WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.240 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:12.119 of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As we shift today from 00:00:12.119 --> 00:00:17.600 St. Matthew to St. Luke's Gospel, the Church 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:21.300 invites us to reflect on the calling of Simon 00:00:21.300 --> 00:00:27.059 Peter and the first disciples. After finding 00:00:27.059 --> 00:00:30.640 Simon on the shore of the lake of Gennesaret, 00:00:30.859 --> 00:00:34.880 another name for the Sea of Galilee, cleaning 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:39.560 and washing his fishing nets, the Lord nonchalantly 00:00:39.560 --> 00:00:44.560 gets into Simon's boat and uses it as an amvum, 00:00:44.679 --> 00:00:49.299 a pulpit, to teach the crowds, tailing him and 00:00:49.299 --> 00:00:53.799 pressing in around him. As if he doesn't notice 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:58.549 Simon, putting away the fishing gear, once he 00:00:58.549 --> 00:01:02.850 finishes preaching, again, somewhat nonchalantly, 00:01:02.990 --> 00:01:07.989 the Lord commands Simon to take the fishing boat 00:01:07.989 --> 00:01:13.090 back, back out into the sea to catch something. 00:01:14.230 --> 00:01:17.730 Now, if we know the scriptures, the language 00:01:17.730 --> 00:01:23.189 here is somewhat freighted. Launch out into the 00:01:23.189 --> 00:01:27.540 deep. launch out into the depths, echoing the 00:01:27.540 --> 00:01:34.239 depths, the techom, the avisos of creation, where 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:37.719 Christ, as the beginning and the word, enthroned 00:01:37.719 --> 00:01:41.719 in the Spirit of God, hovered over the chaotic, 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:46.099 watery depths at the beginning of Genesis, as 00:01:46.099 --> 00:01:49.760 he began to shape the earth and fill it with 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:53.719 life, something similar. is about to transpire. 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:58.540 Simon's immediate response is also suggestive. 00:01:58.900 --> 00:02:03.939 Master, that is, teacher, not despota here, but 00:02:03.939 --> 00:02:10.300 epistata, teacher. We've toiled the entire night, 00:02:10.460 --> 00:02:14.580 and we've taken nothing. It's already light out, 00:02:14.659 --> 00:02:18.139 and fishermen, if you didn't know, fish at night. 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:23.500 and the sea was void and unpopulated. We weren't 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:28.819 able to catch any fish. But the apostle agrees, 00:02:29.060 --> 00:02:34.939 and by doing so, and this is intentional, resembles 00:02:34.939 --> 00:02:38.520 the words of Mary at the beginning of Luke's 00:02:38.520 --> 00:02:42.580 gospel in the Annunciation. Nevertheless, I will 00:02:42.580 --> 00:02:47.659 let down my nets at your word, according to your 00:02:47.659 --> 00:02:50.819 word. Further playing on that creational element, 00:02:51.080 --> 00:02:54.819 the Lord speaks, let there be and there was. 00:02:55.879 --> 00:02:59.900 Here, St. Luke repeats a theme in his gospel. 00:03:00.379 --> 00:03:04.740 In fact, it's a theme of what Luke believes the 00:03:04.740 --> 00:03:09.139 gospel to be categorically about. A reversal 00:03:09.139 --> 00:03:14.840 of human weakness and inability. A lack of human 00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:19.210 vitality and potential. can always be overcome 00:03:19.210 --> 00:03:23.330 by the reality of divine power and presence. 00:03:24.330 --> 00:03:27.729 As the archangel Gabriel announces to Mary as 00:03:27.729 --> 00:03:30.889 she's about to become the mother of God, nothing 00:03:30.889 --> 00:03:35.870 will be impossible with God. And so Simon sails 00:03:35.870 --> 00:03:39.490 the boats into the depths, and Simon casts his 00:03:39.490 --> 00:03:43.669 nets into the sea. And what happens? The nets 00:03:43.669 --> 00:03:48.009 fill with fish and teem with life. to the point 00:03:48.009 --> 00:03:51.430 that the nets start to tear and break. And as 00:03:51.430 --> 00:03:54.610 the other -to -be disciples scramble to help 00:03:54.610 --> 00:03:57.770 Simon get the nets into the boats, then the boats 00:03:57.770 --> 00:04:00.650 fill up, and the boats themselves begin to sink 00:04:00.650 --> 00:04:06.050 and capsize. And for the first time in his gospel 00:04:06.050 --> 00:04:10.669 narrative, St. Luke addresses Simon as Peter 00:04:10.669 --> 00:04:18.120 the rock, as Simon Peter sees. is what the text 00:04:18.120 --> 00:04:23.399 tells us. Simon Peter sees. This isn't just any 00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:27.000 sort of ordinary physical sight that Luke is 00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:31.959 trying to note. No, he sees. That is, he perceives 00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:37.120 what's transpiring before his eyes and discerns 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:41.300 that the man in his boat is no ordinary human 00:04:41.300 --> 00:04:46.160 or teacher. As the apostle put it to us this 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:49.160 