In today’s Gospel Jesus is teaching
the crowds by lake Gennesaret,
but the only words of his that are recorded
are those addressed to Simon Peter,
which are in each case
prefaced with a command:
“Put out into deep water”
and “Do not be afraid.”
These two commands
pretty much sum up the Gospel.
the crowds by lake Gennesaret,
but the only words of his that are recorded
are those addressed to Simon Peter,
which are in each case
prefaced with a command:
“Put out into deep water”
and “Do not be afraid.”
These two commands
pretty much sum up the Gospel.
“Put out into deep water.”
Put out into the deep water
of seeing the universe
and your existence in it
as a sheer gift given out of love
by the all-powerful God,
before whom the angels worship,
crying “Holy, holy, holy…”
of seeing the universe
and your existence in it
as a sheer gift given out of love
by the all-powerful God,
before whom the angels worship,
crying “Holy, holy, holy…”
Put out into the deep water
of looking within your own heart
and seeing there the crack
that runs through everything,
the broken self that sin has made,
the self that, confronted by the all-holy God
can only say, like Simon,
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am sinful,”
can only say, like Isaiah,
“Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am one with unclean lips.”
Put out into the deep water
of believing that though you have toiled
through long hours of darkness
it just might be worth
lowering your nets one more time,
giving the depths one more chance,
because this Jesus who commands you
just might be the one
who can heal that crack in everything;
this Jesus just might be the one
who can fill your empty nets
with food that endures to eternal life,
food that strains your nets
and swamps your boats;
this Jesus just might be the one
who is a window in our world
through which streams a glory
that will shake the doorframes
of our temples.
“Do not be afraid.”
Do not be afraid
that your broken self is beyond repair,
that your unclean lips are beyond cleansing,
that your frail humanity with be swept away
in the deep waters of God’s glory.
that your broken self is beyond repair,
that your unclean lips are beyond cleansing,
that your frail humanity with be swept away
in the deep waters of God’s glory.
Do not be afraid
to say, “Lord I am not worthy,”
to lay before the Lord
ugly truths about yourself:
how constricted sin has made your heart,
how your lips have been contaminated
by words of spite and discouragement,
criticism and gossip.
For God is a consuming fire
whose angel comes bearing
the glowing ember of God’s love,
to cleanse you and make you worthy:
“by the grace of God,
I am what I am.”
to say, “Lord I am not worthy,”
to lay before the Lord
ugly truths about yourself:
how constricted sin has made your heart,
how your lips have been contaminated
by words of spite and discouragement,
criticism and gossip.
For God is a consuming fire
whose angel comes bearing
the glowing ember of God’s love,
to cleanse you and make you worthy:
“by the grace of God,
I am what I am.”
Do not be afraid
to let him fill your nets to the point of breaking,
to let his glory flood the temple of your heart
until it feels as if it might be torn apart,
for this glory is the love of Christ,
the very force that brought the universe to birth,
the grace of God that will dilate your heart
so that it might take in more light.
to let him fill your nets to the point of breaking,
to let his glory flood the temple of your heart
until it feels as if it might be torn apart,
for this glory is the love of Christ,
the very force that brought the universe to birth,
the grace of God that will dilate your heart
so that it might take in more light.
Do not be afraid
to answer his call,
to say, “Here I am; send me,”
to leave behind everything to follow him.
For Christ died for your sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he was buried for you
in the deep waters of death,
and on the third day
he was raised to life,
trampling down death by death
and bestowing life on you,
who were held in death’s grasp.
And he appeared
to Simon Peter and the apostles,
just as he had come to them
by the waters of Gennesaret,
calling them again to follow him
and to feed his sheep.
He appeared to Paul as well,
persecutor of the church
and least of the apostles,
calling him to let God’s grace
toil within him
as he preached God’s word.
And he has appeared even to us,
as to those born out of time:
appeared in his word
and in his sacraments,
in the hungry and the thirsty,
the stranger and the naked,
the sick and the imprisoned.
And he says to us
what he said to Isaiah,
what he said to Simon,
what he said to Paul:
follow me in faith not fear;
follow me into deep waters.
to answer his call,
to say, “Here I am; send me,”
to leave behind everything to follow him.
For Christ died for your sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he was buried for you
in the deep waters of death,
and on the third day
he was raised to life,
trampling down death by death
and bestowing life on you,
who were held in death’s grasp.
And he appeared
to Simon Peter and the apostles,
just as he had come to them
by the waters of Gennesaret,
calling them again to follow him
and to feed his sheep.
He appeared to Paul as well,
persecutor of the church
and least of the apostles,
calling him to let God’s grace
toil within him
as he preached God’s word.
And he has appeared even to us,
as to those born out of time:
appeared in his word
and in his sacraments,
in the hungry and the thirsty,
the stranger and the naked,
the sick and the imprisoned.
And he says to us
what he said to Isaiah,
what he said to Simon,
what he said to Paul:
follow me in faith not fear;
follow me into deep waters.
This is the gospel that we have received
and in which we also stand:
“Put out into deep water.”
“Do not be afraid.”
Let us receive the good news,
and, having received it,
let us believe it;
and, having believed it,
let us hand it on to others
so that God, in his mercy,
might have mercy on us all.
and in which we also stand:
“Put out into deep water.”
“Do not be afraid.”
Let us receive the good news,
and, having received it,
let us believe it;
and, having believed it,
let us hand it on to others
so that God, in his mercy,
might have mercy on us all.
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