READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
- 1 Kings 19:11-21
- 1 Peter 3:8-15
- St. Luke 5:1-11
fullofeyes.com
Grace to you and peace from him
who is and who was and who is to come, from Jesus Christ the faithful witness,
the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
Who speaks to you today in the Gospel, saying,
“Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”
At
this time, I would like to reveal the deepest, darkest secret that every pastor
has and wants to keep. I probably shouldn’t be doing this, but you must know.
This is the secret: your pastor is trying to kill you.
Its
true. Think of all the things he puts you through. He forces you to worship
next to people you don’t like. He makes you do things that are uncomfortable
and sometimes outright repulsive. He attempts to drown you when you are small
and helpless. He does his best to bore you with words. He compels you to eat
and drink questionable contraband and really is only useful at a funeral, some
of the time.
He
wants you dead. I want you dead. Hahahahaha. Anyways, moving on.
In
our Old Testament reading, God wants Elijah dead. At this point in 1 Kings 19,
Elijah’s life is in high gear. He is just coming away from a complete and utter
victory. God declared, through him, there would be no rain for 3 years until
Elijah confront Ahab and destroy the prophets of Ba’al.
And
it worked out just as God said. At the end of a three year drought and
subsequent famine, Elijah faced off, alone, against 450 prophets of Ba’al, 400
prophets of the Ashera, and all of Israel
Everyone,
except God, it seems. Jezebel yet lives and, despite this fatal defeat of her
religion and her power, she still has enough political power to threaten the
life of Elijah. These last three years, she has done the same, and now even
after all this, nothing changes. God, it seems, is still after Elijah’s life
and Elijah gets it. He says in 19:4,
“Kill
me now, God. I get it. None of this will be over until I die.”
God
wants Elijah dead. Even as we come to what we heard read today, God tells
Elijah to go to a mountain, apparently in order to kill him with a hurricane,
an earthquake, and a fire. Elijah hides, but God seems to trick him to come out
of his hiding place with that low whisper. When Elijah comes out, that low
whisper tells him to go back to the people that want to kill him.
In
the Gospel reading, St. Peter is fishing and living his life. He has, thus far,
been able to avoid God’s wrath, unlike Elijah whose story he knows very well,
and live a pretty quiet and simple life. Catching no fish is common in his
trade. You have good days and bad in business. We all know this. Then comes the
bargaining with God,
“God,
if you just get me through this I’ll do whatever”.
God
wants St. Peter dead. He appears in front of St. Peter, calling Himself Jesus.
He gives St. Peter what he wished for. St. Peter tells Him to go away, because
he knows what it means for God to draw near. Death. Earthquakes, fire,
hurricanes, plagues, low whispers, full nets of fish…
The
Lord says,
“Blessed
in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His saints”
(Ps.
116:15) and apparently means it. You with your sinful nature cannot be a
force of good. The bad things you don’t want to do, you always end up doing.
Therefore, in your sin, God wants you dead. But does this really mean God is after
you?
Repent.
This argument against Christianity and her God is made daily. That God doesn’t
really care about your happiness and wants only your destruction, is their
motto. And its ours too. The whole world is out to take our life. If we live
normally, we grow old, suffer, and die. If we get sick, we suffer, maybe get
better, grow old and die. If we get sick and don’t get better, we suffer and we
die.
Moses
complained about it. Even the mighty Samson was whining about winning a victory
and then being left to die of thirst, by God
(Judg.
15:18). They and we are told to not question God, very convenient.
Now,
all this would be true, if death was the end. All these accusations would hold
up against God, if there was no resurrection. Now that sounds easy enough, but
the Resurrection isn’t just something in the future that doesn’t affect us now.
It changes the entire world: past, present, and future.
Yes,
it will be wonderful to rise again from the dead, but knowing that there is
more life after this life makes this life all the more important. All lives
matter because of the Resurrection. Because there is life and more life, it
means death is not a part of things and is not supposed to be here.