morning in our epistle reading, quoting the Lord's 00:04:49.160 --> 00:04:53.540 words from Leviticus, I will walk among them. 00:04:54.180 --> 00:04:58.279 As Peter discerns that this man is not master, 00:04:58.420 --> 00:05:04.240 epistates, but Lord, Kyrios, which is Luke's 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:08.000 way to cue us to the divine name of the God of 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:11.480 Israel, which was revealed to Moses in that bush. 00:05:12.029 --> 00:05:17.449 Tell them, I am the Lord, Adonai or Kirios, or 00:05:17.449 --> 00:05:22.209 as the Jews put it, Hashem, sent you, dwelling 00:05:22.209 --> 00:05:29.009 and walking among his people. Astonishment, as 00:05:29.009 --> 00:05:33.470 the King James puts it, but better, terror, religious 00:05:33.470 --> 00:05:39.860 awe, thamvos, to use... or to use the philosophical 00:05:39.860 --> 00:05:44.000 term mysterium tremendum from the German tradition, 00:05:44.379 --> 00:05:48.379 or what C .S. Lewis called the numinous, quoting 00:05:48.379 --> 00:05:52.860 Shakespeare. Under it, my genius is rebuked, 00:05:52.860 --> 00:05:58.019 Macbeth. Something mysterious and awe -inspiring, 00:05:58.019 --> 00:06:03.500 all captured by this Greek word here, thamvos, 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:09.629 seizes Simon. and the others. And Simon immediately 00:06:09.629 --> 00:06:14.129 falls on his face and prostrates himself before 00:06:14.129 --> 00:06:18.250 Jesus and cries out and addresses Jesus by the 00:06:18.250 --> 00:06:22.410 name of Israel's God, depart from me, for I am 00:06:22.410 --> 00:06:28.790 a sinful man, O Kyrios, O Lord. In these words, 00:06:28.810 --> 00:06:33.160 we witness repeated what often happens when people 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:37.100 meet God in the scriptures. Take Samson's parents 00:06:37.100 --> 00:06:39.620 all the way back in Judges, who are visited by 00:06:39.620 --> 00:06:44.259 the angel of the Lord, God. We shall surely die, 00:06:44.519 --> 00:06:49.620 for we have seen God. Or perhaps more immediately, 00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:53.759 concrete and applicable here, Isaiah the prophet, 00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:57.779 in his famous vision of the Lord in the temple, 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:01.170 as the seraphim cry the thrice holy hymn, Holy, 00:07:01.290 --> 00:07:07.629 holy, holy. Woe is me, for I am lost, for I am 00:07:07.629 --> 00:07:11.509 a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst 00:07:11.509 --> 00:07:16.290 of a people with unclean lips. For my eyes have 00:07:16.290 --> 00:07:20.230 seen the King, the Lord of Sabaoth, the Lord 00:07:20.230 --> 00:07:26.350 of hosts. As Isaiah before him, Simon Peter meets 00:07:26.350 --> 00:07:31.149 the King, the King of the universe. the one to 00:07:31.149 --> 00:07:35.490 whom creation submits and responds, whether the 00:07:35.490 --> 00:07:41.589 sea or the fish or life or even Simon Peter, 00:07:41.829 --> 00:07:46.810 who mysteriously listens, that flock toward this 00:07:46.810 --> 00:07:51.490 king. Here he is standing in Peter's boat, and 00:07:51.490 --> 00:07:54.670 all Peter can do is confess his unworthiness. 00:07:55.470 --> 00:08:01.199 I am a sinful man. Or, as we will say it in just 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:05.000 a few minutes, quoting another apostle, I confess 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:08.480 that thou art truly the Christ, the Son of the 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:11.660 living God, who camest into the world to save 00:08:11.660 --> 00:08:17.800 sinners, of whom I am first. Depart from me, 00:08:17.879 --> 00:08:23.939 O Lord, for I am a sinful man. I'm not worthy 00:08:23.939 --> 00:08:33.240 of you. But does Christ depart? No. Rather, he 00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:37.620 responds with the words, fear not, don't be afraid. 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:43.559 Father Thomas Hopko of blessed memory used to 00:08:43.559 --> 00:08:46.940 say that to hear these words from God, fear not, 00:08:47.220 --> 00:08:54.840 we first have to fear him. To hear the words, 00:08:54.940 --> 00:08:57.980 don't be afraid, we first have to be, afraid 00:08:57.980 --> 00:09:02.299 of him. By making this point, he isn't contradicting 00:09:02.299 --> 00:09:05.720 the famous saying of St. Anthony the Great, I 00:09:05.720 --> 00:09:09.700 no longer fear God, but I love him. No, there 00:09:09.700 --> 00:09:13.019 St. Anthony's getting at a human kind of fear 00:09:13.019 --> 00:09:17.179 that disables us from loving God and experiencing 00:09:17.179 --> 00:09:21.659 God's love toward us, a human kind of fear that 00:09:21.659 --> 00:09:26.200 keeps Christ at arm's length. from our problems, 00:09:26.379 --> 00:09:30.820 from our sin, one that I suspect many of us struggle 00:09:30.820 --> 00:09:35.659 with. But here we're getting at this religious 00:09:35.659 --> 00:09:40.639 sphere, this thamvos, the realization at last 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:44.460 that we are actually standing before the God 00:09:44.460 --> 00:09:50.500 of the universe and that he really does exist. 