Trinity 5
Dear friends in Christ. What a glorious scene awaits us at the beginning of today’s Gospel. Here we see great throngs of people—so much so that the crowd was pressing in on him—and why? To hear the word of God. They were crowding around Jesus to get closer to hear Him and the word of God better. Elsewhere we read [Mt. 7.28-29]: the people were astonished at [Jesus’] teaching, for He taught them as one having authority. They wanted to hear His word! What a refreshing contrast that is to what we seemingly normally experience in our day and age today—apathy toward our Lord and His word; to many, everything is more important than our Lord and His word, gladly hearing and learning it. They hear[d] the word of God from the very mouth of God. And on top of that, because the word of God is the word of God, the Holy Spirit was powerfully at work through that word and creating faith in the hearts of people; and if faith was already there, strengthening it. Behold Jesus’ glory in His Word.
That’s why it is vital for us today to gather around our Lord’s word whenever it is taught here in His church on Sunday and other holy days. That’s why it is vital that we read and ponder at home during the week the Bible and doctrinally correct devotions. The Christian’s attitude: “I can never get enough of God’s word.”
[Jesus] saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. Jesus taught them. He taught them doctrine. What we see here is that from the very beginning, the Christian religion dealt with doctrine and communicating that doctrine. Much of what passes itself off today as religious teaching is anything but doctrine/ teaching: it’s “feelings”—as long as you feel good about yourself; it’s self-help, self-improvement; it’s being positive and believing in yourself. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. Did you catch that? Taught the people. That’s doctrine, that’s the word of God through which the Holy Spirit works to create and preserve true, saving faith in the hearts of people. Behold Jesus’ glory in His Word!
In the front row center that day was St. Peter, or as he is called in our text by his Hebrew name: Simon. He was front row center hearing Jesus because it was his boat Jesus was in. And now, after Jesus was finished teaching, He wanted to give St. Peter an object lesson, a demonstration of the power of His word. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. The point? —the power of Jesus’ word. It was this very word, this very teaching/ doctrine that Jesus was calling St. Peter and his fellow fishermen, Sts. James and John, to proclaim as He called them to be His disciples and apostles bringing the Gospel and spreading the Church into the whole world. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” The very word that they would bring and teach the whole world, that very word of Jesus/ doctrine that the Church following them would continue to pass on, has power. It is as St. Paul says [Rm. 1.16]: the power of God unto salvation. Remember: that word of Jesus He has entrusted to His Church is a powerful word because it is a divine word, a word the Holy Spirit works in and through. And instead of gathering fish into a boat to be killed, St. Peter and the rest would by the preaching of the word, that powerful word of Jesus, be catching men, that is, catching people and bringing them into the safety of the boat/ ark of the Church. Behold Jesus’ glory in His word!
Not only does our text tell us that the reason we are and remain Christians is because of the Holy Spirit’s work in the word and the visible word of the sacraments; not only does our text give us the rich comfort that when we tell the good news of Jesus to others that the Holy Spirit is working through that word/ doctrine we are sharing, but our text also teaches us to recognize that all the earthly blessings that we have and enjoy are because of Jesus’ word of blessing.
2. As we recognize that all our earthly blessings are because of Jesus’ word of blessing, there we see all the more clearly Jesus’ glory; there we see all the more clearly His grace and mercy toward us.
How this thought goes against what we naturally think and what seems to be the case in the world around us: all we have we earned/ deserved by our hard work, sweat, ingenuity, etc. How it grates on us when someone is promoted or is in a position over us, whom we think doesn’t deserve it, hasn’t worked hard, isn’t as smart as we are, etc.! For us, the lesson is clear: all that we are and have is because of our Lord’s grace and blessing toward us.
Our text: And when [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Do you notice anything odd about Jesus’ words here? Well, He doesn’t ask St. Peter’s permission. He just says/ commands: “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” It’s like He owns the boat. Isn’t that just rude and bad etiquette? No! Not if it’s really His boat to begin with. And that’s the point; and that’s the case with all our earthly possessions, with everything. Everything belongs to the Lord. St. David tells us in the Psalm 24.1: The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. Jesus is the King of creation; all creation is His: He directed all those fish, which are His, into the net. And so Jesus, the true owner, tells St. Peter what to do with the boat, His/ Jesus’ boat. But the Lord gave it to St. Peter to use, to work with, in order that He, Jesus, may provide for Peter as Peter worked using the boat. All that we have are tools, instruments, means through which our good and gracious Lord provides for us not only our daily bread but so that we can use also use what He has given us to help our neighbor in his need. The Lord has truly given us all things we have. That’s why Jesus says let down your nets for a catch and our text reads: one of the boats…was Simon’s. Our earthly possessions are truly ours—ours to use, but gifts from the Lord, whose they truly are. They are a trust/ loan from Him.