If
death is not supposed to be here, then anything involving death or requiring
death to progress, such as Evolution, is wrong. If this is wrong, then it is
also wrong to assume that God is after your life, even though it looks that
way.
We
live in an upside-down world where right is wrong and death is life. If you
take the position that God is a murderer, then some of the world may make some
sense, but you never come to a good answer about life. If you take the position
that the Resurrection is true and God desires not the death of a sinner
(Eze.
33:11), then it is the world trying to take your life, not God.
Whether
you are sick to death, bored to death, or killed to death, it is the world’s
and man’s doing. We kill ourselves, in effect, daily with all our vices and
satan rejoices. He says to God, look at how I kill them and thin your numbers!
God says, ok we can play that game. Go ahead and kill them. I’ll just resurrect
them.
These
fish that Jesus catches did not deserve their fate; that is, to be caught, and
eaten. But unknown to them, they were living a lie. A life full of fear and
death that they were not created to endure, nor meant to. The net is their
resurrection into the real world; the better world; the resurrected world and
yet to their sin-filled selves, it looks like death.
In
sin, we see things upside-down. We do our utmost to cling to this life and yet
God wants us to understand that this is not the way things really are. In sin,
we see God against us. In sin, we see God trying to kill us.
Jesus
says:
“I
am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even
though he dies”
(Jn.
11:25).
“Truly,
truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life.”
(Jn.
6:47)
“I
am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread,
he will live forever.”
(Jn.
6:51)
“Because
I live, you also will live.”
(Jn.
14:19)
Life
is the answer; God’s answer, always, but death is the enemy in the way. The
solution is to de-fang death. God suffers death in our place, in order that
“I
no longer live, but Christ lives in me”
(Gal.
2:20) be true. In Jesus, we exchange the false life, filled with death, for
real life, filled with life. Though we must pass through death, because of the
cross of Christ, the death God and your pastor desires for you is a peaceful
sleep.
Breaking
the chains of death, Jesus has burned away any lasting suffering you may
encounter. In fact, you have already died, dear Christian. You have already
come as close to actual death as you ever will in your life, in baptism. For,
you have already been baptized into the death of Christ. The suffering, death
and resurrection of Jesus has solved the problem of sinful death. He has made
it a doorway to Himself.
Now,
“For
me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain”
(Philippians
1:21). Now, if I live a normal life, I get to spend it in faith, in Christ,
in His Church. If I catch something and suffer, but get better, I still get to
spend life in faith, loving God and serving my neighbor, in His Church. If I
catch something, suffer and die, then I am sped to my Savior’s side forever,
never to die or suffer again.
Where
is the losing there? Where is the fear there? It is a win-win-win situation
that Jesus has baptized you into. Jesus says to not fear this life.
“Do
not fear what man can do to you”
(Matt.
10:28). St. Peter is caught in Jesus’ net and is afraid he’s going to die
and lose, just like the fish. Jesus repeats Himself again,
“Do
not be afraid” you will live.
The
world is wrong. Jesus is right. Life is always the correct choice, even if it
results in death, because then it results in the resurrection from the dead.
Death is wrong. Life is right. Jesus tells St. Peter that
“from
now on you will be catching men”.
Jesus
literally says,
“catching
men alive”. Not dead or for food, but alive. Jesus says the same in Luke 17:33,
“Whoever
seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life
[will
be caught alive].” God catches you with His absolution, His Gospel in order
that you live. And even if you die, you will live forever because your sins are
forgiven you.
The
Lord wants you alive in order that you may hear about His kingdom of
forgiveness and in turn forgive others. The Lord makes you alive through
baptism and the Lord’s Supper and catechesis. Your pastor and Jesus want you
dead to your sin and alive to God, which baptism does for you.
Dead
or alive, Christ does not let you go. Dead or alive, you will receive the
reward of heaven, in Faith. Dead or alive, God wants you in His Church, either
here, in time, or with Him in eternity. Either way, you get to live.
No comments:
Post a Comment