My Favorite Things

The Rev. Joseph Winston

February 7, 2010

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.1
The year is 1938. It is a stormy night in Salzburg, Austria. A new governess
tries the calm one of the seven von Trapp children by singing:

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things2

As the thunderstorm progresses, other children enter her room and she tells them:

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels

Doorbells and sleigh bells
And schnitzel with noodles
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3.
2
Music: Richard Rodgers, Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II

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 Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winter
that melts into spring
These are a few of my favorite things

Finally, when all seven children are there with her, she ends the song with:

When the dog bites

When the bee stings
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel . . . so bad

It is a common enough story. Something frightens the children and an adult

does their best to calm them down. You might recognize this specific instance as
a scene from Roger and Hammerstein’s, The Sound of Music. It is about Captain
Georg Ludwig von Trapp, the girl who wants to be a nun: Maria Rainer, and the
seven von Trapp children.
Sometimes we use songs just to advance the story line. Definitely, other songs
from The Sound of Music do exact that. The first time we hear the title song, we
learn how much Maria loves the beautiful mountains that surround her, the other

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nuns express their concern for Maria in a piece that bears her name, and “So Long,
Farewell” is a cute way of sending children to bed.
At other times, the words and the music give us a hint of what is coming. That
is the how the movie uses this song titled “My Favorite Things.” It warns us of the
storm clouds that are gathering on the horizon. Adolf Hitler wants to control the
world and one of the first steps in his empire is the annexation of Austria.
It is difficult to know how a song functions without a little background. Cer-
tainly, the parallels between the weather and the war abound in this part of the
musical. The rolling thunder of the storm foreshadows the heavy artillery that will
bombard the cities. And the children’s fear of the downpour mirrors their parents’
horror of the saber rattling done by the government of Germany.
The mistranslation of two key words makes it hard to understand the function
of today’s Gospel lesson. It is like when we hear “My Favorite Things” during the
Christmass season without any references, direct or otherwise, to the horrors that
war brings. It just does not make any sense in this context.
The first problem occurs when we hear that Simon Peter fell down at Jesus’
knees (Luke 5:8). The verb used in the original language means much more than
simply collapsing out of exhaustion from a hard day’s work. It conveys a far
greater amount of information than having someone quickly move to the ground.
The typical translation of the Greek word that describes the action would be “to
prostrate (προσπίπτω).”
I would be the first to agree that we no longer speak of people prostrating
themselves by lying on the ground in reverence and submission. This type of lan-

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guage went out of our vocabulary when we lost the royalty in the United States.
Despite this fact, we still use phrases that convey the same meaning. When you
throw yourself on the mercy of the court, you realize someone else is in charge
of your life. Being awestruck means that you feel some mixture of fear and won-
der. If you are overwhelmed with all the problems in life, you then realize that
something else is in control.
The previous three expressions give you some idea on the translation of this
word. Simon Peter found himself in the presence of a force so strong, the most
natural action in the entire world was lying helpless on the ground, hoping that
Jesus would take mercy on him.
The second difficulty happens during Christ’s words of assurance to Simon
Peter. We have Jesus saying to Peter, “Do not be afraid (Luke 5:10).” The word
we actually have recorded is a form of phobia (φοβέομαι), which means extreme
fear, not just being scared.
The speeches of the angels to ordinary men and women give us the best ex-
amples of what phobia really means. The angel says the same word to Zechariah
when the angel brings the news that Elizabeth is pregnant (Luke 1:13). How would
you feel if an angel announced your wife was pregnant? I am willing to bet that
your emotions would run closer to terror than fear. The next use phobia in Luke
is when the angel tells Mary that God favors her (Luke 1:30). If the angel of the
Lord personally visited you and brought you the message that God loves you, how
would you react? Perhaps frightened out of your wits? Phobia filled the shepherds
watching their flocks by night when an angel told them not to be scared (Luke

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2:9-10). When even a single angel appears to you at work, what would you do?
Be calm? I doubt it.
When Jesus speaks to Peter, Peter is in shock. Peter cannot believe what he is
seeing. He does not know what is happening. He feels that his grasp on reality is
slipping away. Jesus simply says, “Stop.”
Now a clearer picture of the Gospel lesson emerges.
Peter and his business companions had a bad night fishing. It was not worth
their time or the wear and tear on the equipment. All that is left is a bit of cleaning
up. Jesus now appears on the scene and He asks to use a boat as a way to reach
the people. Simon agrees and the crew pushes off with Jesus. You can almost see
the men working on the boat, paying little attention to Jesus. When Jesus finally
finishes with the crowd on the shore, He asks Simon to send the boat further off-
shore where they will catch some fish. Simon protests but follows the instructions
anyways. The amount of fish surprises them so much that they call out for help.
The second boat arrives and it also is dangerously close to the water line from the
catch.
Simon soon realizes something is not right. This just does not happen and he
knows it. What if he thinks, the reports about Jesus are true? Could it be, this
man is the One the prophets foretold? How do the fish obey Him? In a flash, it all
comes to Simon. Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Son of God.
No one can look on the face of God and live. No one can stand God’s presence.
Simon knows these basic facts. He has heard them over and over again. All he can
do is fall down on his face. Now, he cannot look at God. At this instance, he is not

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standing before the Lord.
“Go away,” Simon shouts. “I am not like you,” he yells out. “I have broken the
law.” Jesus turns to Simon. You can imagine Him dropping on His knees, carefully
grabbing Simon with both hands, and looking at Simon straight in the face while
saying, “Calm down. From now on you will catch people.”
You can see why we prefer to use words like fall and fear instead of prostrate
and terror. It minimizes the distance between Jesus and us.
You fall in love and fall on your knees in despair. We do not have any problems
with these actions. But to put your life in the hands of another, because you do
not belong in their presence is something we cannot imagine. So, we do not talk
about it. We take it out of our Bibles and we neglect to teach that no one is worthy
to stand before God. The truth is not even one of us can look on Jesus and live.
In our minds, there is nothing to fear here in this world. Our technology and
weaponry makes us safe. That is a lie. We are so unlike Jesus that when He comes
here, we all deserve to die. That is a fact.
The amazing part of the Gospel lesson repeated every day of our lives is that
we stand in God’s presence, look on His face, and live. That is the Good News
for Simon Peter and for you. Jesus comes to you and He takes you just as you are
(Acts 15:11).
You can do nothing to earn this privilege of being with God. Your friends and
family do not give you the right to see Jesus. All the wealth in the world is not
enough capital to buy your way out of the sure and certain punishment that awaits
you for daring to be here with God.

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 Jesus gives you this because He loves you. He wants to be with you. That is
His gift for you.
The next time you see “The Sound of Music,” pay close attention to the melody
that Maria sings to the children during the thunderstorm. It is not uplifting like the
lyrics. Instead, it carries a note of fear that projects an adult understanding of the
complexities of life.
You know that. The world is a frightening place. It hurts you and those you
love.
Behind the world stands its creator, the God who brings everything into exis-
tence. This One is even more terrifying than life here with all its problems because
God can certainly end it at any time and even cause you not to even exist at all.
Our Christian faith mirrors this reality. We both fear and trust in God. You
can see it right here. The steps that divide the chancel from the nave serve as a
warning. You are about to enter God’s presence. The creator of the universe is
here and He can destroy you.
You also have faith that God deeply loves you. Jesus invites you to dine with
Him at His Table. Come. He accepts you as you are.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”3

3
Philippians 4:7.