…Father Riley will lead us in Holy Eucharist Sundays Feb 17 & 24th.
…Start marking your calendars: Father Riley will be with us for Ash Wednesday service at noon March 6, 2019. We will begin our Lenten early morning Sunday School with Father Riley March 10th. The theme this year is to seek guidance from Father Riley on topics from the Bible and Prayer Book which we may not fully understand.
5 EPIPHANY - C - 19 LUKE 5. 1-11
If you have been to the
region of Galilee and stood on the shore of
the sea, you have seen the many little inlets that dot the shoreline that serve
as mini
amphitheaters. Today if you
get in a boat and push out a bit from the shore, you can talk in a quite a
natural voice, and anyone on the slopes of the inlet can hear you clearly - more clearly in fact than if you were right
there on the shore with them.
Luke says that is exactly
what Jesus did. Other wise the crowd would not have been able to hear him. He
enlisted Peter to take him out in his boat away from the shore so the crowds
could indeed hear him speak the word of God. When He had finished teaching,
Jesus turns to Peter and says, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets
for a catch.”
Peter and the other fishermen had toiled all
night and caught nothing. They had just finished washing their nets and putting
them away. It was not a rational thing to do to put them out again. Yet there
was something about Jesus’ command that caused Peter to comply.
Too Peter’s surprise and the
surprise of the other fishermen, their nets suddenly became full of fish to the
point of breaking. Peter called for help. It took two boats and their crews to
make the haul to the shore before they were swamped by the weight of the catch.
In last week’s Old Testament
lesson, we heard the call of young Jeremiah. When God called him, he said he
was unworthy to respond due to his youthfulness. God touched his mouth with his
hand and made Jeremiah worthy to answer the call and to speak for God.
In today’s Old Testament lesson, we have the
call of Isaiah. He too felt his unworthiness and confessed it before the Lord.
Again, God made him worthy by cleansing his lips with a live coal from the
altar. Upon witnessing the miraculous catch of fish, Peter falls down at Jesus’
knees and confesses his sinfulness.
Jesus tells him to not be
afraid from henceforth, he will be catching men. What was Peter afraid of?
Simon’s fear was a natural one. Upon witnessing the miracle, he realized he was
in the presence of divine power in the person of Jesus Christ and was unworthy
to be there.
He confesses his sinfulness
and is made worthy as evidenced by Jesus’ pronouncement that from now on he
will be catching men, meaning he will join Jesus in His mission of bringing God
to man and man to God. “When they had brought their boats to shore, they left
everything and followed him."
What about the fish? Don’t
you think that Peter, astounded by nets bursting with fish, entertained the
potential of such a catch? Fish were his business. Suddenly there were more
than he ever imagined. Selling would be easier than ever. If Jesus could do it
once, couldn’t he do it again?
“Do not be afraid,” Jesus
said to Peter, who grasped at his knees, fearful of the power behind the huge
catch of fish. Yet, he, James, and John left everything, including the
tremendous catch of fish on the beach, and followed him.
We too follow, but not with
the same abandon. The world we live in today contains just as many
distractions. Too often, we cling tightly to what seems important to us in this
life without regard to the next. Peter, James and John left the sea behind. It
was their chosen vocation. The only life they knew. In following Jesus,
however, they found their true vocation.
The deep yielded more from
the water than a great shoal of fish that day. It yielded the power of Him who
died and rose again and these would be disciples realized the power of God at
work in Him, perhaps according to Luke, for the first time. Others have not.
We were all buried with
Christ and raised to new life with Him through the waters of Holy Baptism. Yet,
many Christians still cling to the font and are afraid to venture out to do the
work we have been given to do. They have not left everything behind as the
disciples did. They do not follow with the same abandonment.
What about the fish, we say.
That is, what is it we are afraid of leaving behind? What it is we continue to
cling to and are afraid to sacrifice in order to follow Jesus more fully? Our
fish comes in different sizes and shapes: power, prestige, wealth, all are tied
to self and selfish interests. It is the life we know and are most comfortable
with. Yet, it is not our true vocation.
The very idea that Jesus has
invited us to participate in his divine mission causes some to become fearful.
If it is the same kind of fear Peter possessed at the moment he grasped Jesus’
knees, and confessed his sinfulness, then it is a natural fear brought to light
by the presence of God that causes one to realize his or her unworthiness.
On the other hand, if it is the kind of fear
that causes one to dread God finding us out, as if he cannot, then it is a fear
of retribution. If it is a fear, that if we commit ourselves to Him, as the
disciples did with abandon, it will lead us into the unknown then it is a fear
that will keep us from following him.
Either way it is a fear that
will prevent us from accepting God’s grace that makes us worthy to stand before
him; a fear that will result in our failure to discover our true vocation, and
a fear that will keep us clinging to the font.
If we are to discover and
fulfill our true vocation, we have to forget about the fish, whatever that may
be, and leave them behind as Peter, James and John did. We have to acknowledge
the fact that none of us is worthy. We have to realize that we have nothing
that is truly ours to offer God in exchange for His love, except our own
sinfulness.
If we offer it to Him, in all
humility, He will absolve us with His grace and make us worthy to receive the
liberty of that abundant life which He has made known to us in His Son, Our
Savior, Jesus Christ. His Love will
teach us to trust in Him. His Holy Spirit will lead us in the paths He has
chosen for us to walk in. Our faith will sustain us when the world’s
distractions call out to us.
We are reading and listening
to Luke’s gospel today because Jesus kept his promise to Peter. When Jesus
calls, he certainly does demand everything, but only because he has already
given everything. “When they had brought their boats to shore, they left
everything and followed him.”
May God give us the grace and
strength to follow their example of leaving the fish behind and following Him
who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, even Jesus Christ, Our Lord. AMEN+
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