Trinity 5
Lk
5:1-11
7/4/21
Last
summer we had to replace the double doors that are at the entrance to our
house. While the right door is the one
that opens as you enter the house, the left door can also be unlocked at the top
and bottom to open. Over the years this
has proven to be handy as we have brought furniture in and out of the house.
We had
ordered the doors from a store, and when I went to pick them up I was shocked
to see how big the assembly really is when it is sitting out on its own and not
part of the house. Thankfully, Jay Will was
helping me pick it up in his truck.
While the workers at the store helped us load the doors, they were
really too big for the two of us to unload by ourselves at my house. Jay was able to call a co-worker who lives a
couple of houses down from us to come over, and the three of us – with great
effort – were able to get it unloaded and put into the garage.
Once
there, one of my kids asked whether I was going to install the doors. I
laughed, and replied that no – there was no way that I would be able to do
it. He had seen me do the basic wood
working in building the model railroad, and I had involved him in various repair
projects around the house to teach him how to do these things. These experience had led him to the natural
assumption: “Dad can do that.”
But in
reality – no – dad can’t do that.
I know that I am able to do basic repairs. But when you get into real carpentry and
construction issues, or plumbing or electrical problems, I have to hire someone
who knows how to do those things. And
when they come to do repairs, I certainly don’t try to tell them what to
do. After all, I would only make a fool
of myself because I know nothing about how things are to be done.
In our
Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus tells a professional fisherman how to
fish. His words indicate that he knows
nothing about how things are to be done.
But because it is a word from Jesus, Peter follows his
instruction. And that word produces an amazing catch of fish, that overwhelms
Peter as he is in the presence of Jesus.
Luke
begins the Gospel lesson by saying: “On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word
of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.” We learn that the
crowd was pressing in on Jesus. This was
obviously a crowed that felt driven to get close to Jesus. And the reason they wanted to get close to
him was to hear the word of God.
Now we know that Jesus speaks the word of God, because he
is the Son of God. We know that he was sent forth by the Father as he was
conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. But what is it that has drawn these people to
hear Jesus? What has led this crowd to press
in on Jesus in order to hear him?
In the previous chapters we learn how the Holy Spiri descended upon Jesus at his baptism. Then Luke tells us: “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.” As the Christ, the One anointed with the Holy Spirit, Jesus went forth with power to carry out the mission the Father had given to him. Jesus announced what this mission was when he read the words of Isaiah chapter 61 in the synagogue at Nazareth, and declared that he was the fulfillment of them. Those words said: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
People recognized that Jesus’ Spirit
empowered ministry was different. We learn that when Jesus went to Capernaum
and was teaching in the synagogue the people “were astonished at his teaching,
for his word possessed authority.” And
it wasn’t just that they sensed the authority of Jesus’ word. They also saw it at work.
At the synagogue a man who was demon possessed cried out, “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God.” However, Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” as he cast the demon out. The people were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”
Luke
tells us that reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding
region.
People could tell that Jesus’ word
had authority when he spoke. They could
see that his word had power and authority as he cast out demons and healed
people. It was not surprising then, that a crowd was pressing in to hear Jesus
as he stood by the Lake of Gennesaret – the Sea of Galilee. There Jesus saw two
boats by the lake, where the fishermen had gone out of them and were cleaning
their nets. Jesus got into the boat that
belonged to Simon Peter and asked him to put out from the land a little. Jesus interrupted Peter’s work, but Peter was
willing to help as Jesus sat in the boat and taught the people on the shore.
When Jesus was done speaking, he did
something surprising. He told Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your
nets for a catch.” Jesus, who wasn’t a
fisherman, told the professional fisherman how to fish. And what he said was
dumb – it made no sense. Fishermen
worked at night on the lake. That was the best time to catch fish with their
nets. Peter knew this. He pointed this
out as he said, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!” Yet then he added: “But at your word I will
let down the nets.”
Notice that it was Jesus’ word
that caused Peter to do something that he thought was foolish. And notice too, that he called Jesus
“master,” a term that in Luke’s Gospel is only used by those who approach Jesus
in faith. Because it was Jesus’s word,
Peter was willing to set aside his own ideas, and do what Jesus had said.
