In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the sixth chapter of Isaiah, the Prophet is taken to the
throne room of God. Immediately, the prophet fell on his face and hid his eyes,
proclaiming, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips,
and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the
King, the Lord of hosts.”[1]
The prophet knew that a sinful man who stands in the
presence of God will be destroyed. Sprinkle pepper in a bowl of water, then let
a single drop of soap into the middle. Immediately, the pepper will flee to the
edges of the bowl. Such is the might of God’s holiness. At His presence, the
filth of sin is not only scattered, but destroyed. The serpent, that ancient
dragon, will bite His heel, but the Almighty shall crush the serpent’s head.[2]
This is the position in which St. Peter finds himself. Like
Isaiah, St. Peter is in the presence of the Almighty God. He knows that he is a
sinner and sin is destroyed in the presence of God. But unlike Isaiah, St. Peter
bids Christ to depart from him. Isaiah bowed in reverence and awe before God
Almighty. Such worship and adoration were met with the hands of an angel,
touching a coal from the altar of the Lord to the Prophet’s lips, cleansing his
sins. St. Peter does not bow in reverence but bids his Lord to depart.
Such is the heart of man. The good, the true, and the
beautiful are always difficult for us to accept. They require a rejection of
our love for this world. It is much easier to accept what is in front of us. St.
Peter had just been blessed by God with a miraculous catch of fish, thousands
of dollars in revenue, but this blessing also threatened his life. The boat
began to sink. Rather than cry out for mercy, St. Peter wanted Jesus to leave.
“In You, O Lord, is salvation, but I prefer my career and my life.”
Because of the sin humanity has brought into the world, the
many blessings of God are, from our perspective, always tinged with suffering. To
love someone requires suffering. To love is to submit your will and your needs
to the will and needs of another. You deny yourself on behalf of another. This
self-denial is a light form of suffering, but the human soul turns this
self-denial into resentment.
Scripture always considers children a blessing from God. “Children
are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in
the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man
who has his quiver full of them.”[3]
Yet how easy is it to begin to resent your children? When do you get some ‘me’
time? Why can’t they just learn the first time? Why don’t they know how to
behave?
Perhaps we recognize the blessings given to us but we want to choose the amount. “Blessed is the man who fills his quiver? Well, I guess I’ll shrink my quiver to 2.5.” The Word of God is profitable to forgive your sins, strengthen faith, and guide you in the way you shall go all the days of your life. “But reading the bible is boring and Netflix is only a click away.” Or, “One hour is good enough. Why do we need to have other services and events throughout the week? What are we, all pastors?”
Then we might look at the world around us. Like Peter’s
sinking boat, our world is collapsing into the depths of the chaotic sea. A country
blessed by God, where the freedom of conscience and the ability to worship
without the oversight of pagans is a birthright, is seeing its last days. Our
freedoms have become the basis for our collapse. Freedom of religion has led to
the freedom from religion. It has bred a ‘live-and-let live’ mentality. It was
one step into darkness when sodomy was legalized but such deviance became
rooted in our nation when we said, ‘what happens in your bedroom has no effect
on me, just don’t make me support it.’
We are on a sinking ship. In this same situation, St. Peter
told Christ to depart and let him down with the ship. Our Lord would not let
that happen. Jesus hears Peter’s confession of sins and rather than obeying the
heart of man, Jesus absolves Peter’s sins and refuses to abandon him. It is as
though Jesus says, “the only way for you to leave my presence is for you to
throw yourself into the darkness of the deep because I will not leave you. Do
not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” Peter has no need to fear
destruction because Christ has forgiven his sin. Jesus has taken the sin of
Peter upon his own shoulders and called him to be his apostle.
Christ has promised never to leave you nor to forsake you.
Because he loves you, because he died for you, because he paid the price for
your sin, you are valuable to him. He will fight for you even if it means
fighting against your own will. Our Lord, the Heavenly Fisherman, is present
with you always but especially in the Heavenly meal given from this altar. Elijah
was sustained forty days and forty nights on the Bread of Heaven.[4]
You, who receive the Body and Blood of Christ weekly, will likewise be
sustained.
You have no need to be afraid because you are forgiven. If
the wrath of God has been poured out on Jesus on your behalf, then you no
longer need to fear the wrath of God. If you do not need to fear the wrath of
God, then you have nothing to fear. Neither height nor depth, neither death nor
life, neither lost loved ones or the suffering of this world needs to cause you
fear.
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”[5]
Why resent the blessings of God? Why allow the blessings of God to become
wicked in your eyes? Never forget what the Lord has given you. He has forgiven
your sins. He continues to forgive your sins. He has given you everlasting
life. What could possibly be better than that? Should the Lord call you to
forsake your family, your career, your home, or even your life, you still have
the better portion. Jesus is gracious to you and answers your prayer. He will
not forsake you because He is the God of your salvation![6]
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
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