Don't be discouraged by failures.

FAILURES NEED NOT BE FINAL

Lk. 5:1-11

Failure is a fact of life.  It happens to all of us.  We try to do something, but fall short of the goal.  We aspire to some accomplishment, but find ourselves unable to achieve it.  Sometimes, it is relatively immaterial.  We play a game and lose.  We attempt to cook dinner, but burn the onions.  We try to make a sale, but are unable to close the deal.  We set out to lose ten pounds, but end up gaining two.  These are failures of a sort, but most of them are soon forgotten, and have no lasting effect on our lives.

Some failures are much more serious.  Take, for example the demise of a business venture.  It began with high hopes.  The person who started it intended to provide a needed service or product, but for some reason, the venture did not work.  The sales were not there.  After a while, that aspiring entrepreneur is forced to discontinue their effort.  He must close up shop and try to work out some kind of settlement with his creditors.

This kind of failure inflicts real pain and often creates long term problems.  The financial loss can be devastating.  The emotional damage can be even worse.  The same thing is true of a marriage that ends in divorce.  It is like a bomb that explodes in the middle of a family.  The couple, their parents and their siblings are all hurt.  When children are involved, they are usually hurt worst of all.

The greatest danger in serious failures is the psychological impact that often goes with them.  It is one thing to say, "I tried, and I failed."  It is another thing to say and to feel, "I am a failure.  I cannot cope with life.  I am inadequate."  What is a person to do with thoughts and feelings such as these?

Our Gospel reading for today tells a story about both kinds of failure.  One was relatively immaterial.  The other was deadly serious.  They both occurred in the life of our friend, Simon Peter.  In the first instance, he had fished all night and had nothing to show for his effort.  That was disappointing but not tragic.  No doubt, it had happened to Peter before and if he kept on fishing, it would happen again.

This kind of failure is not terribly difficult to overcome.  Sometimes, all it takes is just one more effort.  That was the case with Peter.  At the word of Jesus, he rowed out into the deep water and tried again.  He cast out his net one more time and a fruitless night was suddenly transformed into a fruitful day.  The net was so loaded with fish that it was on the verge of breaking.  Peter and his crew had to call in help from another boat to bring their catch to shore.

This story is commonly called "the miraculous draught of fish".  The assumption is that Jesus used His divine power to accomplish that unusual feat.  That may be true.  It could be that Jesus simply saw what was already there - a large shoal of fish.  Peter could not see it, because he had already given up.  The wonderful thing was that Jesus simply kept Peter from quitting too soon.

I wonder how many of us are in need of that same encouragement.  We have tried something that did not work.  At least, it has not worked yet, and we are thinking about giving up.  At some point, that may be the sensible thing to do.  There is no virtue in continuing an effort that was doomed from the outset, but that conclusion should be reached cautiously.  If we are not careful, we can form the habit of walking away from everything that is difficult.

An oft-quoted proverb of the athletic world says, "Winners never quit, and quitters never win."  There is truth in it.  Many games have been won in the last minute, simply because a determined team refused to admit defeat.  The same is true of life.  What looks like a failure today may turn into success, if we go back and give it one more try.  It was so for Simon Peter.  It may also be true for you and me.

His other failure, however, was of a different sort.  It was much deeper and much more serious.  Peter took an honest look at himself, and was almost overwhelmed by what he saw.  Falling down at the knees of Jesus, he said, "Leave me, Lord. I am a sinful man."  That scene, written on a piece of paper, does not quite capture the drama of the moment.  It all sounds very calm and clinical, but I am sure it was charged with emotion.  Perhaps, for the first time in his life, Peter had faced the dark side of his own soul and he was ashamed of himself.

It was one thing to fail on a fishing venture.  Peter could handle that.  It had happened before, and it would happen again.  All he had to do was keep on trying and eventually, things would turn around.  It was another thing to feel like an utter failure in life.  He could not overcome that feeling of failure by giving it that old college try.  He had been doing that all his life and still that nagging sense of shame taunted his soul.

Life requires us to try.  Anyone who is unwilling to do that is destined to failure, but the Gospel is about something more than trying.  It is an offer of help.  That was what Peter needed and that was what he found. 

Lord Jesus, this Gospel encourages us to realise that if ever we consider ourselves as failures, we know that you believe in us and with Your help there is so much we can achieve.  Our failures need not be final, not even our sins, however heavy they may be.  You can always lift us simply because You are our God and Saviour.

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