When Your Nets Are Empty (Rev. Dr. Charley Reeb)
An old legend tells how a man once stumbled upon a great red barn after wandering for days in a forest in the dark. He was seeking refuge from the howling winds of a storm. He entered the barn, and his eyes grew accustomed to the dark. He was astonished to discover that this was the barn where the devil kept his storehouse of seeds. They were the seeds that were sown in the hearts of humans.
The man became curious and lit a match. He began exploring the piles of bins of seeds round him. He couldn’t help but notice that the greatest majority of them said, “Seeds of Discouragement.”
About that time one of the devil’s helpers arrived to pick up a load of seeds. The man asked him, “Why the abundance of discouragement seeds?” The helper laughed and replied, “Because they are so effective, and they take root so quickly.”
Well, he was right. Discouragement is an evil and insidious tool. There is nothing more hopeless or helpless than feeling discouraged. A discouraged person can easily turn into a defeated person. And once a person believes they are defeated, well, God help them.
A few months ago, I preached a message entitled “Failure is Never Final.” I received encouraging feedback but there was one person who came up to me who said, “I appreciated your sermon, but I am having a hard time believing it. It seems the harder I try the more I fail. I know you said failure is never final, but it sure feels like it. Do you have anything more to offer that can help me?”
Well, I imagine there are many of you who are in the same boat. You look failure in the face day after day and it feels impossible to believe that anything will ever change. Life has come to a halt. You don’t know how to get out of this slump that seems to be taking over your life.
Maybe it is a failing marriage, a personal dysfunction of some kind, poor performance at work or in sports. Maybe it is a shattered dream or a life goal that seems unattainable. Perhaps it is a personal demon that haunts you and nothing you do will make it go away. Or maybe it is a crisis of faith. You are so burned out and hardened that you just don’t know if you have the strength to believe and live out your faith anymore.
Today, I want to offer a word that I believe has to potential to help you get out from under your failures. I believe today’s message will not only help you start to believe that failure is never final, but it just might provide the answer you need to succeed.
Today’s gospel lesson is about three discouraged men who encountered Jesus. Jesus said something to these unhappy men that transformed them. Their disappointment turned into delight. These three men in our text were real fishermen: not just a bunch of buddies drinking beer on a chartered boat trying to catch marlin. These men were workers whose families went hungry if they didn’t catch any fish.
I mean, if I take my rod down to a lake or go out fishing with my friends on the west coast of Florida and we don’t catch anything, I will just call Dominoes. But if Peter, James and John came back empty-handed, it was a crisis.
Well, it was a crisis. They had worked for hours and had zilch. Nothing. That’s why I am sure Simon was a bit irritated when Jesus confidently said, “Well, go out into the deeper water over there and let down your nets and see what happens.”
I can just imagine Simon thinking, “Buddy, you may know the Bible, you may know how to preach, but you are not a fisherman. I am. I know what I am doing, so don’t talk to me about fishing. You sound ridiculous.”
But wisely, Simon didn’t say that. Instead, he said, “It won’t do any good. Fishing in these waters isn’t what it used to be. We’ve worked all night, and don’t have a single fish to show for it.”
Ever been there? I have. Maybe many of you are there right now. The harder you try the worse it gets. The more you work the more you fail.
That’s how Simon felt. So probably out of frustration and the urge to prove Jesus wrong, Simon said to Jesus, “Okay, if you say so. We will drop our nets where you said, but don’t be surprised when we don’t catch anything.”
Well, you know the story. They caught so many fish that their nets were breaking! Simon needed his buddies from another boat to help him haul in all the fish.
So, what is the lesson? Here it is. Pay attention. Listen closely. If nothing is going well for you, if you continue to fail, if you feel hopeless and discouraged, perhaps the waters you have been working are too shallow. Sometimes the answer we are looking for lies in deeper waters, to places we have never gone. Sometimes we have to take a risk. And I know it might scare you to death. But isn’t it worth a shot?
I took a chance in deeper waters when I asked Brandy out for a date many years ago. She was way out of my league. She still is. But, by the grace of God, she married me and is still with me.
