Simon, James, and John are tired and they are frustrated. They had been fishing all night and hadn’t caught a thing. This is their livelihood; they are fisherman. They know that they can have the skill and knowledge and hard work, but if fortune isn’t in their favor, if forces outside their control drive the fish away, they are in for hungry times. So, not only are they worn-out and frustrated, they are probably also feeling worried about whether this downward trend would continue and whether survival would get desperate for them.

They’re on the shore, cleaning their empty nets, Simon, James, and John, doing one last chore of before they could go home and rest, when along comes this wild holy man named Yeshua – Jesus. Jesus doesn’t come alone. There is a crowd following him, pressing and eager to hear what he has to say.

Jesus has a presence that stirs the hearts of those in his presence, stirs in them a distant memory, a flicker, a yearning in the depths of the soul for a deeper belonging beyond the dissatisfactions of worldly concerns, a deeper belonging within the Sacred Source of life itself. Jesus embodies the Light of God, the Love of God, which he shares with those who would listen as he goes around the countryside stirring people awake to the Realm of God and calling them to their deepest soul needs, as they seek to live in a good way according to God’s holy truth and grace.

As the crowd press into Jesus, eager to learn from him, he sees the boats of the fisherman and asks if they would let him use one to stand in on the water to teach. They agree, and soon Jesus is floating out there, between the deeps and the sky, his voice ringing clearly over the water as he shares about the presence of the Realm of Heaven in their midst, here on earth.

After he finishes teaching, Jesus tells the fishermen to push out into deeper waters. Push out into deeper waters, and cast their nets.

Simon protests at first. “Look, we’re tired and frustrated, we’ve been doing this all night with no luck and we’re cutting our losses. We were just wrapping up and getting ready to get some rest … before you came along… But, if you say so …”

Jesus did say so.

So, the weary fishermen dig deep and push out into deeper waters and cast out their nets yet again.

Immediately their nets are filled with fish.

This strikes Simon to his heart. This is more than just about fish. Simon knows now for certain that he is in the presence of a tremendous holy power embodied in this holy person. It humbles him, he feels unworthy.

“Rabbi, I don’t deserve to be in your presence.”

“There is nothing to fear” Jesus tells him, and Simon is filled with a grace that runs down into the deepest places of his soul.

“From now on,” Jesus tells him, “you will be fishing for people.”

This is the story of how Simon – later to be called Peter – along with James and John came to follow Jesus and share the ministry of the Good News of God’s life-transforming Grace that Jesus brought to the world. (Luke 5:1-11)

This is a story dense and charged with sacred symbolism. This is more than just about fish. It is a teaching story that evokes something of the holy mystery and power that comes with the way of Jesus.

“Push out into the deep and cast your nets.”

The spiritual abundance we most truly seek and need, the source of satisfaction for our deepest yearning from our deepest soul needs, is not to be found in the shallows, at a superficial surface level, but in the depths. The depths, where the depths of our souls meet the depths of the great Mystery of God.

This is true for us as individuals. It is true for us as a community of faith. It is true for our wider community and wider society.

Maybe this can feel scary, venturing into the unknown and peering down into the dark waters below. But we don’t meet God at the surface level, and if we stay at the safe surface level we are ultimately going to be frustrated and unfruitful in our lives of faith.

It has been said:

Our greatest need is also our greatest fear: to be known, fully, as we are.

This is our greatest need. And our greatest fear. To be known, for who we truly are.

This insight is courtesy of Frederick Buechner, who was a wonderful teacher and writer in our Jesus tradition.

The greatest need to be known, simply and truly as we are, is the need to be loved simply and truly as we are. The fear is that we will be known, but fund wanting and rejected from love. It is an intensely vulnerable position.

Jesus speaks to this fear in Simon Peter. When Simon Peter encounters the depths of Jesus’ holiness, he feels shame and inadequacy: “I don’t deserve to be in your presence.”

