10 February 2019 - fishers of men

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men."
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.

Genuine encounters with Christ result in this sense of holy fear. It is because, even when not explicit, we are encountering God himself.

I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,
with the train of his garment filling the temple.
Seraphim were stationed above.

Like Isaiah we say "Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Like Peter we say, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." We're afraid because we see just how great Jesus is and how unworthy are the lives we have lived thus far. But the revelation of Jesus isn't about the old us. It isn't about where we've spent our lives frustrated, fishing where there are no fish. It is about him and the new thing he wants to do in us.

"Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men."

We won't be forced to rely on our own weak and sinful natures.

He touched my mouth with it, and said,
"See, now that this has touched your lips,
your wickedness is removed, your sin purged."

There is grace enough to transform us. Our encounters with the God-man Jesus Christ are meant to transform us into his witnesses. The message isn't that complicated.

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.

Jesus Christ has died, he is risen, and he will come again. We are among those who have experienced the power of his resurrection. We need not fear to become fishers of men.

Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;
not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.

Let's allow the grace of the risen Christ to make us eager to proclaim his word.

All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth;
and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD:
"Great is the glory of the LORD."