattered throughout the eastern Mediterranean basin, “I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received.” And he describes the core belief of our faith: “Christ died for our sins; He was buried; He was raised on the third day; He appeared to Cephas (Peter) then to the Twelve. After that he appeared to the 500 hundred.” That’s the fundamental message of the Gospel. They saw Him after the resurrection. No one questioned if it was Jesus or not – they knew it was Him.

At some point in our lives, each person will have an experience of Christ that will be true. That experience is something that will persuade us that life is something more than a random collection of atoms and molecules – whose end of life reverts to nothingness. That experience of Christ will help us know that no person here and no human being, from the smallest and most vulnerable to the most powerful, is an accident. That experience will inform us that each person has immense meaning and purpose right now. That experience will help us live our lives in a manner that is worthy of human life in its broadest and truest sense.

It is precisely what God does to Isaiah, what Christ does to Simon and the others in the Gospel, and later to Paul – He invites them to “live”! That is our task, “follow Christ” and live! We have been given one of the most incredible promises, and, oftentimes, our human nature wants to settle for less. It’s like saying, “I want to be your disciple Lord, but what’s the least thing I need to do to be Your follower?” Our doubts, our negative attitudes, our disappointments, our failures, our shortsightedness cause us to miss the miracle of Christ already happening in our midst. It’s like asking ourselves, “Is it possible, really possible, to live this way?”

Like Simon, we must open our hearts and lives to hear those words once again: “Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” That command of our Lord is addressed to all believers! “Put out into the deep water!” In other words, “Take a chance on Christ!”

What will we find? [We will find] nets full of hope, full of love, full of joy, full of life. After all, Christ promised those who followed Him that they would have life in abundance both in this life and in the life to come. It is something Christ’s followers learned, and they found they had to keep looking for the experience of Christ, weighing and judging each experience they had to see if it resonated with that fullness. As disciples, we must open our hearts to the wonder and joy of being found by Christ. May God bless you!