In The Chronicles of Narnia, an allegory by C. S. Lewis, two girls, Susan and Lucy, are getting ready to meet Aslan the lion, who represents Christ. Two talking animals, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, prepare the children for the encounter. "Ooh," said Susan, "I thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion." "That you will, dearie," said Mrs. Beaver. "And make no mistake, if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly." "Then isn't he safe?" said Lucy. "Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the king, I tell you!"

Can you appear before Jesus without your knees knocking? These girls in "Narnia" were going to have trouble with it. In our first reading today, Isaiah had trouble with it - he was trembling before the Lord! Or consider how Jesus was described in Revelation 1 when He appeared to John in a vision! Eyes blazing like fire, voice like rushing waters, sword coming out of his mouth? John fell over backwards, he was so afraid! And in our text, Peter is afraid of Jesus too, once Jesus shows who He is. Peter didn't feel worthy to be in his presence. How about you? How many of you are afraid of Jesus? I guess when I think of Jesus, my knees don't usually start knocking. Do we have any reason to be afraid of Jesus?

Should we be afraid of Him when He gives us strange instructions? He gives Peter and the other disciples some pretty strange instructions in our reading, doesn't He? "Even though you have been fishing in the shallow water all night, the optimum setting for fishing, and caught nothing, Peter, go out into the deep right now in the middle of the day and throw your nets down for a catch of fish!" It seemed foolish to do so, because Peter knew there were no fish to catch. "But at your word," he said, "I will let down the nets." And he did - showing a strong faith that went against common sense. Sometimes Jesus tells us "silly" things to do as well - turning the other cheek when someone hits you, loving your enemies, giving away your possessions, leaving all and following Him, trusting in Him for forgiveness, putting others before you… All of them silly by the world's standards! Do these strange instructions of Jesus ever make you afraid of Him? Or has He given you enough reason not to be afraid of Him?

Sometimes Jesus lets us have challenges while He is blessing us! The disciples' challenge? The size of their catch is so enormous, it is startling! The nets begin to tear, two boats can barely handle the load! Gorged to overflowing, the boats begin to sink!

A friend told me about being in a boat hunting Canadian Geese in the dead of winter on a freezing lake. Shivering to the bones, all three of them, in a 16-foot aluminum boat, hold out for a few more minutes of light and the last chance at a goose. Sure enough, their patience is rewarded. Overhead they hear a flight. Each of them fire their long goose guns straight up and two of the biggest birds come tumbling down out of the sky. For an instant they were exhilarated; then horror gripped them. One of those birds was headed straight for the boat. 35 pounds of goose at 90 miles an hour! When it finally hit the boat it nearly sunk it and them with it! Sometimes you get what you want and it comes straight at you!

The same thing can happen with the Lord! Does it make you afraid of Him? He blesses you with a good job, an extra bit of income, some time on your hands, a talent or ability, and all of a sudden you realize that the gifts you have need to be shared with others - you have a challenge! Or the Lord blesses you with children. You prayed for it, hoped for it, dreamed about it. So now, you have a burping, crying infant, who will turn into a toddler and then a teen! Whoa! Were you ready for the Lord's blessings? Or do they frighten you at times?

How about his almighty power? Does that make you afraid of Jesus? Look at how Jesus displayed his power with this miraculous catch of fish! Only God could do that! Only the God who created the fish could command them to jump into a net. When we see Jesus' power in his Word and in our lives, we find ourselves standing face to face with the Almighty God!

When Simon Peter saw just how many fish there were, he fell to his knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man." Peter got what he wanted, a good catch of fish, but something now occurred to him. What is it that suddenly dawned on him? It wasn't the number of fish; rather, it was who this MAN was who had just provided the biggest catch of his life. He was standing in a boat with God Incarnate! The perfect, holy, almighty Lord! And who was Peter? A filthy, rotten, sinful human being! Never before had Peter felt so unworthy. So guilty.

Friends, when we come face to face with Jesus, our first reaction can't be any different. "Go away from me, Lord. I am a sinful person." When Jesus looks right into our hearts with those eyes of his that are like blazing fire, He sees all of our thoughts, all the words we have spoken and the deeds we have done in secret. He knows how selfish we have been, how disrespectful to Him we have been, how untrusting we have been, how hateful to others, how greedy, how lustful, how jealous, how prideful, and how rude. How unforgiving we have been stands in stark contrast to his grace! We sinners cannot stand in the presence of a holy God! That is the point God drove home for years by walling off the Most Holy Place in the Temple with a curtain! Sin has made a barrier between God and humanity! And being in his presence makes us very aware of that fact. Are you afraid of Jesus? Because of your sins, you should be!

