1Once 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 gotten 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 burst. 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’s knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9For he and all who were with him were astounded 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.
Luke 5:1-11
My sermon from the 5th Sunday after Epiphany (February 9, 2025) on Luke 5:1-11 and Isaiah 6:1-8.
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I wonder – what did you expect to happen in worship today? I know, because of the snow, I spent most of this week anxiously wondering if this moment would even happen. My energy was tied up in the logistics for a Sunday that won’t meet our usual expectations. But taking time to focus on what happens when the divine shows up is, I think, pretty much what worship is about. The act of worship isn’t about what we do; it’s about where God chooses to be. We gather together virtually or in-person trusting that, regardless of whatever happened this week, this is the moment where you are seen, known, and loved. The divine really is meeting you right now even though our expectations for what this moment should be like probably varies from person to person. We might imagine that when God shows up, we should feel a kind of peace and comfort – as if a warm towel was suddenly draped over our shoulders. Or maybe we hoped some passion, energy, a guitar, and a voice would lift up our hands, our hearts, and our souls. Maybe we need this moment to have a kind of silence large enough to overcome the other noises telling us that we aren’t who God made us to be. Or when the divine shows up, we assume we’ll be inspired by a word propelling us into something new. What we want is an encounter with the divine that changes this current moment into something truly positive and amazing. Which is why our readings today from Isaiah and the gospel according to Luke feel a little weird because when the divine does show up, everyone’s first response is full of fear.
Now the fear we see in these readings isn’t what we feel while watching a scary movie. When Isaiah and Peter encountered the divine, they were truly afraid for their lives. There was a belief that when the holy showed up, our story could come to its end. And we see this when Isaiah received a vision of God where the Holy Temple in Jerusalem became an extension of a heavenly palace. God, as we read, was an overwhelming presence sitting on a throne while wrapped by a royal robe that filled the entire space. Around God flew all kinds of fantastical beings that were covered in way too many wings and eyes. Nothing about Isaiah’s vision was meant to bring comfort or peace since he was witnessing just how powerful God truly is. Isaiah, in that moment, was overcome by a sense of his own humanity since comparing his createdness with God’s uncreatedness stole any sense of joy he had. His words weren’t simply what we’d expect a prophet in our Bible to share. He was, instead, articulating just how imperfect he truly was. These words weren’t about questioning his sense of worth or his own self-esteem. He was, instead, feeling an incredible sense of awe that was indistinguishable from terror and fear. Isaiah’s response was, I think, something we would feel if the hem of God’s royal robe suddenly filled whatever space we’re currently in. So why did Peter, while hanging out with Jesus who wasn’t being physically massive and over the top, react to God in the very same way?
Now this probably wasn’t the first time Peter – aka Simon – met Jesus. In the verses right before today’s story, Jesus went into Peter’s house and healed Peter’s mother-in-law from a deadly fever. Jesus, at the time, was doing what he always did – preaching, teaching, and bringing wholeness to those who needed it. Their experience of the divine was the kind of experience so many of us want for ourselves – and our family members – right now. This is why, I think, Peter was perfectly fine with Jesus jumping into his boat and using the water as a way to amplify the sound of his voice so everyone could hear what he had to say. His experience with Jesus was already positive so he didn’t mind sticking around on the Lake of Gennesaret (which was just another name for the Sea of Galilee) after a night where Peter caught nothing. Peter was probably a little disappointed by how little he caught even though he knew that some nights, the fish were biting while others, they’re not. Peter was doing what he always did, using his gifts to take care of his friends and family. That typical moment was a little strange since there was currently a 30 year old shouting out over the water. But when Jesus, with a word, invited Peter and his friends to fill their boat with all kinds of fish, that abundance scared Peter half-to-death. Now Peter had already experienced the divine yet all this life; all this bounty; all this stuff to take care of his extended family didn’t inspire him with hope and joy. That moment, when Jesus displayed the kind of power over the others, should have caused Peter to give up everything to cling to all that wealth and control. But when the divine made its presence felt in this particular way, Peter was instead full of awe and fear.
And maybe – just maybe – that really is a healthy response to when God shows up. God isn’t only about bringing us peace and comfort; God also challenges, transforms, and changes. God, as God, will always be bigger than our expectations. And while we have a habit of mistaking displays of power as true power itself, our God will also remind us of how loved – and created – we truly are. We often, I think, hope that a certain kind of ideology, way of life, or exercise of power will transcend how human we truly are. What we long for is access to whatever will create all that fish rather than the One who created that fish in the first place. Yet the God who brings us comfort is also a God who isn’t afraid to move us out of whatever is holding us back and into something a bit more true. God’s willingness to do this, though, is terrifying since we have to unlearn those thoughts, beliefs, and understanding that cares about power over rather than power with. When the divine shows up, abundant life always flows. And while we often want that life only for ourselves, it’s telling that Peter left all that fish for others to discover what God’s love chooses to do. That doesn’t mean, however, that we don’t need comfort and peace from our God since that is often how we are held through all the chaos life can bring. Yet I wonder what it would be like if we also let our encounter with the divine be something that can challenge, change, and even scare us. It’s scary, I think, to trust that this moment won’t be the sum of all our moments nor will our story be the default story meant for everyone else in the world. It’s terrifying to realize that people around us, including those we don’t like or even understand, really do bear the image of God. Our hands might shake when we realize how much our sense of self depends on the displays of power we or others exercise over others. And it’s frightening to see how Jesus chooses to give life to others whenever we do our best to take it. Our experience of the divine will never be the end-all-be-all of what the divine will do since God is always bigger than what we can imagine. And while that can be scary, it’s also a blessing since it’s this same God who, in baptism, has promised to never let you go. Our encounter of the divine will sometimes be obvious or peaceful or ridiculously scary. Yet the One who is with you will also be the One who moves you into an eternal and everlasting future where God’s life will flow out of your life to bring hope to the world.
Amen.