The Reading from 2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1 The Reading from St. Luke 5:1-11 Pop Quiz Since Pascha we have been reading from the Gospel of St. Matthew. Today we have changed to what gospel? St. Luke. Correct. We have made what is called the Lukan Jump. We are now entering into the Gospel to the Gentiles with all its incredible parables of the Kingdom. So today we are in the early stages of this wonderful gospel by the Physician, the Apostle Luke, the first iconographer. The first one to make an icon of Mary holding the infant Jesus in her arms. That’s how long there have been icons around. And today we hear an amazing epistle reading! This is a very good section to store away in your memory. Store it away for future reference when you feel like the man beat up and lying in the ditch. Brethren, we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them,” says the Lord, “and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God. Wow. I love that. We regularly need to remind ourselves who we are, who we belong to, what we are to become, what we are actually supposed to be doing in this life. This way we renounce the evil one, throw off the old man and put on the new man, acquiring the Mind Of Christ. The Mind of the Church. We have been adopted into the People of God, the People of Christ. We have a new identity. We have a new focus. A new purpose. Remind yourself of this often in times of struggle, trial, and temptation. Speak to yourself not so much about the temptation as you should remind yourself of your faith, the Creed, The Holy Scriptures. And add to that what we hear in the Holy Gospel today. And He sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when Jesus had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at Thy word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him. The epistle calls us out of the world into the Church, The Kingdom of God. To be His people, not being in a situation of being Not His People. And then we hear the Lord say to the Apostles, and to us, you shall become fishers of men. In other words, Jesus is saying: “How will those who are not my people become my people? You will go fishing for them and you will catch them in my net. But the call that Jesus is making is predicated upon something else first: 1. Come out from among them. 2. Go into the deep. What is the meaning of this, go into the deep, put out into the deep? It means that fishers need preparation before they can catch many fish. And that only little fish are in the shallows. Think about what Jesus said about the demon that the Apostles could not cast out, “This kind only comes out by prayer and fasting.” This moving into the deep. Going deeper in our spiritual lives, cleansing the heart and mind, the soul, and the body to prepare to be good fishers of men. This is the life of a catechumen, and all of us—to go into the deep. Into the depths of our own souls, our own hearts, seeking the Lord where He may be found. Renouncing the ways of the world, adopting a life pleasing to God. Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God. This is going into the deep. We all like to stay in the shallows. It feels safer. It takes less work. I can’t see what lies beneath the surface. I hate dark water, I can’t see what is in it. What sea monsters are waiting for me? Here in the shallows the sun keeps me warm. There might be a lifeguard to help me. I am close to the comfort of drinks and snacks. I put on my sunscreen! But in the shallows, while I face less risk, I also experience less reward. No risk it, no biscuit. Imagine how Peter felt, in today’s reading he is called Simon, and he was often called Simon Peter. He had been fishing all night and caught nothing. This was how he made a living. He toiled, fishing was hard, strenuous work. Very tiring. He must have been exhausted when this occurred. Somehow he knew something about this person that made him get up and obey the Lord. The heart, the spirit, longs for something, then the body goes into action. A prompting of the heart happened when Jesus spoke and told then to go back and do more fishing. The miracle happened through faith and obedience. It happened when human effort had been spent, there was no hope. Going out into the depths with Christ yields a great result. Are you afraid of the pain of self-discovery? Are you afraid that if I go in there I might find a different kind of monster? Maybe God won’t go with me. Maybe He will reject me, the way people often have. It is much easier to stay in the shallows and judge other people. To gossip about them. To disregard them. To see them only for what they can do for me. Look at that guy, I am here in the water and all he wants to do is sit in the sun. Loser. It takes courage to be an authentic Christian. It requires faith, risk. You can’t give to others what you don’t yourself possess; especially in the spiritual world. And of course, we follow the pattern give by the Lord to His Apostles. We go out into the deep. So here is another interesting thing, Think for a minute with me about the Prodigal Son. What does prodigal mean? The prodigal is one who spends extravagantly, prodigally. The prodigal son spent his inheritance with no regard, as if he would never run out of money. Well, lets think for a minute about the prodigal Father. We serve a prodigal God. The prodigal God did an extravagant miracle. As He did in feeding the 5000 with tons left over. They not only caught a few fish so they could have breakfast, they caught a life-changing amount of fish. What we are seeing here is a God who is infinite. He does not have only a certain amount of love. His love is infinite. He cannot run out of love, He IS love. He has an infinite amount of mercy. It’s not like God has to measure out His love. He doesn’t have to say to Himself, I wish I had more grace. I would love to give more grace, but if I give more to Susie, I won’t have enough for Frank. Can you imagine such an insane situation? This is a reason why it makes no sense for us to be envious for the good fortune of others. We cannot ask too much of the mercy, grace, and love for mankind. Go into the deep and you will receive an abundance of healing, a new heart, a new mind, a new person. Our God is a hidden God who wants to be found. He calls to us so we have that call to follow into a deeper relationship with Him. Abundant spiritual riches await those who push out into the depths to seek the Lord, If you wonder what it means in your life to push out into the depths, ask, seek, knock. Challenge God to show you, to grant you wisdom, to reveal Himself to you. This is the beginning of leaving the shallows.