Posts Tagged ‘Following the Spirit’

Following The Spirit, Not the Teacher

Thursday, September 6th, 2012

Thursday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time

1 Cor 3: 18-23; Luke 5: 1-11

By Deacon Larry Brockman

 

A fish story!  We just heard a whopper of a fish story.  So, let me ask this:  What is the point of catching all those fish, and then just leaving them all on the beach?  After all, these men, Peter, James, and John depended on those fish for their livelihood. 

You see, the point is that this fish catch just so monumental that the fish simply don’t matter afterward.  These fisherman- Peter, James, and John, knew what they were doing.  They had years of experience, the wisdom of the world on fishing.  They fished when the tide was right, at the right time of the day, and in the right places- and nothing.  And then, this fellow comes along, and tells them some things about God from the boat, and after that, contrary to everything they know, that is, contrary to all their worldly and conventional wisdom, He tells them to put out their nets and fish.  And the catch is monumental, the best of their lives.  It’s like someone coming up to you at the lottery counter,   Whispering in your ears the numbers to play, and walla, you win the $50M jackpot!  It was a billion to one chance or better.  It just blew them all away, and so, they followed Him and forgot about the fish. 

  

After the Resurrection, Peter, Paul, and Apollos went through the countryside, and as Paul recounts to the Corinthians, each of them passed on a part of the wisdom of Jesus.  People were divided, not unified like that band of fisherman- divided because they were looking for the part of the message that matched their liking rather than the integrated message, the wisdom of God.  And God’s wisdom, like Jesus teaching was less directed at specific avenues of thought or action by individuals.  Rather, it was “trust in me, and the Spirit working in me, and just follow me; just follow my word”.  The Corinthians were putting their efforts into arguing about parts of the message, rather than living the message.  They weren’t letting the spirit of God carry them away like it did the Apostles. 

  

Now Paul goes on to say that whether it was Paul or Peter or Apollos, they all belong to you and to me.  Yes, God’s word and spirit was working through each of them.  And not only that, but the inspiration shared through these three great teachers belongs to all of us, just as we should belong to Christ- that is, follow His will for us; and just as Christ belonged to God, that is, followed God’s will for Him.  Paul is exhorting them to get with the teaching rather than argue about it, and let the spirit carry them away as God wills. 

  

Are we like the fisherman in the Gospel, or like the Corinthians?  God’s message is one of spirit and life.  We are supposed to grab onto life, and live it to the fullest in the ways that God prompts us.  Yes, we need to know about God and what is right and wrong.  But God prompts us to be unselfish, concerned for others, and supportive of each other- not just concerned for self.  When it’s about you, what you think, what you want, controlling your destiny, picking and choosing from what God tells you through his teachers to suit your agenda, then you’ve got it wrong, just like the Corinthians did. 

  

Indeed, when you get it right, you will echo the words of our psalmist this morning:  “Who may go up the mountain of the LORD?   Who can stand in his holy place?  The clean of hand and pure of heart, who are not devoted to idols, who have not sworn falsely.  They will receive blessings from the LORD, and justice from their saving God.  Such are the people that love the LORD, that seek the face of the God of Jacob.”