Sermon Feb 7, 2010
Communion Sunday/5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 p 935
15Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, 2through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain. 3For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.
Luke 5:1-11 p 836
5Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3He 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. 4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7So 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. 8But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; 10and 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.” 11When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
We grow up in a culture of self esteem- or at least a culture that struggles with self esteem.- we give out gold stars and certificates to our children so they will know that they are good achievers, that they are full of self esteem, that they are loved. But we, most of us, don’t believe it ourselves.
There used to be a running skit on Saturday Night Live. In it, a character named Stewart Smalley, would host a show called “Daily Affirmation”. He would encourage his guests who were riddled with self doubt to look into a mirror and say positive things about themselves, and confirm it by saying:- “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and, dog gone it, people like me.”
It was funny because many of the guests like basketball great Michael Jordan expressed doubts we all feel but assume successful people couldn’t possibly struggle with. This week’s readings feature three of the big names in Scripture, Isaiah, Simon, that is Peter (though this is before Jesus gives him that name) and Paul, and all are struggling with a sense of unworthiness, because all find themselves in the presence of God. .
In the Gospel text this morning, Jesus is out in the Galilean countryside. And the people so much want to hear him, to hear the good news that they crowd onto the lakeshore. When Jesus is by the lakeshore with Simon, he asks Simon for one of his boats. And Simon puts out into the water, a little ways. Jesus had already been at Simon’s home, and had cured his mother in law of her illness. So perhaps Simon felt a debt of gratitude to Jesus.
And Jesus, after teaching the crowd, told Simon to put out into the deep water and go fishing again. This is after they have fished all night, and have been pulled up on shore, cleaning their nets—because that’s what you do at the end of your shift, clean your equipment. But Simon does put out his nets, and the catch is so large, so amazing, that it threatens to tear the nets and sink not one but two boats- because Simon had to call to John and James to come out and help, there were so many fish.
Simon Peter, then, in an instant—in a flash, because Simon does everything quickly, falls to his knees and says “Go away from me LORD, for I am a sinful man.” Go away, for I am sinful.
Now, I don’t think this would be my first reaction. Mine might be “great-- food for all” Or even I’m stickin’ with this guy- whenever he’s around, things start looking up! But that’s not Simon Peter’s reaction- he falls to his knees- in fear and trembling- because he sees that this is God sitting in the boat with him- Simon calls him Kyrie- LORD- and Simon Peter also sees himself in startling truth- “for I am a sinful man.”
In the 6th chapter of the book of Isaiah, Isaiah has a similar experience- Isaiah is serving in the Temple, and he sees the Lord God in the Temple—and there is smoke, and thunder so loud the doors of the temple shake, and angels that look like fire. And Isaiah’s reaction is “Woe is me”- meaning, I am doomed—“Woe is me,” he says, “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!”
But Isaiah is not doomed, and Simon Peter, in the boat, is not struck down. Jesus words to Simon Peter are: “Do not be afraid”
Do not fear. And then, in the boat, Jesus goes on to tell Simon Peter about his future, to give him his own mission statement: “Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching people.”
We have been studying, these past few weeks, Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. Paul has been writing to a church that is divided. And it is a church that Paul himself started- Paul was in the business of catching people, as well. Paul in this portion of the letter wants to push past all the noise and divisions, wants to get down to the solid foundation that binds them all together, the reason they are a church at all. He reminds them of “The good news that I proclaimed to you, in which you also stand, through which also you are being saved…if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you…that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”
Did you hear that? Jesus appeared to Cephas- Cephas is the Greek name for Peter- Jesus appeared to Simon Peter, Peter who told Jesus to go away, Peter who would get things so wrong, who only in flashes, sees who Jesus really is, Peter who would later deny Jesus—Jesus in his resurrection glory appears to Peter.
Paul goes on to say that last of all, Jesus appeared also to him. “For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” There it is- there is Paul’s confession- And yet Jesus also appeared to him—
In the boat, Jesus does not wait for Peter to be better, to be holier, to be worthy. And Jesus did not wait for Paul to change his ways, to stop persecuting the church, to come to his senses- God in Jesus called them each, where they were. Paul goes on to say “but by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been in vain.” God’s grace has not been in vain- Jesus said of Peter “upon this rock I will build my church” and Peter became a preacher and leader of the early church, Paul went on to start new churches in many areas, instead of persecuting believers, he built and supported churches in the Gentile areas.
I know that some of us are uncomfortable with talk of sin, and if we have grown up in a church culture that stressed sin, we are tired of it. But we have a prayer of confession every week in worship,because we need to see what Peter saw. We need to say out loud what Isaiah said. Confession and remorse do not earn us worthiness—but they are a way of radically telling the truth- about who we are, and about who God is. I grew up in a faith tradition in which, the week before we shared communion, we prayed a prayer of self- examination—to make a thorough examination of ourselves, to see where our sin and guilt were, and to confess them before we came to the table. Because we were not worthy to come to the table.
And the truth is, we are not worthy. No one can earn his or her way to the Table. This is not a Table for people who are good- this a table for us who are struggling, for us who are trying to be faithful, for us who fall and fail. That prayer of self examination? It goes on to say this:
Therefore, our self-examination must not end in despair.
We are called to trust God’s work on our behalf
and to receive the gift of forgiveness offered us in Christ Jesus.
Our reconciliation to God is found in trusting this good news—
that before we chose God, God chose us.
We are what God has made us,
created in Christ Jesus for good works,
prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
Because in our seeing our sinfulness, we see the enormity of Gods grace to us. Like Peter, like Isaiah, like Paul, we begin to know how much God loves us and the whole of creation. God’s grace to us has not been in vain. Thanks be to God. Amen.
