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Sermon for Trinity 5
1 Kings 19:11-21 + 1 Peter 3:8-15 + Luke 5:1-11
Casting a net to catch fish – that’s what Jesus is doing right now, and every Sunday from this place, and every time the net of His Gospel goes out anywhere in this world. Jesus, the Christ, who came into the world to save lost sinners, Jesus the Son of God who died and who rose again, Jesus the Savior who got into Simon Peter’s boat that day so long ago to go fishing is still going out fishing with his Gospel net to catch men – male and female, young and old – for His kingdom.
Jesus himself cast the Gospel net on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. He preached first from the shore, and then from Peter’s boat. He preached repentance. He preached against their sin and rebellion against God. He opened the Scriptures to them to show them how high God’s standards were, so high that every sinner falls short. He preached the forgiveness of sins. He preached Himself as their Redeemer who bears the sins of the world and covers them with His own righteousness. He preached forgiveness of sins for all who trusted in Him, as he preached on other occasions, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” From his own mouth Jesus cast the Gospel net.
But it wouldn’t always be that way. After he ascended into heaven, Jesus would still be casting his Gospel net, but he would do it through the mouths of his disciples. It’s just that, where our Gospel today begins in Luke 5, Jesus still didn’t have any full-time disciples. So he directed Peter and his companions to row the boat out into the sea and cast their fishing net. Peter and his companions had been up all night, working hard, trying to find the fish with their nets, but there were no fish to be found; they came up empty. But now, at the word of Jesus they went out, they cast their nets, and you know how that turned out.
This miracle teaches the kindness and the providence of Jesus. Do you think it’s your hard work that puts food on the table for you and your family? Do you think that, if you lost your job, God would somehow be unable or unwilling to provide for you? See how faithful Jesus is to his promises to provide for those who trust in him, to fill the nets by his miraculous power. The Psalmist says, “I have never seen the righteous begging bread.” Those who trust in Jesus will be provided for by our gracious God, and as our Gospel shows us, it’s not because we work so hard to earn an income. We are taught both things by God: that he wants us to work, as he called on his disciples to do the work of fishermen that day with him in the boat. But we are also taught that our work accomplishes nothing. Faith in Christ’s presence and promise accomplishes everything, as he provides even for our bodily needs, even doing so miraculously, if necessary, if we will only trust in him to do it. God cannot fail to keep his promise to provide for the righteous, even if he delays fulfilling that promise for a little while from time to time, so that we learn more and more to depend on him and him alone.
But this miracle reveals another way in which Jesus provides the catch. “From now on,” he said to Peter, “you will be catching men.” Just like Jesus cast the Gospel net from his mouth, so Peter and his companions would be casting the Gospel net from their mouths. And just as Jesus was the one who guided their nets to where the fish were, so it would always be Jesus, hidden in the background, getting them right where he wanted them, so that he could cast his Gospel net through them.
Jesus does this through the blessed office of the holy ministry as the Church calls men into the same apostolic office, to go and preach the Word in this place and that place, throughout the world, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and administering His Sacraments where he distributes the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation that he won on the cross.
Jesus is also there casting his Gospel net when parents teach their children the truth of God’s Word—when any Christian, in his or her vocation, behaves or speaks in such a way that the people around you can see that you have something the world doesn’t have—a sure hope and confidence, especially under the cross, especially when you’re suffering or persecuted or troubled. And then they ask you about it. And then there’s Jesus, casting the Gospel net as you carry out the Apostle Peter’s words, “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”
He puts us right where he wants us. It’s never an accident. Jesus has arranged everything to find his elect – those whom God chose in eternity to be saved through faith in His Son. Jesus sails out into the world with his Church, and through his Church, he will find with his Gospel every last one who is meant to be found.
That’s not to say that everyone who hears the Gospel will be caught in the net. Far from it. But as a Lutheran preacher put it 100 years ago, “Even though many people, most people run away from the Lord and His Word and are lost, some – a good number! – are won, converted and saved. Those who are supposed to come, they come. Those who are supposed to hear, they hear. From the number of the Elect not one is left behind.”
And when people are found by the Gospel net and are caught by it—when they hear the Gospel of Jesus’ sacrifice for sins and seek mercy from God in him—we have to understand that God’s Holy Spirit is the one who is responsible for it, not we who cast the net.
You remember how Peter and his companions worked hard all night and caught nothing? That was no accident. Jesus, the ruler of the seas, saw to it that their nets came up empty that night, in order to bless them with this more important lesson the following day, to teach them about fishing for the souls of men. They had to come to grips with the fact that none of their hard work would ever catch a single fish, a single soul for Christ’s kingdom. No bait would work. No coaxing of the fish would help. No mistake or weakness on their part could stand in Jesus’ way. They had to despair of themselves and their labor and their efforts. Jesus alone could fill the nets. Only the Spirit of Jesus, working through the Word of Christ, can take an unbeliever and turn him or her into a believer.
The same is true today. Jesus is the one who fills the Gospel net, who draws people in and catches them for his kingdom. You can’t help the Holy Spirit, and you can’t hinder the Holy Spirit, either. Where the Gospel is rightly preached and the Sacraments are administered according to Christ’s institution, there the Holy Spirit will be adding souls to Christ’s kingdom.
And if you could see how the nets have filled and swelled throughout the world, throughout the centuries, if you could see all of the people in the Church who have been caught into Christ’s kingdom – you would be astonished, just as astonished as Peter and his companions were on that day of the great catch of fish.
You would be astonished, and like Peter, you would fall down at the feet of Jesus in fear, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Like Peter, you would realize that you don’t deserve to be here in the presence of this great Fisherman. You don’t deserve to be caught in Jesus’ net and saved for all eternity while so many perish eternally. You don’t deserve it and neither do I. You are sinners, and so am I. Recognize that all you have, all you bring to the table is sin. But don’t ask Jesus to go away from you because of that. Don’t go home downtrodden and depressed because of that. Hear the words of Jesus to Peter, because the words of Jesus to the sinner named Peter are his words to every fearful and downtrodden sinner, “Don’t be afraid!”
Don’t be afraid, because Jesus has not come to destroy you, but to save you. You know that. It’s why you gather here, to hear him say to you again through your pastor, “Don’t be afraid.” Don’t be afraid. It’s no accident that you wound up here this morning. It’s no accident that the Gospel net has found you. Jesus had each one of you in mind, to bring you here this morning that you should be where the Gospel net is cast, so that, by the power of his Holy Spirit, you might know him as your Savior – so that you may be either caught for his kingdom or kept in his kingdom, to live eternally with him, to be a part of His holy Church, and even to become instruments through which Jesus casts and fills his Gospel net, that sinners might be saved through faith alone in Christ. Amen.
