At the Word of Jesus

Jesu Juva

St. Luke 5:1-11                                                                 

February 6, 2022

Epiphany 5C                                       

Dear saints of our Savior~

          It was a boat-sinking, net-breaking load of fish—a once in a lifetime catch—the kind of catch every fisherman dreams of.  But in the end, these fishermen just walked away from their miraculous catch.  In fact, they left everything behind and followed Jesus.  Today’s holy gospel is a whopper of a fishing tale; but there’s something more here for you too, even if you don’t care for fishing.  This is ultimately a story about how disciples are called and caught—disciples like Simon Peter, James and John . . . and you and me.

          Jesus was at the Sea of Galilee, preaching to crowds of people.  Because the crowds were so great, Jesus decided to use a fishing boat as His pulpit.  That boat belonged to Simon Peter.  He and his fishing partners were washing their nets after a long night of nothing—which is often how it goes in the fishing business.  Lots of time spent without much to show for it.  St. Luke doesn’t tell us exactly what Jesus preached from the fishing boat; but He concluded with this command to Peter:  Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.

          Now, Peter knew this wasn’t how you catch fish in the Sea of Galilee.  These fishermen fished at night, when the fish came closer to the shore.  But Jesus tells them to go out to the deep water in broad daylight.  It’s an exercise in faith and trust.  Peter, James and John must have wondered what this Rabbi knew about fishing.  After all, they were professionals—card-carrying members of the local fisherman’s union.  Just imagine if I, your pastor, showed up at your workplace this week and started telling you how to do your job.  I’m guessing you’d find a polite way to show me the exit.

          But Jesus is conducting an exercise in faith—a fisherman’s object lesson.  Peter states the obvious:  Master, we toiled all night and took nothing.  But [he says] at Your Word I will let down the nets.  That’s faith talk.  Faith says, “I’m going to take your word on this one, Lord.”  Over and against his own good judgment and common sense and years of experience, Peter trusts the word of Jesus.  He sails out to deep water, lets down his nets in the middle of the day; and the result . . . is a net-breaking, boat-sinking load of fish.

          When Simon Peter makes it back to shore—soggy and surrounded by flopping fish—he is filled with fear and awe and amazement.  Who is this Jesus who casts out demons with a word, who heals fevers with a touch, who knows exactly when and where the fish are swimming?  Peter knows who he himself is:  a sinful man, a breaker of commandments, whose thoughts, words, and deeds are filled with damnable disobedience.  Peter is amazed and terrified at the same time—overwhelmed by the darkness of his sin in the bright light of Jesus’ glory.  At that, this tough, burly cuss of a fisherman falls down on his knees and says: Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man.

          Peter sounds a lot like Isaiah in today’s Old Testament reading.  Like Peter, Isaiah found himself in God’s holy presence.  He saw the Lord on His holy throne—beheld six-winged seraphs flying and singing “holy, holy, holy,” in the shaking and smoking temple of God.  Like Peter, Isaiah says, “Woe is me . . . for I am a sinful man . . . and my eyes have seen the Lord.”  Both men knew the truth that no one is good enough—no one is holy enough—to stand in the presence of God based on their own merit or strength.

          Do you also feel and believe what Isaiah and Peter felt and believed?  It can be an awful feeling—a shameful, sobering recognition that we are each poor, miserable sinners as we stand before the Lord.  But, beloved in the Lord, this uncomfortable spot is also where faith begins!  And, typically, this is also how the Divine Service begins each Lord’s Day—with the somber and solemn confession that we are sinful and unclean—that we deserve nothing but temporal and eternal punishment.  Kneeling before the Lord, we cannot pretend otherwise.

          Peter wanted Jesus to go away.  He knew he didn’t qualify to stand in the presence of God; and Peter was right about that.  But most of this world’s religions see it differently.  Apart from Christianity, nearly every other religion is all about trying to convince God that you are clean enough, that you are worthy enough, that you are holy enough to come into His presence.  You can give that a shot, if you want; although I don’t recommend it.  For Jesus Himself said that He came not to call the righteous, but sinners—broken people—fishermen, tax collectors, prostitutes—the unclean, the unworthy, the unholy.

