Text: Luke 5:1-11
Facebook live: The word of God brings in a great catch!
5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.
The film Voyage of the Damned is the true account of 937 Jewish refugees permitted by the Nazis to leave Germany aboard the S. S. St. Louis on May 13, 1939. It was absolutely necessary for these refugees to find asylum in another country in order to be free of the concentration camps in Germany. Unfortunately, their passage was planned as an exercise in propaganda and these refugees were denied entry to Cuba their destination. Upon arrival off the coast of Florida, they too were denied entrance into the United States, and their only recourse was to return to Europe. Shortly before the film's end, it is revealed that the governments of Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom had each agreed to accept a share of the passengers as refugees. As they cheer and clap at the news, footnotes disclose the fates that more than 600 of the 937 passengers, who did not resettle in Britain but in the other European nations, ultimately were deported and died in Nazi Concentration camps.
It was in every way the voyage of the damned
St. Louis: Concordia, 1980, 1981, 1982, 73.
If you follow Jesus after he begins his ministry in the first chapters of Luke, what seems impressive is his sense of necessity—always having someplace to go and something to do. He’s intent on preventing another kind of voyage of the damned!
In the chapter before our text:
Jesus is tempted by Satan in the wilderness of Judea
Jesus is rejected by his hometown friends in Nazareth.
Then he goes to Capernaum and drives a demon out of a man; he heals Peter’s mother-in-law and numerous other people; and Luke tells us the people from Capernaum are so impressed that they want him to stay.
But Jesus politely declines and makes a statement right before our text that indicates there’s a reason for all the activity. Jesus says,
“I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God in other places too, for that is why I was sent” Luke 4:43
The necessity of those words brings Jesus to the Sea of Galilee, looking for disciples. They are the words that bring him to this place, Sunday after Sunday at Peace, calling you and me.
On this occasion we find one resident of Capernaum who is not so sure whether Jesus should stay. The apostle Peter says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
Those are strange words for a man who’s just been given a boatful of fish after catching none the whole night, but they can’t keep Jesus from staying with Peter - because by his very nature - Jesus must call others to faith as well.
It is difficult to comprehend that God would desire to call people who may not be interested in him and are in fact his enemies.
But that’s exactly what we have in today’s reading. Jesus is concerned about the large crowd of people pressing around him. In other places in Scripture, he says they remind him of sheep without a shepherd.
Here and elsewhere, Jesus’ response to their need is to teach them.
We might be tempted to wonder if Jesus could not have improved their immediate needs of money, health or life problems that they or we face.
Important as those things are, Jesus first takes care of the most important need—their need for him.
That’s because Jesus knows that all people are caught in the net of their sins without him. His concern is translated into action, and so he gets into Peter’s boat and puts out just a bit from the shore so he can teach the people.
Peter, of course, is included among those who are caught without Jesus.
Even though Jesus has already healed many people, including Peter’s mother-in-law, Peter and the other disciples were still trapped in the net of sin, as are all people.
Evidently Jesus’ identity may be starting to sink in for Peter, because he calls Jesus “Master,” and he is willing to obey his Lord and Master.
Now comes the fun part. The carpenter from Nazareth is about to give some professional advice to fishermen.
Ignoring conventional wisdom this carpenter Jesus, tells the fisherman where to fish.
Put yourself in Peter’s place. You’re a fisherman, skilled in your trade.
You know that if the fish are going to run at all, it’s going to be at night.
You know that you don’t catch fish in deep water, but in shallower areas.
You respect Jesus—he’s a great healer, he speaks in a compelling manner.
But what does Jesus know about fishing?
Instead of saying, “You stick to what you’re good at Jesus, and let me be the fishing expert” or “It’s absurd, a waste of time and a waste of energy,” or “It doesn’t work that way!” Peter says,
5 … “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”
Peter thinks he is the one who is going fishing. He doesn’t realize that the net of Jesus’ love has just surrounded another soul for his Father’s kingdom.
You know the rest of the story. Peter responds in faith, and he and his partners bring in more fish than they can handle.
The fishermen pull up their boats, leave everything, and follow Jesus.
That’s why Jesus was sent, not simply to do some miracles and impress people, but to catch people for the kingdom.
People like Peter and the disciples and the crowds and you and me can hear the Good News of having our sins forgiven and then follow him.
Jesus says,
“This is why I was sent. This is why I was conceived. This is why I was born. This is why I suffered. This is why I was crucified, died, and rose again—to bring you the Good News of forgiveness.”
Peter discovered that God’s plans for seeking others always include the efforts of his followers.
Sometimes God’s people just don’t seem interested in catching others.
Remember another fish incident in Scripture? A man by the name of Jonah was running away from the Lord, not because he was preoccupied with his possessions but because he just didn’t want to get involved when God wanted him to preach to the Ninevites.
After he repented, God used his witness to bring faith to an entire city. To all of us who have ever been “Jonah’s,” the word is clear:
Jesus calls us to, “Repent!” - to stop being afraid – to live as God’s redeemed because God, in Christ has forgiven you!
Now, he calls us to go forth into this world with the Gospel!
And as we return to Peter in our text, - he’s afraid to go fishing with Jesus for another reason:
He and Isaiah in our Old Testament Reading are overcome with fear because they realize they’ve just been in contact with the God of the universe, and they realize how far short they fall from his expectations.
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
You and I must realize too - we’re in the same boat along with Peter, and we must respond along, with him:
“Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
The good news for today is that Jesus is also in the boat with us.
When it feels like your sins are about, to catch up with you and you wonder if God could love a person like you, he says, “Don’t be afraid. I want you to come fishing with me!” This is love and acceptance, that the greatest fisherman in the world isn’t put off by your sins but continually calls you to repentance so that you can be with him, and do the same things he does.
When we realize that we have been accepted and surrounded by the net of Christ’s love, then our response of faith puts us in the same position as Peter ready to do whatever Jesus says and ready to go wherever he takes us.
Through these words, Jesus says to Peter and to you and me,
“Stop being afraid. I’ve forgiven your failures and your fears and all of your excuses. Now, join me in boat of life fishing for others.”
What a great way to be reminded that our seeking God wants to use us to bring others into his net of love and care. What a joy to be sought by him, and what a privilege to go fishing with him.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit
Amen
Concordia pulpit - Rev. David N. Emmrich, campus pastor, Lutheran Student Fellowship, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota, Concordia Pulpit Feb. 1, 2001 edited
No comments:
Post a Comment