April 7, 2025 • 27 mins
The fishing nets were breaking. The boats were sinking. And Simon fell to his knees.
I, Pastor Kathleen, will take us deep into the familiar story from Luke 5 where Jesus instructs Simon to cast nets into deep water after a night of catching nothing. This seemingly simple narrative transforms into a profound message about ministry when we understand the fishing context—in winter and spring, fish stayed in shallow waters, making Jesus' instruction to fish in deeper, colder waters completely counterintuitive to experienced fishermen. The miracle wasn't just about fish but about following divine guidance even when it contradicts our expertise.
Drawing a robust comparison to spectator sports, I reveal how, unlike football games where only a fraction of a percent are active participants, faith offers no sideline seats. I also share the touching story of my grandmother who, even at 102 years old and severely limited physically, found profound purpose in "showing her family how to grow old." This challenges us to recognize that while our ministries may evolve through different seasons of life, we never stop being called to faithful participation.
The episode also confronts our culture's obsession with metrics, quotas, and performance indicators. While our society trains us to measure worth through achievements, the biblical model of success centers solely on faithfulness—particularly when it's difficult or seemingly fruitless. This perspective liberates ministers from the crushing pressure of numeric measurements and refocuses our attention on consistent faithfulness even when immediate results aren't visible.
Connect with me on LinkedIn to continue the conversation about finding purpose in ministry during every season of life.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Tilted Halo.
This is a new podcast and it'sfor anybody who's a woman in
ministry.
You might be a pastor likemyself, a bishop, a priest, a
rabbi, music minister, elderchildren's minister whatever
your title is, you're absolutelyin the right place, especially
if you're someone who loves yourministry and you're doing it
(00:24):
well and you're feeling pressureto sometimes be perfect and
deep down inside, you knowyou're not, and how in the world
to deal with that?
And, men, you're absolutelywelcome here too, because this
is about ministry and the samething can happen to you.
So you're all in the rightplace.
Let's get started with the show.
(00:45):
Welcome, I am Pastor Kathleen,and this is another edition of
the Tilted Halo.
I recently had the opportunityto preach and the text for the
day was from the fifth chapterof the Gospel of Luke, the first
11 verses.
It's the account of Jesusteaching the disciples or
(01:10):
teaching people, I should sayfrom Simon's boat along the
shore, and then he tells Simonto put the boat out into the
deep waters.
Now, this is after Simon andJames and John and other people
who worked with them had spentall the night fishing and caught
nothing, absolutely nothing.
(01:32):
But Simon says okay, if youwant me to, I will put the boat.
You know, we'll go out intodeeper water and fish.
Deeper water and fish.
It almost sounds like Simonsaid well, you know, okay, but
this is not going to be verysuccessful.
I mean, there was no successall night.
(01:55):
And I recently learned somethingabout fishing on the Sea of
Galilee and that is that duringspring and winter, and that is
that during spring and winter orwinter and spring, the fish
because Israel could get kind ofcold in winter and springtime
and most of the fish in the Seaof Galilee really aren't suited
(02:18):
to very cold water.
So during the winter time theycome into the shallower water
because that warms up moreduring the daytime, when there's
sun on it which is prettytypical in israel to have sunny
days and that water warms upmore.
So if this had been spring orwinter we're not sure, but
(02:40):
there's hints that that might betrue and Peter or Simon, peter
and James, john and the otherpeople with them hadn't caught
anything, the fish would havebeen in the shallow waters.
And if they had been fishing inthe shallow waters which is
where every fisherman would beduring spring and winter and
(03:02):
still hadn't caught anythingduring spring and winter and
still hadn't caught anything.
The idea of going out to thedeep water, which is always
colder, to find fish would bekind of ridiculous in the minds
of any seasoned fisherman.
And Simon, peter, james andJohn and any of the other
(03:25):
helpers with them were veryseasoned fishermen.
But Simon goes and he alreadyhas some acquaintance with Jesus
at that point, because at theend of the fourth chapter of
Luke's Gospel we would read thatJesus spent the night at
(03:47):
Simon's house in Capernaum andhad healed his mother-in-law
from a fever.
It immediately left her whenJesus healed her, and so Simon
already knew that Jesus could domiracles.
And so Simon already knew thatJesus could do miracles.
In fact, after healing Simon'smother-in-law, lots of people
(04:12):
from the community brought inpeople who were sick to be
healed by Jesus.