          But here’s a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance:  Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.  The Lord sent an angel to purify the lips of Isaiah; and told him what every man of unclean lips longs to hear:  Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.  I think that’s also what Simon Peter longed to hear; but he couldn’t bring himself to ask for it.  So he told Jesus to depart.  But Jesus would not depart—would not leave Peter, broken and fearful.  Note that Jesus didn’t dismiss Peter’s confession of sin.  He didn’t tell Peter, “Oh, you’re not that bad.”  Instead, Jesus said, “Do not be afraid.”

          Today the Lord Jesus says the same to you:  Do not be afraid.  The world will delight to remind you of just how awful you are—of all the bad things you’ve done to others—of all the ways you’ve fallen short.  The world will never forgive you.  The Law of God doesn’t tell you anything different, and won’t let you off the hook for even a second.  But Jesus—He says, “Do not be afraid.”  You—yes, you—can hop into the boat with Jesus, just as you are without one plea—even with a sinful record that stinks worse than a boatload of dead fish in the afternoon sun.  You are perfect disciple material.  You’ll fit right in with the rest of us.

          Peter and company learned a lot that day on the seashore.  They learned that when it came to catching people for the kingdom, it would not happen by their skill or ingenuity.  It would happen only by the Word of Jesus.  We too need to learn this lesson.  It’s our goal as a congregation to catch people for the kingdom.  I thank God for this congregation—for your love and your faithfulness—for how dedicated and conscientious you are when it comes to receiving Jesus’ Words and taking them to heart.  But in all of our planning and decision-making, we can never lose sight of this:  When it comes to growing the church and catching people for the kingdom, it doesn’t happen because of our love or our dedication or determination.  It happens by the Word—by the Word of the Lord carried along by the Holy Spirit.  The Word of God gets the job done.  We can fish all night with nothing to show for it; but, at the Word of Jesus, prepare to be surprised.

          Lastly, please notice that today’s text is about net fishing, not bait fishing.  Bait fishing is a form of deception.  It’s where we get the phrase “bait and switch.”  You trick the fish into biting onto something that looks like food, but then hook them to ultimately become your food.  Bait fishing is also discriminatory:  certain kinds of bait and certain kinds of lures are for certain kinds of fish.  If you catch what you don’t want, you just throw it back.  Lots of churches follow that strategy for catching people.  They cast out a well-baited line hoping that a desirable prospect will bite down hard enough and long enough to get reeled in.

          But net fishing—the kind of fishing Simon Peter and his crew were up to—net fishing is indiscriminate and all-inclusive.  Nets grab anything and everything in their path—perch, bass, cod, old tennis shoes—you name it.  When you’re fishing with a net, you just haul everything in and sort it out later.

          That’s also how the death and resurrection of Jesus works in this world.  The big, broad net of that Good News gets cast into the darkest depths of this sinful world; and it hauls in people of all nations, tribes, languages and skin colors.  It is a net-breaking, boat-sinking load of sinners, scooped up in the good news that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting your trespasses against you.

          Your God didn’t dangle a tantalizing lure in front of you to bring you into His kingdom.  That’s not how He operates.  Instead He sent His Son, born of woman, born under the Law, to redeem all of us under the Law.  That Son received a sinners’ baptism.  He was tempted, rejected, and crucified, and on the third day was raised in resurrection glory.  And as that good news goes into your ears and into your heart—at the Word of Jesus—you’re caught!  No fisherman asks the fish to “decide” if they’d like to be caught.  He just catches them.  So it is with the Master fisherman—who promises to build His church. 

          Beloved in the Lord, you’ve been caught—caught by the Word of Jesus.  Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.  Do not be afraid.  You’ve been scooped-up in the net of our Lord’s love and forgiveness.  There’s really not a better place to be on this, the fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, in the year of our Lord 2022.

          In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.