What a strange miracle: a miracle of catching many fish. That was a miracle tailor-made for fishermen. And that’s who Jesus’ first disciples were; they were fishermen.
Peter, Andrew, James, and John were all partners in a fishing business. One day, Jesus was teaching a crowd that converged at the Sea of Galilee. Running out of room, Jesus commandeered Peter’s boat and used it for a pulpit. It was after Jesus finished preaching that He told Peter, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”
You can almost hear what ran through Peter’s mind.
Jesus, You may not have noticed this since you were so busy teaching. But while you were talking, we were working. We’ve cleaned our nets. We’ve folded them and packed them away to be stored.
You’re a rabbi, and by trade, a carpenter. But I fish for a living. I know about fishing. And I know that you don’t fish in the deep water, because the fish like the shallows. And you don’t fish as well in the daytime as at night, because fish can see. They can see the net and swim away somewhere else.
We’ve been working all-night long and caught nothing. Then you slowed us down when you borrowed our boat. Can’t you see? We just want to go home and sleep.
But Peter also knows that when Jesus says something, it pays to listen. And so Peter says, “At your word, I’ll let down the nets.”
That’s the core of Jesus and Peter’s conversation: It’s the battle of faith. Will Peter trust Jesus enough to take Him at His Word? Will Peter trust Jesus enough to do what He tells him to do, even if it sounds silly and stupid? That’s the faith-point–taking Jesus at His Word!
What Jesus is doing is training them in trust. If the fisherman will trust Him with catching fish, then they will learn to trust Him with catching people. If they learn to trust Him with what is small, their way of earning a living, they will learn to trust Him with what is large–that Jesus forgives sins and grants eternal life.
So, at Jesus’ word, they drop their nets into the deep water. And what do you know? They pull into the boat more than a boatload of fish. Their nets are so full they begin to rip and tear. Fish flop all over the deck. They call for others to join in and help.
Peter then realizes what Jesus has done. He falls down at His feet and cries aloud, “Leave me, Lord, because I’m a sinful man!” That’s what it’s like when you come face-to-face with God. It’s not, “I’m so happy that I’m here, and you should be happy that I’m here, too.” No, it’s “Lord, have mercy on, the sinner” (Luke 18:13)!
When Peter finally realizes that there’s more to Jesus than his eye can see, his own sins come floating to the surface. Peter wants to flee! For this man, Jesus, who has authority over His creation, is too much for Peter to bear. Peter knows that sin and God’s presence cannot peacefully coexist, just as the prophets of old also knew.
Those miracles of Jesus proclaim His divinity. And such a face-to-face meeting with God in the flesh does not comfort. It doesn’t comfort, unless you know that God is for you, not against you. It doesn’t comfort, unless you know that God comes to forgive, not to condemn. It doesn’t comfort, unless you know that God comes in mercy, not in wrath.
Yet, that’s also how near God is to you in Jesus. He knows how many hairs are on your head. He knows the time of your days. He knows your sin, and everything you do, think, and say. He knows you better than you know yourself. So you, at first, do well to say with Peter, “Leave me, Lord, because I’m a sinner. You are holy; I’m not. You are God’s sinless Son; I’m a fallen sinner. You are the God of creation; I’m a disobedient creature.”
But the beautiful truth is that this all-powerful God is also a merciful and forgiving God. Jesus takes these fishermen–Peter, Andrew, James, and John; sinners, every stinking one of them–and says to them, “Follow me.” Jesus takes you and says, “Follow me.”
Those are discipling words from Jesus. They take a sinner and call him to flee from sin and receive a new mind. “Follow me,” says Jesus. And where is Jesus going? He’s going to His own death and resurrection. So that’s where His disciples follow. They follow Jesus through death to resurrection and to life. Jesus’ path becomes their path, His life becomes their life, and His forgiveness covers their sin.
They have new life. And by the Word of Jesus they also have a new vocation. Jesus tells them, “Don’t be afraid. From now on, you will fish for people.” They had used nets to catch fish. Now, they will catch people in the nets of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
They will now be casting the net of Jesus’ death and resurrection to people they know and don’t know, in the shallows and the deep. To do this, they will have to trust the Word and wisdom of Jesus–like we are to do, as well! It’s His way, not our way. It’s His time, not our time. It’s His Word and His ways: Baptism, the Supper, and words of forgiveness.
