Luke 5:1-11; Psalm 25:1-10
We have entered the season of Lent. Among the seasons of Church, what season is most meaningful and helpful to you? Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, or Pentecost? Personally, I appreciate Lent more than the others, especially when I have a busy schedule. To me, Lent is a time when the quietness of solemnity inside us is louder than any kind of noise surrounding us. How can we remain silent peacefully in Christ, a silence that is louder than human words which sometimes suffocate us or drown us mentally?
As we all know, the Christian meaning of Lent revolves around reflection and repentance. It is beyond just doing them. When we reflect deeply and repent well, the quietness of solemnity stays strong in us. As a result, God’s peace and hope naturally penetrate our hearts. And whoever meets and interacts with us can sense them. The peace and hope of God are contagious, in a good way.
For the coming 40 days in Lent until Easter, we are going to wander with Peter by grace through faith to see how he follows Jesus. Why is it important by grace through faith? It’s not just any grace or any faith. Grace is what we have received from God alone, it is a gift. We can’t earn it. And faith goes beyond just belief. Faith is confidence and trust in who God is and what God says and does. Paul defines ‘faith’ in Hebrew 11:1, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen."
While wandering with Peter by grace through faith, we avoid either being too harsh or sugar coating Peter's faith journey. By wandering with Peter, it’s my prayer that we can honestly look at our own faith journey and do some reflecting and repenting.
Jesus doesn’t seek out trained rabbis and priests to be his disciples; instead, he calls a few Galilean fishermen to follow him and join his ministry. Why fishermen? Fishing was a fundamental part of the economy of first-century Galilee. Most fishing families were poor and lived at subsistence level, while a small minority of elites held the bulk of wealth and power. Jesus knew the daily struggles of fishers and their families. Therefore, in Jesus’ mind, Peter was one of the good candidates among the 12 disciples to be trained to fish for people because Peter would know and understand who yearns to hear the gospel of Jesus.
In this story, Jesus tells Simon Peter to drop his nets one more time, even though they’ve been fishing all night long and have caught nothing. To their surprise, they haul in nets bursting with fish. In response to this abundant miracle, Peter says, “Go away from me, Lord! For I am a sinful man!” And after his confession, Peter and his partners drop their nets and follow Jesus.
Don’t our faith journeys in Christ start with a confession? That is the reason why we begin the worship with confession in Lent. It sets the tone of what Lent is about. Lent reminds us of what we are, created by God from dust, and one day we all will return to be dust again in physical death and decomposition. Lent also reminds us to whom we belong, an opportunity to be recentered and grounded in Christ.
From Peter’s confession, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” we can tell that Peter was overwhelmed by what Jesus could do. See! When Jesus commanded him to put the boat out into the deep water and let down the nets for a catch, what did he say to Jesus? He answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.”
Let us reflect on his response to Jesus together. Why was it important for Peter to point out that he had been working all night long but caught nothing? Peter thought he knew it all and tried it all. From Peter’s perspective, he was a fisherman, but Jesus wasn’t. He spent all night long, but Jesus didn’t. Was he saying to Jesus, “I knew what I was doing? And do you, Jesus, know what you are doing?” Have we ever acted like Peter either intentionally or unintentionally, forgotten God is with us?
From Jesus’ perspective, he knew where the fish was, but Peter didn’t. He had the power to attract a big amount of fish and gather them, but Peter didn’t. The point is that Jesus knew what Peter could do, not only fish for fish, but fish for people, and Jesus’ plan was to show and teach Peter how to do it. No wonder Peter was overwhelmed by what Jesus could do. Thanks be to God that Peter followed Jesus all his life.
God has sought you out and showed you what God could do through you. When was that, do you remember? How has God shown you and taught you how to fish for people? Were you overwhelmed by what God can do just as Peter was? God seeks our hearts each day and calls us by name. When we hear, may we be bold to confess to God what we are and to whom we belong. Let us remember that we are dust, to dust we shall return. And in Christ, we find peace and hope on our way to Easter. Amen.
