SPIRITUALITY FOR THESE CRITICAL TIMES

Growing in Christ
They left everything and followed him.
Luke 5: 1-11
5 Once while Jesus a was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was
pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of
the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 He got
into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little
way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4 When
he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into the deep water and let down
your nets for a catch. 5 Simon answered, Master, we have worked all night long but
have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets. 6 When they had
done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7 So they
signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and
filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell
down at Jesus knees, saying, Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man! 9 For
he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken;
10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.
Then Jesus said to Simon, Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching
people. 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and
followed him.
2 Peter 3:17-18
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that
you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure
position.
18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him
be glory both now and forever! Amen.

Good morning! Thanks God for this day. Praise His Holy Name! Let us pray.
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in
thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. Amen
Today's Sunday, the Cagayan de Oro -United Church of Christ in the Philippine is
celebrating the 98th founding anniversary. I am grateful to be invited to share with
what the Scripture says about this memorable occasion. May the message this
morning be a blessing to all!
The Scripture that was read to us is very familiar to us. It is the call of the
disciples.
The story starts with Jesus. He was preaching of the "word of God" to a
crowd. Then Jesus decided to get into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon
Peter. He sat down and taught the people from the boat. Simon Peter and company,
Gospel says, had been fishing all through the night and had caught nothing. Jesus
noticed this and turned his attention to the fishermen. The dialogue between Jesus and
Simon Peter, the fisherman, is quite revealing.
Jesus: Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.
Simon: Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if
you say so, I will let down the nets.
And they caught an abundance of fish, enough to break the net, enough indeed to fill
two boats and to cause both nearly to sink. Peter realizing what had happened
confesses to Jesus that he, Peter, is a sinful man.
Simon: Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!
Jesus: Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.
So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
1

The reading is fitting for our celebration today and your chosen theme SPIRITUALITY FOR THESE CRITICAL TIMES with a sub-theme growing in
Christ.
We can learn several lessons from the story.
The most important lesson is that SPIRITUALITY always starts with Jesus.
Here, all the initiative is with Jesus. He got into the boat. He commanded Simon to let
down their nets. He commissioned them to catch people for the Kingdom of God. It is
not the disciples who have chosen Jesus, but rather Jesus who has chosen the
disciples. He found them on the spot where they were working, engaged in their
human task. Today still, Christ comes to us in the midst of our work, our joys, our
sorrows.
What is interesting in the Gospel passage is that Jesus came in times of crisis. In
this passage of the gospel, we hear Simon say to Jesus: "Master, we were hard at work
all night and caught nothing at all." Jesus came upon the fishermen at a very low
moment. They had tried every trick of the trade. They had persevered, keeping at it
when most others would have given up long ago. Still, they had no fish to show for it.
We know how they felt. We know what it is like to try our very best, do all that we
know how to do, and yet still fail. We know what it is like to work hard, to train, to
study our field, to get on-the-job experience, then to apply all of the wisdom,
knowledge, and skill we have acquired and nothing comes of it. The loneliness of such
discouragement and self-doubt is profound.
As you celebrate the 98th founding anniversary of the CDO-UCCP, let us
remember that it was and it is Christ who calls you to be Christs Church.

The spirituality that we need these times of crisis is the spirituality that Jesus
Christ imparts.
What are characteristics of this spirituality which Jesus Christ gives?
There are four which I would like to mention.
First, a spirituality of obedience. In verse 5, Luke describes, Peter, at first,
was reluctant to lower his nets. and after thinking about Jesus' command, he finally

responds, "Master, if you say so, I will let down the nets "(v.5). To Simon Peter, the
command made no sense. Simon might not agree, but he did obey. Simon found
something irresistible about Jesus. Simon recognized Jesus' rightful authority and
obeyed his directions.

Second, a spirituality of blessings. Biblical blessings are not primarily

materials. The only true blessing Simon Peter received was Jesus Christ. When Jesus
was not with Peter, Peter did not catch anything in his nets; but from the moment that
he took Jesus on board, he caught a great many fish. This is an example illustrating
the truth that, without Jesus, we can do nothing (Jn 15,5). But, with his help, anything
is possible. "I can do anything in him who strengthens me" (Ph 4,13). Even in times
of crisis and difficulties Gods blessings abound.
And this blessing is a gift! Its Gods gift! Hence, we cannot demand it! You
cannot buy it! You cannot earn it! You cannot exchange it for something else. Gods
gift is always freely given. Gods blessings are freely given. Peter receives the
blessings freely.
In addition, the blessings Simon Peter received were shared with other
fishermen. Simon Peter and company signaled their partners in the other boat to come
and help them. Blessings are to be shared.
And because the early followers of Jesus realized that blessing were to share
we are now recipients of the Divine blessing.
Cagayan de Oro UCCP is a recipient of this great blessing of salvation. It
began 98th years ago. In 1921 CDO Evangelical Church (UCCP) was organized by

