Leaving Everything – 2-7-25

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday’s gospel reading is here

We have zoomed in this week on how Jesus’ actions on that fishing boat affected Simon, soon to be nicknamed “Peter.” Let’s widen our lens and take in all of this very public event – the throngs on the shore and the other fishermen in the water. This had a profound effect on them as well. After Simon’s profession of humility and repentance, we read:
 For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Jesus doesn’t reply to Simon’s plea, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” He just says, “Don’t be afraid. I have plans for you. From now on, you will fish for people and catch them.” That’s all he says in the way of recruitment, and it’s a mighty odd offer. Yet after what they have just experienced with him, Peter and Andrew, and James and John in the next boat, haul their catch to shore, leave it all for others to sell, and set off to follow Jesus.

Who walks away from his business at its most successful moment? Who decides, when they’ve finally gotten what they most desired, that they will now seek something else? Someone who has encountered something better, something more powerful, more real, more engaging. That’s the only way I can account for the actions of these fishermen. The power and reality they encountered in Jesus, and maybe the love they detected, was sufficient to draw them away from all they knew and cared for, all their investments, and leave it behind to move forward on a mission they scarcely understood.

What would that look like for us? For you? Where are you most invested? What do you love to do? What are you good at? Is there some way that Jesus is calling you forward, to take with you the skills but leave the investment behind, to put your energies and passions into God’s mission to reclaim, restore and renew all of creation to wholeness in Christ? Or to stay where you are, but become more active in following Jesus, who invites us into an ever-deepening relationship, who is always moving forward, never back?

It isn’t always one decisive moment, but gradually we are invited to bring our boats – all that we rely on in this life – to shore, and leave them behind to walk with Jesus, trusting in his amazing power and love. That is the way of freedom. That is the Way of Love.

© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

Encountering the Holy – 2-6-25

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday’s gospel reading is here

After Jesus’ fishing miracle, Simon Peter has an odd reaction to seeing his nets filled to the breaking point with fish. He doesn’t exult, or gleefully anticipate the profit ahead; he realizes his unworthiness: But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” 

The fancy spiritual word for what Peter was going through is “compunction,” when we become aware of our sinfulness or a particular area of sin in us. In this action, Jesus had revealed to Simon beyond a shadow of doubt that he was the Holy One – and Peter’s reaction to being in the presence of the holy was to become hyper-aware of his unholiness. Isaiah, in his vision in the temple (also a reading for Sunday) has the same reaction, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

In both instances, God redirects the repentance into mission. Isaiah hears, “Whom shall I send,” and answers, “Here am I! Send me!” Jesus, in that boat with Peter, says nothing about sin – he knows Peter will continue to struggle with those things that make him less than who God made him to be. Neither does he offer forgiveness – that is a given with Jesus. He simply says, “Do not be afraid. I have plans for you. From now on, you will fish for people and catch them.”

Has there been a time when you have felt the presence of Jesus with you? What effect did that have?
Was there ever a time when you felt filled with an awareness of your sinfulness? What inspired that?

Too often in prayer I trot out my sins and repentance – and find God seems little interested in them. God is not in the business of punishment; we do enough of that ourselves. We may go through times of chastening, but those are really boot camp for mission. God is in the business of transformation. All that we offer up in confession is met with an overwhelming love and grace that invites us into new ways of being. We can spend years and a lot of energy feeling guilty or ashamed for how we operate or things we’ve done – and discover that God is much more interested in calling us forward into mission in Christ.

We may not have an explosive experience like Peter did that day in the boat, but we can, anytime, anywhere, come into the presence of the Holy through prayer. And in that presence, the presence of pure Goodness, we can be real about who we are and experience a love we cannot manufacture. And then we can move beyond that encounter into relationship, as we follow Jesus and develop the capacity for more and more of his life in us.

© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

So Many Fish – 2-5-25

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday’s gospel reading is here

Abundance is abundant in the Gospels. We saw it a few weeks ago in  the story of the water turned to wine; we see it this week with the miraculous catch of fish. Abundance is a core principle of God-Life, one of the ways God most often shows her hand – when there is unexpectedly enough, and even too much. That is what Simon Peter and his fisher-friends experienced on the lake that morning, when Jesus said, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 

I experienced abundance when I was heading to seminary at Yale and invited fellow congregants at my church to help me pay for it. I thought I might get a few hundred, maybe a thousand dollars to help defray the costs… and the money just kept rolling in, sometimes four figures at a time. In the end some $20,000 was given to support my theological education. Every time I expressed amazement, I could sense God laughing and saying, “See? Now do you believe me?”

If abundance is a principle of God’s realm on earth, why is there so much scarcity? In part, it’s because we’re more wired to see, to expect scarcity. We default to “not enough” – that’s what Jesus’ disciples saw when faced with the challenge of feeding a crowd of thousands. But God invites us to look beyond the “not enough” in front of us to the “what else?” all around us. God invites us to look beyond what we can see, period, and call God’s power to flow into situations of need.

Scarcity on a global level is due to human choices and to sin – greed, fear, and the damage to our planet which those forces wreak. The earth has the capacity to feed everyone on it, but some nations hoard food and water and play havoc with the environment. Most often the ruinous consequences like disease, famine and flooding fall upon the poorer nations. We can make better choices as people of prosperity – both because Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors, and from self-interest. Bono, the lead singer of U2, has written, “In the not-too-distant future, the rich world will invest in the education of the poor world, because it is our best protection against young minds being twisted by extremist ideologies – or growing up without any ideology at all, which could be worse. Nature abhors a vacuum; terrorism loves one.” We are still waiting for that day.

I have wandered far from our lakeshore and its boats sinking with the weight of such a large catch. That day in Galilee, the abundance was all from God. It was a sign to these fishermen in their own language that Jesus meant business, that this was what they could expect in a life in God – along with hardship and hunger. Over all, there would be enough, and often too much to handle.

This miraculous catch of fish was Jesus’ work. Yet it could not have been realized without the participation of the men on those boats. Abundance comes from God – and God always reveals it through people. Are you ready to haul in a boatload of fish?

© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

Experts – 2-4-25

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday’s gospel reading is here

Would a Wall Street whiz take financial tips from a wizard? A maestro adopt singing techniques from a Zen master? An athlete take coaching from an ascetic? Why on earth would a lifelong fisherman who knows his home waters like his own face take angling advice from an itinerant rabbi?

Jesus got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.”  

What exhaustion and exasperation Simon must have felt. When the fish aren’t biting, they’re not biting – or in this case, swimming into your nets. Try again tomorrow. They’d already come home, were already cleaning their nets. Why go out again now? And what does this guy know about it?

But Simon agrees. He calls Jesus “Master.” Is he already a follower of Jesus? The Gospel of John tells us that Simon’s brother Andrew met Jesus first, became convinced he was the long-awaited Messiah, and brought Simon to meet him. Perhaps a relationship is already growing; perhaps Jesus has set the bait and is just waiting for Simon to bite. Whether out of trust or politeness, Simon heads back out into the deep waters and lets down the nets.

Have you ever felt an instruction from Jesus, a Holy Spirit nudge? Did you act on it? What happened?

It can be hard to hear or respond when these nudges come in areas where we are experts. Even clergy, who are supposed to be moving on the winds of the Spirit all the time, can become so locked into our techniques and patterns that we are slow to respond in new ways, to even see that God is offering new opportunities, new places to set our nets. But everyone can find themselves working more effectively and grace-fully when we invite Jesus to be part of our work – teachers, doctors, actors, lawyers… God wants to work through us, especially where we are gifted and trained.