我們已進入預苦期的季節了。在教會年曆裡的季節中，哪個季節對你來說最有意義呢？將臨期、聖誕節、或是剛結束的主顯節、現在的預苦期、還是復活節，或是五旬節呢？就我個人而言，當我特別忙碌的時候，預苦期對我的信仰上，是更有意義和幫助的。
對我來言，預苦期是一個很特別的季節。當我們周圍的任何噪音侵犯到了生活品質的時候，我們信主的，內心會有那份來自主的，莊嚴的寧靜時刻，而那莊嚴的寧靜，會勝過任何雜音或是噪音。但我們要怎麼樣才能在基督裡，將那份有平安的莊嚴寧靜持續下來呢? 而不被周圍的言論使我們有窒息或被淹沒的感受呢？
眾所周知，在基督信仰的教導，預苦期著重的是反思和悔改。不是在於，有沒有做這兩件事情。而是當我們在深刻反省並好好懺悔時，莊嚴的寧靜就會在我們心中鞏固的扎根。也因如此，神的平安與盼望自然滲透到我們的心裡。任何與我們相遇並且有互動的人，都可以感受到神的平安與盼望。上帝的平安和盼望是有感染力的，是以一種很好的感染力。
在接下來的預苦期，一直到復活節的 40 天裡，我們將憑著恩典和信心與彼得一起漫步，看看他是如何跟隨耶穌。為什麼藉著信心藉著恩典很重要呢？這不是任何的恩典或是任何的信心。恩典是我們從神那裡得到的，它是一份神賜給我們的禮物。我們是無法用自己的能力來賺取的。信心不單單只是相信。信心是我們清楚知道神是誰，以及對神所說和所做的事很確定也很信任。保羅在希伯來書 11 章 1 節中對「信心」做了定義。他說：「信心就是對所盼望之事的確實，信心就是對未見之事的確據。」
當我們憑著恩典、藉著信心與彼得同行時，我們對彼得的信仰之旅，就不會過於嚴厲的去看待，或者把它過度美化了。透過與彼得一起漫步，我祈禱，我們能夠誠實地審視自己的信仰之旅，並進行一些反思和悔改。
耶穌並沒有尋找受過訓練的拉比和牧師作為他的門徒；相反，他召集了一些加利利漁民，跟隨他並加入他的事工。為什麼是漁民呢？漁業在一世紀，是加利利經濟的主流。大多數的漁民家庭，都很貧窮，只能勉強維持生計，而少數菁英則掌握著大部分財富和權力。耶穌清楚漁民及其家人平日生活上的不容易。因此，在耶穌看來，這十二位門徒中，彼得的確是個適合接受訓練的人選之一，因為彼得知道並且了解，是哪些人渴望聽到耶穌的福音。
在這個故事中，儘管他們打了一整夜的魚，卻一無所獲，耶穌仍然告訴彼得再次撒網。令他們驚訝的是，他們網裡裝滿了魚。看見這豐富的奇蹟，彼得的回應 ， 是說：「主啊，離開我吧！因為我是一個有罪的人！” 在他懺悔告白˙之後，彼得和他的夥伴們，丟下魚網， 便一路開始跟隨耶穌。
我們進入信仰基督的生活，不都是從認罪開始的嗎？這就是為什麼我們在預苦期，以認罪開始來敬拜上帝的原因。這樣做，能幫助我們進入預苦期的氛圍。預苦期提醒了我們，我們是從何而來的。 上帝用塵土創造了我們，有一天我們都會面臨肉體的死亡，再次回歸塵土。這也提醒了我們，我們是歸屬於誰的，在這個季節裡，我們在主內得以重新定位，並且再次回歸於基督裡。
從彼得的懺悔：“主啊，離開我吧，因為我是一個罪人！”我們可以看出，彼得對耶穌的大能，感到不知所措。當耶穌吩咐他把船開到水深之處，下網捕魚時，他對耶穌說了什麼呢？他回答說：「主啊，我們工作了一整夜，卻什麼也沒打著。但你既然這麼說，我就撒網了。”
讓我們 一起反思彼得對耶穌的回應。為什麼對彼得而言，指出他整夜工作卻一無所獲很重要呢？彼得他自認為，他很清楚是怎麼回事，並且也努力嘗試了一切。從彼得的角度來看，他是個專業的漁夫，但耶穌不是。他整夜都在試著捕魚，但耶穌並沒有。他是否像似對耶穌說：「我知道自己在做什麼？耶穌，你知道你在做什麼嗎？」我們是否有類似像彼得的態度的時候呢，不論是有意志性的或是無意志性的，忘了主在我們當中？
從耶穌的角度來看，他知道魚在哪裡，但彼得不知道。他有能力吸引大量的魚並將牠們聚集，但彼得沒有那個能耐。重點是，耶穌知道彼得能做什麼，不僅能捕魚，而且也能得人，而耶穌的計劃就是向彼得展示並教導他如何做到這一點。難怪彼得對耶穌的大能感到不知所措。我們為彼得一生跟隨著耶穌，來感謝主。
神已經找尋過你們在座的每一位了，並向你展示了神可以透過你們每一位做大事。你記得那是什麼時候的事嗎？神如何向你展示並教導你如何得人呢？你是否像彼得一樣，對神的大能，感到不知所措呢？神每天都在尋找我們的心，並呼喚我們的名字。當我們聽到的時候，願我們能勇敢地向神承認我們是誰，我們是屬於誰的。在這個預苦期，願我們記住，我們是塵土，我們終將歸於塵土。走向復活節的一路上，在主內基督裡，願我們都有平安和盼望。阿們。
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