THE RISK OF BEING KNOWN - 5 Epiphany

In 2003, had you ever heard of Barak Obama? Do you know who were Sidon? Or Chilion? or Jael?

We live in an era in which we suffer from information overload – a time in which decision-making is more likely to suffer from analysis paralysis, or an overload of data, than a lack of it, and yet there are still limits to what we know.

Not that long ago, individuals lived in a pretty small world, with limited avenues for learning about significant people…in the next town, much less the next state or country. Now, I’m not that old, and yet my family was one of the first In our neighborhood to have a color TV. (My dad actually made it from a Heathkit.) My parents grew up listening to radio programs, and my grandparents sitting around playing music and singing together. Now, I bet most of us here could go on-line and find out about any one of those obscure names I just listed at the beginning of my sermon. . .(snap!) Just like that!

Our world is changing very quickly, and our ability to know who’s who along with it. . .and yet there are still limits to what we know. Consider, then, what the world was like a couple thousand years ago. What sources for information were there? How small would your world have been?!?!

No one ever asked the fisherman, Peter, what he thought of his government, and frankly, it wasn't something he thought about much. He worked hard, did his best to care for his family, and help his neighbors when they needed it. He was just one of many fisherman working this part of the lake. Perhaps he was a leader among them, perhaps not. It doesn’t matter.

But that was about to change and very quickly. His world was about to explode and its boundaries totally redefined. His faith-practice, a relatively marginal part of his life, was about to take center stage.

Up to the morning of Peter's big fish-story, he lived on the margins. He'd heard of this Jesus, but none of the things he'd heard had really touched him yet. There'd been rumors of his being a great teacher. Cool, but that didn’t affect him much. Peter had even been around for a couple of Jesus' healings, but all those healer’s ways were mysterious to him. He was a fisherman he knew how to fish and the business of selling them.

So what made it change? What shifted his perspective on everything?

Peter and the others had just spent all night fishing. The nets had been pulled in, complete with a few half-dead crabs, an old sandal, and some snags. It had been a tiring hopeless effort, and so when Jesus asked them to cast their nets out again, it hardly felt like they were being asked to be a part of a miracle. No, they were tired and depressed. As they sat there mending the nets, this teacher and supposed healer asked them to do more fishing. So, why should they? Why should they trust this guy? Fishing was their business! What did this Jesus know?

Maybe Peter was simply too tired to argue, but for some reason, despite his better judgment, he went ahead and did it, and the others joined in. The nets went out, and before they'd even fully settled in the water, they were full of fish! Now this was a catch! This was a miracle. This Peter could relate to! Now he understood that this Jesus was something special, and this way he offered had something to offer him.

And yet...and yet, for all of the thrill of it, it came so close it scared him!

Many of us can relate to Peter because he is so much like us. This time is one of those times. In some ways, it was easier for Peter to believe that God was far away, and wanted little or nothing to do with him. Big God! Bigger plans! Small me!

And yet here God was, reaching out and touching his life - no radio, or TV or internet -right there, and in a way that Peter couldn’t miss.

In a way, every day before each of us is a version of this day of Peter’s. We have a myriad of ways to connect to people, to get information, and to tell the world about ourselves, but are we willing to risk being open to and really knowing and being known by God? Or maybe in that on regard to we prefer ignorance and anonymity?

Ever heard of Marianne Williamson? Probably not. How about Nelson Mandela? Probably, yes! Well, one of the quotes that he is most famous for was actually penned by her. It’s from her book – Return to Love. I would like to end with that today:

“Our deepest fear

is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear

is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness,

that almost frightens us.

We ask ourselves,

‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented,

and fabulous?’

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.

There is nothing enlightening about shrinking

so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are born to make manifest

the glory of God that is within us;

it’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,

we unconsciously give people permission

to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,

our presence automatically liberates others.”