This lesson reminds me of one of the greatest novels ever written: Earnest Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. Santiago is an old fisherman. Fishing is his job, his love, his life. By the fruits of the sea Santiago survives. But recent times have been tough. He has not caught a single fish in over a month. This is bad news for Santiago. It would be like us going to work every day for a month and getting no pay. You can only survive so long by going without, and when you live day to day, and pay to pay, the length of time you can go without is dramatically decreased.
But this recent run of bad luck has not just cost Santiago income, or sustenance, it has also cost him the companionship and comradery of his first mate, Manolin. Manolin too is a fisherman. He is in his early adolescence, but he is the provider for his family. Because Santiago is catching nothing, Manolin is being forced to go out with others who are catching fish. He hates leaving his beloved old man alone, but he has no choice.
Manolin has no choice to go out with others, and Santiago has no choice but to go out alone. He pushes his small wooden skiff away from the sandy beach of Cuba and into the vastness of the deep seas. All alone, he paddles out far beyond the other boats in hopes of finding fish. He sets his line and he waits. Suddenly he finds himself embattled with a great marlin. It begins to drag him out to sea. He is not about to loose this behemoth, and so he holds fast and goes along for the ride. Day turns to night, as Cuba’s lights slowly dim. He is all alone with the fish wishing he had the boy to help.
Finally, he defeats the 18 foot monster and lashes it to his dwarfish boat. He sets his sail and point it toward home. But day again turns to night, and with the darkness comes schools of sharks sensing an easy meal. When he finally arrives home, there is nothing left but an eighteen foot skeleton. He is exhausted and he leaves what’s left of his greatest trophy lashed to the boat and limps tiredly back to his little cabana.
Peter is much like Santiago. He is just a regular guy. If we follow the life of Peter we find that he is always just a regular guy – the type of guy you might find right beside you at work. He has a temper, he is strong headed, he’s just a good old boy! And like Santiago, he too is a fisherman. He’s not the kind who goes for fun. He’s not a catch and release tournament fisherman. He’s a poor, blue collar, fisherman, who’s life depends on catching fish. Fishing is his job, his love, his life. We find Peter on the shore after a hard night’s work. A fruitless night of work. Peter must have been tired, and grumpy because like Santiago, no fish means no food. Every day is a fight for survival. His whole identity…his whole life is consumed by fishing. Every night is spent hoping to catch enough food to survive, and every day is spent sleeping, dreaming of that one big catch. His whole life is focused on one question: will I catch enough fish? This particular morning, the answer was no.
Then Jesus came along. Jesus, knowing Peter’s situation, knowing Peter’s need, provides the catch of a lifetime. It is a catch that Peter can’t handle alone. He begins calling another boat for help. When the others arrive they bring in the catch. Even with both boats working, the catch is almost too much as the boats begin to sink! Suddenly, Peter’s life is revolving around a new question. No longer is he concerned with catching enough fish. In the presence of Christ, his sole concern is whether or not he can share the fish with enough others. Santiago had no one to help. He worked alone. He had no one with which to share to fish, and in the end, he lost his fish. He didn’t even have any left for himself. But Peter is able to call out to others, he is able to share the large catch and they get the fish to shore.
This fish story becomes a metaphor for Peter’s spiritual journey and for ours. Just as Peter had a physical need…fish, so too, Peter had a spiritual need. It was not something he recognized at first. It was not a need he realized until he was confronted by the miraculous presence of God in Christ. Peter was lost, he was alone, he was in sin. In the presence of Christ “he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.’” It is a confession echoed in this morning’s Isaiah passage, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among people with unclean lips.” It is a confession we must all make. In the presence of the holiness of God, we become painfully aware of our inadequacy, of our shortcomings, of our sinfulness. When we become aware of this truth, we must accept it. We must own up to it. We must confess, with Isaiah and with Peter our brokenness and our sinfulness.
Just as Christ met Peter’s need for fish, so too does Christ meet Peter’s spiritual need. “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Jesus replied, “Don’t be afraid…” With just three little words, Jesus addressed Peter’s spiritual need. When we realize and confess our sinfulness, we come to another realization. God’s holiness and our sinfulness don’t mix at all. That can be a very scary realization. The prospect of being separated forever from God has the potential of causing within us a great sense of anxiety. But Jesus gives Peter certain assurance that he need not fear. Why need he not fear? Because God’s provision is more than enough!
