I love the way this passage in the Gospel of Luke combines the call of the first disciples with the story of a miraculous catch of fish. There is so much evocative symbolism in this account. For some reason this time, my mind is drawn to that image: launch out into the deep. It is an image which is distinctive to Luke’s Gospel.
The parallel synoptic accounts are: Mark 1:16-20 and Matthew 4:18-22. They are both shorter and contain less detail. So, that makes Luke 5:1-11 distinctive enough that it’s a great text for preachers.
I recall attending a Bible Study group where the text being read was James 2:14-26. This led to a very interesting discussion. It is an interesting passage. Here we read things like this:
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?” [Implied answer: no.]
“So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”
“Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.”
“Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?”
“You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
“For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.”
And I was reminded again of the vital relationship between faith and works in the teachings of the Bible. Genuine faith must eventuate in good works — in obedience to God and service to others. While I am never in a position to judge the genuineness of another person’s faith — nonetheless, faith must always make a difference. And, this is one of the reasons I am thankful for the Wesleyan holiness tradition where my early faith was nurtured. Here are some themes that I especially appreciate in the Wesleyan perspective on faith:
Since this is actually another blog re-boot, I thought it would be good to re-iterate my intentions for this web site and this blog — and for my various Internet projects.
People mean different things when they speak of “faith.” I’m not sure the differences in meaning are always noticed. So it’s helpful to clarify. Here is what I mean when I talk about faith or the life of faith.
As I understand it, faith in God (theism) is the belief that behind the world we see there is a Power of righteousness, mercy and justice. There is a benevolent, kind and good Creator. God is the reason there is something rather than nothing.
And, atheism would be the denial that any such being exists. The “why there is something rather than nothing” question remains unanswered. Further, in this view, we are here by (enormously unlikely) random chance and there really is no meaning or purpose to any of it. We create meanings where none exist. I’m not meaning to speak of such an atheistic viewpoint disparagingly — not at all. I can see how a person could come to such a view. It does have a certain simplicity to it. And, to be honest, I can even sympathize with some of the atheist concerns about the dangers and pitfalls of religion. I know them very well. (Though I really think the late Christopher Hitchens was being naive in a way — it is world-views — godless ones included — that threaten to poison everything.)
