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Text: Luke 5:1-11
(1 Kings 19:11-21, 1 Pet 3:8-15)
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
St. Peter didn’t choose to be an apostle. He didn’t even choose to be a disciple. Jesus chose him. And his career change was to go from catching fish to catching men. Jesus called Peter by means of the miracle of the great catch of fish. Our Lord used Peter’s boat – after an unsuccessful night of fishing – as a makeshift pulpit. And that morning as Simon Peter and his colleagues were washing their nets and finishing their shift – probably very tired and annoyed to have worked all night and having caught not even one fish – this preacher tells them to go out into the water and try again.
“Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” “But at your word.”
This reluctant, but ultimately faithful, obedience to Jesus would be a pattern in the life and ministry of St. Peter, the leader of the disciples, the bishop of Rome, the martyr, and the unlikely church planter and preacher – along with St. Paul – who would be a pillar among the apostles. “But at your word…”
For we are all a little like Simon Peter working on his boat. We were all minding our business when one day, Jesus came and disrupted our lives, said, “Follow me,” and made us members of the church: the once-little fishers-of-men organization started at Lake Gennesaret by a Jewish rabbi – who also happened to be God in the flesh. Jesus chose each one of us – even if we think we chose Him. Jesus calls each one of us into service in the church – whether as a pastor, an elder, a member of a board or committee, or as a faithful member who attends Divine Service and blends his or her voice in praise of God and receiving the Lord’s gifts week after week, even if by reluctant, but faithful obedience: “But at your word.”
Not everyone is called to be an apostle, or a church planter, or a bishop, or a preacher, or a member of a board or committee. St. Paul teaches us that the church is the body of Christ comprised of different members who work together for the good of the body. The Latin word for “body” is “corpus” – where we get the word “corps,” as in the Marine Corps. The church is a corps, a body of people working in unison, in war and in peace, under the command of an Admiral-King: our Lord Jesus Christ.
The church is a kind of Royal Coast Guard. For though we are the church militant, and we make war against the sin, death, and the devil, we are in the business of throwing out our nets into the deep and catching men. St. Peter, the fisherman, cast his nets to catch fish – so as to feed men. But Jesus called Simon Peter to feed men with a different kind of food, and to catch them in a different kind of net: the Gospel.
And so we, the Christian Church, continue to catch men. We are the divine Coast Guard, trolling for people in the water who need to be saved. We cast our nets, and we fish them out of the water. By our toil, the Lord saves them. They join our crew – just like St. Peter – at our King’s word and by His orders.
We don’t do it for a paycheck. We don’t do it for medals and ribbons. We don’t do it to boss people around. We don’t do it because we are looking to expand our business. We do it because the Lord has called us to this service. We do it because the Lord works through us to save men and women in the nets, one at a time. And we don’t catch the survivors in our nets to enslave them – but to free them. We do it because it is both our duty and our joy.
This divine corps, this Royal Coast Guard, this massive ship known as the Holy Christian Church, has many jobs, but one purpose. We have many chains of command, but one who is in charge. We have many tasks, but one mission. Everything we do, from cleaning, repairing, leading, following, strategizing, purchasing, planning, budgeting, maintenance, recruiting, marching, serving meals, singing, worshiping, teaching, learning, evangelizing, receiving forgiveness, showing love to the other sailors, submitting to those in authority, taking charge of our own areas of churchly responsibility – these are all part of the church’s mission to fish for men, to save the souls of those who would otherwise perish on the turbulent seas of our fallen world.
And like any crew, any corps, any enterprise comprised of sinful men – we have to remember our mission, to look to the big picture of why we are in the service of the Lord. We have to remember that our tasks and teams are serving King and kingdom – no matter what we are doing on the ship. All of us are important, but at the same time, none of us is irreplaceable. We need to keep the mission in mind as we sail.
The fisher of men himself, Simon Peter, gives us advice as to how we accomplish our work as the Lord’s church, as fishers of men, as the divine Coast Guard who serves, as says St. Peter: “but at Jesus’ word,” which is the Word of God. “All of you,” he says, speaking to the crew of the ship: “All of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” For this is teamwork. This is how we not only win the war, but also win the peace. This is how the ship stays afloat, and how the sailors look out for one another, and continue to patrol for people in need of rescue. We cannot save others until we are working effectively together. And we do this by adopting the mindset of the servant.
Jesus Himself, our Admiral-King, shocked St. Peter and the other apostles-to-be at the Last Supper, by washing the feet of his fishers of men. Of course, it was Simon Peter who protested, and told Jesus not to wash his feet. But it was also Simon Peter who, though reluctant, obeyed faithfully, submitting to the Lord’s washing and service. St. Peter would eventually submit to a cross of his own, after his own service as a fisher of men.
Jesus said that we must wash the feet of others – and that begins with your fellow sailors, dear friends. Jesus said that this is how the world would recognize us: that we love one another. He is talking about our love for others on the ship.
And so we must be attentive to our mission and to our orders. Elijah – a fisher of men from the Old Testament, was discouraged. He was being persecuted by a wicked king and queen. He did not seem to be saving anyone. He cried out to God: “The people of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” But God showed Elijah that looks are deceiving. For there were thousands in Israel who had not abandoned the ship. Elijah was called to continue his prophetic service. The Lord was not found in winds and earthquakes and in dramatic, loud voices – but rather in “the sound of a low whisper” – the Word of God.
“But at your word…”
And yes, dear friends, we, like Simon Peter, recognize that we are sinful men. We may even pray that Jesus would depart from us. But that is one prayer that Jesus will not answer – at least not according to our request that he depart from us. Rather, He will abide with us, remain with us in the ship, and bless our every task, whatever He has called us to do, for the mission of fishing for men. That’s what He does for Peter – and us.
And yes, we are sinful, and yes we do bicker with the other sailors, and yes we are at times reluctant or lazy or even belligerent. We get on one another’s nerves, and sometimes we wonder if the ship has any competent officers on board at all. But it is then that we hear the “low whisper” of the Word of God, we call to mind who is in charge, we submit to His call, and we remember that we have left everything to follow Him.
“From now on,” says Jesus, “you will be catching men.”
Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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