When Truth Calls

When Truth Calls
Rev. Stephen E. Stults
St. Barnabas Anglican Church
5th Sunday in Trinity 2011
July 17, 2011

Luke 5:8 “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Our gospel for the day is a powerful “compressed” collection of teachings regarding the Christian life and our attitudes towards God. Not only does it illustrate what happens when we truly “open up” to God, but it also gives us some indication of our reaction to God’s call.

We’re all familiar with the scene from the fifth chapter of Luke. Jesus is preaching by the Lake of Gennesaret to a large crowd. The multitude is actually “pressing” upon Him. That is, the crowd is so large that Christ does not have any room and must take position in a boat some distance off shore. The Gospel tells us that “He sat down and taught the people out of the ship.” What is so remarkable about this is not so much the size of the crowd, which was very large, but why they came to hear Him. There must have been many motives for coming, ranging from the ones seeking a cure and to others who had heard about Jesus and were merely curious. But, judging by the “press” of the crowd, there must have been something more that the people wanted. It may be summed up in one word: TRUTH.

A long time ago, before the stock brokerage business went through its recent consolidation phase, there were many different and distinct brokerage firms. You may remember an ad for a brokerage firm named E.F. Hutton, which is no longer around. The tag line went, “When E.F. Hutton speaks, people listen.” Not to be trite, but when Christ was present during His earthly ministry, the same effect happened: “When Jesus Christ spoke, people listened.” We are told in Mat 7:29: “For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Every word that Christ spoke was truth. The crowds recognized that and were drawn to it, like moths to the light.

There is something instinctive in mankind, something that hungers for the truth. This hunger is known by many names today: self-fulfillment, self-esteem, and self-actualization. They are all various attempts, usually vain, of people to fill the void in their souls. As St. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:7: ”Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Note that in the three modern phrases just used, self-fulfillment, self-esteem, and self-actualization, there is one flawed common denominator: SELF. When man looks to man or worse yet, to his own inner being for ultimate fulfillment, he will always be disappointed. Why? Because man by himself, being tainted by original sin and being finite, is incapable of providing that ultimate, infinite truth that he seeks. For that, he must look beyond himself to the Ultimate Itself, God. You may recall that famous saying by St. Augustine, that all of us have a God-sized hole in our souls, meaning that there is a space in our spiritual selves that only God can fill.

This is what the crowd sought, some of them consciously, while others acted on an unconscious urge they probably didn’t understand or even recognize. Yet, it was there, an urge moving them towards the Truth. Thus, they were drawn to Jesus. It’s been said by some early church fathers that God’s truth is so self-evident and so persuasive, that even the damned, upon hearing their judgment, will say to God, “Thou art just.”

In this case, Jesus picks Simon Peter’s boat, not out of coincidence, but out of the foreordained Will of God. Peter is soon to become a chosen instrument of God, although he doesn’t know it. His life will never be the same after meeting Jesus.

The next set of events set forth in this Gospel passage teach us about trust, about the effects of hearing the Word of God and about our reaction to the call of God.
First, Simon Peter trusts Jesus, as Christ tells him to launch his nets into the deep for a catch. Note that even though the nets have been washed and were ready to be put away and even though they had worked all night fruitlessly, Simon Peter recognizes the authority of Jesus and obeys His word. In effect, he opens up and is receptive to Christ.
The result is immediate and tremendous, as a miraculous draft of fishes occurs. The catch is so large that it actually overfills both boats. Matthew Henry tells us: “Now by this vast draught of fishes, (1.) Christ intended to show his dominion in the seas as well as on the dry land, over its wealth as over its waves. Thus he would show that he was that Son of man under whose feet all things were put, and particularly the fish of the sea and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea, Ps. viii. 8. (2.) He intended hereby to confirm the doctrine he had just now preached out of Peter's ship.”