If your nets are empty, take a risk and do something different. Venture out into deeper waters. Think outside the box. Try that crazy idea. It just might work.
You see if we are fishing in barren waters, and somebody tells us to do something different, being angry won’t solve the problem. Giving all these reasons and excuses why we can’t do it won’t solve the problem. Staying in our shallow comfort zones won’t solve the problem. We can either keep doing what we have always been doing and moan and complain or we can do something different. It is up to us.
Bill Self used to talk about taking his grandkids to the pool and observing that all of the noise came from the shallow end of the pool. The same is true in the church and in life in general. All the noise and complaining usually comes from those who are too preoccupied with all their excuses why they can’t go into deeper waters. Those in the deep end are too preoccupied with growing and doing something meaningful to bother with making noise and excuses.
A minister I know puts it this way: “I know people who are miserable and unsatisfied because for years they have refused to leave shallow waters. They refuse to risk anything. They have resources but do not use them,
skills but do not develop them, dreams but do not follow them, gifts but do not share them, possessions but do not dedicate them because they are afraid that to do anything, give anything, risk anything is too much of a threat. So, they just sit and pout in the middle of their boat, in the shallow waters, where there are no fish, and complain, are dissatisfied, bored and wonder why nothing happens. And then we wonder why their nets are empty.”
They are empty because they have not ventured into deeper waters. They are empty because they have not risked anything. They are empty because they refuse to change.
Peter, James and John not only ventured into deeper waters with their boat, but also with their faith. This led to serious changes. They realized they had a larger purpose, and they left everything to follow Jesus. They walked away from the biggest day of their lives and they never looked back.
Maybe your net, your life is empty, and your failure is that you can’t find fulfillment. You keep thinking you will find life and happiness in the shallowness of worldly pleasures. For you, going into deeper waters means making the decision to follow Christ as your Lord and Savior.
This applies to those of us who are veterans of the faith too. Maybe you feel empty spiritually. Maybe it is time to go into deeper waters with Christ. As Howard Olds said, “Some of us have stepped into the kiddie pool of God’s grace but have yet to experience the thrill of diving deeper. We’ve gotten our feet wet, but have not yet known the joy of having our souls soaked.” We don’t know the joy of going deeper with Christ and like those at the shallow end, we just make a lot of noise that simply reflects our unwillingness to take a risk for Christ and dive deeper.
John Ortberg tells about a church member by the name of Ralph whose native tongue was complaint. Even in a sea of happiness Ralph could always find that silver lining of unpleasantness. He had that gift, felt it was his calling. He could see the bad side of everything. His main complaint was that the music was too loud. He’d go up to visitors and say, “Don’t you agree the music is too loud?” John said when I got a call from OSHA one day talking about the sound decibels at airports and music concerts and that they had to investigate a complaint from the church, I knew that it had to be Ralph.
The problem was that nobody at the church believed Ralph could change, so he didn’t change. Someone should have called him into a deeper life of discipleship so that his mind could have been on higher things. Instead, we just let him be disappointed and disillusioned. Ralph needed to push out into the deep and let down his net for a better catch.
Today’s question for each of us is: Into what deeper waters is Christ calling you? The answer you are looking for today just might be in how you answer that question.
This is also a question for us as a church. I often wonder where Jesus will tell us to lower our nets next. Will we do it? Will we be the church Christ calls us to be?
Truly following Jesus means going into deeper waters, taking new paths, taking risks. This is when we find the joy and the answers we are looking for.
Linda Clare learned this and discovered something she would never forget. Linda was spending long hours as a day care provider says, “I wondered if there was more to life than baby-sitting.” She decided to venture into deeper waters and teach a few of her kids about her faith and how to pray. She wasn’t sure what difference it was making until a father came in to pick up his toddler one day and said, “I want to thank you for teaching Kasey how to pray. She says grace at home every night now and we are becoming used to it. We are now trying to find a church because Kasey is insisting.” Linda ventured into deeper waters with Christ and look what happened.
