Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord and Savior sanctify you in the truth, for His word is truth. Amen

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (2010)

Face-to-face with God Rev. Toby Byrd

Luke 5:1-11 (ESV)

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, [2] and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. [3] Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. [4] And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. [5] And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." [6] And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.[7] They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. [8] But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."[9] For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, [10] and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." [11] And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

The opening sentence of today’s Gospel Reading says, “On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God” (v.1). Oh what a marvelous day it would be if the crowds were pressing to get into the church to hear the Word of God. How marvelous it would be if they would flock to His house everywhere, filled with excitement to listen to His Word and to receive from Him the promises of the Gospel. But, alas, the experience that people come in great crowds to hear God’s Word is rather unusual. It is truly unfortunate that too many today fit the words of Isaiah in today’s Old Testament Reading. People hear, but they do not understand, they see, but they do not perceive, their eyes are blind, their ears are heavy, and their hearts do not understand.

Since before the days of Isaiah, mankind has constantly chased after other gods, false gods, fooling themselves into believing they can somehow appease these gods through their works. They have abandoned the true, Triune God in favor of carved images or self-righteousness. Thus, when one realizes for the first time that they are in the presence of the One and Only God, the Triune God, they are overwhelmed with fear and trembling because they realize that in their sinful condition they are unfit to be in His presence. Such is the case of Isaiah in today’s Old Testament Reading and the case of St. Peter in the Gospel Reading.

When Isaiah realizes he is in the presence of God the Almighty he says, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5 ESV). When St. Peter realizes he is in the presence of God, he falls on his knees and says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (v. 8). Humbled by His presence, two men, giants of the faith, acknowledge their unworthiness of being in God’s presence. On this Sabbath day, you too, are in the presence of God, therefore in all humility, ask the Holy Spirit to open your hearts and minds to your unworthiness as you come face-to-face with God as He calls you to a life of faith.

The events of today’s Gospel take place after Andrew, Peter’s brother, has introduced Peter to Jesus, telling him, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41 (ESV)). Although St. Peter is no stranger to Jesus, the Holy Spirit had not yet revealed to him what the name “Messiah” means. Like so many of his brethren, he is waiting for an earthly king to swoop in like a white knight and rescue Israel from the bonds of slavery. He is looking for a man who would resurrect the kingdom of Israel to its former glory during the reign of King David. No, St. Peter did not yet understand that this man Jesus was in fact; God incarnate.

Sadly, such is the case with so many today. They don’t really understand the meaning of the word “Messiah.” If they did, they wouldn’t try to save themselves from the fires of hell through their own works and deeds. They wouldn’t turn the Gospel into Law, requiring the Gospel to give directions and commands for holy living, expecting that if they simply obey and perform the works called for, they will be saved from the fires of hell.

As had happened on other occasions a crowd had gathered, eager to listen to Jesus speak. Each and every one wanted to hear His words of consolation and forgiveness. As the crowd gathers, Peter, Andrew, and his partners John and James had just docked their boats after a night of fruitless fishing and were drying their nets. To Peter’s surprise, Jesus steps into his boat and asks him to row it a few feet away from the shore so he could teach the people. God has a habit of doing things like this, surprising us when we least expect it with His presence and He did so with Peter. Although Peter hadn’t planned it, he became part of the congregation that so eagerly listened to Jesus. Standing only a few feet away from our Lord, Peter heard every word that Jesus uttered to the crowd. Thus, without Peter’s knowledge, decision, or desire, Jesus placed the true seed of faith into his heart. Our Lord stepped into Peter’s life; Peter did not step into His. Our Lord chose Peter, Peter did not choose Him.

After speaking to the crowd, Jesus turns to Peter and says to him, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (v. 4). It’s rather clear from the reading that Peter thought this request by Jesus would be fruitless, for in responding to this instruction, he says, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!” (v.5). It’s interesting to note that in responding to Jesus, Peter calls Him “Master,” a term used by a servant in recognition of human authority. Continuing his response, St. Peter says, “But at your word I will let down the nets” (v. 5). Obviously, there is something very special in the presence of this man named Jesus. Here is Peter, an independent man, a hardy and skilled fisherman, one not used to taking orders from others yet he agrees to do as our Lord Jesus tells him, even if he thought it would be fruitless.

Following the advice of our Lord Jesus, to Peter’s astonishment, his nets are filled with fish, so many in fact that the nets begin to break. There were so many and they weighed so much that Peter had to call for John and James to bring their boat alongside his to assist them in raising the nets. Even at this, the catch was so heavy that both boats were on the verge of sinking. St. Peter is astonished and realizes he is in the presence of God. Falling on his knees before Jesus, St. Peter cries out, ““Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (v. 8). Peter is stunned by the miracle of this great catch. Moreover, he is overwhelmed by the presence of this man Jesus and he no longer addresses Jesus as Master, but, instead he addresses Him as the Messiah, the Savior of mankind; he addresses Him as Lord.

St. Peter has come face-to-face with God. This man, who is before him, is not merely someone who will restore Israel to its former greatness. No, a thousand times no, because He is the Lord! He has power over all living creatures and control over all events. He is all powerful and all mighty. Thus, St. Peter prostrates himself in awe and in reverence at the feet of Jesus, filled with fear at his unworthiness.

