A pleasant Good Morning to you.
Morning devotions led by Fr. Howard L. L. Bethel of St. Agnes Church Grants Town, New Providence. We hope you enjoy them, and we ask you to share them with your friends and family. Thank you very kindly.
Anglican Diocese of The Bahamas & The Turks & Caicos
Morning devotions led by Fr. Howard L. L. Bethel
I have heard my people cry, Old, well, in dark and sick, My hand will stay. I who make the stars all night, I will make their darkness bright, Who will bear my light to them, whom shall I sail? Here I am, Lord, Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night, I will go alone. If you leave me, I will hold your people in my home. A very pleasant good morning, welcome to the morning devotion brought to you by the Anglican Diocese of the Bahamas and Turks and Caicas Island for Thursday the fifth day of September 2024. I am Father Howard Bechle, Assistant Curate at the parish of St. Agnes, located in Grandstown, Nassau, New Providence. Let us pray. Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things, graft in our hearts the love of your name, increasing us through religion, nourish us with all goodness, and bring forth in us the fruit of good works. Through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen. A reading from the Word of God, written in the Gospel of Luke chapter 5 verse 1-11. "Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake, organiserate, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the Word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake. The fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their necks. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst, so they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled boat boats so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down on Jesus' knees saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am sinful. For he and all who were with him were astounded at the catch of fish that they had taken. And so also were James and John, son of Zebri, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching people." When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. The word of the Lord, thanks be to God. Words from Luke chapter 5, verse 5, which dates. Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." My brothers and sisters in Christ, this morning as we reflect on a powerful moment of faith in the Gospel of Luke chapter 5, verse 1-11, where we find an extraordinary story of Jesus calling his first disciples. And it is also in this text that we find an interaction between Simon Peter and Jesus. You see, after a long, fruitless night of fishing, Jesus asked the tired and discouraged Simon to cast down his nets once more into the sea. And Simon replies, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." And after letting down their nets under the instruction of Jesus, they caught so many fish that their nets began to burst. You see, when we look at the context of the story, we find that in today's Gospel reading, we have Jesus invading Simon's space. This was not the first time that Jesus and Simon had met, as in chapter 4, verse 38, we read that Jesus left the synagogue and went to Simon's home afterwards where he healed his mother-in-law, who had a high fever. So Simon had encountered Jesus before and witnessed his power over sickness. He had probably heard Jesus preach before. Jesus used his boat as a floating platform. Now, you see, Simon was tired that morning. He and his fellow fishermen had been fishing all night. In fact, Simon was tired and rather fed up because they had caught nothing. He normally did in mind washing and repairing the nets if they had got a good catch, but it almost seemed to rub salt into the wounds that they had caught nothing. He just wanted to go home and sleep, perhaps tomorrow night's fishing would have been better. Then Jesus came to ask Simon if he could borrow his boat and agree. He agreed. I mean, how could he refuse after what Jesus had done for his mother-in-law? After pushing a few yards out, Peter laid back in the boat, probably enjoying the sunshine, listening to Jesus' address to the crowd. I mean, Jesus finished speaking. He tells Simon Peter to put out to the deep water and let down his net for a catch. It is in this moment that you can feel the despair and disappointment in Peter's words as he tells Jesus that they have worked hard all night and have caught nothing. You see, it is not hard to read into the words Peter is saying to Jesus. Firstly, that Peter and his men are tired. They have worked hard all night. They are exhausted and it is time to go rest and try again another night. And then secondly, that they have fished all night and they are still caught nothing. You see, Peter is implying that going out this one time is not going to be profitable. It is not going to make a difference. It is only a waste of time. In this moment, Peter may have been thinking that this carpenter thinks he can tell me a fisherman to simply go out into the deep and catch some fish. After I have used all my skills and techniques, an eye being an experienced fisherman was still unsuccessful. And the truth of the matter is this, all of us can in some way relate to Peter. As all of us have had bad days like this, we have had days where we look at life and see complete emptiness. We have had times when we feel that we are wasting our time. We have had days when we are discouraged and frustrated things did not go how we had hoped they would go. We have had high expectations fall into flames. We call it a dog chasing his tail. We feel like we are growing around in circles. For all of our efforts and for all of our time, we are not getting anywhere. We try to make more money only to never have more save. We try to improve our talents only to never receive the promotions. We try to upgrade our possessions only to have more headaches and more things break. We become dismayed in life and wonder what is the point. Yet despite his expert instincts, Peter follows the command of Jesus and let down his nets in the deep. And they will feel beyond what they can imagine. I would imagine that if we were able to see Jesus' reaction during this event, we would see a little smirk off from him. As the unimaginable has just taken place and Peter and his crew have worked hard fishing all night long and did not catch one fish. Yet Jesus, a carpenter, tells them to go and they immediately catch two boatloads of fish. I do not suppose these fishermen have ever seen this much fish caught in those nets to fill two boats to the point of sinking. But my brothers and sisters in Christ, this is a testament to how different things can be in life and Jesus is in the boat. How dramatic the results can be when Jesus is with you on your journey. It would be useful to recount to you all the times when we have seen God answer our prayers for spiritual and physical needs. We have had people written off by doctors giving only days to live but because God was in the vessel, those reports become null and void. When Jesus is in our boat, many of us have seen lives change from discouragement and disappointment to a life filled with purpose and energized to follow grounds. You see, Peter believed trying again was a waste of time because why should this time be different than the last 2,000 times they had let down their nets? It will be different my brothers and sisters in Christ because Jesus is with you. For all things are possible with God. So my brothers and sisters in Christ listen to the voice of God when he tells you to step out in faith. When he tells you that he will bring you through your current circumstances. When he tells us that if we put our minds to it, we can achieve it. But we must simply believe in God's wonder working power. For this message, this message this morning not only encourages us to walk in faith, it not only encourages us to not be discouraged but it also encourages us to try again. We can be discouraged by our failures in our walk with God. Just like Peter, we come up short of what we know we ought to be doing in our lives. We may be hypocritical in our lives showing up for services but not devoting our lives to trusting Jesus. We have not put in the effort to know God's will. We may not be praying the way we know we should. We may have let earthly responsibilities interfere with our service to the Lord. But thanks be to God, it is not too late to start over and try again. We may be failing in conquering sin. We may have weaknesses and temptations that continually cause us to stumble. Our lifestyle may be denying Jesus that no one would look at us and know that we are Christian. Our very words may deny Jesus not willing to stand up for God and defend his truth. But my brothers and sisters in Christ do not be discouraged. Try again. Instead of giving up and deciding to throw in the towel, keep trying harder for we cannot wear Jesus out. If Peter was allowed to continue coming back to the Lord after his failures, so can we. So this morning as I close, let us remember that obedience to Christ. Even in our doubt, it can lead us to incredible transformation. May we, like Simon Peter, respond with faith and let us trust that God's Word is powerful and life-changing. So this morning, let us consider our own response to Jesus' call. Are we willing to trust Him, even when it seems improbable? Are we ready to follow Him wholeheartedly embracing the mission to share His love with others? And will we be willing to cast our nets ready to follow wherever He leads? In His name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Thank you for listening in, and we pray that you share this message with your family and friends. Have a blessed day. I am Lord. Is it I know? I have heard you calling in the north. I will go. It will lead me. I will hold your faithful in my heart. I will hold your faithful in my heart. [Music]