What does Jesus say? “Do not fear.” “Do not fear. I see you, I know you, I love you, in your fragility, in your humility, in your limitations as a human being, I see you, I know you, I love you. I see you bear also great power to share what you now know: that God knows you and loves you with infinite grace. Share that with others, help them to be known, to know that they are known, free from fear. Bring others into the fold of this deep and holy love of God.”

That is the start of Simon Peter’s journey with Jesus.

This story is often seen as a call to evangelism, to Simon Peter and to the church of the future. “Follow me and be fishers of men,” Jesus says.

This has always bothered me, to be honest. Because fish don’t agree to get caught in nets. And we all know the icky feeling of having someone get pushy about trying to save our souls, through a manipulative weave of fears and rewards used to try to catch you and reel you in.

But I see this story in a new light now, after this past week at the General Synod of the United Church of Christ. This story was the guide for our time together, as we worshipped and embraced and wrestled together with what it means to be a united church amidst the crises and opportunities of our times.

The power of this gospel story is not about nets, but about depths.  

Jesus said, “push out into deeper waters.”

It is in the depths of the soul that we are called to encounter God and encounter each other, to be welcomed and welcoming into greater belonging.

I was moved at Synod by the sense of kindred spirithood. Here are kindred spirits seeking other kindred spirits. There was an earnestness of how people encountered each other, with an expectation of shared belonging in a greater love, even when it was hard, especially when it was hard because doing so meant being honest about our differences, being honest about hurt and harm and need for repair, as well as being honest about love for each other, and about our love and need for God.

I want to share with you that our beloved community of faith here at the United Church of Christ at Valley Forge is part of a larger body of kindred spirits.

Kindred does not mean carbon-copy. United does not mean uniform. Rather it is about a greater belonging in the midst of our differences, a deeper connection through our shared Creator. My experience of kindred spirithood comes with other folks who know this and practice it.

Have you found kindred spirits here, in a shared belonging in the greater love of God? Do you seek more kindred spirits, yearn for more kindred spirits, to invite others into deeper activation of soul and purpose?

So many folks in our society feel alone and lonely. Unknown. Unloved. So many of us are fearfully staying at the surface level of things, and just performing and displaying. So many folks are worn out from having to fight off or hide from the intense judgment and dehumanization and truly fearful forces flying around. Folks need our churches to be places where it is welcome and safe and trustworthy to go deep, and to know that we are known and loved as we are.

It may be that, like Simon, James, and John after the long night’s labor of fruitless fishing, you are feeling tired. You may be feeling weary, you may be feeling frustrated, despairing, despondent, numb.

If you’re feeling any of those things, don’t stay at the surface. Hear Jesus’ call to push out into deeper waters, and cast your needs deeper and deeper still.

We meet God in the depths, the depths of our souls, the depths of God’s Holy Mystery. This is what we are invited into, this is what we invite others into, when we do church from a true and good and sacred call. We encounter each other, truly and honestly, in authentic community animated by the Spirit of Christ, at the level of depths of our souls. Our call is to embrace our greatest need and face our greatest fear: to be known, fully, as we are. To be known by God, as we are, embraced by God. And to know each other, simply as we are, and by God’s grace embrace each other as we are.

This means being real about what humbles us, our weaknesses and shortcomings and blind-spots. This means being real as well about our great power and potential when we allow Jesus to guide us deeper into the Mystery and Grace of our God. This means being trustworthy to witness the authentic truth of another’s depth of being, free from judgment and full of love.

This is why I loved to ask, “How is it with your soul?”

It is in the depths that we will encounter God. It is in the depths that we will encounter each other. It is in the depths that we will be trustworthy to invite others into greater belonging in the kindred spirit community of this Love Supreme. 

Thank you for being a part of this sacred venture.

Thanks be to God.

Delivered Sunday, July 20, 2025, by Rev. Nathaniel Mahlberg, at the United Church of Christ at Valley Forge.