Author and educator Howard Hendricks was on a plane one day that was delayed from takeoff. As passengers became irritated and demanding, Howard noticed how gracious one of the flight attendants continued to be with each passenger. When they were finally in the air he continued to be amazed at her poise and control. When she came by his seat, Howard asked if he could write a letter of commendation to the airline on her behalf. “I don’t work for the airline,” she replied, “I work for Jesus Christ. My husband and I prayed this morning that I would be a good representative of Jesus Christ on this flight.” That lady ventured looked past all the noise and ventured into deeper waters with her faith.
Are you discouraged? Do you feel empty? Do you feel hopeless? “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” and just see what happens.
I am preaching to myself today. The best definition of a sermon I have ever heard is “a sermon is a preacher speaking loudly to himself or herself.” Indeed.
Sometimes people will come up to me after a worship service and say, “Have you been bugging my house or phone? You were preaching directly to me today! I needed that.”
You will be glad to know that I do not bug your phones or houses. There is simply a commonality to the human experience, and I often preach what I need to hear because I know you will probably need to hear it too!
Well, I need this sermon today because my nets are empty. It is time for me to cast my nets differently so they can be filled. Two weeks ago, I began a conversation with the District Superintendent and the Bishop about taking renewal leave from September 1st through December 1st, 2024. I continued that conversation with the SPR Committee and the Executive Committee.
This may sound familiar to you because other clergy from First Church have taken renewal leave. The United Methodist Book of Discipline recommends that clergy take renewal leave every six years for rest and replenishment so they can return to their pastoral appointments empowered to continue their ministries.
First UMC of Lakeland requires a highly effective leader as the senior pastor and in order for me to continue to live into that, I need to take time away for renewal. It is a tremendous honor to serve this church and it is my desire to be one of your pastors for many years. This time of renewal will equip me to continue to be at my best for you because it is what the calling requires and it is what this church deserves.
This decision to take renewal leave has been entirely my own. Nothing has precipitated this request other than my need for renewal and a desire to remain effective as a minister. I am not ill or having marital problems. There have been no moral failures or unethical decisions. I simply need time away for restoration and replenishment so I can serve First Church well into the future.
The reason this announcement seems rather sudden is because after speaking with my wife, my counselor and a trusted mentor, I am acutely aware that my default response of “grinning and bearing” my exhaustion until my next planned vacation is not adequate. My level of exhaustion requires an extended time away from the duties of parish ministry. Sometimes the gas light on our dashboard turns on unexpectedly. We were unaware of all the miles we have traveled and we must take the next exit and refuel. My gas light has turned on and I need to refill the tank. In the past, I have been granted time away between pastoral appointments but it did not provide renewal because I was faced with the stress of moving while still tethered to the church I was leaving and being contacted by the church I was about to serve.
Although I have only served as your senior pastor for a little over year, I have been a pastor for 30 years. Pastoral ministry is a 24/7 job that requires me to be at my best in a variety of roles. I must juggle highly stressful tasks simultaneously. This takes a toll on me physically, emotionally and spiritually and I need three months to be restored.
The Discipline of the UMC prescribes a renewal leave up to six months. However, because I love and care about this church and my role in serving it, I am taking just half of the prescribed time for renewal. My leave will begin after I preach on September 1st and I will be back in the pulpit the first Sunday of Advent, December 1st. The renewal leave will be primarily about self-care for me as I step away temporarily from the day-to-day and week-to-week duties of pastoral ministry in the local church. I have already begun to focus on dieting, exercise and getting proper rest and this will be reinforced during my leave. I will also seek spiritual nourishment by reading several books and taking a retreat. In addition, this leave will give me the opportunity to spend extended time with my family, which is long overdue.
I want to thank Bishop Berlin, Rev. Emily Hotho, our District Superintendent, Rev. Alex Shanks, assistant to the Bishop, our SPR committee and the Executive Committee for their approval and support of my renewal leave. Be assured that you will be in good hands while I am away. The clergy and staff of First Church are second to none. The strength of the laity in our church is astounding. Most of all, I want to remind you that Jesus Christ is the head of the church, and he promised that nothing will prevail against it. I look forward to returning from my renewal leave with nets bursting at the seams with renewed energy and life!
And this I know, for the Bible tells me so!