When you look at today's Bulletin cover - an engraving of what is called "The Miraculous Haul of Fish"- you see Peter, kneeling before our Lord in the boat. You see Peter, but I see you. You, kneeling there before Jesus, kneeling before God. I know they are out there, but here, here, I do not see the arrogant and self-righteous and self important men and women of this world, those who feel entitled to what they have and often as not are resentful that they do not have more. Sometimes, among you, I do get a glimpse of Gideon, who I see in myself so much as well, or at least I see those little Gideon moments we all have. We all saw Gideon today, not on the bulletin cover but in our first lesson. There we saw Gideon, reminding the Lord of the Lord's shortcomings, reminding the Lord of all that the Lord is supposed to do for us, used to do for us, still does for others, just not for us. Little Gideons, holding God to account, finding him falling short in all the good things he is supposed to deliver unfailingly and forever. God I deserve better, more. God, why aren't you more of what you are supposed to be? "Why then has all this befallen us? And where are all his wonderful deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Midian." Yes, we can have our Gideon moments. But most of you, even me sometimes, most of us, are modest enough and decent enough and good enough to realize like Peter, that we are sinners, we fall short. Far from Gideon's finger-wagging, we are more likely to think we are not worth our Lord's regard and favor at all, and we may not even be really comfortable thinking we are worth his time. But he thinks differently, regards us differently, as he regarded Peter differently, so differently from how Peter saw himself. Our Lord does not depart, but stays and promises even more to us who feel unworthy of the attention he is already giving us. He stays, remains, and showers even more blessings and promises on us, offering ever more encouragement and affirmation. No, he does not depart, no matter how much we feel he possibly might, and he does not regard us an hopelessly sinful men and women, as he probably should. He sees promise and purpose and worth in us as he did in Peter--not only does he not walk away from Peter, he calls Peter, then and there, to follow him. Peter will, Jesus declares, do greater and finer and more significant things in the future, than a mere miraculous haul of fish. Far from being such a sinner that Peter should not even be in the presence of the divine, that divine Lord shows even more regard and trust and calls Peter, and us, to even more company and fellowship with him "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man" may be our more usual prayer than Gideon's scolding litany. I have found it rare among you that any say "we deserve better', we are all more likely to say "we do not deserve this, the presence of the holy in our lives", and our Lord's affirming and praising those lives makes us a little nervous, and certainly self-conscious So today we see once again the two types--one too modest, one not modest enough Peter cringingly begs: "Depart from me". Gideon rather imperiously orders: "Do not depart from here". But these two views in these two passages of Scripture are not really so very much about either man or the types they represent or they aspects of ourselves they foreshadow. It is not really about them at all. It is not about what Gideon teaches us about human nature--we are already well enough aware of our demoralizing limitations and foolish, but it is all about what it tells us about the love and care and patience and forbearance of God - infinitely patient - patient in that way that parents have with young children to the ongoing amazement of bachelors like me. Now the silly arrogance and foolishness of Gideon is not punished, despite the brief and very effective demonstration of the power of God and his holy angel, with that stick that ignites rocks. But neither is the modesty and self-reproach of Peter accepted or endorsed -- it is overcome simply and graciously and non-judgmentally by our Lord. Gideon is not dismissed as presumptuous, and Peter is not accepted a sinful man, he is promoted, given a greater job and further responsibility. Jesus alerts him that in the days ahead, Peter will not simply be gathering in fish, but gathering in all humanity into this great inclusive net that is the Church, the Kingdom of God, so full that it is astonishing. A net big enough to include all the Gideons as well.