The parallel to our lives is direct and powerful. When we trust Christ, when we listen to His truth contained in Holy Scripture and to the stirrings of our soul through the Holy Spirit, things begin to happen in our lives. While they may not be as dramatic as the miraculous draft of fishes, they are nonetheless real and meaningful. Often, the Spirit of God speaks to our spirits in ways and on levels we don’t understand. We only begin to appreciate this later when the fruit of the Spirit begins to appear. That is, when one begins to bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, contentment and gentleness.

This fruit has its seeds planted when one listens to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This may be to what Jesus is referring when He speaks of the Kingdom of God being like a tiny mustard seed, from which sprouted a great tree that gave shade to many. (Mt. 13:31) The seed of God, once planted in a soul, will, with proper nurturing, bear great fruit. This nurturing includes regular Sunday worship, fellowship with other Christians, and private prayer.

Simon Peter teaches us one final truth from this passage, namely, our reaction to the call of God. After seeing the great catch of fish and the context in which it occurred, he realizes that he is in the presence of Holiness. Note that Peter does not offer Our Lord a handshake, or a “high five”, or even an encounter group-type hug. Contrasting his own unworthiness with the Purity before him, he falls to his knees and says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” The Gospel tells us he was “astonished” at the miracle that was taking place. In fact, in good Hebraic theological fashion, he was probably terrified that the Holiness near him would consume him in his sinfulness. He does not, in good modern style, get immediately familiar with Jesus or attempt to get on a first-name basis with Christ. In this case, Simon realizes his own sinfulness vis-à-vis the incredible holiness of Jesus. He senses his unworthiness ands falls to his knees.

Here is where Peter gets it exactly right. As you know, in the Bible Simon Peter is an “Everyman” figure. On one hand, he’s brash, tempestuous and impulsive. On the other hand, he’s afraid, doesn’t tell the truth and is actually cowardly. But, he always cares. He’s passionate and he’s definitely not lukewarm. He is, in fact, someone with whom God can work. God can turn great sinners into great saints, but He cannot turn lukewarm people into anything. Remember the quote from Rev. 3:15-16 as the Holy Spirit upbraids the Laodiceans: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” That is a very strong statement.

Sometimes, we tend to over-stress and undervalue the familiarity we have with God through Christ. There is a real danger in moving from the concept of “What a friend we have in Jesus” to the overly familiar, “My buddy Jesus.” One is a respectful, worshipful admiration and thanksgiving for Christ’s advocacy for us. This is His true Friendship towards us. The other leans towards an arrogant demand that God accept me “just as I am”, without any excuses. While it is true that our merciful and all-loving Father accepts us as we are, He does so in repentance through Christ, He does not want us to stay in that spiritually neutral state. Rather, we are to grow in Christ and to become mature Christians, despite our physical age. God wants us to exhibit the signs of mature Christianity: tempered tongues, abundant stewardship and grateful hearts. As we mature in Christ we can move from the statement of Peter, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord”, to where, with a simple and worshipful heart we look up and say with St. Thomas, “My Lord and my God.”

Our growth won’t stop there. As we grow in the Spirit and in our personal relationship with Jesus Christ, God prepares us for the next step. Recall what Christ said to Peter, “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” What does this mean? Does it mean, like my first landlord in Atlanta, that we are to go out and pass out flyers for our favorite tele-evangelist? Personally, I don’t think so. However, we are supposed to be a walking advertisement for Christ.

As our process of sanctification continues, as we become more and more filled with the Spirit, God will put people in our way that need what we have. Think of this; you may be the difference in someone’s life. You, or rather the Spirit of God in you, may be the difference between joy vs. despair, love vs. indifference and self-acceptance vs. self-loathing. Most importantly, you very well may be saving someone from eternal oblivion and giving them the certainty of eternal bliss. Not to be smug or arrogant, but we Christians have the truth. With an attitude of thankfulness and humility, it is our job to give it away. When we do this, when we give away what we have, we will overflow with more and more joy. Just like the miraculous draft of fishes, our hearts and souls will be full of the love and joy of Christ.

This is what the Gospel is all about. This is how you can affect the world, one soul at a time. Thanks be to God!

Luke 5:3 “And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.”


In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.

AMEN.