other gospels, and he combines them into one remarkable passage. In Matthew

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1 Luke 5:1-11 Sinful Man The author of this gospel takes three events we can find in different contexts in the other gospels, and he combines them into one remarkable passage. In Matthew and Mark we can also find Jesus teaching the crowd from a boat at the Sea of Galilee- that s the more familiar name of this Lake Gennesaret. In those accounts, it was just anybody s boat, but here it is Simon s. That s Simon Peter, by the way, though he doesn t get the nickname, Peter or Rocky, for a while yet. Now, you may remember early in Matthew and Mark the time Jesus is simply walking along the beach when he comes across four fishermen, Simon and Andrew and James and John, and he says, Follow me, and they immediately drop their nets and climb out of the boats and follow. Here, too, is the call of his first disciples, but they leave everything and follow only after the teaching they have heard from earlier that day and seen the miracle and pulled the fish on board and brought the boats back to shore. And in John s gospel is this same story of the miraculous catch of fish- or at least a second account very similar- in which the fishermen have been out all night and caught nothing, but at Jesus direction they cast the net one more time and haul up such a great weight of fish they can hardly pull it in, or so heavy the boats begin to sink.

2 So these three stories: teaching from the boat, the call of disciples, the miracle catch, all stand-alone accounts in Matthew or Mark or John, and they stand as part of the overall story of Jesus that each gospel writer wants to tell; they are told in a certain way and placed in a particular order to serve the theological intent of each author. But Luke puts these three stories together so that he might express his own theology and give meanings within this scripture that fit a certain way in the context of his larger story in the gospel, and as well, the story of the beginnings of the church in his volume two, the Book of Acts. Now, this is our introduction to Simon. He is mentioned a few verses earlier in chapter 4 when Jesus came to his house and cured his mother-in-law of a high fever, but this is the first time he is a character in the scene, the first time he speaks. And I like that his first words are an obedient response to Jesus. So already we know something about him; already he acquiesces to Jesus willalthough his answer to Jesus does seem passive-aggressive, or at the least a bit peevish, We ve been fishing all night with no luck, but ok, I ll do it. And he uses a term of respect, Master, somewhat non-committal compared to the next title he uses, but still, respect; and I think it comes from this: Simon says (Simon Says, oh, that should have been a great sermon title!), At your word I ll try the

3 deep water once again. At your word and I think that word is the content of his teaching Simon had just heard that morning with Jesus in the boat. The miracle catch didn t come out of nowhere, it proved the teachings of Jesus- that was its purpose. The miracle was the fleshing out, or the incarnation, of the profound words Jesus had spoken; at that point, the words of faith and hope Simon had heard became a life-altering call to total obedience. And Simon now falls to his knees and calls Jesus by a name greater than mere respect: Lord, he says, a word of repentance and confession and worship. What has happened to Simon? He has heard and seen amazing things, and he falls to his knees and calls Jesus, Lord. But then he says, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man. Something we maybe didn t expect from him. How does he mean this- can we put ourselves in Simon s place, and thus understand him? Has some occurrence in your life- a miracle or a great fear, a time of sufferingcaused you to see the truth about yourself? A spiritual awakening, if you will, that showed you true humble goodness, so that you became aware of your own neediness, your own selfish longings- so deep they were, so self-centered, you thought, I am such a sinful person. Here is Simon, in one instant, coming to question and doubt everything about himself: his home, his successful business-

4 with partners and two boats; but the stranger, in just a couple of days, heals illness in Simon s house, and finds fish where Simon had caught none; and suddenly he is a failure, a sinful man, facing this man without failings, this blessed man, who speaks and miracles happen. Yes, Simon is humbled. And so should we be; and each day we should contemplate the perfect goodness of our Lord, not only in worship, but in order to see clearly how small we are, how full of ourselves, how sinful. But there is another meaning in Simon s response. Simon, like any of us, as well, is placed in a moral dilemma by Jesus goodness: what will he do realizing that Jesus is Lord, and what will we do? Simon says, Depart from me. And it means, my life was pretty good until now, but now good isn t good enough, is it? Jesus as Lord demands everything. Depart because it s easier if you will just let me be. Simon doesn t mean that Jesus is too good for him, but that his goodness demands too much of him. He has experienced the grace of Jesus in this miracle and in the call to follow him, and he would rather have his pretty good life and be free of the demand of grace. I am a sinful man, means he has been confronted by the mercy and power of God, and he knows it will cost him everything; and he is terrified. Just like his boat he is almost sinking- because of grace, but the only

5 thing that can keep him afloat is continued grace. If he turns from Jesus, he will sink. He may gain back his pretty good life, but he will have lost everything else. Here at the Table is a sign of God s grace- a miracle that proves every week how much we have been given, but also a demand that we not turn away or turn back; rather, that we give thanks and follow. Here at the Table is food for the journey. The scripture says that they left everything and followed him. But we could also understand it to mean that Jesus had taken everything- that s the cost, so that he might give them something more- that s the grace; the miracle and the call had made them new men; and it gave them a new occupation, they now were catching people- and they could never fail with the Lord showing them where to throw the nets. The grace that overwhelmed Simon and the others, would also capture and amaze Jerusalem and the world. And it began right here, as Luke tells it, with this man, Simon, who fell to his knees, and became the first among the disciples and the leader of the early church. We may think that leaving everything and following is only for those special few- apostles and saints and martyrs, but not for the rest of us. That, after all, some

6 us of need to stay at home and live normal lives and raise families and do work and make money, so that we can support the special ones. But be honest, that s just us trying to keep control of ourselves and refusing to let God control us; that s us trying to limit the cost of grace to our weekly 10% and still feel good about ourselves; trying to hang onto our pretty good lives, and in effect saying to Jesus, Depart from me - your goodness demands too much. This is the truth: leaving everything and following is for every one of us. It doesn t necessarily mean that we all must change jobs and become preachers or chaplains or missionaries, but it means that we will be remade. All of us, in every job and every walk of life, as students, as parents and children and friends and citizens; that in our occupations and relationships, Jesus is our everything, and the only thing worth following. It will certainly mean making this change, that we change our hearts and our way of thinking- it means repentance and conversion, and learning to love what our Lord loves; it will mean leaving behind prideful prejudices and selfish concerns and clinging to things. Perhaps not following him literally along the road or into a religious job, but following him into the truth about ourselves and about our life and about the world.

7 And wherever we are, catching people, showing them the amazing grace that has claimed us and made us full of hope; no longer fearful and sinful men and women- we ve left that behind- but hopeful, because in all the places he has led us, he has never left us behind.