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Foreign thank you for engaging
with the homily by Pastor Chill Will

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from Chapel Hill. I hope this
message encourages you, challenges

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you and moves you to go deeper
in your faith and enrich how you

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love God and love your
neighbor in your day to day life.

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Just a reminder. Like the
Scriptures and Gospels themselves,

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this homily was written for a
particular community in a particular

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context, time in history and
yet, like our sacred texts, I hope

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that these words hold timeless
truths about God's unconditional

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love and grace. We hope these
words speak to you in a meaningful

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way. The Holy Gospel according
to Luke Glory to you O Lord. Once

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while Jesus was standing
beside the lake of Gesinnerat and

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the crowd was pressing in on
him to hear the Word of God, he saw

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two boats there at the shore
of the lake. The fishermen had gone

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out of them and were washing
their nets. He got into one of the

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boats, one belonging to Simon,
and he asked him to put out a little

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way from the shore. Then he
sat down and taught the crowds from

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the boat. When he had finished
speaking he said to Simon, put out

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into the deep water and let
down your nets for a catch. Simon

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answered, master, we have
worked all night long but have caught

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nothing yet. If you say so, I
will let down the nets. When they

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had done this they caught so
many fish that their nets were beginning

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to break. They signaled their
partners in other boat to come and

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to help them. They came and
filled both boats so that they even

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began to sink. But when Simon
Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus

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knees saying, go away from me
Lord, for I am a sinful man. For

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he and all who were with him
were amazed at the catch of the fish

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that they had taken. And so
also were James and John, sons of

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Zebedee and who were partners
with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon,

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do not be afraid, from now on
you will be catching people. They

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had brought their boats to
shore. They left everything and followed

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Jesus. The Gospel of the Lord
may be seated in the name of the

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Father and the Son of the Holy
Spirit. So with my brother we are

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helping organize and clean out
some stuff from my childhood home.

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And as we did this I had a
core childhood memory unlocked. When

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I was a lot younger my mom did
cross stitch and there were two framed

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cross stitched creations that
hung over the stove in our kitchen.

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When I came down in the
morning to get ready for school and

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to eat cereal, I would look up
from the bar and I would see one

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picture of a frog chef's hat
on, standing up holding a Frying

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pan with smoke coming out of
the frying pan. And. And the caption

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said, another day, another
disaster. Well, good morning to you

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too, everybody. But there was
another picture right beside it.

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This one also had a frog and
it was pouring a glass pitcher of

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lemonade into a glass with a
caption that said, when life gives

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you lemon, take lemonade.
Okay, now that's a proverb I can

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work with today. I think I can
do that in our gospel reading this

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morning. I have a feeling that
after a long night of getting skunked

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fishing, Peter was like, ah,
another day, another disaster. But

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maybe, perhaps Jesus can make
some lemonade out of these lemons.

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This story was the first
sermon that I ever preached circa

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1990 as a high school youth in
on Youth Sunday at my home church.

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My youth pastor one night at
youth group encouraged me to do the

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sermon that year. And I was
like, no way, that's not happening.

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He was like, yes way, like no
way, like yes way, like no way. Went

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on for like a week. He won the
argument. There is a VHS tape out

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there somewhere of this
infamous sermon with my blonde surfer

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hair in my eyes that I had to
flip out of my face every few seconds.

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The 10 minute sermon was
preached in about six minutes. That's

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how nervous I was and how fast
I read it. Let's just say that God

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made some lemonade out of that
lemon of a sermon. The epiphany of

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that day was that as nervous
as I was, I didn't die, the world

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didn't end. In fact, that was
a new beginning for me. And the seeds

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that were planted or the net
that was cast helped pave the way

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for me to hear the call to go
to seminary, be a pastor. We are

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still in the season of
epiphany. God is continuing to reveal

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and disclose who Jesus is and
what God is up to in the world through

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Jesus, who we claim to be the
Christ. Over the last month we've

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heard stories of miracles and
core teachings of Jesus revealing

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God's priorities in the world.
We are now moving into a new era,

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the Jesus calling the
Disciples era of his ministry. And

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who does he call? The top of
the class at Rabbi training school.

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The most influential power
brokers in their community? Nope,

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rather some fishermen who look
like they're not that good at it

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either. Hebrew Bible scholar
Walter Brueggeman describes the Bible

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as a series of call stories.
The Bible is not necessarily a dictated

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historical record that dropped
out of the clouds. Nor is it a science

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textbook explaining the
answers or mysteries of the cosmos,

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or even a book that contains
some secret code to unlock happiness.

