Luke 5:1-11
1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Does Jesus Ask for too Much?
Did Jesus ask too much? At first the request seems small enough: He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore.[1] As far as charters go, this is about as easy as it gets. Jesus just wanted to be able to address the crowd of people who had come to listen.
The thing is, Peter had been fishing all night long. He must have been tired and ready to go home. So, even this easy charter could have been considered an imposition. But not to Peter. He had heard about Jesus. He wanted to be there, even if he had to stave off sleepiness a little bit longer. If it was an imposition it only required Peter’s passive attention.
But then Jesus asks for more: When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”[2] There’s a difference between “a little from shore” and “deep water.” This was going to require effort now, and even more time.
Plus, remember what Simon was doing at the start of this passage: He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.[3] They had just washed and stowed their tackle for the day. Now Jesus is asking them to take it back out and start all over.
Is this where Peter’s generosity runs out? Had Jesus finally asked too much? Apparently not for Peter. He says simply, “But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”[4] And it was a good thing too! When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.[5] Not even two professional fishing crews on two professional fishing vessels could handle this one catch of fish! If Jesus was asking much of Peter, he was giving a lot to him too.
And still Jesus isn’t done asking. After Peter blurts out his unworthiness, Jesus says to him, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”[6] This is more than a boat charter or an afternoon on the lake. This is a career change! This is a seismic shift in lifestyle. This would require leaving families and possessions, familiarity and professions. That’s a lot! This has to be where Peter draws the line and says, “Thanks but no thanks, Jesus. Enough is enough.” But still no: They pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.[7]
It was much the same story 175 years ago, when Lutherans emigrating from Europe found a new home in North America. They left all the same things behind that Simon Peter and his fishing pals did: families, familiarity, possessions, professions. They had worked hard to find a place in Europe where they could exercise their faith freely, but without much luck. The state churches of Northern Europe were almost as bad as the Catholic Church in Luther’s day – binding consciences, mixing faith with politics, legislating morality not on the basis of the Bible but on what was socially expedient.
These Lutherans had worked hard, but their efforts didn’t yield results. So they put out from shore and started over. They let down their nets in the deep waters of North America. It was going to be a lot of work. This little band of Lutherans established the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and from their modest beginning God built the church body we’re part of today. We literally wouldn’t be here had it not been for their hard work.
Can you imagine? Can you imagine being called upon to do so much? Can you imagine if God had told those first WELS Lutherans that the fate of generations of believers across North America depended on their “fishing”? Could you have done it?
The truth is, God doesn’t ask for much different from you than he did from those displaced Lutherans 175 years ago or than he did from those fishermen 2,000 years ago. It starts with your passive attention, like what you’re doing right now – listening to the Word, even though, passive as it is, it does cost you something. You might be coming off the night shift and choosing to be here instead of going to bed. You might be fighting sickness or anxiety or 40 minutes of travel to get here. Your passive attention is expensive. And you know it from all the times that you lose those battles – you go to bed, you can’t bring yourself to walk out the door or get in your car.
And as hard as it can be to give our passive attention to him, God isn’t even content with just that. He asks for more. He calls for a life lived in faith and for your effort on things that sometimes defy logic. That’s hard work! Sometimes you’re up for it – you help out with the fall cleanup even though it eats up your Saturday morning. Sometimes you’re not – anything else sounds better than working hard, helping out, even just getting out of the house. Sometimes you’re willing to cast your net and tell others about Jesus – you invite your friends to the movie night or fall festival. Sometimes you don’t, because it’s hard and scary, and you’re not sure how they’ll react.
And who of us can claim that we’ve done as much for Jesus as Peter and his fishing pals did, leaving everything behind to follow him? So, if even Peter with all of the good work he did do for Jesus had to confess, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”[8] how could we say anything different? We haven’t always answered the call. We haven’t always done the work. We haven’t even always given him the bare minimum. We are unworthy sinners.
But, dear Christian, that’s the point! None of this depends on you. Not your place in God’s family. Not the results of the work God calls you to do.
Why do you suppose Jesus chose Peter’s boat? Was it because it was the nicest, the biggest, the best? Luke just says it was there: He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.[9] Jesus needed a boat. Peter had a boat. He used Peter’s boat to preach a sermon he wanted Peter to hear.
Why do you suppose Jesus told Peter to let down the nets for a catch? Was it because he could tell that Peter had expertly navigated them to the most likely place a school of fish would be at that time of day? Jesus wanted to show Peter something that would defy a lifetime of fishing experience to open his eyes to the reality of who was standing in his boat.
Why do you suppose Jesus told Peter that he would fish for people now? Was it because Peter was so good with people – so eloquent, so persuasive? Peter was there. And there were many more people who needed to hear what Peter heard, who needed to have their eyes opened to the same reality Peter needed to see with his two eyes.
That’s why Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid.” Peter really did have every reason to be scared. He was an unworthy sinner standing in the presence of the holy God. Jesus told him not to be afraid because despite his unworthiness he was loved. And that’s God’s message for you too.
We haven’t always leapt into action when the obvious opportunities presented themselves. We haven’t even always done the bare minimum. But Jesus wasn’t content to passively sit by and let us suffer for sin. He leapt into action and left his throne in heaven to pursue you, to preach his message of forgiveness for sins to you, to do the hard work of suffering and dying to wash your unworthiness away, so that you could always know his love for you.
And then Jesus sent Peter – and his brother Andrew, and their business partners, James and John – to spread the good news, to the share the Gospel, not because they were such amazing people, but because God had amazing work to do through them. And generation after generation the story has been the same. One lowly sinner-turned-believer takes up Jesus’ message and passes it on to one, two, a hundred others, and God’s kingdom grows, not because of that sinner, but through him or her. Always because of Christ but through people like you and me.
That’s what makes anniversaries – like our synod’s 175th or our congregation’s 60th – so humbling and happy. Who are we that God would work through us? But he does. We may not always see it in the moment. We might feel like Peter after a long, fruitless night of fishing. But God nevertheless chooses lowly sinners like us to accomplish his greatest miracles – the miracle of faith being born in a human through a simple proclamation of Jesus’ love.
And that can’t happen without you. Without your passive attention as you sit here today or give time for personal devotion at home. Without your active participation – to whatever degree it might be, e.g. making popcorn for guests who come to watch a movie, raking leaves to take care of the place we proclaim his Word, saying prayers with your kids before bed. You are God’s chosen instrument to proclaim his love to this world.
And through you and the work you do in his name, generations of believers will rejoice. 60, 100, 500 years from now, Christians will look back on this time and thank God for the work he did through you to fish for people. Because that’s what matters most. Not the rod or the tackle. Not the net or the boat. But the miraculous catch of fish Jesus miraculously supplied to be gathered together with you and all the rest of the saints in his heavenly home to be with him forever.
Is that too much for Jesus to ask? Not in the least. Because it doesn’t depend on you. It depends on him. He just works through you. And while he may ask a lot of you, he gives even more to you and through you for the advancement of his kingdom and to the glory of his name. May we always be humble and happy to be used by him. Amen.
[1] Luke 5:3
[2] Luke 5:4
[3] Luke 5:2
[4] Luke 5:5
[5] Luke 5:6
[6] Luke 5:10
[7] Luke 5:11
[8] Luke 5:8
[9] Luke 5:2