We have to be willing to listen, and we have to be willing to go back out when we’ve failed, if we sense Jesus inviting us to. Often we need to go to the deep water, where we can’t see the bottom, where the risk might be greater, where the outcome is unclear. The deep water also means going deep into our spirits, where we can dwell with God and be formed as Christ followers.

Going to the deep water requires us to let go and trust Jesus. When we let his Spirit work through us, instead of drawing on our own limited strength and insight, we soon find our nets full to bursting.

© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

Hungry For the Word – 2-3-25

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday’s gospel reading is here

This Friday I celebrate the 21st anniversary of my ordination as a priest. What a treat to find that the gospel for next Sunday is the one I chose for that blessed service. It tells the story of how Jesus baited, hooked and reeled in a fisherman, and made him a leader in God’s’ mission to reclaim, restore and renew all of creation to wholeness.

Yet in my ministry I have not encountered what Jesus did that day: so many people crowding in to hear the Word of God, they nearly pushed him into a lake: Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 

Has hunger for God’s word abated? To some extent, yes – prosperity and security can certainly dull a yearning for transcendent truth; anxiety and civic upheaval can sap our spiritual energy. And many people have only vaguely heard of Jesus. Yet there are churches with 25,000 people a weekend crowding in to hear about life in God. People are still hungry. How might we better feed them?

For one thing, churches can stop squabbling. I once had a vision in prayer of a crowd of agitated, ravenous people, facing upward, mouths open, like baby birds in a nest. And nearby stood a group of bakers, arguing about who had the best bread recipe. It was clear to me that this represented the church of our time. Conflict is not appealing.

And we need to get out more, to where people are, not expecting them to find us in the few hours on a Sunday morning we’re gathered in our church buildings. I know of a church in England that formed “mission-shaped communities,” groups of parishioners sent out to build relationships and host casual worship and prayer services among people to whom they felt called – young mothers, ex-cons, skate-boarders, bankers. The church implemented this strategy when a much-needed expansion of their sanctuary forced them out for eight months. During that time, so many people joined these mission-shaped communities, and then the church, that when the congregation got back into the expanded sanctuary, they were again short on space!

Might we try some version of that? How about outdoor “pop-up” spiritual events? Unity rallies? Online or in-person study or prayer groups people could drop into?

An even more basic strategy for those of us who have been “caught” in Jesus’ nets is to speak our love and joy and gratitude easily and often among those we know. Christian faith has never spread through lectures about theological concepts. It spreads by people talking about their experiences of God.  What’s your story? And to whom will you tell it?

If we all speak more of our spiritual lives with people outside the church, we might start to see just how many people around us are hungry for the Word of God.

© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

Jesus, Presented – 1-31-25

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday’s gospel reading is here

Sunday is the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord. When feast days fall on Sundays they supersede the regular lectionary. So the gospel story on which we’ve spent our time this week may not be the one you hear in church. Today, let’s look at the one for this feast day.

Jesus’ parents bring him to the temple in accordance with the Mosaic law governing the offering of firstborn males to the Lord: When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” 

But much more happened that day than the prescribed rituals of purification and sacrifice. They encountered two elderly people who confirmed for them the message the angel Gabriel had given before Jesus’ birth. One of these was Simeon, a good and holy man who believed God had promised him he would not die before seeing “the salvation of Israel.”* We’re told that the Spirit guided him to the temple that day, a reminder that God will get us where God wants us to be as we’re open to being led. Simeon was – and as soon as he saw the infant, he somehow knew he was seeing the long-awaited Messiah, the Savior. Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

But that’s not all Simeon said – he also told Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” This was perhaps a helpful “heads up” for Jesus’ mother, but must also have increased her worry for her firstborn. It resonates for us when we hear Jesus say,  “I have come to bring not peace but a sword,” indicating that the world would not accept him without conflict.

The holy family also encountered  an elderly woman, Anna. We’re told she was a prophet –women were recognized as prophets – and that she had been widowed young and had lived in the temple courts since then. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

It must have been a blessing to Mary and Joseph to receive such confirmation of their own incredible revelations. And it must also have made them wary. Yet all we are told of their response is that they took their baby home to Nazareth and cared for him; no mention in Luke of the flight into Egypt and exile there that Matthew records. Rather, we are told only that, The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

Jesus’ earthly parents did everything they could for him. The rest was up to God. The same is true for us.

* We are talking here about ancient Israel, not the modern nation state. They are not synonymous. 

© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

Just Passing Through – 1-30-25

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday’s gospel reading is here

Jesus pulls a serious Houdini move at the end of this week’s gospel story. We’ve watched the tension rise throughout this scene, as he makes his dramatic announcement in his hometown synagogue, which is met with amazement that soon turns to rage as his neighbors take offense at what he says next. This rage turns the crowd into a rampaging mob, ready to kill: When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way. 

Maybe we’re missing part of the story – it’s hard to imagine how they got that mad that quickly, but ugly things happen when strong emotions sweep a crowd. Jesus had so flipped their expectations, so badly disappointed and insulted them, that they went berserk. And it can be an unfortunate human tendency to try to expel that which threatens your sense of security. Hence the push to the cliff’s edge.

But somehow Jesus is immune to their evil intent and impervious to their attack. He simply passes through their midst and goes on his way. Did they stop looking at him, caught up in their frenzy? Or did he somehow make himself invisible, or dematerialize the way he seemed to do a few times after his resurrection? We are not told.

This curious scene does suggest to me a way to pray about situations of mass rage, whether in a real-life mob or a media attack: to remember that Jesus is there, unseen, unnoticed, but present. We can pray his presence into those situations, pray that those who have eyes and ears will perceive him. We can ask him to protect the vulnerable. We can ask him to release peace into conflict and turmoil.

The incarnate Jesus was just passing through this world, and he transformed every situation he encountered, even his own suffering and death. The risen and ascended Jesus is still passing through this world through His Spirit, transforming situations, even among people calling for his blood or that of his followers. Now he can be everywhere, and anywhere we call upon his name in faith. We need only invoke his name and by faith release his power and love, and see what changes. They may never know he was there, but something will have changed.

© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

Unpredictable God – 1-29-25

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday’s gospel reading is here

If prayer were never answered in ways we can discern, chances are we’d be okay with it, though we might stop praying. What is challenging, often maddening and sometimes heart-breaking, is that sometimes we seem to see answers in ways we want, and sometimes it seems we do not. It’s the unpredictability more than the disappointments that inhibit our faith, I think.

The people of Nazareth, having heard reports of the wonders Jesus was doing, expected that he would do the same and more in his hometown. But he says it’s not that predictable: “And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

This sent them into a murderous rage. Was Jesus saying God is capricious? That God cares more for Gentiles than for the chosen people? Why was only one widow helped during the three-and-a-half year famine? Why only one foreign leper healed? Does God only intervene when there’s a larger purpose? Why does God interact at all with God’s creation?

If I knew the answers to that, I’d be much holier (and maybe richer…) than I am now. Why we discern responses in some cases and not in others continues to perplex us. And none of us has a very full data set from which to draw conclusions. We have some stories in the Bible, some experiences of our own or other people, but no one knows what God’s record is. We only know that when we pray, sometimes remarkable things happen, and sometimes they do not.

When remarkable things result, and we feel they’re connected to our prayer, we should give thanks and tell people about it. It helps increase our faith and builds that of others. And when it seems we have no response, or not the one we want, we should also talk about that – talk to God about it, and other people, because that’s one definition of faith: to believe despite “evidence” to the contrary.