And that is the reason we are here today. To proclaim what God has to done
for us. Jesus has come to us. He has gotten into our boat CDO-UCCP. We are
truly blessed!
And I believe that God has provided the Church with blessings so much
blessings to share to others. Paul said: God is able to provide you with every blessing
in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share
abundantly in every good work. (2Cor 9:8) You have pastors who are ever ready to
share their pastoral knowledge and skills in time of joy and in time of sadness. We
have members, friends and pledgers who continue to support our various ministries of
the Church. We have the local conference and national leadership which unite us with
other local churches as UCCP. We have the seminary that prepares and trains men and
women for the ministry of the Church. We have established networks and earned the
goodwill of the larger community. Genuinely celebrate your founding by becoming a
blessing to the community
Truly I tell you, Cagayan de Oro UCCP is like the boat of Simon Peter, you
have received so much for God that your nets are beginning to break. God be praised!
The third point, is a spirituality of repentance.
Luke tells us that "when Simon Peter saw (the catch), he fell down at Jesus'
feet, saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!' "(v.8). What is going on
here? Why is Peter so frightened? Peter knew Jesus was special--that is why he
addressed Him as "Master "--but after this great miracle; after Jesus produced enough
fish to sink 2 ships; Peter knew that he was standing in the presence of God.
And Simon Peter became afraid. Why? The encounter with Jesus brings him to an
awareness of his sinfulness, of his unworthiness; he feels the fear of the All-otherness of God the Holy.
When God likewise manifests himself to Isaiah, the prophet confesses: "Woe to me, I am lost, for I am
a man with impure lips ... and now ... I have seen with my very eyes the Lord of hosts"

(Is 6,5). Sinful human beings have to claim to God. Peter knows sin and holiness cannot co-exist
together. In the presence of the Holy God, sin is extinguished.

Could the same be said of us? When we are in the presence of the Lord we
become afraid. We realized that we have not been faithful to the covenant. We begin
to think more of our privileges of being the CHURCH of CHRIST rather than being
called, elected and chosen by God. And that Christ needs us to accomplish his plan.
We begin to think that we are indispensable to Gods plan. Without us, without me
Gods plan will not succeed.
When we realize that we are in Gods presence, are we afraid because we
realize that we have glorified our church, our successes, our selves. Thank you
Lord, I am not like those sinners. When the churches begin to think like God, we no
longer listen to God.
Let us return to the gospel story. Simon Peter knew he could not hide or run
away from Jesus. He could not hide his sinfulness. He has no escape. In presence of
Jesus, Simon Peter pleaded with Jesus, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O
Lord ! "(v.8).
Jesus presence moves us to repentance. The call to repentance is demanded
today. We have to accept the truth of who we are - that we are only creatures before
our Creator, sinners before our Redeemer. The Church needs to open itself to Gods
claims, and the existence of the Church needs to undergo Gods converting action.
Repentance involves three things. One, knowing that sin is destroying our life.
Acknowledging that one is a sinner is quite difficult. Oftentimes we blame other
things or other people instead of seeing that we ourselves are the guilty ones. Second,
confessing the sin. Those who were really sorry for their sins confessed them aloud.
This is important because it forces us to examine ourselves first to see what is wrong
with in us. And if we confess our sins in the presence of others, they can give us help

in overcoming our own sins. John Calvin made it a practice to have public confession
of ones sins.
In these days some Christians dont take the time to confess their sins. Could
this be one reason why Christians lack credibility? We only need to look back to our
history as a people of God. And we realized that we have not lived up to the callingthe crusade, the inquisition, the burning of the heretics, the religious wars, the
conquest of the new world, genocide, violent evangelization, Imperialism. I could go
ongo on mention the many sins we have committed in the name of Our Lord
Jesus Christ. We cannot boast that we dont need repentance. We need it yesterday and
today.

Fourth, a spirituality of discipleship.

The fishermen were not called because of their qualifications, character, or potential.
Gods call is as unpredictable as it is unmerited. Second, the call to discipleship did
not come in a holy place (the temple or a synagogue) but in the midst of the
fishermens daily work. The point is significant not because God does not call people
in a holy place (cf. Zechariah in Luke 1) but because it is a further sign of the work of
Gods kingdom reaching into the arena of human life.

In today's gospel episode, we see five persons leaving their home for a new life. Jesus
leaves Nazareth, and two pairs of brothers leave their profession and their family. For
all of them, this must have been painful and challenging, yet they went ahead with it.
Their continued growth as human beings and as children of God required this break
from their past. And they consented to the call of God to greater growth.

For us too, all the various events of our lives can be seen as a call to greater growth.
But growing up is painful. Shall we consent to the pain? What may help us is to look
at the end result of human growth the risen Jesus in all the glory of a man who
accepted at each step the pain of going forth into the destiny prepared by God for
him. To each one of us Jesus says, "Share with me in my pain and you will share one
day in my glory."