Called and Caught by Jesus
You know, I've been a pastor 15 years
now. And in one sense I figure I know what I'm doing. I'm familiar
with the liturgy, I can preach a passable sermon. I can give a
decent off-the-cuff answer to a Bible question. I've done weddings
and funerals, taught confirmation classes for years. I am certainly
not perfect, but I know my trade. Just as you probably know yours.
Now imagine if someone tried to tell
you how to do your own job. Someone with no experience whatsoever.
Someone who didn't know the first thing about doing whatever it is
you do day in and day out. And imagine if their unsolicited advice
was just crazy. You've learned the hard way not to do it how they're
suggesting. But here they are telling you the business. As if they
have a clue.
So begins the scene in Luke 5 when a
Carpenter tries to tell fishermen what to do. They are washing their
nets – packing it in after a hard and disappointing night's labor.
Their experience tells them the fish just aren't biting. Come back
another time. Get some rest. Cut your losses. But this carpenter
turned preacher is giving out fishing advice – and it makes no
sense at all.
You or I might be offended at being
told how to do our jobs. Especially by this – whoever he is. But
he's not just some whoever-he-is. And he knows more about fishing
and men that anyone can imagine.
Put out into the deep water. I don't
care that you're tired. I pay no mind that the fish aren't biting.
Take your nets, which you've just washed and put away, and get back
in your boat and cast them there in the deep again.
And for some strange reason, that also
makes no human sense, Simon Peter responds in faith. He trusts the
word of this carpenter-turned-preacher, he takes the unsolicited
fishing advice, and he is not disappointed. In fact, he's terrified.
But why? Shouldn't he be overjoyed at
the miraculous catch of fish? Shouldn't his eyes light up with the
ch-ching of the money he would make selling these fish? Shouldn't he
jump up and hug Jesus, thanks for the miracle, my friend?
No, instead, Peter senses the fearful
presence of holiness. He may not be sure exactly who he's dealing
with, but he knows that he is a sinner, and not worthy. He says as
much, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
It's the same reaction Isaiah the
prophet had when he beheld a vision of God's glory filling the
temple. “Woe to me, I am ruined!” Isaiah said, “For I am a man
of unclean lips...”
And it is the same reaction that you
should have, as a sinner yourself, when confronted with the holiness
of God. For you and I are also unworthy. You and I are also poor
sinners. You and I are of unclean lips and hearts and minds and
hands. And we don't deserve the miracles of God either. We think we
know better than God's law, and act as if we are our own little gods.
We'd so often rather play by our own rules, even though we can't win
the game. But only when we admit it, when the law shows us our sin
and we confess it, are we ready for the wisdom of God – the
foolishness of the Gospel. I said I will confess my transgressions
to the Lord...
Peter says, “Oh, I'm too sinful for
you to be around me, Lord!” But Jesus hears none of that. He
simply encourages, “Fear not.” “Do not be afraid.” And
behind the simple “fear not” is much more: I'm not here to smite
you. I'm here to save you, and all these others, too. I come not in
judgment, but in grace and mercy, preaching a kingdom that is not of
this world. I bring rest for the weary, love for the outcasts,
healing, blessing, peace. I did not come to condemn the world, but
to save it by my blood. I came to die, so that you might live. I
came to destroy death, that you need never fear again.
Peter would soon learn all that is
behind the “fear not” of Jesus. And even when in that dark hour
of Jesus' passion, Peter would show just how big of a sinner he is by
denying Jesus three times – still Jesus would return. resurrected,
and meet Peter once again on the shores of this sea, and amaze him
further with a catch of fish and a restoration. “Peter, do you
love me? Then feed my sheep”
First the call to faith, the call to
trust in the words of Christ. However crazy may seem and
unsolicited they may be. However much it flies in the face of your
own sinful self-pity. However much fear and doubt grip you and make
your heart want to scream. However tired and weary from laboring all
night with nothing to show for it. “Fear not,” he says. “With
me, there is nothing to fear.”
And then the call to action. The call
to serve. The call to put our faith to work for the love of
neighbor. To be fishers of men, not just fishermen anymore.
But here too is a promise! Notice he
doesn't say, “You better be good fishers of men.” or “get busy
now, fishing for men”. He promises, “I will MAKE you fishers of
men”. For even here, Jesus is doing the doing. He builds expands
his kingdom. He builds his church.
But that doesn't mean you don't have a
part in it. That doesn't mean he leaves you out of the fun. Christ
calls us all, in various ways, to take part in the great casting of
his Gospel net. Some may tend the nets. Some may cast them out.
Others row the boat. And still others haul in the catch.
In other words, some are pastors
fishing waters and streams nearby. And some are missionaries,
pushing boats out to waters far away, even across oceans. Some are
public proclaimers of Christ crucified for sinners. Some support
this proclamation with prayers and gifts. But also called to the
fishing industry of Christ are teachers and parents, friends and
family. Some give their shoulder to cry on, or change diapers and
wipe runny noses. Some invite others to come and be caught in the
promises of Christ, and all are witnesses of what he has done for us.
You and I have been caught by Christ.
Caught out of the deep water of our sin and cleaned, washed in the
holy water of baptism. Fed with the body and blood of Christ. We
are safely carried in the ark of his church through the dangerous
waters of this world, until our ship comes in to the final port of
life eternal. And along the way he catches us again and again as we
confess with Peter, “I am a sinful man!” and his word of
forgiveness answers, “Fear not!”
He who created fish and men and wood
for boats and water to float them on – he knows his craft. He
knows what you need, and comes to catch and keep you in his net of
salvation, by his Spirit in his word of promise. So fear not,
forgiven sinner. Fear not, in Christ. Amen.
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