What does it mean then to have a Lord? The story of the miraculous catch of fish in today’s Gospel Reading gives us an answer. First, to have a Lord is to experience the enormous distance between sinners such as us and God. To have a Lord is to confess our abject sinfulness in comparison to His brilliant and untarnished holiness. Indeed, Jesus had just given St. Peter a glimpse of that divine holiness by granting to this fisherman a miraculous catch of fish. Who could do such miraculous things other than the Lord Himself who has earth, heaven, and all creation in His hands? Suddenly, the boat, which is too small for the fish becomes far too small for St. Peter. In his fear, St. Peter desires to hide from the Lord; there is no place for him to go. He has come face-to-face with the reality that the whole world suddenly becomes very small when confronted by the overwhelming presence of the Holy God.

Secondly, to know the Lord is to hear and believe what Jesus says about Himself. He says, “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am” (John 13:13 ESV). To know the Lord is to know Jesus as the Savior of the world who reaches down into the midst of your fear and necessary repentance to grant you forgiveness and to quiet your troubled soul. To know the Lord is to hear the Gospel, the forgiveness of sins and to personally experience the weight of your sins being lifted off your shoulders by a gracious, merciful, and loving God.

These two experiences: repentance caused by the threat of your un-holiness in the face of God’s holiness and relief as a result of God’s mercy, granting His forgiveness to you for Christ’s sake, is how the true believer lives every day until the day you are called from this life into the God’s Kingdom of Glory. Thus, the Lord Jesus comes to be your Lord as you live in this believer’s experience, as you live the baptized life of faith. Now the narrowness of the world is no longer a threat. You, like St. Peter, have the Lord ever so close because you have Him through the promise of the Gospel: the Gospel, which is eagerly and joyously received by the sinner who savors the pronouncement of holy absolution. Thus, a world too narrow is just what the believer seeks, because in that narrow world, the Lord comes close and says in friendly and loving tones, “I forgive you.”

Today’s Gospel presents the great doctrine of our inner distress and conflict of conscience when faced with our sins and what constitutes our true comfort in the midst of it. Only after St. Peter sees the wonderful work of Christ and the abundance it produced, did he begin to consider what sort of a Man this wonderworker must be, and what sort of a man he himself was by comparison. Out of this great blessing, suddenly there comes upon him a greater distress than he had ever experienced. Now, because of his terror, he becomes so thoroughly poor and destitute in the presence of Jesus that he slumps to his knees and bids Jesus to depart from him. Coming face-to-face with God, He has begins to feel his unworthiness and his sins. He is forced to acknowledge that he is indeed, a poor sinner, lost, and without hope. In this encounter, the Holy Spirit changed St. Peter’s heart, converting him from an unbeliever to a believer; in this conversion, the Holy Spirit has placed St. Peter on the path to salvation.

The sermon that Jesus preached from the boat begins to have its effect on St. Peter. St. Peter perceives the greatness of this miracle and the blessing, and he realizes through this event just what sort of man this Jesus is, he stumbles both at the greatness of the blessing and of the person on the one hand, and on the other, at the extent of his own unworthiness. He trembles on account of his sins. His heart tells him he does not deserve such great favor and that he is far more deserving of God's wrath and disfavor. Therefore, he is filled with anxiety and fear, uncertain as to his ability to stand before God and before this man who has shown this great favor to such an unworthy and sinful human being as he. Having convicted Peter of his sinfulness, Jesus begins to make St. Peter spiritually rich in things that have eternal goodness.

Our Lord, Jesus did all this so that St. Peter might be able to impart the grace and mercy he has received from the Lord to others, yes, even to the entire world. From that day forward, St. Peter is to become a different man; he has been renewed and regenerated by the Holy Spirit, a greater miracle is worked in him than in the catch of fish. No longer a fisherman plying his trade on the Sea of Galilee, Peter and the others would that day become fishers of men, destined to proclaim the Gospel and build Christ’s Church.

Listening to St. Luke’s account of the conversion of St. Peter you might be asking yourself if you can be found in Peter’s boat with our Lord? You might be asking yourself, have you been an eyewitness to His miracles such as the great catch of fish, or have you heard a sermon preached by our Lord that would turn your heart to Him; forsaking all other gods? To which I would ask, have you seen a baptism, witnessed Holy Communion, listened to the words of absolution spoken from the chancel. Then, the answer is, yes, you have been a witness to the miracles of our Lord and you are a living miracle of conversion caused by listening to the Word of God preached from the pulpit, for just like St. Peter, you are convicted by the Law and terrified of your sinful condition.

But thanks be to God, the Holy Spirit has opened your heart to Jesus, who, in order to reconcile you with His heavenly Father, willing sacrificed His life for the forgiveness of your sins. In that single, sacrificial act, our Lord worked the greatest miracle of all; He took your sins upon Himself willingly giving His life so you could be saved. Our Savior who loved you so much that He died for you comes to you just as He did for these first four apostles, calling upon you to proclaim the forgiveness of sins in His Name to your family, your friends, your neighbors and to the entire world; for in calling you He says, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men” (v. 10). Amen.

May the Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen