The Rev. Kristin Krantz, St. James’, Mt. Airy
Epiphany 5C, February 6, 2022
Isaiah 6:1-8, Psalm 138, Luke 5:1-11
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them, take our hands and work through them,
take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen.
Y’all, today I had to wear my stole that was handcrafted by a Peruvian artisan because of the gospel. I know it’s hard to see from where you are, and even harder online, but starting at the top here this stole tells the story of Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection.
And I bought it because of this little panel right down here, which illustrates the miraculous catch we read about today. The fishes are iridescent and for whatever reason Jesus has his arms raised in a way that always makes me think he’s yelling, “Score!” as his friends haul in their overfilled net.
This story is about more than a miracle and an abundance of fish, however. At its core, Jesus’ call of the disciples is about the creation of community, which is a fundamental building block of Christianity.
But while the image of fishing of for people to create community is the shiny thing that catches our eye, today I want to draw your attention to Simon Peter, because his story has a lot to teach us.
Something I never once thought about until this week is that Simon Peter already knew Jesus prior to his epiphany on the boat.
Jesus had stayed at Simon Peter’s house, and even healed his mother-in-law.[1] He respected him as a compelling teacher, thus calling him “Master.”[2] He let him use his boat as a podium for teaching the crowds on the shore.
He knew him well enough for all of that, but he had not yet become Jesus’ disciple. Why? What was holding him back?
At any rate, when Jesus told him to put his boat out into deep water and let down his nets, he shared his skepticism, but faithfully did so.
That they pulled up an astounding, overwhelming catch, was a clear sign – especially to a fisherman – that Jesus was God’s anointed. And in that moment something changed for Simon Peter.
His reaction may surprise us though. As their nets were beginning to break and another boat came to help, Simon Peter fell to his knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
And here we see what had been holding him back – a lack of faith. Not a lack of faith in Jesus, whom he called “Master” and “Lord”, but a lack of faith in himself, in his own capacities and worth, and in the very idea that God could use an ordinary person, a mere fisherman, to accomplish God’s purposes.[3]
To borrow from Isaiah’s story, Simon Peter was convinced he was unclean and in need of purification. And so he fell at Jesus’ feet in fear.
But Jesus saw Simon Peter, and he loved him. Instead of punishing him for his sins, or even forgiving him, he did something else – he recruited him.
Simon Peter’s calling unfolded over time; it wasn’t sudden, until it was. And as we know from reading the rest of the story that accepting Jesus’ call didn’t make him perfect. His life was roller coaster ride of faithful action and getting it wrong over and over again.
But that’s how it works. As the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said, “We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low.”
God works through ordinary, sinful people who remain faithful because they keep saying “Here I am Lord.”
And that brings us to the thread I’m weaving through this whole season to reflect on what our weekly scripture readings tell us about how to live our baptism.
When we say yes to following Jesus we are living our baptism.
Today’s gospel shows us that accepting that call isn’t a one-time event, it’s an ongoing choice we make throughout our lives.
But just as importantly, Simon Peter’s story teaches us that we don’t have to be perfect. We just have to continually turn our hearts to God, confess and make amends when needed, and do our best to follow in Christ’s footsteps.
God’s love, mercy, and grace will help us along the way when we stumble, and God will rejoice with us when we get it right. That is something worth giving our lives to, and living every day. Amen.
[1] Luke 4:38-39.
[2]SALT Project Lectionary Commentary for Epiphany 5C.
[3] SALT Project Lectionary Commentary for Epiphany 5C.