But what does Jesus tell Peter? "Don't be afraid." That is the same way He answered John in Revelation, and the same way He answered Isaiah in his fear. It is the same way He answers our fears! Don't be afraid! Why? Because "your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Why? Because "I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!" Why do you and I have NO reason to be afraid of Jesus? Because He gave his life for us! He died on that cross to pay for our sins, and rose again to assure us that we have been made right with God! Everything is good again between us and God! We can stand in his presence without any fear!! Don't be afraid of Jesus!

I think it is for a different reason that we are sometimes "afraid of Jesus." We know He loves us. We usually become "afraid of Jesus" when it comes time to tell others about Him! As soon as Jesus tells Peter not to be afraid of Him, He says, "From now on you will be catching men." Same thing He told Isaiah and John as soon as He told them not to be afraid - "Now go and tell others about me! Tell others not to be afraid! And I will be with you!"

But this is now where you and I become "afraid of Jesus," isn't it? What makes people afraid to share their faith? Here are the fears usually mentioned: "I am afraid I might do more harm than good." "I don't know what to say." "I may not be able to give snappy answers to tricky questions." "I may seem bigoted." "I may invade someone's privacy." "I am afraid I might fail." "I am afraid I might be a hypocrite." And, of course, "I might get rejected."

Some time ago an 18-year-old girl from Washington attended a worship service. For the first time in her life she heard a gospel sermon. Two days later, the pastor received a letter from her. It read: "Dear Pastor: Last Sunday I attended your church, and I heard you preach. In your sermon you said that all men have sinned and rebelled against God. Because of their rebellion and disobedience they all face eternal damnation and separation from God. But then you also said God loved men and sent his Son, Jesus, into the world to redeem men from their sins and that all those who believe in Him would go to heaven and live with God eternally. My parents recently died in rapid succession. I know they did not believe in Jesus Christ, whom you call the Savior of the world. If what you preach is true, they are damned. You compel me to believe that either the message isn't true, or that you yourself don't believe this message, or that you don't care. We live only three blocks from your church, and no one ever told us. You hypocrites!"

We who have heard the good news and experienced freedom through Christ are responsible to proclaim it to others still enslaved by sin. Jesus calls US to be fishers of men! Are we doing all we can to make sure that people get the message? Are we standing up and shouting, "Here am I! Send me!" Or could we receive letters like that girl sent? Are we afraid of Jesus?

Fear says, "How will I be received? I may not know what to say. I may make a mistake, I may drive them away. I may foul up." The one word used most in these fear-rooted statements is "I." Fear is centered in self. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that pride is at the root of fear. There is no fear in love. You are not afraid of a person you love. When you love Jesus and people, you will do your best to lead them to Him. You don't need to be afraid of Jesus!

"I don't want to get involved with people anymore. Every time I do, I get hurt," some will say. Indeed, involvement with people sometimes brings pain, but who do we think we are to be exempt from pain? The Lord we profess to follow became totally involved with people to the extent that it killed Him! The servant is not greater than his Master. If we follow Him, we will risk being hurt to share Him and glorify Him. Look at what He did in the boat - He called those fishermen to be His fishermen, his apostles, and they left everything and followed Him!

Never forget that those without Christ are in a desperate situation, regardless of how comfortable or prosperous they may appear on the outside. People usually can't get themselves out of desperate situations. They need help. They need someone to intervene. Without the loving intervention of someone, the situation is unlikely to change. Intervention is necessary to reach others for Christ. Unless a Christian cares enough to take a chance in sharing the Gospel, the lost will likely die without hope, separated from God. There is always risk involved when you share Jesus. But remembering how much Jesus loves you, his assurance: "Don't be afraid," and trusting that the Holy Spirit will give you the words, you will be enabled to intervene!

An emergency nurse once told a pastor: "I want to thank you for teaching me how to share Jesus. Reaching those who don't know Christ reminds me of doing CPR in the emergency room. My ER training tells me that when they bring in a patient who's not breathing and whose heart isn't beating, Do something! Even if you don't know what to do. Do something! If you don't, they're gone." Even when we're not sure of what to do, we must trust in Christ's love for us enough to intervene. Sharing Christ is vital to those around us. Don't be afraid of Jesus!

He gives us the greatest reasons in the world not to be afraid of Him! Jesus loves us with real love - real grace and mercy. He has forgiven us of everything that might separate us from Him. And that includes all our failed opportunities to be his fishermen. He promises us safe refuge in his loving arms forever - not because of anything we have done or have not done, but because, simply, He loves us and wants us there. That is some good news, isn't it? Don't be afraid of Jesus! "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men!" Amen.

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