So the idea that Jesus couldheal people was not new.
It was not something foreign toSimon, something a foreign to
Simon, and apparently after thathealing he and James and John
and others had gone out fishingand fishing was usually done at
(04:34):
night on the Sea of Galilee atthat time.
So to know that Jesus could doa miracle at at least with
healing, and to have caughtabsolutely nothing where in
fishing, assuming that they werefishing somewhere where they
(04:56):
would expect to have found fish.
They, you know, the idea ofgoing out into deep water was a
little bit like I'm notexpecting much of anything, but
I'll go.
So you know, we don't know whatSimon Peter may have expected
(05:20):
and anticipated by going outinto the deep water, but when
Jesus told them to let down thenet, they did.
And the account tells us thatthere was not just a large catch
, but that the catch was soabundant that the nets were
(05:49):
starting to break.
And it was so abundant that,even when another boat came to
help them, their partners whichmay have been James and John,
we're not sure, but James andJohn were there anyway somehow
that even when another boat cameto help them, they filled both
of these boats with fish thathad been in the nets and it was
so many and so abundant that theboats were on the verge of
(06:13):
sinking supplied them withfinancial income and some
stability, not just for a day ortwo, maybe far more than a
(06:39):
couple of weeks.
And yet what do they do?
Immediately on getting to shore, james, john and Simon leave
the catch.
They leave their boats, whichwas their livelihood.
They leave their families tofollow Jesus.
The other thing about that storyis that when Peter sees the
(07:01):
abundance of the fish thatthey're catching, he becomes
very aware that, compared toJesus, he is nothing.
He is totally a sinful person,and that this man, jesus, is far
(07:23):
more than a simple if you woulda healer.
He can do things.
He is something much greaterand, unlike most miracles, simon
falls down confessing hissinfulness to Jesus.
(07:44):
You know, get away from me, Iam am a sinful man, is what he's
saying.
But jesus tells him don't beafraid, from now on you will be
catching people, not fish.
And so that is why they leavethe catch, they leave their
(08:05):
boats, they leave their familiesand go to follow Jesus.
That story is also found in theGospels of Matthew and Mark,
and it's shorter in both ofthose gospel readings.
(08:29):
But there were a couple ofthings that stood out for me and
that I shared in this sermonthat I hadn't really thought
about before, and the first oneis that you know, we watch
football American football ifyou're watching in a different
country, but football and in anyfootball game, including the
(08:53):
Super Bowl or any playoff game,but in any football game there
are only 11 players on each sideon the field at any one time
and if there's an additionalplayer who doesn't get off the
field in time, that's a penaltyto the team where there's a 12th
man on the field.
(09:14):
So there's 22 players and thenlike three or four officials who
are actually on the field doingthe plays, playing the game at
any given moment.
Yes, there are other players onthe sidelines and coaches and
some other officials on thesidelines, but on the field
(09:37):
itself there's only 22 playersand maybe three or four
officials.
And yet for any professionalgame there are thousands of
people, including college games,for that matter thousands of
(09:59):
people in the stands.
And I just did some researchfor that sermon because it was
close to the Super Bowl here inthe United States and it was
being played in New Orleans.
So I looked up some informationabout the Superdome in New
(10:20):
Orleans and for NFL games theSuperdome can seat 73,208 people
.
That's the ones in the seats.
So when you have like 25 peopleon the field compared to 73,200
(10:44):
in the stands, the number ofpeople actually playing the game
is three one-hundredths of apercent of the number in the
stands.
That's a very small number andeven if we include all of the
people on the sidelines, theother players on the team, the
(11:07):
coaches, the staff, otherofficials.
It might, for at least theprofessional teams, it might
come to a total of 250 peopledown there somewhere on the
field and the sidelines.
The field and the sidelines.
(11:30):
That's still only three-tenthsof a percent of the number of
people in the stands.
And then Super Bowl games in2024, it's estimated that there
were over 200 million people inthe United States and around the
world who were watching thatgame.
(11:50):
I don't know what percentage itwould be of the number of
people actually on the fieldcompared to the two plus million
(12:11):
people, or two million3,000plus people who are in the
stands plus watching.
That would be a lot of zeros tothe right of the decimal point,
making for an extremely smallpercentage.
(12:35):
One of the things about being aperson of faith, especially as a
christian, is that we are allcalled to be about the ministry
that jesus shares with us.
There are no spectator seats.
