Sermon - Trinity V 2022 - Luke 5:1-11

Miraculous Catch of Fish, Jacob Jordaens, 1640

We live in a very casual society. This is evident from the way people dress, speak, and conduct themselves around each other. Formality is often scoffed at and derided as rigid and old-fashioned. It wasn’t always this way, as you older folks probably remember, but it’s been this way now for quite a number of years. 

However, formality and reverence are still universally recognized and valued. And while most of our society is casual, not everything is casual. Perhaps the most clear example today is seen in the military rites at a graveside funeral, which is anything but casual. The honor guard are formal and reverent in every respect. They’re dressed in crisp uniforms; every move, salute, or step they make is deliberate; they diligently fold and examine the flag; they present the flag to the survivor with a gentle yet serious tone of voice.

Why all the formality? It’s because they are showing respect and honor to their fallen comrade. Imagine if they showed up wearing jeans, t-shirts, and flip-flops, were sloppy in their movements, just bunched up the flag in a wad, and cracked jokes while tossing the flag to the survivors. It would dishonor the deceased soldier and be disrespectful to the survivors. Formality and revenerce are done for the sake of honoring and respecting another. Reverence isn’t convenient and comfortable, instead it’s a sacrifice one makes in order to show respect to others.

We see this reverence displayed in our readings today. Both Elijah and Peter reverently approached God when He came into their presence. Their reverent behavior is most appropriate for all Christians! When confronted with God and His works, the proper response is to honor Him with our hearts and our whole bodies. It’s good for us to show honor to each other, like with military rites, and it’s even more necessary to show honor to God.

Showing honor to God is rooted in who God is, what God has done, and what God could do but doesn’t do. This is what is meant by fearing the Lord. In the catechism we learned that we are to “fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” We are quick to explain away the fear of God to just mean that we are respectful to God, but to fear God really does mean that we’re afraid of Him to some extent. Jesus is the Lion of Judah, He is one to be feared and respected because of His awesome might!

The Old Testament is filled with references to fearing the Lord, especially in the Psalms. God is “He who sits in the heavens laughing; the Lord holds [evildoers] in derision. Then He will speak to them in His wrath, and terrify them in His fury.” Psalm 119 explains why we ought to fear Him: “You spurn all who go astray from Your statutes, for their cunning is in vain. All the wicked of the earth You discard like dross, therefore I love Your testimonies. My flesh trembles for fear of You, and I am afraid of Your judgments.” Psalm 2 then shows what is proper for believers: “Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.” 

We fear the Lord because He has the power and the authority to punish us severely when we sin. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” and only fools have no fear of Him. Because of this fear of God, we also hope in His steadfast love! Since He has the power to destroy us, and since we deserve it, and since He preserves us instead, that means that He is incredibly merciful and loving towards us! If God wasn’t worthy of our fear that would mean that God is powerless, and if God is powerless, then that would mean He also can’t save us from our own sins and death. Therefore we fear God because He is all powerful, because He punishes evildoers, and because He is patient towards us and would sooner forgive us our sins!

This fear of God helps us to understand why Elijah and Peter behaved the way they did when confronted with God. First Elijah: “Behold, the LORD passed by...  and the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 

When Elijah was confronted with God he wrapped his face in his cloak; he hid his face since man may not see God and live! Elijah was terrified to face God since God’s people Israel had for the most part rebelled against God and killed the other prophets except for him. Elijah knew that Israel deserved God’s wrath, and Elijah was part of Israel and in the path of destruction! Yet God spared Elijah and all the faithful remnant of Israel. The Baal worshipers were to be put to death, yet, God said, “I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” God is just and merciful, so Elijah approached God with fear and love, with reverence.

Peter does a similar thing when confronted with God. He had just finished a failed night of fishing and was preparing his nets for another day of work. But what’s notable is what Peter was not doing. Peter wasn’t among the crowds pressing in on Jesus to hear the Word of God, he was preoccupied with his work, too busy for Jesus, probably equal parts depressed and angry about working hard but catching no fish. 

When Jesus spoke to Peter and told him to let down the nets in the deep part of the lake, the Holy Spirit apparently worked on his heart: “Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”” It was the word of God that drew the crowd to Jesus, and it was again the Word of God that convinced Peter to obey Jesus. Peter was blessed in his obedience to the Word of God: “They enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.”

How did Peter react? With reverence. “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”” Peter realized that Jesus was no ordinary man and came with the power of God. So he fell on his knees treating Jesus with fear and honor, reverence, knowing that Jesus had the power to destroy him, a sinful man. Yet Jesus replied with mercy: “Do not be afraid.” Jesus is indeed God almighty and worthy of fear, yet Jesus came not only to be our judge, but to be the sacrifice for sins and make known the mercy and compassion of the Holy God for sinners such as us.

Later Peter wrote in his first epistle: “In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy.” This fear and reverence which we have for God begins in the heart. God is He who has the power to destroy and the power to rescue. So we fear Him and give Him all glory and honor, first in our hearts, but also with our bodies.

The casual society we live in today makes this counter-cultural. Today’s society has no fear and respect for anyone, let alone God, so it’s unsurprising that everything is so casual. But let’s follow the example of the faithful who have gone before us and fear God with reverence and respect. As your pastor I try to model this in my conduct of the service: I wear vestments, I try to move deliberately, I try not to be sloppy or unprepared or behave goofy, and I kneel before the body and blood of Christ Jesus. Likewise all of us can wear our Sunday best, behave modestly and respectfully, showing reverence to God. 

Of course God takes us as we are, yet when we honor God in our hearts, it’s only natural we would make that clear with our actions and behaviors as well. When Peter, Andrew, James, and John became Jesus’ apostles they didn’t just feel it in their hearts, but they left everything and followed Him and showed the fruits of faith in their lives; we are similarly called to follow Jesus. Therefore, remember whose presence we are in: the almighty God who has the power and authority to destroy us, yet also has the mercy, love, and compassion to spare us from the fate we deserve and preserve us to life everlasting.