00:09:52.750 --> 00:09:57.610 And not just that, but he has not forgotten us. 00:09:58.950 --> 00:10:03.769 But he thinks about us, as small and insignificant 00:10:03.769 --> 00:10:10.350 as we are, as small and meaningless as our lives 00:10:10.350 --> 00:10:16.230 seem most of the time. And he proves it by coming 00:10:16.230 --> 00:10:20.159 down to our level, by dwelling. among us, by 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:23.279 walking among us, to use the words again from 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:28.200 St. Paul this morning, from now on you will catch 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:34.779 men. Just like that, the Lord transforms Simon's 00:10:34.779 --> 00:10:38.259 life and James and John's and the others who 00:10:38.259 --> 00:10:42.720 are called kinonos vis -a -vis Simon, communicants 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:46.639 of Simon. The word we use to describe communion 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:50.850 with the Lord, kinonia, Though he is the chief 00:10:50.850 --> 00:10:54.909 apostle, we receive in Peter this morning an 00:10:54.909 --> 00:10:58.629 image of the entire church, which is all of us. 00:10:59.250 --> 00:11:03.409 The words of the prophet, the words of the mother 00:11:03.409 --> 00:11:07.909 of God, communion in one another's life, confessing 00:11:07.909 --> 00:11:21.100 sin and our unworthiness, Leaving everything 00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:25.779 behind and following Christ. All of this happens 00:11:25.779 --> 00:11:31.179 on what seems like a regular, boring, mundane 00:11:31.179 --> 00:11:35.120 day at work. After what seems like an unsuccessful 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:40.379 work day. An ordinary fisherman meets the Lord 00:11:40.379 --> 00:11:44.620 of all creation. And there's no turning back. 00:11:47.399 --> 00:11:52.720 Brothers and sisters, our lives are not meaningless. 00:11:53.860 --> 00:12:00.899 The daily grind. Perhaps we're single and we 00:12:00.899 --> 00:12:04.399 don't want to be. Perhaps we're married and it's 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:06.740 complicated. Perhaps we're married with young 00:12:06.740 --> 00:12:09.879 kids or teenagers and we're exhausted or we don't 00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:14.000 know what to do. Perhaps we're divorced and ashamed. 00:12:14.200 --> 00:12:18.379 Perhaps we're widowed and lonely. Maybe we're 00:12:18.379 --> 00:12:22.799 a child, a teenager, a young adult, a parent, 00:12:23.059 --> 00:12:29.379 a grandparent. Perhaps we feel forgotten, like 00:12:29.379 --> 00:12:33.840 no one notices us or sees us or thinks about 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:39.720 us or prays for us. Perhaps we hate our job and 00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:46.179 we lack purpose, drive, and meaning. toil night 00:12:46.179 --> 00:12:50.200 after night, and we haven't caught any fish. 00:12:52.179 --> 00:12:58.419 It's often here in these things, in these kinds 00:12:58.419 --> 00:13:02.399 of moments that Christ meets us, that Christ 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:06.759 comes to dwell among us and walk with us through 00:13:06.759 --> 00:13:09.740 whatever we're going through and reminds us, 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:14.480 as we heard in the epistle, that we are in fact 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:19.159 the temple of the living God, whose life can 00:13:19.159 --> 00:13:23.399 be filled with the Spirit's divine energy, with 00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:27.460 the Spirit's divine power, with the Spirit's 00:13:27.460 --> 00:13:31.899 divine activity, and they can be reconfigured 00:13:31.899 --> 00:13:36.360 by the Lord's divine perspective on our lives, 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:40.440 what the Lord sees when he looks at us. what 00:13:40.440 --> 00:13:44.639 the Lord sees that we can become through his 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:48.279 life and activity and presence through the Holy 00:13:48.279 --> 00:13:53.820 Spirit, if we, like Simon, can just discern Christ's 00:13:53.820 --> 00:13:59.320 presence and open ourselves to him. If we were 00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:01.500 to keep reading in the letter to the Corinthians 00:14:01.500 --> 00:14:06.919 today, if we just enlarged our hearts towards 00:14:06.919 --> 00:14:11.700 God. The apostles say, as the Lord says, we are 00:14:11.700 --> 00:14:15.639 holding nothing back from you. You open your 00:14:15.639 --> 00:14:20.580 hearts towards us. If we, like Simon, can discern 00:14:20.580 --> 00:14:26.519 Christ's presence and notice it and see it, light, 00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:31.860 divine light, the uncreated light from the transfiguration 00:14:31.860 --> 00:14:36.600 refracted everywhere in this creation and refracted 00:14:36.600 --> 00:14:42.529 everywhere. in our life, as unworthy as we might 00:14:42.529 --> 00:14:44.009 be. Amen.