Have you ever watched a particularly poor shot and thought, "He/she should have done better than that"? Perhaps in your imagination you have indeed done better with that ball yourself!
However… take a bat to the crease - or a racquet to the court - and it becomes a very different matter! From the comfort of our armchair and with the benefit of slow-motion replay, we have time to make our defence or attack - given skills and strength which we probably lack at the moment!
The ball is coming! Decision and action are required rather quickly! The direction - and possibly outcome - of the game may depend on it!
Life is full of decisions. Thankfully, they don't all rush at us like the tennis or cricket ball. But there are some decisions that do "come at us" rather like that. We have acted before we have had much time to think the matter over.
There are some decisions that have an effect on all of our life - they are "watershed" decisions. Other issues come along and we know we are committed in a certain area and so have already decided this new issue in principle.
With computer software, beside what you buy over the counter, there is some that is "freeware" - with no charge at all. There is also "shareware" which is freely distributed on, perhaps, a 30-day trial basis - after which a registered copy must be purchased.
Some time ago I came across someone's new concept - "careware". The author, Paul Lutus, said he doesn't want any monetary payment. Rather, "You have to make a different kind of payment altogether. Let me explain. Most Americans [his comments could apply equally to Australians] are totally dissatisfied with everything. It is too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry. If we have a free day, we are unhappy because we don't have two free days. And just about the time we figure out that we are supposed to appreciate the world as it is, we fall over and die."
He goes on to list a number of positive attitudes toward the world and other people and challenges readers to imagine they have only two hours to live. "Maybe change how you talk to a young person, or someone whose life would be improved if you related to him or her differently. Or just allow a sense of wonder to re-enter your life, a sense that nothing is deserved and everything contains hidden beauty. And that sometimes beauty is not so much hidden as unobserved."
He concludes by saying, "I don't ask this because there is some definition of good behaviour, some correct religious or philosophical viewpoint. I ask it precisely because there isn't such a viewpoint. We are all free agents, we get to choose. In fact, we must choose - it's dangerous to let others choose for us."
Paul Lutus describes himself as not being religious in the conventional sense. He is urging the choice of a caring life precisely because he has no basis for moral absolutes. I find that rather striking. It suggests to me that there is something in us that demands moral absolutes - something in us needs God.
Some folk have suggested that humankind has invented "god" to suit our own needs. On the contrary, I would say that, if we fail to worship the God who is and who has revealed himself, we don't end up believing nothing - instead we create our own "god"! I am thankful that Paul Lutus has presented the challenge to make a caring choice. But if there is "no correct religious or philosophical viewpoint" - no moral absolutes - there is also no necessary reason that he should have done so!
The scene for today's Bible reading is Lake Genessaret (the Sea of Galilee). Peter has already been following Jesus after a fashion for a little.
Scholars are not agreed on how we are to relate the gospel accounts of the call of Peter. It is usually most helpful to begin by taking the accounts at face value - assuming that the people who were there got it right (with the help of the Holy Spirit as well as their own memories), even though none of them individually gave the full story that we are trying to grasp.
John's Gospel tells us that Andrew, Peter's brother, had become a follower of John the Baptist. That doesn't mean he gave up his interest in the fishing business, but he spent what time he could with John. When John pointed his disciples to Jesus as "the Lamb of God", Andrew went to find out more about Jesus, then to "find his brother Simon and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah' (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, 'You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas' (which, when translated, is Peter)" (Jn 1.41-42). Andrew and Peter attached themselves to Jesus in a loose kind of way. They did not at this point become "disciples".
From Matthew and Mark's account, the fishermen brothers heard Jesus call them, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Mt. 4.19; Mk. 1.17). At once they left their nets and followed him - as did also James and John, the sons of Zebedee. The call didn't come "out of the blue". They already had some association with Jesus. Did they finally give up fishing at this point? or did they, as some scholars have suggested, keep on with their fishing business (a night-time activity) while Jesus was in the region of Capernaum? And is Luke's account (in today's reading) a different account (with some extra detail) of what the first two gospels tell us?
Consider it as a later occasion. Peter has already come into the story in the previous chapter. "Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them" (Lk 4.38,39). Jesus and Peter already knew one another. Jesus and his small band may even have been staying at Peter's house.
Now in chapter 5, the crowds are pressing close on the shore in their eagerness to hear Jesus. Jesus asks Peter if he can use his boat as a floating pulpit, just a little out from the shore.
When Jesus has finished teaching the people, he tells Peter to "put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch" (v. 4).
Peter is skeptical. It has been a long hard night - and no catch! Wrong time of day and all, Peter in fact does what his new "Master" tells him. The result is an incredible catch. The nets are about to break. The Zebedee boat comes to their aid. Soon both boats are so full of fish that they are in danger of sinking. Peter is awe-struck. He finds this more incredible than the healing of his mother-in-law.
"Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" (v. 8) Peter is on his knees before Jesus. This Jesus is more than "Master" (teacher) - he is "Lord"! That's it! I can't handle it! I can't go any further with you! Not me - I'm just not worthy!
"Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men" (v. 10). This time there is a sense of final commitment in their response - "So they pulled the boats up on shore, left everything and followed him" (v. 11).
Have you come to that final unreserved commitment of your life to following Jesus Christ?
Ghandi was deeply impressed by the teachings of Jesus. I understand he always carried a New Testament in his pocket. He was a great person, but he didn't ever come to that final unreserved commitment to Christ as his Saviour and Lord. In his autobiography he gives the reason why.
During his student days he was interested in the Bible. Deeply touched by reading the gospels, he seriously considered becoming a convert. Christianity seemed to offer the real solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India. One Sunday he went to a church to see the minister and ask for instruction on the way of salvation and other Christian doctrines. But when he entered the sanctuary, the ushers refused him a seat and suggested that he go and worship with his own people. He left and never went back. "If Christians have caste differences also," he said to himself, "I might as well remain a Hindu."
There are too many in the church content to be "fellow-travellers" - happy enough to be associated with Christ, but never having come to that final unreserved commitment to him.
Christ has given his all for us. He offers forgiveness, purpose and a whole new life. He calls us, "Come, follow me!" He has work to do in this world and is depending on us. Let us wholeheartedly and unreservedly come with him!
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