Jesu Juva
“A Net Unlike Any Other”
Text: Luke 5:1-11
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
I’ve watched some fishing shows on TV from time to time, and when the crab pots come up full of crab, when they reel in the big fish, when they pull up nets full of fish, the fishermen aren’t sad or afraid, they’re full of joy! They don’t just see fish, they see dollar signs. A catch like that means they’ll be able to feed their family and pay the mortgage. It makes all the effort and hard work worth it.
And yet the day we heard about today, with Peter and his fishing partners out on the Lake of Gennesaret (which is another name for the Sea of Galilee), it wasn’t like that at all. Peter should have been ecstatic. With each one of those fish filling his boat and the boat of his partners he should have seen denarius signs! This would provide for their families. It is what they worked so hard for. But instead of visions of profits filling his head, to Peter, every fish that flip-flopped into his boat heaped another burning coal on his head. The weight of his sin was crushing him.
Until that moment, Peter probably thought he was doing pretty well. He had a respectable business. Was married, had friends in the community. Jesus had even come over to his house and healed his mother-in-law of a fever! All in all, things were going well . . .
But something changed. Something brought him to his knees.
Maybe he had grumbled when Jesus wanted to use his boat, if he was tired and just wanted to go home and sleep . . .
Maybe he muttered under his breath when Jesus then told them to go back out and fish again! At the wrong time of the day and in the wrong depth of water and after a long and frustrating night . . .
Maybe he had had other impure thoughts that day . . . Maybe he had left the house last night after a fight with his wife . . .
Maybe it was that little white lie he told the fish dealer the other day . . .
Maybe it was remembering the neighbor he should have helped but just didn’t want to be bothered . . .
All things in the normal course of a day. All things everybody does. That’s just life, isn’t it? Right?
Until Jesus comes and after all that heaps blessing upon blessing upon you that you clearly don’t deserve! It is an honor for Him to use your boat, not an inconvenience. You get to hear Him preach. He wants to be with you. He enriches you! But all of a sudden, the weight of all those sins that before felt so small and light now feel so big and heavy . . . and crushing. Enough to bring a big, strong fisherman to his knees.
This wasn’t the first time Peter had met Jesus. As I said, Jesus had come over to his house and healed his wife’s mother. But this time was different. He wasn’t among a crowd of people, Jesus wasn’t doing for someone else - this was sinful him, in a boat now graciously filled with fish by the One who created the sea, the fish, and him! And suddenly, standing next to Him, to Jesus, the Holy One of God, the weight of his sins seemed to multiply as fast as the spinning numbers of the United States debt clock! This great catch of fish may have been sinking his boats, but his sins were sinking him! Quickly. And under such a burden and weight, he found himself at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
And then those words: Do not be afraid. How could he not be afraid?! And yet those words did what they commanded. They took away his fear. They took away his sin! And then Jesus gave him another gift - a new life. From now on you will be catching men. And not just Peter, but James and John, too. And while Jesus fills the nets and boats of this little fishing company with a multitude of fish, there’s really only one - or maybe three - fish He wanted in His net. And for Jesus, that was a very successful trip. For He landed Peter.
And imagine how many fish Peter caught in the roughly 2,000 years since that day! Not only in his ministry until his martyrdom, but even after, through his words and work handed down to us in the Bible. Peter reminds us so much of ourselves, in his hasty words, his misunderstanding, his fear, his denials, his failures. And yet how wonderfully God used him to bring people into the boat of the Church. A good reminder to us that it is not our goodness, our strength, our friendliness, our effective techniques, or anything in us that builds the Church. It is the work of God through sinners like Peter and you and me. That day, the work of God the Son. These days, the work of God the Spirit.
But more than the fish Peter caught that day or all the days after that, it was Jesus’ forgiveness that netted Peter. Jesus’ forgiveness that transformed Peter that day, and all the days after that day when he kept stumbling and fearing and putting his foot in his mouth and falling asleep and denying and acting like the sinner he was. Jesus did not leave him or forsake him, but lifted him up and forgave him. With forgiveness that zeros the debt clock of our sin that always seems to be spinning out of control! Forgiveness that will not and cannot run out.
And forgiveness is the net that catches men and women today. Jesus hasn’t filled our church with fish, but He has filled it with forgiveness. So that is the gift we have to give, to a world filled with sin and sinners. They might not even realize they need it, like Peter at first. He was just living like normal, doing what everyone does, until he realized how bad our normal is, how great and numerous the sins we do everyday without even realizing it. Until that weight crushed him and left him no place else to go but to his knees.
Are there people like that today? There are people like that today in these seats here! In your seat. For with what sins is your everyday life filled with? Sins that just seem normal, that everybody does, that are just a part of life and living. Except they’re not. And we need Jesus. We need to hear Him. We need to hear His do not be afraid. Because we are. Maybe you’ve just buried that fear deep down so you don’t have to deal with it. Maybe it hurts too much. Maybe you don’t want to admit you’re not okay. We do . . . but we also don’t, right? We confess, but . . . aren’t I more okay than the next guy, at least?
No. So how good that Jesus is here for you, and His words are here for you. Do not be afraid. I forgive you all your sins. These are words that do what they say. For Jesus, here, is casting the net of His forgiveness and catching sinners - even if just one or two at a time.
And this is the net Peter - and the Church ever since - would use as Jesus chose him and trained him and then sent him out as an apostle. Not everyone wants that forgiveness, or thinks they need that forgiveness. But when sin bring them to their knees, we have it for them. To let them know that Jesus has not left them or forsaken them, but is here for them. To take away the guilt and shame of their sin. And that even when death rears its ugly head, do not be afraid. Jesus has overcome that, too. Jesus’ resurrection means that His net even pulls us up out of the grave to live a new and eternal life.
A new life that you live where God has put you to live it. He didn’t make you an apostle like Peter, but He didn’t need to. And that doesn’t make you any less important, just different. With different people to be with and care for and especially forgive. Here’s how Luther put it:
Because God is gracious, ready to forgive, and kind, I go out and turn my face from God to human beings; that is, I tend to my calling. If I am a king, I govern the state. If I am the head of a household, I direct the domestics; if I am a schoolmaster, I teach pupils, mold their habits and views toward godliness. . . . In all of our works we serve God, who wanted us to do such things and, so to speak, stationed us here.
So where has God stationed you? Wherever it is, and in all the places He puts you, forgive. In your family, forgive. In your school, forgive. In your church, forgive. At your work, forgive. In your neighborhood, forgive. For by forgiving, you’re casting the net of Jesus. And you never know what you’re going to pull up. It could be a great catch, it could be just one at a time. But one thing is for sure, the waters are not fished out. Peter and the others were out all night and caught nothing, but Jesus knew there were fish to be had.
And maybe for us, too. So we’ll keep being the church, throwing out the net of forgiveness, showing mercy, helping others, and letting Jesus do the rest. It’s His net, His Church, His forgiveness, and His catch. He’ll do it. Maybe in quite surprising ways! Maybe at the wrong time of the day and in the wrong depth of water. Maybe with the wrong people and in the wrong neighborhoods. Maybe catching sinners so bad we look at them and think . . . them? Really? Here? With me? And then we look in the mirror and know: if there is forgiveness for me, then certainly there is for thee.
Peter learned that great truth that day in his boat out on the Sea. A lesson he kept learning and a gift he kept receiving everyday. If that doesn’t sound like you, then drop to your knees (at least in your hearts!), for Jesus is here for you today in this boat, His Church. To provide for you and enrich you. The God who created the fish, the sea, and you, now says to you, Take and eat, this is My Body; Take and drink, this is My Blood. Do not be afraid. With this gift your sins are forgiven, you are raised to a new life, and can depart in joy and peace. You are not condemned, you are saved. And in His sight, you are a sinful man no more.
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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