Isaiah had unclean lips. To Isaiah, God provided an angel bearing a red hot coal. This coal was touched to Isaiah’s lips and burned away all the filth. “Now that this has touched your lips, you guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Peter need not fear – we need not fear – because Jesus is the coal for our lips…the remedy for our sinfulness. If sin has forever separated us from God, Christ has forever brought us back into God’s presence. God has provided in Christ a means by which our sins can be forgiven and by which our relationship with God can be restored.
Not only did Christ provide words of assurance that Peter’s sinfulness would be addressed, but the grace of Christ is so abundant that he takes a broken, sinful person like Peter and is willing to use him. “from now on you will be catching people.” If Peter thought the fish Christ provided was so great, how much greater is the grace of God that not only provides forgiveness and reconciliation, but also is able to use broken, sinful people to carry out His work? Peter saw that the only way he could possibly respond to the abundance of fish was to call others to the fish as well. Peter also say that the only way he could respond to the abundance of God’s grace in Christ was to call others to Christ as well. And so Peter “left everything and followed him.”
This is just the beginning of the story of St. Peter. He was not instantly perfect. He frequently stumbled. He even on occasion denied Christ. And yet because he knew the gift of grace given to him required him to call others to that same grace in Christ, he left everything and followed. Imperfect as he was, he was Peter, the rock upon which the church was built.
I can’t help but wonder what would have happened had Peter not called out to his friends for help with the fish? Would his nets have held up? Would he have lost the catch? Would he have ended up like Santiago with nothing of the catch left? Would his boat have sunk under the weight of the fish? Would Peter have lost everything? I think the only way Peter could have had any fish for himself was to share his fish with as many as he could.
I also wonder, what would have happened if Peter would have tried to keep all the grace of Christ for himself? What if he had not left everything to follow Christ and share Him with others? Would he have still been the Rock? Would he have still been foundational in the building of the Church? Would he have been able to have any grace for himself at all? I think, accepting grace means accepting a call. I think, accepting grace means leaving everything and following. I think, grace is like sand, the tighter it is held, the more it is lost. I think if Peter would have not been willing to leave everything and follow Christ so that Christ might be shared with the world, Peter would have lost the grace that was given to him.
That is a challenge for us today as well because it is regular, imperfect, broken people like Isaiah, like Peter, and like you and me that are the rocks with which Christ builds His church. But we must be willing to leave everything to follow him. We must be willing to give up everything to share his grace with others. This is no small task, but neither is it of small consequence. The salvation of the world depends on our willingness to “leave everything behind and follow him.”
One of the things I love to do is to listen to you all. Since I have come here, I have done a lot of listening. I have been listening for answers to two questions: what makes our hearts beat? And what weighs heavy on our hearts? Every congregation has these two elements. Every congregation has something in their identity that make them who they are…that makes them unique…that separates them from the other churches in Toronto and from the other Nazarene Churches in East Ohio. Every congregation also has a burden God has placed on their heart. It is out of this burden that a church’s mission grows.
I believe every church has such a burden. I believe every church has such a mission. I believe every church has such a call. Despite every church having a burden, a passion, a call, some churches seem stagnant. Others seem in perpetual decline. Still others see people’s needs met, see people’s lives transformed, see people come to Christ and to grow in holiness, and they seem to flourish. Why, if every church has a passion and a burden and a call and a mission, do some flourish while others do not?
I believe the answer lies in this morning’s two stories. God has given each of us all the grace necessary to see the church thrive. The real question is what we will do with that grace? Will we be a Church who, like the Old Man in the Sea, is unable to connect with others, who is unable to share with others, and in the end is left with nothing? Or will we be a Church who, like Peter, leaves everything behind us to call others to Christ? Remember fishing wasn’t just a hobby for Peter. It was his job. It was his livelihood. It was security and his way of life. It was his identity, it was his passion, it was his uniqueness. It was all that he had and all that he was. Churches who flounder hold tightly to the things they love, while Churches who flourish leave everything they love in order to follow.
Our mission must compel us to let go. Our mission must drive us to leave our own ways, our own desires, our own likes, and our own preferences behind. Our mission calls us to follow Peter in leaving everything, even our sense of security, even our sense of familiarity to call others that they might share in the grace of Christ. For the glory of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment