I guess you as parents know how you sometimes hardly get along with your kids. That is a huge understatement. And much of this “not getting along” arises from differences in regard to what the child should be allowed to do or not do.
It starts very early in a child’s life, as parents take objects out of the hands of their children so that they don’t choke on them or harm themselves. It eventually moves on to various rules about bedtimes and eating one’s dinner before getting dessert, and not crossing the street without an adult.
By adolescence and the teenage years these disagreements can reach a fever pitch, with parents deciding who their son or daughter can hang around with or date, setting well-defined curfews, making and enforcing strict rules about not drinking and not doing drugs, and all the other things that go with each parent’s attempt to keep his or her children healthy, responsible, and safe.
And of course, in many cases, these rules and such are met with great opposition. No one really likes someone else telling them what they can or can’t do. I know I don’t. And I don’t think that children push back just for the sake of pushing back. No, I don’t think that’s the primary motive at all. I actually think it’s much simpler. My guess is that, in many of those moments when sons and daughters are fighting with their parents, it is because they are convinced of something which to them is obvious – convinced of three small words actually . . .
“I know better.”
I know better. Many of us think about it from time to time, and even say it occasionally when we are in some kind of disagreement or argument. Sadly, a few of us probably think about it nearly ALL the time. I know better. And in one sense, it’s not an unreasonable statement. Many times, we ARE right, and we DO know better. And trying to convince someone else of that (co-worker, spouse, friend, whomever) is hopefully just an attempt to achieve the “best” outcome, the one that is the most logical or helpful or reasonable or effective.
But what about with God? Do we sometimes act as if we know better?
That might be a little bit of what’s going on in today’s Gospel. You know the story, and I guess some of us know that night-time was the best time for fishing. If anyone else had said to Peter, ‘Launch out into the deep and let it down for a catch,’ he would have said, ‘Are you mad?’ Do you want me to make a fool of myself in front of all these other fishermen? If we didn’t catch anything during the night, what chance have we of catching anything in broad daylight?
But when Jesus said those words to Peter, Peter’s spontaneous response was,
‘Lord, we fished all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I will let down the net.’
Indeed, Simon Peter and some other fisherman had been working all night, but had come up empty-handed. We get it, right? He’s tired. He’s worked hard. This is his livelihood, his profession, and therefore he knows what he’s doing. And he’s pretty sure that since they hadn’t caught anything up to that point, one more try was sure to bring about the same result.
Jesus, I know better.
This story could have gone one of two ways. Simon Peter could have stopped right there and walked away, maybe drawing some admonishment or harsh words from the mouth of Jesus. But it didn’t unfold that way, why, because Simon said one additional thing, took one additional step, considered one more possibility. After making his initial point, Simon tells Jesus,
“ . . . but at your command I will lower my nets.”
And that made all the difference in the world. Peter stepped out in faith and chose to do NOT what HE wanted to do, but what JESUS wanted him to do. He listened to someone he trusted, someone he believed might know better. And his instincts were right. He caught more fish than he ever had before. Had he chosen his way, the outcome would have been much different. But he chose Jesus’ way, and something wonderful and beautiful happened.
The reason that children should listen to their parents (provided they are responsible, caring people of course) is because they DO know better. They are more wise and experienced about the things of the world, more wise and experienced about what is in the best interest of their child. Children might THINK they know better, but in the vast majority of cases, they really don’t. They can’t always see the bigger picture, don’t necessarily understand the potential consequences of their actions. Parents have a better handle on that.
In many ways, that’s a decent analogy in regard to our relationship with God. We CAN’T know the things God knows. We CAN’T understand the things he understands. And so, the only thing that makes any sense, the only thing that will keep us safe (spiritually), is to acknowledge our limits and weaknesses and consequently choose to align our choices with what we believe God is asking of us, thereby changing our attitude and actions from “I know better” to “God knows better”.
Peter’s willingness to cast his nets at Jesus’ command is a manifestation of a profound insight, some would say, the most authentically faithful prayer – one we pray all the time – “Thy will be done.” Thy will be done. Saying those words, taking them to heart, and ACTING on them is the best, smartest, and the most faithful thing we could ever do as believers. And there’s only one way to be confident that we indeed are indeed doing that – that we are truly allowing God’s will to become ours, by simply loving one person and then another and then another. We might just be surprised at the miraculous outcome God has in store for us.
A Short Story
One day, author and educator Howard Hendricks was on a plane that was delayed from takeoff. As passengers became irritated and demanding, Howard noticed how gracious one of the flight attendants continued to be with each passenger. When they were finally in the air he continued to be amazed at her poise and control. When she came by his seat, Howard asked if he could write a letter of commendation to the airline on her behalf. “I don’t work for the airline,” she replied, “I work for Jesus Christ. My husband and I prayed this morning that I would be a good representative of Jesus Christ on this flight.” — Do you have a career or a calling? You see, somewhere out on Lake Gennesaret, a few fishermen were transformed in such a way that they would eventually change the world, because Christ had come and had given them a mission for eternity. The question is, what is your mission?
Father Boat