He said Jesus was the great supermarket. And it made more sense than most things.
Pastor Juan Lopez is the pastor of a small church called “Templo del Buen Samaritano” in a small village (ejido) called Santa Adelaida. He’s been there for 30 years; a widower since his 19-year-old daughter was a baby. His personality is taller than his body…in fact, I’m not even sure if it can all fit inside. When he speaks, the village listens.
We went to a Sunday service at his church a few weeks ago with a friend, Eliazar. The service was entirely in Spanish and at deafening decibels; Juan Lopez is not a man who needs a microphone (though he’s often seen using one). Sleeping through his 3 hour service is not an option, but you wouldn’t want to anyway. The man understands.
He spoke about Luke 5, when Jesus calls the first disciples (Simon Peter, James and John). They have been fishing all night and have caught nothing; as they’re cleaning their nets, out of nowhere a Rabbi comes and tells them to cast their nets again. I can almost imagine the looks of incredulity on the fishermens’ faces. They know fishing. Why would they listen to a carpenter’s apprentice or even worse, a rabbi? After some grumbling, the boats go out again, one with Jesus and Simon, and the other with James and John (and of course some other fishermen…as Monty Python would put it, “Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Bible-Story”).
They cast the nets. Who knows what they were expecting. When the nets came up bursting at the seams, they had their answer. And Jesus didn’t even chide them for their lack of faith. In fact, he tells them not to be afraid, which indicates the kind of “Oh crap” moment the disciples were having. And that’s how it all began for Simon Peter, James and John. Their lives would never be the same.
And so as Juan Lopez preached about this story, the pieces came together for me. I began to journal, and didn’t stop until I was 2 pages in and enduring a massive hand cramp. I’ll leave you with that entry:
“The disciples were cleaning their nets. They were preparing. But on their own, by their own effort, they had caught NOTHING. But when they responded to the call of Jesus, they took their clean nets out. Maybe the nets are a larger symbol; maybe the nets represent their hearts. They were cleaning and preparing their hearts even before Jesus arrived on the scene. They were poised to respond.
He told them to open their hearts, their nets, to receive, and they couldn’t believe they could be filled. They thought they knew what was possible, they thought they understood the world, and even though they didn’t understand, they OBEYED. They opened their hearts and received so much that they needed others to to take some. They were COMPLETELY overwhelmed.
And Peter knew that his sin was his pride, that he thought he knew what was possible, but he was completely blown out of the water. Instead of a fisherman, he was a sinner. He asked for forgiveness because he thought he knew better, he thought he knew how to reap, how to fish, but what he FAILED to understand is that He who owns the sea, the provision, is GOD ALONE.”