So does this mean that since everything we have is from the Lord and He provides for us anyway, we don’t have to work? Hardly! What does Jesus do here? Does He just have all these fish come and jump into the boat, since He is, after all, the Ruler and owner of all things? No! Our text: And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” In other words, Jesus says: “Do the work of your calling!” But like there was here with St. Peter, so also with us. First there is the command to do the work of our calling: Put out into the deep and let down your nets. And then Jesus adds a promise: for a catch. For each of us our calling is different. Your calling is not just your job but also your station in life—daughter, wife, son, husband, mother, father, citizen, church member etc. Not all the work of our calling is/ will be grand and glorious. Look at our text: not only did St. Peter and crew work all night and have nothing to show for it, but they were still working: the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets, of sand and pebbles, washing, stretching and getting them ready for the next day.
Yet, do the work the Lord has called you to do where He has called you to do it. All that can change according to the Lord’s will and direction—like He did here with Sts. Peter, James and John; but wherever the Lord has called you, Put out into the deep and let down your nets, do the work and as you faithfully do it be assured of His promise to provide for you: for a catch.
And what happens when we do this—when we do the work of our calling and trust in the Lord to provide for us; when we labor and hope? We find true worth and dignity in our calling. The Lord has placed us here and He is working through us here. What joy for us as we put out into the deep and let down [our] nets! That’s a joyful, faithful obedience to the Lord! That’s doing the Lord’s will! And that’s what we as Christians want to do. And as we do it for the Lord, great dignity attends it.
Doing the work of our calling, knowing that the Lord has called us in our various callings to put out into the deep and let down [our] nets, we are also kept from pride and arrogance if the Lord in His wisdom grants us honor, position and much earthly wealth. Because we work at the Lord’s command, put out into the deep and let down [our] nets, and hope in His promise to provide and bless us in our work, for a catch, our trust is not placed on our powers, experience, increased knowledge, skill, etc. but in the Lord and His gracious providing for us. We, dear Christian, recognize that all depends on God’s gracious blessing. Look at where these expert fishermen’s skill and knowledge got them: And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!” But reliance on the Lord and His word and His grace—“But at your word I will let down the nets,”—got St. Peter and crew what? 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. All depends on our Lord’s blessing. Here, His love made Him ready to supply these fishermen’s needs. We too can count on that same love providing for all our earthly needs. We do the work of our calling and trust in the Lord to provide for our needs. What dignity and peace we have!
St. Peter “gets it.” With that great catch of fish, he recognized just exactly who Jesus is; He saw the glory of Jesus as the true God, as the King of Creation, shining forth so brilliantly in the miracle of the great catch of fish: But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken. Dear Christian, let us be like St. Peter here. He recognized exactly who he is and exactly who Jesus is. He recognized that Jesus is true God, and he/ Peter is a sinner. Not only does Peter realize that he, a sinner, is, in Jesus, in the presence of God almighty and so he feels his sin and unworthiness more; not only does God’s power and holiness highlight his sin and weakness; not only does St. Peter realize that the divine power should crush and consume him, but also he, the sinner, had just received a great blessing from the holy and almighty God Himself. Peter was not just a spectator of a miracle but also a partaker in/ a recipient of a miracle.
That happens to us, too, dear Christian. Each earthly blessing that we have, each thing the Lord provides us with for our daily bread is just a much a miracle. And on top of that it’s the same like it was with St. Peter. We poor sinners are blessed with earthly goods by the holy and almighty God Himself. What does that mean for us? It means that we do not regard God’s blessings as something we earn or are entitled to but as gifts and blessings of God. We see and accept them in humility as benefits of God’s grace.
Luther picks up this thought in today’s catechism section: He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.
May each blessing of God’s grace that we receive—and may our eyes be opened to them because they are all around us and can easily be taken for granted and commonplace—drive us to recognize our sin and unworthiness and so to repentance. As we repent of our sins may we hear Jesus in the Gospel, absolution and sacrament saying to us: Do not be afraid, and calling us to service to Him. INJ Amen.