I'm Not Worthy !!!
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, 2he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3He 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. 4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." 5Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." 6When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7So 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. 8But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" 9For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; 10and 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." 11When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
I was struck by a theme which arose from the readings as well as the Gospel. The theme of one's un-worthiness when confronted by the epiphany. Isaiah..."Woe is me...I'm lost..I'm a man of unclean lips." Paul..."I'm the least of the apostles...unfit to be called one..." Simon Peter.."Go away from me, Lord, for I'm a sinful man." When confronted by the presence of these differing epiphanies...by holiness... all these are reduced to "I'm not worthy !!" There certainly are true & false senses of humility which we manifest in our life experience. Paul's line in 1 Cor. 15..."But for the grace of God I am what I am..." sums up what makes one worthy to receive anything from God. The realization that one is captured...drawn into..and touched by God's grace. God touched Isaiah and his guilt & sin were 'blotted out." Jesus had more work to be done...and Simon Peter, James, John & the sons of Zebedee...left all to be involved. Can I get a witness ?
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4 comments:
I'm not worthy.
Maybe p basement is
Discipleship is daunting. Me, a disciple? That's impossible. I suck!
What scares me are those who are eager and not intimidated by Jesus' call to follow him. They end up with church jobs. . . serves 'em right.
The Jesus' experience (or whatever you want to call it) always involves a cross which often can remind you of your dip-shit no-good status. Hopefully the Jesus' experience continues with his healing touch or word of love or something gospely that is helpful.
Have a nice day!
me a disciple?
Doesn't God have higher standards than that?
Isn't God more serious, more interested in getting it right.
Like I am?
I wonder at this strange God, who would use you to. . .
what does God want you to do? . . .
to what is God sending Isaiah? . . .
what is it that Paul is to proclaim? . . .
what is this fishing that Jesus announces as their new vocation?
While one certain concern is those who have no qualms about the call to follow, the main issue for us seems the myriad ways we get stuck on our unworthiness - or the unworthiness of others - and fail to love others.
I am struck by a sermon I just read on I Cor 13. There, the point is made that today Christians disregard love - in favor of being right.
here's what this preacher said:
"Love is out of favor, along with compassion, forgiveness, grace, mutual understanding and other expressions of what seem like weakness.
Instead it is much more common to hear talk of spiritual warfare, mental toughness, moral discipline, and other forms of religious muscle flexing."
The power of the cross is weakness to my eyes, and the eyes of all around me.
me a disciple?
Doesn't God have higher standards than that?
"Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people."
Time to get going?
Interesting - I don't think any of us find the image of "fishing for people" all that helpful. . . I like the comment by Loader that "Without the broader context of Jesus’ teaching the image is of ambiguous value." And that some people may "feel hooked like fish, scalps."
It isn't a numbers game, is it?
Loader goes on to touch on the connection to Peter. . . "The fallible Peter has always had fallible ...successors. ...one of us... ...leadership by grace."
With this concluding line... "Ultimately Luke is linking that leadership to Jesus’ own leadership and mission declared before his home town synagogue. It is a leadership that sets free."
I also like this by Mary Hinkle Shore -
By calling Peter, Jesus is about something bigger than just affirming Peter (not that there's anything wrong with that). :-) The reason for the call is not to say to Peter, "Buck up, little buddy, you're not so bad," but rather, "Stop being afraid now. We have work to do."
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