Worn, Not Out
- sherryrichmond2
- Jul 23
- 9 min read
Updated: Aug 5
This entry is part 39 of 39 in the series A Walk in the Ancient Western Lectionary
The Fifth Sunday after Trinity
Trekking in the heat is a beast. It is slow trodding and akin to wrestling an opponent towards the end of the match. Your body is bruised and aching, your sweat no longer cools your body, it just gets in the way of your eyesight, and yet the challenger still combats to fight for positioning. The endgame is more and more about outlasting the other. Such is the hiking in the unforgiving Alabama summer, where you no longer know if you’re sweating or if the humidity is merely coalescing upon your face.
We are all in the midst of such a hike. We never know how much more we have until we reach our destination, but we do know that someday we shall enter it. However, we must finish the hike and not let it finish us. More often than not, the hills we climb, the rocks that loosen in our grip and fall down, and the mountains on our horizon are of our own making. We trek and trod, plod and plough, only to realize we are fighting the wrong battle or worse, the wrong war.
Sometimes the way forward is the Way back. In our foolishness, we are distracted by the devil’s blows. More often, we yield to our hubris and are blinded to our error, our sin. The world’s temptations to take the well-trodden path seems easy but leads to destruction. In our pride, we double down on taking the now torturous path. Our load becomes heavier still. Yet all the while,
the Savior is telling us to walk down the narrow Way. Quite literally, to take the road less traveled.
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
in purer lives thy service find,
in deeper reverence, praise.
Our Collect of the Day is a prayer for “godly quietness.” This should not be mistaken for slothfulness nor pitching our tent along the Way. The collect is a prayer for action but in the midst of peace. We pray specifically “that thy church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness.” (Collect of the Day). The prayer is that our service, our work, our vocation unto the Lord God is not hindered nor distracted by broken peace. “Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance,” or in other words, we pray, Father, help us to serve thy will on earth by setting aside every distraction disrupting the quietness of our hearts resting in you alone. Uproot the briers ahead and cast aside every loose stone beneath us so we can keep our eyes upon you and the work you have given us to do.
Our Lord has a call and a calling to you, Christian. This calling is to be reborn as an indwelt Spirit temple bearing fruits of righteousness wherever you find yourself. For Simon Peter, he was called by the incarnate Lord upon the very boat where he fished day in and day out: “And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.” (Gospel lesson, Luke 5:3, KJV). Simon Peter obeyed and took the Lord out into the water so Jesus could speak to the crowds listening from the shoreline. It’s incredible that Simon Peter did this act of faith. We learn in the next verses that Simon Peter had been out all night working and toiling to catch fish and coming up empty-handed. He was likely exhausted and more than disappointed at his failure in catching anything and providing for his family. Yet despite the weary and empty night, he was willing to take this itinerant preacher that his brother Andrew was convinced was a prophet, if not more, and put out along the shoreline so Jesus could speak to the gathering crowds.
Even a disappointed faith, a tired faith, an exhausted faith, is a mustard seed faith.
Peter was worn, but not out.
In simple trust like theirs who heard,
beside the Syrian sea,
the gracious calling of the Lord,
let us, like them, without a word,
rise up and follow thee.
Jesus teaches the crowds and after concluding, our Lord turns to the still exhausted Simon Peter and orders him, “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” (Luke 5:4, KJV). Peter does not scoff, is not miffed, and does not swear. Instead, he submits to the yoke of the Lord: “Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.” (Luke 5:5, KJV). How often are you finding yourself sore, beaten, sweating from the labor of traveling along the Way and wondering why you keep coming up empty handed? It is far easier to give up and let the wild beasts of sin, flesh, the world, and the devil devour you. Giving up is easier than giving into Christ. Yet here we see Peter’s faith, where he confesses the failure of the prior night yet in his certain exhaustion listens to God and yields to His will: “nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.”
