Pr. T.C. Arnold
5^th Sunday after Trinity
Luke 5:1-11
July 12, 2009
 
            Think for a moment about that feeling you get deep in the pit of your stomach when you are afraid.  It’s an uncomfortable feeling to say the least.  It’s an experience we try to avoid even though all of us know what fear feels like.  But just sitting here and thinking about fear and actually experiencing it are two totally different encounters.  The more our fears become a reality, the more intense the horror becomes.  Maybe to put it another way, the closer we get to the very thing that we are afraid of, the more we begin to tremble and shake.

            For example, if one were afraid of taking exams, the mere thought of a test would cause a certain amount of apprehension.   Maybe it’s a job interview that causes your stomach to turn.  Now, it’s one level of fear to just think of taking a test or going into a job interview, but it’s a whole other level, a higher level, for us to be in a room, sitting in the chair, and having that test paper in front us.  Or, sitting in a room and having the big boss in his big chair staring you in the eye.

            Peter, in the Gospel lection for today, experiences a level of fear that could be compared to that “higher level.”  His fear is rooted in his seemingly inevitable condemnation.  Jesus, this man who performed a miraculous deed of what presumably was an impossible catch, is standing mere inches from this self proclaimed sinner.  Peter’s realization of his sin causes him to fall to his knees and shout to the Lord, “Depart from me, I am a sinner.”  I have done evil.  I have been bad.  Please leave because I fear your wrath against me.

            From this experience that Peter has with the Lord on the Sea of Galilee, we become better acquainted with the intensity of fear when it’s on our own doorstep.  When fear is standing right next to us, when it is staring us right in the eye, there is no other feeling that remotely compares.    Peter’s fear is generated from sin – the sin of not living up to the standard in which our Lord would have him to live.  Peter has fallen short and does not deserve to stand in the presence of God.  Peter realized the deity of Jesus in a way that virtually overcomes him and makes him feel his utter unworthiness in Jesus presence.  We too fall short.  Our sins deem us unworthy.  Unworthy because of the way we have portrayed our lives, and lived for only ourselves – unworthy to stand in the presence of God.

            There is no doubt that Peter’s situation is unique.  Maybe that is one reason why we do not relate well to this text.  Maybe one reason why it is hard for us to understand the reaction of Peter is that we ourselves, in our own hearts and consciences have perhaps never come to anything like Peter’s realization of our utter sinfulness.  We are too liable to stand forth in the temple like the Pharisee proclaiming our own self righteousness rather than far back, ashamed to look up at our Lord.  We are more likely to point our finger at someone else, rather than point at ourselves.

            Peter’s situation may be unique. But the sinfulness that lies deep within him, and the hopeless fear that overcame him as his sinfulness was exposed, should be no different for any of us.  Our distance from God in daily living makes it all the easier for us to continue in ungodly ways.  When we stand at a comfortable distance from God, sin doesn’t seem so bad.  It’s easier to cheat on the test when we are not near God.  It’s easier to cheat other people when we are not near God.  It’s easy to cheat God, when we are not standing right next to Him witnessing a miracle.

            I stand here before you today, good Christians, sharing with you a common problem.  We are not near God.  Oh yes, you are here today.  But what about the other six days of the week?  Are you near God?  Are you near God in daily prayer and devotion?  Are you near God in His Word everyday?  If we take to heart Peter’s situation with Jesus Christ in his own boat, in his own profession, the Lord standing right next to him, we can see how Peter might have felt a little unworthy.  Realize this, our Lord is just as close to us today as He was with Peter in that boat.  And along with that closeness to God our sin and fear of God’s wrath as sinful people is also realized.  However, so are these words, “FEAR NOT.”

            Our Lord says,         “FEAR NOT.”  And in Peter’s case, “from now on you will catch men.”  FEAR NOT our Lord says when sin rears it’s ugly head in our lives.  FEAR NOT when we speak the words Peter spoke to the Lord, “Go away, I am a sinner.”  As we realize our sins more and more through the Law given to us by God and written on our hearts, realize also through the Gospel…  FEAR NOT, your sins are forgiven.

            In many places throughout Scripture the fathers of our faith have experienced what we continue to live with.  Abraham, in Genesis, pleaded for Sodom as he recognized his lowliness in the presence of the Lord when he proclaimed, “Now that I have been so bold to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but ashes” (Gen. 18:27).   Job also pleaded in the presence of the Lord as he witnessed the Lord’s power, “I am dust and ashes” (Job 42:6).  And Isaiah, the greatest of the writing prophets, proclaimed, “I am ruined – I am a man of unclean lips.”  Prophets who stood in the presence of God were afraid.  They saw their demise and destruction.  But the Lord says, FEAR NOT.

            He says FEAR NOT to Peter.  Peter had the privilege of walking with Jesus before this miracle took place.  Along with Andrew, Peter was one of the very first disciples called by Jesus.  Peter was even in the presence of the Lord to witness his mother-in-law cured of her high fever.  Though this was not the first time Peter and the others walked with the Lord, on this day their loose association with a man from Nazareth would become a closely knit fellowship with their God.  It was this miracle of a big catch that happened in close proximity to Peter that brought to light his utter contempt.  Peter not only saw the miracle, he heard the words.  That is, the words that came from the Lord’s mouth on the Sea of Galilee that day.

            We have before our very eyes in this text some of the first catechumens, people who were being instructed in God’s Word.  Our Lord used a boat and a shore line as a classroom.  Momentarily, the boat becomes the place where Christ proclaims the kingdom and where the miraculous results of his teaching are contained.  This boat, this symbol of the church, is where Christ’s teaching takes place and where believers are gathered.

            We gather today as Christians hearing the Word of God being preached.  Our surroundings are a little more comfortable than a dirty sea shore and a wave tossed boat.  But it is not where we are that matters.  What matters is what is being said.  The Word of our Lord is coming to you.  The Word comes to give comfort.  The Word comes to gather the people near the shore.  And the Word comes and says, “FEAR NOT.”

            “FEAR NOT your sins are forgiven,” the Lord says.  “FEAR NOT, I have placed upon myself the sins of the world.”  FEAR NOT, the devil and all his works and ways.  FEAR NOT the sin that drags us through the mud.  There are times when we feel like crying out to the Lord what Peter exclaimed, “Go away, I am a sinner.”  But Jesus comes to save, to comfort and to forgive, not to go away.  Therefore, FEAR NOT.  Jesus Christ, the one who knew no sin, became sin for us on the cross.  Because He knew what fate would bring, He tells Peter, He tells us, FEAR NOT.   When life has got a choke hold on your throat, FEAR NOT the Lord is with you.  When sin overcomes us and the feeling of guilt and shame persists, FEAR NOT.  Our Lord Jesus Christ, who sat on the bow of a boat and said these Words meant them in the fullest way then and today.

            I have been given the distinct privilege of serving Christ Lutheran Church as the Sr. Pastor.  I have been called by God to preach the rightly divided Word.  Is that scary you might ask? Yes.  Can we be afraid at work, or with family?  Can we be afraid at school or in church?  I believe all of us could attest to what fear is like.  We have all been scared.  We have all felt the weight of worry upon our shoulders.  Whether that be from taking a simple test, or the sins we bear, our Lord says FEAR NOT.  FEAR NOT your sins for I have paid for them with my blood.  FEAR NOT all you who are burdened and heavy laden, for I will give you rest.  FEAR NOT I will be with you always to the very end of the age. Amen

The peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.