God’s call to some of the called

Sermon for Trinity 5

1 Peter 3:8-15  +  Luke 5:1-11

Every week so far in this Trinity season has taught us, based on the appointed readings, how the Lord builds His house, how He expands His kingdom, how He gathers His Church. Every week, a different aspect. If you recall, last week we heard about some of the rules of the house, rules which begin and end with being merciful as our Father is merciful. Today, in the Epistle, St. Peter picks up on some of those rules as well. Finally, all of you, be of one mind. Be sympathetic. Show brotherly love. Be compassionate. Be friendly. Do not repay evil with evil or insults with insults, but on the contrary, pronounce a blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. You were called to this, he says. All Christians have that calling from God, the calling to unity with one another, the calling to kindness, the calling to imitate Jesus, which, as Peter also says, includes imitating Him in suffering patiently. But it also includes not being afraid of those who cause suffering for us, and not being troubled by it. Finally, we are all called to always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you for an explanation of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. All of us here have been called to that.

But how exactly has God called us to that? How does He call people into His kingdom and teach them to behave as His children? You remember a few weeks ago, we heard how the master of the house in Jesus’ parable of the great Supper called or invited people to His Supper. He sent out His servants to bring them in. Then, a couple of weeks ago, we heard how the Lord described Himself as the One who went out to seek the one sinner who was lost. Well, which is it? Does the Lord go out Himself to call and to bring the lost into His kingdom, or does He send people out to do it? And if so, whom does He send? In today’s Gospel, we learn that the Lord chooses certain men from among those whom He has called, and calls them, sends them out exactly where He wants them. But at the same time, He is the one who is working through them to call and to gather the lost into His kingdom. Today we learn about God’s call to some of the called.

We see Jesus by the Sea of Gennesaret, better known as the Sea of Galilee, where He (intentionally) comes across some fishermen by the shore. Now, St. Luke tells us much more about this event than Mark or Matthew do. Your Bible will probably have a note referring you to Matthew’s and Luke’s account. But if your Bible has a little note telling you that this is the same event that happened in John chapter 1, ignore it. That was a completely different event that happened right at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, in a different place, when He first called Simon and Andrew, James and John, and a few others, to “come and see” what He was all about. He called them first to hear His Gospel and follow Him as a regular disciple, as laymen, or perhaps as seminary students. But He hadn’t yet called them to follow Him into His preaching ministry. That’s the first thing to note. The first call Jesus issues is (virtually) always to be a layman in His Church, someone who learns to know and believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, with all the duties we just talked about a few moments ago.

So He was no stranger to Simon Peter when He approached his boat and asked him to put out a little way from the shore, so that Jesus could use the boat as a pulpit to address the crowds on the shore. But He had bigger plans for two of the fishermen in that boat, for Simon Peter and for his brother Andrew. He was about to call them into what we call the office of the holy ministry. He was about to call them (along with James and John and eight others) to leave behind their earthly life—their (extended) families, their careers, their dreams of building any kind of life on earth for themselves—to follow Him into His own preaching ministry, to call men to repentance and faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and to face rejection, persecution, and death for carrying out such a ministry, just as Jesus Himself was about to do.

Let’s stop and consider what kind of men Jesus called. Some of the Twelve had other occupations, but at least the four we hear about in the Gospel and possibly up to eight of them were fishermen before they were called to go and “catch men” or to be “fishers of men.” What does that tell us? It tells us, first, that you don’t have to be an “important person” or have an impressive background in order to be called into the ministry. He chooses the unimportant, actually. Average, working Christian men, with all kinds of personalities and talents, sinful men, with plenty of flaws (as we see in all the apostles at various times and as Peter confesses about himself toward the end of today’s Gospel). But they are men who are penitent, who trust in Christ for forgiveness. They are men who are able to be taught, able to be trained and directed and who will follow His directions, men who can, after training, become “able to teach,” as St. Paul requires of ministers in his instructions to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3. They are men who love Him and who have a desire to serve Him and to seek the lost with some measure of the zeal that Jesus Himself has, although no one will ever really match His love and devotion to mankind, or His sacrifice for mankind.

