The Readings
The New Testament
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you--unless you have come to believe in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them--though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.
The Gospel
Luke 5:1-11
Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He 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. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So 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. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and 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." When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
The Sermon
5th Epiphany
We have been reading
Paul's letter to the Corinthians the last few weeks. Last week Paul
wrote about the importance of love and how it permeates everything
that is good. In the reading today he focuses on grace. He tells us
about his evil ways in his early days. After all, Paul participated
in the persecuting of the followers of Jesus, even to the point of
executing them. He tells the people in Corinth ,”But by the grace
of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain.”
God gave Paul a second chance and Paul was determined to get it
right this time. Did Paul lead the perfect God centered life?
Probably not. Paul gives us an insight to his imperfections when he
confesses in his letter to the Romans, “ I do not understand what I
do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do.”
Does that sound like anyone you know?
Paul was relying on God's
grace, God's forgiveness to give him a second chance and a third
chance and a forth chance and so on.... Paul was telling the
Corinthians that God loves us and God knows we are flawed and if we
truly ask God's forgiveness, God will graciously give it.
In this reading from Luke,
Jesus is preaching from the boat that happened to belong to Simon
Peter. When he finished speaking to those who were gathered he tells
Simon to go out deeper in the lake and caste his net. Simon does so
reluctantly saying that they had been fishing all night and not
caught a darned thing. Of course this time they caught fish and
caught them abundantly.
The heart of this story is
what happens next. Jesus tells Simon, James and John that 'from now
on you will be fishers of people.” They dropped everything and
followed him.
That was then, this is
now. We are the ones who follow in the footsteps of those who first
followed Jesus. Jesus has the same message for us as well. We are
to go into the vast sea of humanity and share the same good news of
grace and salvation that Jesus shared with others on the shore of
lake Genesaret. He wants us to cast our net into that sea and bring
others into the joy of the good news!
Jesus does not want us to
sit back comfortably. He wants us to share his message of love and
grace with the people in our world. I was talking with a friend of
mine who had moved to Chariton a little over a year ago and she
shared with me her faith journey. I asked her how she happened to
choose the church she attended and her response was, “I was
invited.” That was it. Someone invited her.
So, let us not be timid
about our faith and lets share the Good News.
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