The purpose of prayer is not to ask for things and see what we get. The purpose of prayer is to communicate openly with the God who made us and loves us and knows us better than we can know ourselves, and through that communicating to come to know God more fully. And God has invited us to allow God’s Spirit to pray through us; then we’re praying for what God already intends to accomplish.  God’s prayers have a 100% response rate. Let’s figure out how to join ours to God’s. It’s as simple as “Come, Holy Spirit…”

© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

Connections – 1-28-25

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday’s gospel reading is here

I always feel a little more powerful when I know someone who can hook me up to things I need or people I should know. And I love being that person for others. Connections are how we get ahead. So imagine how excited Jesus’ neighbors in Nazareth were when their “homie” became a religious sensation, known not only for his wisdom but for his amazing miracles and works of power. This was the ultimate connection, someone who channeled the power of God! And he was one of them!

Then imagine their disappointment when he indicated he was unlikely to exercise much power in his own town: He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.”

He cited a few examples of prophets of old who were unable to address the needs of their own communities, yet could help outsiders. And man, did they not want to hear that. Their response was violent, probably more intense than if a stranger had said he couldn’t help them. No one expects too much from a stranger. But one of your own? You should be his first priority. How dare Jesus say he was not accepted there, that his powers would be somehow inhibited?

I find in their angry response an invitation for us to examine our own hearts when it comes to Jesus. I dare say anyone who has ever prayed fervently for something has experienced some disappointment in the outcome. If that disappointment is acute, or experienced too often, we can find ourselves angry. And since the church does not offer many outlets for expressing negative emotions about God, that anger can become pushed down and calcify into a polite estrangement.  We don’t try to push Jesus off a cliff, but we may push him out of our lives, stop trusting or asking or hanging out with him.

If this has been your experience, it’s good to recognize that, and begin to process it in prayer and maybe in pastoral conversation. Not for nothing is the rite of repentance in our tradition called “Reconciliation.” The greatest damage done when we turn away from God is to that relationship itself.

God is always, like the father in Jesus’ story about the prodigal son, out there in the road waiting for us to return. Can we walk back to that place, walk back through the hurt we encountered, the anger we experienced, the loss we suffered? Is our relationship with God worth it to us?

We don’t need to seek out connections; we are already hooked into the most powerful network in the universe, the power and love that flow from the throne of God. If that connection needs strengthening, let’s put our time and energy into repairing that breach. The arms of love await us.

© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

Hometown Hero – 1-27-25

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday’s gospel reading is here

It can be disorienting when a celebrity comes back to the place they grew up – they have a new identity and influence, yet people see them through lenses formed long ago. Everyone grows up somewhere, goes to school, plays sports, makes friends – and enemies. For Jesus, that somewhere was Nazareth, where he and his family settled upon return from their time of refuge in Egypt once King Herod had died (Matthew 2:19-23). And his townspeople were pretty sure they knew him. Even as he manifested a very different skill set than one needed for carpentry, and as his fame grew, they were pretty sure they knew him: Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 

Joseph’s son was how they knew him. Joseph’s son was familiar. But this man had another Father as well, and that paternity was now being revealed. When he said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” Jesus was owning his divine identity, his messianic mission. That life would not prove so familiar.

Do we ever feel proud of Jesus? Do we feel we know him? It can be hard to feel gratitude or pride when we’re just so used to him being around. Those who have grown up in the church have heard about this guy our whole lives. We know his life story, his teachings, his miracles. He’s a stained glass window in the background. How can he surprise us?

Try this: Go back to the beginning. As many glimpses as I may have caught of Jesus over the years, I know I don’t have a clue. So I read the Gospels as though I’m being introduced to Jesus – who is he? I pray, “Let me know you, as you know me.” Occasionally I get words in my mind which I feel are him speaking; they reveal a little about him. I ask him for inspiration in ministry, and sometimes am flooded with ideas. That shows me a little about who he is. Prayer, study, ministry, worship – these are some of the best ways we have of getting to know Jesus. What’s your strategy?

This Jesus, who lives in us and through us and around us, is not completely knowable in this life and yet is much more than a stained glass saint. “For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened,” he promised (Luke 11:10). As we seek him, we find him – and find he isn’t anything like we expected.

© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.