A Word from Joel - February 12, 2025

“But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’s knees, saying, ‘Go away from
me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’...Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’” Luke 6:8, 10

“Don’t be afraid” is a command repeated more than 100 times in the Bible. Why do you
think the Bible repeats this command so often? It’s because we are a fearful people.
What is at the heart of fear except the belief that there is simply not enough? See if any
of this sounds familiar: “I didn’t get enough sleep last night. There’s not enough time to
get done what I need to. I’m not exercising enough, working enough, relaxing enough,
thin enough, smart enough. I’m not playing enough. I don’t have enough money.” We
are drenched in the waters of not enough. Lynn Twist writes in The Soul of Money, “We
live with scarcity as an underlying assumption. It is an unquestioned, sometimes even
unspoken, defining condition of life.” Jesus was born into a world of scarcity, and his
ministry continually invites us to leave scarcity behind to embrace God’s sufficiency.

After inviting Simon Peter to venture out into deep waters and lower his nets there, they
take in a catch so large that the nets begin to break and their boat nearly sinks. It turns
out, the creation is sufficient to meet their needs. There is enough and some to spare.
Though we are immersed in the myth of scarcity, the truth is sufficiency. Lynn Twist
writes,

Sufficiency…reminds us that if we look around us and within ourselves, we will
find what we need. There is always enough. When we live in the context of
sufficiency…we engage in life from a sense of our own wholeness rather than a
desperate longing to be complete…I suggest there is enough in nature, in human
nature, and in the relationships we share with one another to have a prosperous,
fulfilling life, no matter who you are.

Jesus’ ministry will demonstrate time and again that grace is sufficient to meet our
material and spiritual needs. In the face of such overwhelming goodness, Peter feels
inadequate and unworthy. How much of our life is wasted thinking we don’t deserve
good things? Peter sees the sufficiency of the catch, and he looks at himself and sees
only scarcity. But just as the creation is sufficient to meet our material needs, God is
gracious to meet our spiritual needs too. Jesus ignores Peter’s plea to leave. Instead,
he says don’t be afraid, for my grace is sufficient for you. Beloved, God’s grace is
always sufficient to meet our needs. Leave scarcity and your fear behind and get to
work joining God in sharing the good news that there is enough and some to spare.

One Struggle to Love,

Rev. Joel A. Esala