Luke 5:8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"

When Simon Peter met Jesus for the first time, Jesus told the fisherman where to fish. When Simon let down his nets, he caught so many fish that he struggled to get the boat to shore. So what were Simon's first words to Jesus after this encounter? Did he say "Wow! How'd you know there'd be so many fish there? Is there a hidden camera around here somewhere? Are you the Fish Whisperer?" Simon said none of those things. He dropped to the floor of the boat in fron to Jesus and said, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!"

Now I'm going to suggest that this is not an overreaction. It certainly seems extreme to us, but we are unaccustomed to coming face-to-face with God. We've also become unaccustomed to thinking of ourselves as sinners. Neither is a very tasteful proposition, and we'd just prefer not to think about them. And yet, here's Simon, falling at the feet of Jesus and making this exclamation: "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!"

Once again we hear the two words of God. The first, an implicit word of judgment; it doesn't even need to be spoken. Christ's merer presence caused Simon Peter to acknowledge his sin. He exclaimed, "I am a sinful man!" But as always, the first word is never the last word. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid." The final word completely obliterated the first word. Peter came to the shore, dropped everything he had, and followed Jesus.

When we come face-to-face-with God, it's bad news. God's holiness, His perfection, His very being, causes us to say, "I'm not the person I want to be." Bad news. German theologian Rudolf Otto called this experience the mysterium tremendum, the moment of personal unraveling when overwhelmed by the glorious perfection of the divine. We cry out, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man," and the good news is that God, knowing our hearts, knowing the depth of our selfishness, anger, frustration, and envy, hears our command to depart and simply says, "No."

He doesn't depart from us. Instead He draws near with words of comfort: "Do not be afraid."

--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,