I want to talk with you about the “net.”
No, not the internet. Not a hair net. Not a butterfly net. And definitely not the dog-catchers net. I am not talking mosquito netting either.
But a net – net, you know, a fishing net, just not the kind of “fishing net” that probably popped into your mind.
I never knew there were so many different kinds of nets. There are safety nets, all purpose nets, sports nets, fall protection nets and industrial netting.
There are nets for Badminton, Ping-Pong, or Table Tennis nets, Volleyball nets and Basketball nets. There is even a team called the Brooklyn Nets!
I wonder what the difference is between a salmon net and a trout net. Do the fish know the difference? Are they insulted if you use the wrong net? There are live-well nets, landing nets, minnow nets, crappie nets and tropical fish nets.
But the kind of net I am referring to – is a special kind. A breed of its own…
No aluminum handle. Just rope and floats and weights. The kind of net – that I am referring to is called a seine.
I never heard of a seine before. I am not making this up. There actually is a word seine. (Spelled s-e-i-n-e, but pronounced with a long A sound, “seine.”) It is a fishing net that hangs vertically in the water, having floats at the upper edge and sinkers at the lower edge…
A seine was a first century fishing net. I was intrigued by the whole concept.
This word is used only one time in the Early Christian Writings – and it is right here in Matthew and in our pericope for today!
This specific type of net is pulled through the water and it takes up or catches everything it can. Everything.
The seine gathers up everything in its pathway. This means not only fish, but also seaweed, old rubber boots, turtles, old bottles and even the trash that is thrown or discarded into the water.
The scriptures say, it gathers “out of all nations.”
When the net was hauled onto the shore, they would sit down and gather up “the good” into a container. The word translated as “good” – is NOT strictly a word relating to “morality.”
That same word for “good” can also mean “beautiful, “excellent” or “magnificent.”
And the word used for “bad” can also mean “putrid,” “rotten” or “corrupt!”
You might even wonder if this parable is less about “morality” and more about “what is useful.”
We are not given any criterion by which fishermen decide to throw some items away, while keeping others…
Presumably they threw old-dead rotting fish and useless old bottles and a “one of a kind boot.” I mean who needs a left boot only?
The fishermen do not haul the net ashore until it is full. The fishermen also do not make the absolute final judgment. It is not for the fishermen, or “for us,” to determine ultimately “what is useful” or “not” or even what is “evil or righteous.”
Someone else makes that final judgment.
What I really like, is after having told 5 more parables in a row, which the people were to “think about” digest and ponder over and finally apply to their own lives…
Jesus asks the twelve if “they have understood all of this” and without batting an eye, in one loud voice – they all say, “YES!”
So what crazy old me takes away from this one parable is that…
Grumpy old Uncle Charlie, he’s in…because Jesus suffered and died and rose again for a whole host of people including – Uncle Charlie! Even the grumpy ones will no doubt be saved!
You know those right-wing-holier –than-thou-spouting-scripture-Evangelicals – there in. All those SUV – driving suburbanites – there in.
Blacks, gays, urbanites, left-handers, gluten intolerant folks, farmers, those with hundreds of tats, and those with more piercings than you can shake a stick at and those who are currently incarcerated – they too…are in.
I would say there is going to be one big party going on, with a lot of surprised looks from some people.
All those people who no habla Ingles – there in, as are all the Swedes.
And even more than that – more than we can wrap our heads around; that “mysterious kingdom of heaven” is drawing all of creation into it…like a big net cast into the sea…
And not just people either, but cats, dogs, great sea turtles and probably even a mosquito or two!