(12:56):
As a person of faith, there aremany times where, as a pastor,
I've heard someone say well,I've done my share, I'm going to
let somebody else know, it'ssomebody else's turn, and there
is a point where that's true.
There's a time where it's bestto let the next generation
(13:18):
sometimes come in and be part ofor part of a board or some
committee.
That's great, but it doesn'tmean that the person who's
saying I've done my time on thiscommittee or this board or in
helping in this particular way,that doesn't mean they are no
(13:44):
longer needed, they no longerhave a role, they no longer have
a purpose in the community offaith and in God's community.
And as I thought about that formy sermon, I remembered my
grandmother.
And one of my grandmotherslived to be 102 and a half and
(14:13):
she in her 80s became.
She in her 80s becamefunctionally blind with macular
(14:41):
degeneration, and legally blindby the end of her 80s and into
her 90s life.
But for her it meanttransitioning to getting around
in a wheelchair rather thanusing a walker or, even before
that, a cane.
So she spent years in awheelchair, probably about six
years getting around in awheelchair after breaking her
hip in a wheelchair afterbreaking her hip.
(15:02):
And it was at her 100th birthdayparty.
We as a family threw her a nicebig party for that and her
pastor came and he shared a fewwords and one of the things he
shared was that he had at onepoint asked her why she thought
she was living so long, and herresponse to that is something
I've always remembered.
(15:23):
It was, I quote, to show myfamily how to grow old, end
quote.
There were so many things shecould no longer do, so many.
I mean, she had done all kindsof handiwork for years and years
(15:44):
and years but she couldn't dothat.
She couldn't cook, she couldn'tdo all of the things that had
been so much a part of her life.
But she still found meaning andpurpose, a way that she
contributed, based on her faith,based on her sense of family,
(16:08):
based on her sense of integrityas a human being, to show her
family how to grow old.
And she did with a lot ofdignity and grace.
She had her moments yeah, shedefinitely had her moments when
(16:28):
life wasn't so good and thatcame out, but by and large, she
showed her family how to growold In a very positive way.
And we always have somethingthat we can contribute, our
purpose and the way we share.
(16:49):
That may change over time.
I used to be a full-time pastorin a congregation.
I've retired, but now I dothings this way with a podcast.
I do things by reaching out andworking with other women of
faith, in relationships withthem.
There are many different waysto do things and that is now my
(17:17):
different way of serving.
I haven't been sidelined by God.
None of us is.
There are no spectator seatsfor people of faith.
That's the first thing to know.
That's the first thing to know.
(17:37):
The second thing is that welive in a society that's really
very consumed by and obsessedwith data.
From earliest childhood we getpushed to make the grade, to
(18:06):
earn our keep, earn our way, tofulfill our quotas weekly,
monthly, yearly quotas, whateverthat may be we get.
You know, we have to beconcerned with price and
earnings and budget and all ofthe net income versus sales,
versus expenses that all ofthese things PE ratios, whatever
(18:32):
they may be these become thingsthat consciously and
unconsciously become the measureof success for every business,
but also for ourselves, as we'remeasured by an employer and as
(18:53):
we think about our own worth andour own value.
And as we think about our ownworth and our own value, there's
nothing in the story of thecall for any of the disciples.
The same is true for theprophets of old Isaiah, jeremiah
, ezekiel, daniel.
(19:13):
There's no quotas for them.
There's no.
You know, you got to earn somuch, you got to do so much, you
have an earnings ratio oranything like that.
There's none of that there, noquotas to meet, no bottom line
(19:34):
that has to be met, no bottomline that has to be met.
What is there is the call toremain faithful, and that call
(19:56):
to remain faithful is to remainfaithful even when, and
especially when doing so isn'tthe popular thing, when it's not
popular to talk about God'slove and grace and openness to
everyone.
To remain faithful even when,and especially when, it's
uncomfortable and it maychallenge us, and even when and
(20:21):
especially when we're asked togo deep, which may mean taking a
risk, it may mean tryingsomething where there's really
no idea that there might be anykind of return.
It means staying faithful evenwhen we feel like no one's
(20:46):
listening, or even if they'relistening, they're certainly not
responding Like Simon, peter,james and John when their nets
were empty.
It's hard to remain faithful.
It's hard to have the staminasometimes the chutzpah, if you
(21:13):
will, to use that word the grit.
Grit, the backbone, the, thewherewithal, the courage, the
stamina to keep sharing themessage about god's love in and
through jesus, or about god'slove period.