Jesus uses fishing to teach us “how” to disciple others into the kingdom. But it’s net fishing. Oh, there are other ways to fish: bait fishing, lure fishing, fly fishing, and so on. But those ways of fishing catch by deception. You deceive the fish to bite the bait: a wriggling worm, a shiny, spinning lure, a piece of feather skittering on the water like a fly. And after they’ve grabbed a hold of your deception, you snag them with a hidden hook, reeling them in one at a time.
That’s bait fishing. We sometimes think Jesus’ fishing analogies describe bait fishing. For that’s how we act in the Church. That’s called “bait and switch.” We try to lure others into the Church. We become something other than what Church is supposed to be, and at just the right moment, we hook them!
Like a lure appeals to a fish, we appeal to what people want and, perhaps, then reel them into the kingdom of God. Or so we think! Such thinking turns the Divine Service, not into Jesus delivering His forgiveness of sin, but into entertainment. That’s the lure. And such bait fishing relies on our strategies, smarts, and skills, how better our bait is, how tempting our lures are, and how real our flies look.
But Peter and the disciples fished with nets. They would cast their nets into the water and haul up whatever was caught. Net fishing is an act of faith. You cast your net, trusting and praying that fish are swimming below the water’s surface. You can’t see them, nor do you have any no control over what you catch!
What else about net fishing? It’s indiscriminate. That’s because nets catch everything that comes their way. Nets haul in the stuff you want, and the stuff you don’t want. In the net, you can haul in floating wood, garbage, and who knows what else. Tying in with this, Jesus once told a parable, comparing God’s kingdom to a large net that hauls in all types of fish and even other debris. Then the angels do the sorting (Matthew 13:47-50). That’s how it is in Christ’s Church.
That’s what Jesus teaches us about missions. Christ’s Church is a boat casting out a vast net, taking Jesus at His word, discipling others by baptizing, preaching, and teaching. The mission of the Church isn’t luring people into the kingdom! No, it’s bringing them in by God’s gracious net of forgiveness, life, and salvation. It’s not simply making converts. It’s making disciples.
We follow Jesus, the Lord of the Church. He says, “Disciple the nations.” Fish in the deep water! Cast your net, the net of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the net of repentance into the forgiveness of sin (Luke 24:47).
The Lord says to His Church, “Go net fishing!” Cast the net of Jesus’ resurrection into the waters around you, even if you think no fish are there. For whether we haul in a boatload or a just a few, that’s the Lord’s business. He’s the Lord of the catch. It’s His catch, not ours.
Yet, knowing that, what we in the Church rarely do, outside the church building, is to cast the net. We’ve let society tell us to keep our faith a secret, all so we won’t feel embarrassed. Don’t let the world keep you from casting the net!
“All right, pastor, I understand that we aren’t supposed to use trickery and deception to lure people into the kingdom of God. But how am I to cast God’s net, where I live, here and now?” You do it in this way. As God gives you opportunity, as you make opportunity, you tell others who Jesus is. You tell others what He has done–and still does–to save them for a life of a blessed eternity.
If you’re worried about messing up, then come to Sunday School. That simply means that you don’t know God’s truths as well as you should know them. That’s why being discipled is not a one-time event, like confirmation. It’s lifelong.
Here’s what you don’t do: you don’t try to figure out ahead of time how receptive someone will be. That’s not net fishing. In that same way that Jesus told Peter to cast the net, you do the same by bringing Jesus to others through the words you speak.
“Is there anything else I can do, pastor?” Yes, invite them to come to Church with you. So what if they won’t understand what we do in worship? God Word is preached here. They can still hear, receive, and take in God’s life-giving and forgiving Word.
So what if they won’t understand what we do in worship? People don’t understand what happens at a football game, until they learn. People don’t understand what happens at a baseball game, until they learn. And what takes place here is much more serious than any sporting event.
What we do here during worship, the Church has been doing for 2,000 years. Besides, you can explain to them why we do what we do in the Divine Service. And if you don’t know why, then it’s time you learn!
Jesus has hauled you in using the nets of the Church. Through Christ’s Church, you were baptized and taught into His Kingdom. Today, you still are being taught into His kingdom. This is to go on until God calls you home to eternity.
Indeed, there’s no better boat in which to be. You are in the boat with Jesus. And Jesus’ boat, the Church, lasts even into the reaches of eternity! That’s what Jesus calls you to speak and confess to others in your life. Amen.