Now, since Luke is the only Evangelist who includes the miracle connected with the call to the ministry, let’s pay close attention to what he reports. After preaching to the crowds from Peter’s boat, Jesus told Peter to Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch. Now, this was all for the sake of the lesson Jesus was teaching them about the ministry to which Peter, Andrew, James, and John were about to be called, and to teach us about the ministry, too.

He tells them first where to go. “Out into the deep.” Later, He would simply say, “Go into all the world.” That’s the general command. But as He reigns from the right hand of God, Jesus also sends and directs His ministers to specific places in the world, not with some nebulous feeling, not with some inner whispering, but by the outward call of a group of Christians who call a minister to preach the Gospel in their place, in their midst, as I was called here, by this congregation, some 13 years ago.

Jesus also tells the fishermen how to fish. “Let down your nets for a catch.” This isn’t bait-fishing or fly-fishing, where you try to fool the fish into biting on something that either isn’t real food or that’s intended to harm them, not feed them. No, it’s simple net-fishing. Spread the net over the waters and wait for the Lord to bring the fish into the nets. So it is with the Gospel. We preach Christ crucified. We preach the whole story of Him, from the six-day creation of the world to the real Adam and Eve to the plunging of the human race into sin. From the first promise of Christ given to them, to Noah, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. From Moses and the Law at Mt. Sinai, to David and to all the dealings of God with Israel. From the birth of Christ to His suffering, death, and resurrection. From Christ’s ascension and sending of the Holy Spirit, to the entire body of doctrine that has been passed down to us by His holy apostles. We preach Christ crucified. Without gimmicks. Without salesmanship. Without bribery. Without apology. In other words, we spread the net of the means of grace, the preaching of the Word of God and the administration of the Sacraments of God. And then we wait for the Lord to bring the catch He wants to bring.

And finally, in St. Luke’s account, we see the miraculous catch of fish that happens only by the power and working of Jesus, by means of the net which the called fishermen had let down. That’s a promise for the ministry, a promise that the Lord will bring the catch, by His working, by His own power, through the means of grace, through the preaching of the Gospel by those who have been called to it. It isn’t a promise that every sermon will bring in a large number of people or that every gathering of God’s people will be large. It is a promise that the Lord will be the One bringing the people in, where and when it pleases Him, whatever that number ends up being.

In the early days of the Church, that number was relatively large. But don’t forget that Jesus also foretells of a great falling away in the end times, of the love of most growing cold, of people turning away from the true doctrine to listen to what their “itching ears” want to hear, as St. Paul warns Timothy. But the number of fish, or of men, in the catch doesn’t change at all what the fishers of men are to do. Let down your nets for a catch, and trust the Lord to do the work of filling the nets.

So, in summary, we’ve seen that God builds His Church and grows His kingdom by going, not to all people, not to all Christians, but to some men whom He has made Christians, and then calls them into the office of the holy ministry. And now, through those men, the Lord gathers His flock, feeds His flock, protects His flock, and comforts His flock throughout this life.

Before we finish today, though, we should consider how the Lord Christ goes to those men to call them.

Just as the Lord is going to all of you right now in the Gospel, teaching you, comforting you, strengthening your faith, and guiding you, all of you, to kindness and love, so He is also going to all the young men here and calling you to do something. He is not calling you to the ministry right now, but He is calling you to think about the ministry, to consider whether or not you have the gifts required for the ministry. Again, those gifts include faith, but also a desire to be one who goes out and seeks the lost and shepherds the found. They also include a willingness to be trained, and at least the potential for teaching others. Finally, they include a willingness to be called by Christ through His Church, to leave everything behind and follow Him, not only into the pulpit, but possibly also to the martyr’s place. Not all Christian young men are so gifted for the ministry; they aren’t all supposed to be. The world needs strong Christian men in all walks of life. But all Christian young men should think about it, consider their gifts, and whether they have the desire to prepare themselves to become candidates for being called into this holy office.

Those who are so called follow in the steps of great men like Peter and Andrew, James and John and will receive a prophet’s reward, if they remain faithful stewards of the mysteries of God. Those who are not called into the ministry still have the great calling that all Christians have to faith and to love, to always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you for an explanation of the hope that is in you, to follow Christ as your good Shepherd and to support the shepherds or the pastors whom He has given to you. As we heard last week in Bible class from Matthew 10, He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. Amen.