You know, however, weunderstand god, but god always
(21:40):
calls us to share that messageof love, and it's when we're not
demonstrating that love thatthat message can be seen
sometimes as and as a sharp word, a hard word by other people,
(22:01):
one that they don't really wantto hear.
And that can be true in ourfaith communities.
It can be true when we sharethat message within the larger
community, when people ororganizations or governments
(22:22):
which is true throughout historydon't really want to hear that
message.
And it's even true when thereare others, faith leaders, who
say that that's not God'smessage for now, but we are
called to remain faithful insharing the message about God's
(22:44):
love, and that it's not just forus or for people like us, but
it is for everyone.
So this seemingly simple storyabout Jesus telling Simon Peter
(23:08):
to let down the nets and gettinga huge haul of fish shows us
that God is abundant, yes, thatGod loves us, yes, but it also
challenges us.
Challenges us to never sit onthe sidelines, never think that
(23:30):
we can just be a spectator inour faith and let somebody else
do the work.
Won't work, doesn't work thatway.
And it also challenges us tothink and realize that there are
(23:58):
no quotas here.
There's criteria for success isbeing faithful, and that's
sometimes not easy, and it'ssomething we always have to
remember.
It's a challenge to us as faithleaders to remain faithful, but
(24:19):
also for every single person offaith, because none of us is a
spectator.
Faith is not a spectator sport.
Faith is not about data or data, however you should pronounce
it.
It is about faithfulness, andwe all fail in that endeavor,
(24:57):
but thanks be to God, who givesus, forgives us and allows us to
get back up and go at it again.
So, no spectators and beingfaithful two things from this
wonderful, wonderful story.
But there are some other thingsthat I've recently learned
about this story as well, andlook forward to sharing that
(25:21):
with you, because there's awhole nother level to this story
, and you know that's one of thethings I love about scripture.
There's always more, there isalways deeper stuff in each of
these accounts and stories inthe scripture, and finding that
(25:42):
richness.
It's challenging, yes, butthat's where the gold is, that's
where the good stuff is andthat's what we all need to hear
and to share.
It's not just about goingfishing.
We are each called to befishers of people.
(26:03):
No sidelines, no quotas, butkeep on fishing, be faithful.
So until next time, I'm PastorKathleen, also known as the
Tilted Halo, and I will becoming to you again, hopefully
in the very near future.
(26:23):
Peace be with you.
You have been listening toTilted Halo with me, kathleen
Panning.
What did you think about thisepisode?
I'd really like to hear fromyou.
Leave me some comments.
Be sure to like, subscribe andshare this episode and catch
another upcoming episode.
For more conversation onministry life mindset and a
(26:46):
whole lot more, go towwwtiltedhalohelpcom, where I've
got a resource guide and otherresources waiting for you, and
be sure to say hi to me,kathleen Panning, on LinkedIn.
See you on the next episode.
Welcome to the Tilted Halo.
This is a new podcast and it'sfor anybody who's a woman in
ministry.
You might be a pastor likemyself, a bishop, a priest, a
rabbi, music minister, elderchildren's minister whatever
your title is, you're absolutelyin the right place, especially
if you're someone who loves yourministry and you're doing it
(00:24):
well and you're feeling pressureto sometimes be perfect and
deep down inside, you knowyou're not, and how in the world
to deal with that?
And, men, you're absolutelywelcome here too, because this
is about ministry and the samething can happen to you.
So you're all in the rightplace.
Let's get started with the show.
(00:45):
Welcome, I am Pastor Kathleen,and this is another edition of
the Tilted Halo.
I recently had the opportunityto preach and the text for the
day was from the fifth chapterof the Gospel of Luke, the first
11 verses.
It's the account of Jesusteaching the disciples or
(01:10):
teaching people, I should sayfrom Simon's boat along the
shore, and then he tells Simonto put the boat out into the
deep waters.
Now, this is after Simon andJames and John and other people
who worked with them had spentall the night fishing and caught
nothing, absolutely nothing.
(01:32):
But Simon says okay, if youwant me to, I will put the boat.
You know, we'll go out intodeeper water and fish.
Deeper water and fish.
It almost sounds like Simonsaid well, you know, okay, but
this is not going to be verysuccessful.
I mean, there was no successall night.