This same question confronts us
every day. In the very next chapter
Jesus teaches: “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good
to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who
abuse you.” This too sounds dumb. It
makes no sense. Everyone knows that this
is not how you do things. You don’t love, and help and pray for those who wrong
you. Yet this is what Jesus says to do.
This is his word. And so the
question is whether we are willing to set aside our own ideas, and do what
Jesus has said.
Peter did what Jesus said, even
though it seemed to make no sense. He listened to Jesus’ word and put it into
action. Luke tells us, “And when they had done this, they enclosed a large
number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their
partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled
both the boats, so that they began to sink.”
Jesus’ “foolish word” about how to catch fish, produced such a large
catch that it was swamping the boats.
Jesus’ word had produced an
incredible event – an astounding catch of fish.
Peter, was astonished by the catch.
Yet his reaction was not joy and excitement. Instead, Luke tells us: “But
when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, ‘Depart
from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’”
Peter perceived that he was being confronted by God’s work and power in
the person of Jesus. Where before he had
called Jesus “master,” now he called him “Lord.”
Peter did what people always do in
Scripture when they find themselves in the presence of the holy God. In a profound and overwhelming way he
perceived his own sinfulness. He knew he did not belong there.
This is our experience too when we
compare our lives – our thoughts, words, and deeds – to what God has revealed
in his word. Jesus says, “Love your
enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse
you, pray for those who abuse you.”
We hear these words and know that we fail to do them. And of course what
is true here, is also true again and again in every one of the Ten
Commandments. Our reaction should be no
different than that of Peter: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O
Lord.” “Depart from me, for I am a sinful woman, O Lord.”
But Jesus did not come to Peter to
drive him away because of his sin.
Instead, he said to him, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be
catching men.” Jesus told Peter, “Do not
be afraid.” Jesus had not been anointed
by the Spirit as the Christ to bring judgment and fear. Instead, as Isaiah had said of him: “The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim
good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives.” In the verses immediately before our text people
wanted Jesus to stay, but he said to them, “I
must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as
well; for I was sent for this purpose.”
In Jesus we meet the good news of the kingdom of God –
the reign of God that has freed us from Satan, sin, and death. Jesus did not come to condemn sinners. Instead, he came to be numbered with the
transgressors – with us. He came to take
our place as he offered himself as the sacrifice for our sin. Christ has freed us from sin and death through
his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. This is the good news
that he has brought. This is the good
news that he has accomplished for us.
Do we still struggle with sin? Yes. Do we still fall? Yes. But we are not afraid. Instead, we are repentant. And repentance is an act of faith. We confess
our sin, confident that because of Jesus’ cross and resurrection we are
forgiven. After all, as Jesus said just
a couple of weeks ago in the Gospel lesson: “Just so, I
tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who
repents.”
Jesus said to Peter, “Do not be afraid; from
now on you will be catching men.” Peter
believed Jesus’ word. Instead of asking
Jesus to leave, we learn: “And when they had brought their boats to land, they
left everything and followed him.”
Because of the forgiveness and
salvation that we receive from our Lord, we now follow him. This means leaving behind those things that
compete with Jesus for our time and attention, as we put Jesus first. It means
leaving behind the ways of the world – the ways of anger, vengeance, and
payback – as we forgive others and love our enemies.
And it also means that we seek to
share the forgiveness and freedom that we have received with others. We seek to share the Gospel – the good news
of Jesus’ death and resurrection. There will be those who want to hold on to
their sin. There will be those who want
to hold on to their false gods. We
recognize that only the Spirit of Christ can call people to faith. But the
Spirit works through the word about Christ, and so our job is to speak that
word.
I am no fisherman, but I have done
it enough to know that you don’t catch a fish every time you cast the
line. On the other hand, I know that no
fish are caught if the line is never cast.
And so our role is to speak about Jesus’ death and resurrection to
others, because we know that through him we are included among those who have
received forgiveness and salvation.
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