The Economy, Stupid

Fishing in the deeper waters of divine love

09/07/2017

Luke 5:1-11 While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them.  They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking.

            Do you remember the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid”? It was popularized in the early 1990’s and helped Bill Clinton win the White House because the country was in a recession.  Everyone was worried about the economy, having a job, making money. Last year, it may well have helped Donald Trump occupy the Oval Office, too, because people hoped he would invigorate the economy. (See how I navigated those two examples very diplomatically??) Elections outcomes have a lot to do with the economy. If you don’t realize that, someone might say to you, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

            I’ve been reading a fascinating book by Christopher Dawson called Dynamics of World History. He taught history at Harvard. Dawson traces this preoccupation with the economy back to the 19th century Industrial Revolution, and the birth of “modern cities.” He writes: “It is useless to seek to understand the rise of the industrial city by looking for an internal process of development such as we can find in the history of Greek or the medieval city. The new towns…were the organs of a nationalist-imperialist movement of economic expansion.” He adds a little later: “The real note of the period was not liberty, but economic expansion and exploitation” (Dynamics of World History, 202,203). In other words, in the modern city, we place our trust not so much in Almighty God, but in the Almighty Dollar.  That’s the fundamental difference between the Greek and medieval city and the modern city: who are “God” is. And if you didn’t understand that, someone might say to you, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

              In the gospel today, this concern about the economy was prevalent during the time of Jesus as well. As a matter of fact, it’s precisely the economy that’s at issue when Peter and Jesus first meet. Peter is a fisherman, he understands the business of fishing, and he is a very good fisherman because his livelihood depends on the fishing economy. But Jesus happens along and says: “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Peter might have objected saying, “It’s the economy, stupid,” I know how the fishing economy like the back of my hand, and the economy is bad right now. But instead of that reply, Peter obeys Jesus’ command, and he caught more fish than he could haul aboard. In other words, when Jesus invites Peter to “put out into deep water,” he is saying: “Let me show you something deeper than the laws of economics, deeper than market forces, deeper than free trade, and deeper than hedge funds. Let me teach you the laws of love, the deeper currents of existence.” That is, don’t stay in the shallow waters of economics, but immerse yourself in the ocean depths of divine love. Jesus would say, “It’s not the economy, stupid.”

            My friends, ask yourself today: how deep do you fish? Are you like Peter and staying shallow in economics, worried always about money and finances and the future? Of course, we have to give time and attention to economics. Or rather, do we dedicate our energies to diving deeply into divine love, the deeper currents of existence? I tell young couples who are preparing for marriage, and have college loans and no savings: “Hey, look, at least you know she doesn’t love you for your money.” These couples have put into the deep. Every year we go to Honduras and are surprised how happy the Hondurans are with so little material or economic wealth. But they have their faith and their family; they have “put out into the deep.” Sometimes the more wealth we have the more worry we have that we might lose it, so we install cameras and security systems and live behind gated communities. We are still fishing in the shallows.

         Modern Americans, living in the modern city, say to Christians: “It’s the economy, stupid.” But Jesus replies, “Put out into deep waters and prepare your nets for a catch.” Why? Well, because it’s not the economy, after all.

Praised be Jesus Christ!