Rochester, MN UCC - “Called to Serve the Kingdom” - Luke 5: 1-11
I’ve always hated the process of making and updating a resume whenever I have to look for a job. I think what I don’t like is the process of justifying myself. There’s something about listing my accomplishments and skills that makes me feel like I’m trying to convince someone that I’m a decent and competent person. I suspect most of my discomfort comes from the one-sidedness of the resume’s presentation- sure I did all of these things, but I’ve also failed at so many others! Creating a resume can make me feel like I’m covering up my shortcomings and my flaws, and that leads me to dwell on these shortcomings, and the whole process then becomes one in which I’m steadily convincing myself that I’m not actually deserving of the position for which I’m applying.
This fear of not measuring up, of being too damaged or flawed to be deserving, can get in the way of our relationship to God. When we start to believe that God only calls saints and do-gooders, we can convince ourselves that our own flaws disqualify us from serving God’s kingdom. We get the idea that we aren’t deserving of a position in the kingdom.
The calling of Peter as told in Luke’s 5th chapter should serve as an antidote to this mistaken belief. When Jesus set out to call his disciples he didn’t go to the synagogue and pick the most promising students of the Torah. Instead he got on a boat with a bunch of fishermen. What’s more, they weren’t even good fishermen! They had been out all day and not caught a thing! Yet Jesus gets in the boat with them, teaches with them, abundantly provides more fish than their nets could handle. When Jesus’ miracle opens Peter’s eyes to his identity as the Lord, he is immediately struck by his own distance from Jesus’ righteousness, and he calls out, “"Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" Far from being the end of his opportunity to serve in God’s kingdom, Peter’s confession of sin is rather the beginning of one of the most incredible stories of discipleship in the history of the Christian Church. Jesus responds, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people,” and this poor, unlucky fisherman goes on to become the leading apostle of Jesus Christ and the rock on which the Church is founded.
The call of Peter demonstrates that God meets us where we are. God does not call saints to serve the kingdom, God calls common everyday sinners and forms them into saints. Your sin, your flaws, your shortcomings, are not greater than God’s love for you. God is seeking you out, flaws and all, and calling you to participate in the coming kingdom. And if the power of God could make Peter, the poor sinful fisherman, into the foundation of the church, it can make you a valued, participating member of the kingdom today. May we ever trust in God’s loving grace and seek to respond to God’s call.
Pastor Andrew Greenhaw