This simple faith yielded a harvest in the day that was hidden from Simon Peter the night before: “And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.” (Luke 5:6, KJV). The haul was so great that Simon Peter had to call for his partners to come assist in another boat, “And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.” (Luke 5:8, KJV). Jesus not only provided, He overabundantly provided. God is calling you, O child of His, and the path looks rough. You have trodden many weary miles and may think you cannot take one step more. Yet the obedient faith bears superabundance, not by our will but by His grace. Simon Peter immediately put the two together. He took what his brother St. Andrew had been telling him about John the Baptist’s message, Jesus as the possible Christ, the Gospel Jesus proclaimed only moments before from his boat, and now this miracle, and cried out on humble knees before God and all his fellow fishermen: “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Luke 5:8, KJV).
This humble prayer from Simon Peter goes unanswered. Or, I should say the Lord Jesus answers it completely opposite from what Peter requested. Instead of departing from the sinful man sitting on his knees, the Holy One turns and “said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” (Luke 5:10 KJV).
O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above,
where Jesus knelt to share with thee
the silence of eternity
interpreted by love!
The fisherman who caught nothing in a night is turned into the fisher of men who will turn the world upside down. God’s beautiful plan is topsy-turvy to the way of the world. The Way of Christ is victory in death. The Way upwards to heaven is downward in harrowing hell. The Way to new life is losing the old life.
This same call goes to every Christian. The bank teller is called to be a faithful steward and profit in abundantly multiplying the souls in the kingdom. The farmer is called to reap a harvest that is not his own. The homemaker is called to raise her children and children not of her own flesh into the faith. The janitor is called to proclaim the cleansing of souls. The teacher is called to reveal God’s wisdom and defy man’s. The vocation of every Christian belongs neither to our career ambitions nor to our employer’s demands. Everything belongs to God, and everything we render to Him. Caesar’s image may be borne on the coins that are taxed, but God’s image is borne on every man, woman, and child made in His image.
St. Peter, John and James, both sons of Zebedee “which were partners with Simon…forsook all, and followed him.” (Luke 5:10-11, KJV). Will you forsake everything and follow Him?
Drop thy still dews of quietness,
till all our strivings cease;
take from our souls the strain and stress,
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of thy peace.
Simon Peter, John, and James did not forsake their livelihood and enter into greener pastures. Far from it. They entered into the wandering dependence upon strangers as seekers after the Lord. They entered into difficulty, persecution, martyrdom, and exile for St. John. Yet they gave it all up to pursue the One with the words of Life who is the Word of God.
Do not be deceived at the cost of following Christ. It costs everything and therefore it brings no worldly peace nor fleshly comfort. Yet the gain is beyond all comprehension as the quietness of your soul is gifted by the indwelling of the Holy God the Spirit within you. The false security of luxury and easy living will never be yours by following Christ. However, now you gain the treasure buried in the worthless field – the peace which surpasses all understanding. The road to glory is hard on the feet, the bones, and the joints but it is easy on the back, the mind, and the soul. The only thing we have to lose along the way is the baggage of our fleshly heart.
St. Peter learned this in His discipleship and apostleship under the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, Peter writes to us, “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.” (Epistle lesson, 1 Peter 3:8-9, KJV). You are not sojourning alone along the Way. Your neighboring brothers and sisters in Christ walk before, beside, and after you; therefore, be of good Christian cheer and encouragement to one another. There are passerby and lost ones who are near the Way and who cross over the Way or even journey along the Way for a period of time. Catch them as St. Peter fished for men, namely sharing Christ’s Gospel and His living: “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.” (1 Peter 3:10-11, KJV).
May the words of your lips be for good and not for evil as you walk, “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” (1 Peter 3:12, KJV). Along the Way there come dark valleys, treacherous mountains, and demonic robbers. There are waylanders who wish to knock you off the Way or steal the hidden joy of knowing God and being indwelt by Him. Yet, St. Peter, who finished the race, reminds us, “But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled.” (1 Peter 3:14, KJV). Curse not the waylander, instead have mercy upon them as your Father has mercy upon you, “but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.” (1 Peter 3:15, KJV). Sometimes the waylander turns into the inquisitor and from the inquisitor into the curious. Your calling is to “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” (1 Peter 3:15, KJV).
Give the waylander acquaintance to the One who quiets our soul, soothes our wounds, and blesses our sore feet for the street of gold.
Breathe through the heats of our desire
thy coolness and thy balm;
let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.
Worn, Not Out
Comments