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It's a library of books with
many different genres of people spanning

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thousands of years, many
generations who are sharing their

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experiences with God. Dr.
Bruegerman shares that. The common

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theme and red thread through
this whole book is a series of call

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stories. God calling creation
and humanity into a divine drama

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of love, harmony, peace,
shalom. In the beginning, in Genesis,

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God calls our evolving,
expanding universe into being with

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life and purpose. And as the
divine drama unfolds and expands,

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God calls humanity to be good
stewards of creation and the creatures

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we share habitations with. And
with those creatures we are entangled

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with in the web of life. God
calls Noah, Abraham, Moses, God calls

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David, God calls the prophets
to remind God's people who they are

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and who God is. And here in
our gospel reading, the divine drama

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and continuity continues with
Jesus calling the first disciples.

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And within this pattern is
also this common response of resistance

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to that call, not feeling
worthy of it, of turning our back

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on God, quite honest, or being
overwhelmed with the responsibility

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of it all. And yet God says,
do not fear. We are in this boat

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together. In the story of the
miracle of the great catch. There

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are lessons here of Jesus
taking what is empty and making it

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full. And yes, there's this
movement from despair or hopelessness,

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emptiness transformed to hope.
But this isn't necessarily a prosperity

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gospel story that if you do
the right things, Jesus will make

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you full and rich. Rather,
this is Peter having an epiphany.

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The call story Notice after
the great catch of fish, Peter didn't

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ask Jesus to come work for him
so they could have this prosperous

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fishing business in their
town. No, rather, Peter went to Jesus

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in humility, honesty. And then
it's Jesus that said, I'm inviting

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you to come and follow me. We
will fish for people. And of course,

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it's not lost on me as a self
identified ocean lover and beach

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bum. Jesus preaching from the
water on the coastline on a boat.

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And the first disciples he
calls to come follow him are those

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who are in tune with salt
life, water life, coastal life, if

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you remember my hot take, that
God is a surfer as seen in the second

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verse of the Bible. And God's
spirit hovered over the waters. I

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think this gospel story is a
great callback. As God hovered over

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the chaotic and uncertain
primordial waters at the beginning

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of creation, creating order
and purpose and life out of chaos.

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Here is Jesus with a chaotic
crowd, hungry for good news and promise

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and purpose that Jesus gets in
a boat and moves out into the water.

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In a lot of cultures, water
and the sea and ocean are seen as

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chaotic, uncertain,
unpredictable, flat out dangerous.

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These fishermen knew that that
was their vocation and livelihood.

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Peter, James and John may not
know the Hebrew Scriptures backwards

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and forwards. Who knows if
they were great teachers or charismatic

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influencers. But they did know
how to handle and navigate a chaotic

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and uncertain and messy world.
In a world of disasters and uncertainty

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and messiness, why not call
some guys who understood the shifting

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nature of an uncertain sea,
knew how to untangle nets, not afraid

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to get their hands dirty
cleaning messy fish. In a world of

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disasters, perhaps Peter,
James and John knew how to make lemonade

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and notice how they were
called to go into even deeper water.

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I love that phrase. Jesus
says, let's move into deeper water,

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a place of even more
uncertainty and chaos. Or maybe a

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place that they'll find deeper
and fuller life teeming with a diversity

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of fish. And then notice how
they invited other boats come over

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and help. It's not just us,
friends. It's not just us Holy Trinity.

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It's not just our boat out
here floating in the sea by ourselves.

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There are a lot of boats and
communities of faith all around us.

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There are people hungry for
good news. And so let's be really

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clear here. This catching
people is by no means entrapment

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or manipulation for selfish
means. This isn't a prosperity gospel

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because going into deep water
can be risky. But rather this is

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an invitation into a fuller,
deeper life aligned with what Jesus

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taught and preached at his
hometown sermon. Word and good news

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about liberation. A word and a
promise of God's unconditional favor,

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the promise and hope of
salvation. All I know that the waters

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are rough right now. In the
world where we swim and navigate,

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Jesus isn't going anywhere.
Peter said, get away from me, Jesus.

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But yet he remained in the
boat right there with him. With him.

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He looks at us and says, do
not fear. I'm calling you as well.

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Let's go fishing or go make
some lemonade. Amen. Thank you for

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listening. If there is
anything that stood out for you,

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or if you have a question or
you just want to have a conversation,

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you are always free to reach
out and contact us. And remember

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you are not alone and that you
are loved with a love stronger than

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death.