(01:55):
And I recently learned somethingabout fishing on the Sea of
Galilee and that is that duringspring and winter, and that is
that during spring and winter orwinter and spring, the fish
because Israel could get kind ofcold in winter and springtime
and most of the fish in the Seaof Galilee really aren't suited
(02:18):
to very cold water.
So during the winter time theycome into the shallower water
because that warms up moreduring the daytime, when there's
sun on it which is prettytypical in israel to have sunny
days and that water warms upmore.
So if this had been spring orwinter we're not sure, but
(02:40):
there's hints that that might betrue and Peter or Simon, peter
and James, john and the otherpeople with them hadn't caught
anything, the fish would havebeen in the shallow waters.
And if they had been fishing inthe shallow waters which is
where every fisherman would beduring spring and winter and
(03:02):
still hadn't caught anythingduring spring and winter and
still hadn't caught anything.
The idea of going out to thedeep water, which is always
colder, to find fish would bekind of ridiculous in the minds
of any seasoned fisherman.
And Simon, peter, james andJohn and any of the other
(03:25):
helpers with them were veryseasoned fishermen.
But Simon goes and he alreadyhas some acquaintance with Jesus
at that point, because at theend of the fourth chapter of
Luke's Gospel we would read thatJesus spent the night at
(03:47):
Simon's house in Capernaum andhad healed his mother-in-law
from a fever.
It immediately left her whenJesus healed her, and so Simon
already knew that Jesus could domiracles.
And so Simon already knew thatJesus could do miracles.
In fact, after healing Simon'smother-in-law, lots of people
(04:12):
from the community brought inpeople who were sick to be
healed by Jesus.
So the idea that Jesus couldheal people was not new.
It was not something foreign toSimon, something a foreign to
Simon, and apparently after thathealing he and James and John
and others had gone out fishingand fishing was usually done at
(04:34):
night on the Sea of Galilee atthat time.
So to know that Jesus could doa miracle at at least with
healing, and to have caughtabsolutely nothing where in
fishing, assuming that they werefishing somewhere where they
(04:56):
would expect to have found fish.
They, you know, the idea ofgoing out into deep water was a
little bit like I'm notexpecting much of anything, but
I'll go.
So you know, we don't know whatSimon Peter may have expected
(05:20):
and anticipated by going outinto the deep water, but when
Jesus told them to let down thenet, they did.
And the account tells us thatthere was not just a large catch
, but that the catch was soabundant that the nets were
(05:49):
starting to break.
And it was so abundant that,even when another boat came to
help them, their partners whichmay have been James and John,
we're not sure, but James andJohn were there anyway somehow
that even when another boat cameto help them, they filled both
of these boats with fish thathad been in the nets and it was
so many and so abundant that theboats were on the verge of
(06:13):
sinking supplied them withfinancial income and some
stability, not just for a day ortwo, maybe far more than a
(06:39):
couple of weeks.
And yet what do they do?
Immediately on getting to shore, james, john and Simon leave
the catch.
They leave their boats, whichwas their livelihood.
They leave their families tofollow Jesus.
The other thing about that storyis that when Peter sees the
(07:01):
abundance of the fish thatthey're catching, he becomes
very aware that, compared toJesus, he is nothing.
He is totally a sinful person,and that this man, jesus, is far
(07:23):
more than a simple if you woulda healer.
He can do things.
He is something much greaterand, unlike most miracles, simon
falls down confessing hissinfulness to Jesus.
(07:44):
You know, get away from me, Iam am a sinful man, is what he's
saying.
But jesus tells him don't beafraid, from now on you will be
catching people, not fish.
And so that is why they leavethe catch, they leave their
(08:05):
boats, they leave their familiesand go to follow Jesus.
That story is also found in theGospels of Matthew and Mark,
and it's shorter in both ofthose gospel readings.
(08:29):
But there were a couple ofthings that stood out for me and
that I shared in this sermonthat I hadn't really thought
about before, and the first oneis that you know, we watch
football American football ifyou're watching in a different
country, but football and in anyfootball game, including the
(08:53):
Super Bowl or any playoff game,but in any football game there
are only 11 players on each sideon the field at any one time
and if there's an additionalplayer who doesn't get off the
field in time, that's a penaltyto the team where there's a 12th
man on the field.
(09:14):
So there's 22 players and thenlike three or four officials who
are actually on the field doingthe plays, playing the game at
any given moment.
Yes, there are other players onthe sidelines and coaches and
some other officials on thesidelines, but on the field
(09:37):
itself there's only 22 playersand maybe three or four
officials.
