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08 February 1998
Epiphany 5C
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As we started the new year I suggested that this could be a year when we "make the Lord bigger in our lives." A year in which we magnify the Lord. And I suggested that we needed to keep our eyes open, for it is the way of Jesus to show up where we live. And that statement is based on watching and listening in the Scriptures, to stories like these we heard today.
According to Paul, the Risen Lord, the glorious one, appeared to Cephas (Peter) to the twelve, to 500 brothers and sisters, to James and the apostles, and even to Saul who breathed threats and curses in his self-appointed role of persecutor in the name of God. Imagine that, the Risen Lord showed up on the road, in the path of a sworn enemy! Prior to that, Jesus showed up in the work place—again—to talk, to teach, to heal, to reveal the love of God. Simon and the others were just coming ashore after a night that yielded nothing, mocking their hard work and determination.
Exhausted, they sat down to finish their work, mending their nets. Into this familiar and daily scene comes Jesus and a crowd. And Jesus asks to use the boat for a pulpit. And so it goes. Jesus comes into our everyday places, even places we do not ordinarily associate with "holy or sacred ground." Jesus doesn't come when we are ready, or when we are good and prepared and have everything in order. He comes at the right time for God.
What is of importance for us, of course, is to understand that he will show up in our kitchen, probably when the meal in the oven is burning, the phone is ringing, and the guests have shown up at the door. He will come to our office when we are hopelessly behind in the paper work that should have been faxed 30 minutes ago, and just after the phone call from a co-worker who is upset about the work she has just received from us. He will show up in the car when we are fuming about being stopped, again, by a red light on Highway 111 and just after we were cut off by a driver who made a lane change unannounced and unexpected (and who got through the light).
Watch for him, Jesus lives where we do. And he loves to drop in on his family members. Expect it.
To make God larger in our lives means to trust God more than we ever have at any time in our life. Saul, the persecutor, was filled with God. Saul, righteously indignant, and on a mission to eradicate all followers of Christ, loved God. Saul thought no one could love God or trust God more than he did. And at the right time for God—Saul was knocked down, blinded, humbled. Having got his attention, God called forth a deeper knowledge, a deeper trust. And Paul, the great apostle of Jesus, spent a lifetime making God larger in his life and in the lives of many.
Simon knew a lot about fishing. His life depended on it. And yet, here was Jesus, the carpenter's son, telling him to move into deep water in the middle of the day (no less), and lower the nets for a catch. Against his natural inclinations, his vast experience as a fisherman, and against the exhaustion of catching nothing during the dark, cold, hours of the night, Simon (Peter) responds: "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets."
That's all it took: "...if you say so, I will let down the nets." When you have given God an opening, be prepared, you never know what God is going to do next. Does God still work like this? You know it.
Dr. Richard Anderson, a pastor who likes hiking as much as I do, tells his own version of this Gospel story. Instead of a lake, we have a mountain and a storm. Like Simon, the request made of Richard seemed to make no sense. Like Simon, Richard was able to give God an opening. The miraculous catch of fish became a cabin and life. But do not doubt that the same Lord was present.
About 10 years ago I was fortunate enough to travel to Switzerland and see the magnificent Alps. Of course . . . I am never content just looking at mountains. I must climb them as well. So while I was there I decided to hike to the top of one of the smaller mountains just above where I was staying. It was a gorgeous day when I began and since the trek wasn't very steep I didn't bring along much equipment. I thought I'd get to the top and be back for supper. When I reached about the halfway mark, suddenly an enormous black cloud came swooping down. Before I even had the chance to put my jacket on it began to rain. I was soaked to the skin. But then the rain turned into snow, things began to look very, very bad. I hadn't even a warm jacket. I was above the tree line so there was no shelter whatsoever. I knew it would take me hours to get back down and by then I could be frozen to death, as the storm became more and more fierce.
But what choice did I have? I began to pray asking God to show me the way, and suddenly I had the impulse to start heading upward, towards the top. My mind kept telling me this made no sense at all, I should at least try to get down, but here I was struggling to go even higher. How foolish and yet I somehow sensed this is where God was directing me. After a short time I could hardly walk, I was so cold and everything seemed hopeless and yet I was given the strength to reach the ridge that was above me. And lo and behold on the other side of that ridge there existed a small cabin, with smoke rising out of the chimney. A cabin that seemed to come out of nowhere for it was the first one I had seen all day. I made my way down to it and was greeted by a wonderful Swiss couple, who were just as surprised to see me out in such weather. Needless to say they fed me and put me up for the night. Just before I went to bed, the old man said to me, "Thanks be to God that you found this place." I've never heard words that were more true than those. (1)
"Thanks be to God that you found this place." That is certainly one reaction called forth by God's grace and power. And Simon Peter expressed another: "... he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" We are utterly dependent on God and when we see this clearly we give thanks. And with our eyes open wider still we see the glory of God and our own weakness and sin and are appalled. In the instant of recognition we think to ourselves: "I do not deserve to be in the presence of such glory and goodness. I do not deserve to be here, leave me in my miserable state." The Good News is that God is in charge, not us.
Jesus had already chosen to journey with Simon (Peter). Peter's self-criticism was just that, self-criticism. Jesus saw a rock, a solid foundation upon which to build. Jesus saw a leader, just the leader he needed to grow the church. Though his sinfulness was true enough, Jesus' grace was more potent still. And the centuries have not diminished that grace and power. And the centuries have not used up the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Whether we utter words of thanksgiving or confess our sinfulness (knowing God could never really love or work with us), the truth is that God is in charge.
The Apostle tells us: ... it is just as the Scriptures say, "What God has planned for people who love him is more than eyes have seen or ears have heard. It has never even entered our minds!"
Trust that love—it is right in front of you, it is where you live. Trust that grace—it is in the same boat as you, it is offered to you, no matter what you think of yourself. Make God larger in your life starting today. Understand this, the miracle of God's love, God's presence in our world continues in you! Thanks be to God.
(1) Dr. Richard Andersen quoted in Dynamic Preaching, April, May, June, 1997
(2) 1 Cor 2:9 (The Contemporary English [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1995 by the American Bible Society.)
The Rev. Daniel Rondeau
drondeau@stmargarets.org
08February 1998