And yet for any professionalgame there are thousands of
people, including college games,for that matter thousands of
(09:59):
people in the stands.
And I just did some researchfor that sermon because it was
close to the Super Bowl here inthe United States and it was
being played in New Orleans.
So I looked up some informationabout the Superdome in New
(10:20):
Orleans and for NFL games theSuperdome can seat 73,208 people
.
That's the ones in the seats.
So when you have like 25 peopleon the field compared to 73,200
(10:44):
in the stands, the number ofpeople actually playing the game
is three one-hundredths of apercent of the number in the
stands.
That's a very small number andeven if we include all of the
people on the sidelines, theother players on the team, the
(11:07):
coaches, the staff, otherofficials.
It might, for at least theprofessional teams, it might
come to a total of 250 peopledown there somewhere on the
field and the sidelines.
The field and the sidelines.
(11:30):
That's still only three-tenthsof a percent of the number of
people in the stands.
And then Super Bowl games in2024, it's estimated that there
were over 200 million people inthe United States and around the
world who were watching thatgame.
(11:50):
I don't know what percentage itwould be of the number of
people actually on the fieldcompared to the two plus million
(12:11):
people, or two million3,000plus people who are in the
stands plus watching.
That would be a lot of zeros tothe right of the decimal point,
making for an extremely smallpercentage.
(12:35):
One of the things about being aperson of faith, especially as a
christian, is that we are allcalled to be about the ministry
that jesus shares with us.
There are no spectator seats.
(12:56):
As a person of faith, there aremany times where, as a pastor,
I've heard someone say well,I've done my share, I'm going to
let somebody else know, it'ssomebody else's turn, and there
is a point where that's true.
There's a time where it's bestto let the next generation
(13:18):
sometimes come in and be part ofor part of a board or some
committee.
That's great, but it doesn'tmean that the person who's
saying I've done my time on thiscommittee or this board or in
helping in this particular way,that doesn't mean they are no
(13:44):
longer needed, they no longerhave a role, they no longer have
a purpose in the community offaith and in God's community.
And as I thought about that formy sermon, I remembered my
grandmother.
And one of my grandmotherslived to be 102 and a half and
(14:13):
she in her 80s became.
She in her 80s becamefunctionally blind with macular
(14:41):
degeneration, and legally blindby the end of her 80s and into
her 90s life.
But for her it meanttransitioning to getting around
in a wheelchair rather thanusing a walker or, even before
that, a cane.
So she spent years in awheelchair, probably about six
years getting around in awheelchair after breaking her
hip in a wheelchair afterbreaking her hip.
(15:02):
And it was at her 100th birthdayparty.
We as a family threw her a nicebig party for that and her
pastor came and he shared a fewwords and one of the things he
shared was that he had at onepoint asked her why she thought
she was living so long, and herresponse to that is something
I've always remembered.
(15:23):
It was, I quote, to show myfamily how to grow old, end
quote.
There were so many things shecould no longer do, so many.
I mean, she had done all kindsof handiwork for years and years
(15:44):
and years but she couldn't dothat.
She couldn't cook, she couldn'tdo all of the things that had
been so much a part of her life.
But she still found meaning andpurpose, a way that she
contributed, based on her faith,based on her sense of family,
(16:08):
based on her sense of integrityas a human being, to show her
family how to grow old.
And she did with a lot ofdignity and grace.
She had her moments yeah, shedefinitely had her moments when
(16:28):
life wasn't so good and thatcame out, but by and large, she
showed her family how to growold In a very positive way.
And we always have somethingthat we can contribute, our
purpose and the way we share.
(16:49):
That may change over time.
I used to be a full-time pastorin a congregation.
I've retired, but now I dothings this way with a podcast.
I do things by reaching out andworking with other women of
faith, in relationships withthem.
There are many different waysto do things and that is now my
(17:17):
different way of serving.
I haven't been sidelined by God.
None of us is.
There are no spectator seatsfor people of faith.
That's the first thing to know.
That's the first thing to know.
(17:37):
The second thing is that welive in a society that's really
very consumed by and obsessedwith data.
From earliest childhood we getpushed to make the grade, to
(18:06):
earn our keep, earn our way, tofulfill our quotas weekly,
monthly, yearly quotas, whateverthat may be we get.
You know, we have to beconcerned with price and
earnings and budget and all ofthe net income versus sales,
versus expenses that all ofthese things PE ratios, whatever
(18:32):
they may be these become thingsthat consciously and
unconsciously become the measureof success for every business,
but also for ourselves, as we'remeasured by an employer and as
(18:53):
we think about our own worth andour own value.
And as we think about our ownworth and our own value, there's
nothing in the story of thecall for any of the disciples.
The same is true for theprophets of old Isaiah, jeremiah
, ezekiel, daniel.
(19:13):
There's no quotas for them.
There's no.
You know, you got to earn somuch, you got to do so much, you
have an earnings ratio oranything like that.
There's none of that there, noquotas to meet, no bottom line
(19:34):
that has to be met, no bottomline that has to be met.
What is there is the call toremain faithful, and that call
(19:56):
to remain faithful is to remainfaithful even when, and
especially when doing so isn'tthe popular thing, when it's not
popular to talk about God'slove and grace and openness to
everyone.
To remain faithful even when,and especially when, it's
uncomfortable and it maychallenge us, and even when and
(20:21):
especially when we're asked togo deep, which may mean taking a
risk, it may mean tryingsomething where there's really
no idea that there might be anykind of return.
It means staying faithful evenwhen we feel like no one's
(20:46):
listening, or even if they'relistening, they're certainly not
responding Like Simon, peter,james and John when their nets
were empty.
It's hard to remain faithful.
It's hard to have the staminasometimes the chutzpah, if you
(21:13):
will, to use that word the grit.
Grit, the backbone, the, thewherewithal, the courage, the
stamina to keep sharing themessage about god's love in and
through jesus, or about god'slove period.
You know, however, weunderstand god, but god always
(21:40):
calls us to share that messageof love, and it's when we're not
demonstrating that love thatthat message can be seen
sometimes as and as a sharp word, a hard word by other people,
(22:01):
one that they don't really wantto hear.
And that can be true in ourfaith communities.
It can be true when we sharethat message within the larger
community, when people ororganizations or governments
(22:22):
which is true throughout historydon't really want to hear that
message.
And it's even true when thereare others, faith leaders, who
say that that's not God'smessage for now, but we are
called to remain faithful insharing the message about God's
(22:44):
love, and that it's not just forus or for people like us, but
it is for everyone.
So this seemingly simple storyabout Jesus telling Simon Peter
(23:08):
to let down the nets and gettinga huge haul of fish shows us
that God is abundant, yes, thatGod loves us, yes, but it also
challenges us.
Challenges us to never sit onthe sidelines, never think that
(23:30):
we can just be a spectator inour faith and let somebody else
do the work.
Won't work, doesn't work thatway.
And it also challenges us tothink and realize that there are
(23:58):
no quotas here.
There's criteria for success isbeing faithful, and that's
sometimes not easy, and it'ssomething we always have to
remember.
It's a challenge to us as faithleaders to remain faithful, but
(24:19):
also for every single person offaith, because none of us is a
spectator.
Faith is not a spectator sport.
Faith is not about data or data, however you should pronounce
it.
It is about faithfulness, andwe all fail in that endeavor,
(24:57):
but thanks be to God, who givesus, forgives us and allows us to
get back up and go at it again.
So, no spectators and beingfaithful two things from this
wonderful, wonderful story.
But there are some other thingsthat I've recently learned
about this story as well, andlook forward to sharing that
(25:21):
with you, because there's awhole nother level to this story
, and you know that's one of thethings I love about scripture.
There's always more, there isalways deeper stuff in each of
these accounts and stories inthe scripture, and finding that
(25:42):
richness.
It's challenging, yes, butthat's where the gold is, that's
where the good stuff is andthat's what we all need to hear
and to share.
It's not just about goingfishing.
We are each called to befishers of people.
(26:03):
No sidelines, no quotas, butkeep on fishing, be faithful.
So until next time, I'm PastorKathleen, also known as the
Tilted Halo, and I will becoming to you again, hopefully
in the very near future.
(26:23):
Peace be with you.
You have been listening toTilted Halo with me, kathleen
Panning.
What did you think about thisepisode?
I'd really like to hear fromyou.
Leave me some comments.
Be sure to like, subscribe andshare this episode and catch
another upcoming episode.
For more conversation onministry life mindset and a
(26:46):
whole lot more, go towwwtiltedhalohelpcom, where I've
got a resource guide and otherresources waiting for you, and
be sure to say hi to me,kathleen Panning, on LinkedIn.
See you on the next episode.
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