A sermon by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Sunday, February 7, 2010
Judges 6:11–24a; Psalm 85:7–13; I Corinthians 15:1–11; Luke 5:1–11
“Do not be afraid; henceforth, you will be catching men.”
These words of our Lord’s mark the end of Simon Peter’s call to ministry, and they are the blueprint for the remainder of Peter’s life work.
In order to understand our own call from the Lord, and our own “ministry plan”, we would do well to take a closer look at this incident, marking the aspects of it that have characterized the Christian summons to ministry on the Lord’s behalf.
We begin by noting some details that Luke provides for us in the account we hear today.
First of all, notice that Simon (later to be known as Peter) is a partner in a small business with James and John, who are sons of Zebedee. Apparently, they have two boats with which to fish on the Sea of Galilee.
Secondly, it appears that Jesus seems to invite Himself into one of their boats, so as to better address the crowd that had begun to follow Him. The significance is that Jesus has taken the initiative, and the initiative will remain His throughout the interchange that is to follow. Put another way: Jesus is in charge.
Third, we notice that the fishermen have apparently given up on their work, for they’ve gotten out of the boats and are mending their nets. But Jesus asks them to put out into the water again. Without hesitation, but with some protest, they do so. The protest comes from Peter, who says, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing….”
But there must’ve been something very compelling about the way Jesus spoke to the three men. (Don’t you wish you could have heard the tone of His voice and the look on His face? Perhaps they would have underscored the overpowering nature of His request.)
At any rate, the men do as Jesus has said. Peter confirms it by saying, “But at your word I will let down the nets.”
Of course, now follows the immense catch of fish. Peter notices that Jesus’ request is an indicator of something far deeper, far more meaningful, than the word of a total stranger who’d gotten lucky with his instructions about where to find fish. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord,” Peter says.
Peter’s first address to Jesus and his subsequent one bring us to our fourth observation: The first time Peter addresses Jesus, he calls Him “Master.” (Here we need to turn to the Greek, for the word Luke uses is epistata, a word that only Luke uses in his gospel account, a word that means “one who stands in authority”. Apparently, Peter already is beginning to recognize something unique about Jesus, though it’s possible that Peter is simply being polite…I leave it to you to ponder that question.)
The second time Peter addresses Jesus, he uses the word “Lord” (kyrie in Greek). Normally, this word has divine connotations, which are often associated with it. Notice also that Peter kneels at Jesus’ feet as he asks Jesus to depart from him. Peter is aware, apparently, of the divine powers that are at work in the Lord.
Let’s turn now to the nature of Simon’s call, noticing as we do so that Jesus is actually fishing for him in His invitation to become a “fisher of people” (as the more modern translations often put it). But what is Jesus using for bait? The answer might well be the demonstration of God’s power at work in Him, see in Jesus’ supernatural knowledge of where to find the fish that had eluded the three men all night long the night before. As the huge haul of fish is drawn into the nets, Simon Peter, along with his partners, are drawn to this mysterious man whose knowledge of the situation surpasses their own, experienced knowledge of the ways of fishing in the Sea of Galilee.
The remainder of the story is quite familiar to all of us: Simon, James and John all leave their boats and their small business to follow Jesus. In time, Jesus will draw other disciples into the fold until there are twelve of them.
And the works and the teaching that Jesus did also are familiar to us. But as we look at the accounts of the miracles, the healings, and the teachings that will follow, we can see two patterns that are common to the occupation of fishing emerge. (It’s also worth noting that fishing for fish and fishing for people have two distinctly different outcomes: When considering fishing for fish, a good day for the fisherman means a bad day for the fish. With people, it’s just the opposite.) These two patterns are present in our reading today:
- Fishing for people, one-on-one: Jesus encounters individuals and asks them to come into the kingdom. In one-on-one encounters (much like His invitation to Simon Peter), Jesus asks individuals to come and follow Him. We can think of Jesus’ invitation to the healing of the man with leprosy (which follows today’s account immediately in chapter five), or the call of Levi, the tax collector, to become a disciple (chapter five, beginning at verse 27) as examples.
- Fishing for people, in large groups: Just as Jesus encounters and invites individuals to enter the kingdom, so does He invite large groups to take up citizenship in the kingdom. In today’s account, we read that Jesus got into the boat in order to better address the crowd that had begun to follow Him. We will see this again and again as the gospel unfolds. Think with me of the feeding of the 5,000 as an example (see Luke 9: 10 – 17), or the teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (known in Luke’s account as the Sermon on the Plain) (see Luke 6: 17 – 49). Jesus calls large groups to come and follow Him.
This pattern, present (as we said a minute ago) in today’s reading, and present in the pattern of Jesus’ own activity, will be present in Simon Peter’s career as well. As we turn to the other book that Luke wrote, the Book of Acts, we will see Peter’s powerful and compelling invitation a large group of people to become a follower of Jesus as he fishes for people on the Day of Pentecost. His sermon was the direct cause of the conversion of about 3,000 people. But Peter’s work and career will also consist of individual, one-on-one encounters, such as the one with Cornelius (see Acts 10: 1 – 8, 17 – 48).
But in “fishing for people”, what will attract them? What would be the bait (if we may return to the image of fishing for fish)?
I think the answer would be: The evidence of God at work in the person of Jesus Christ. Simon Peter noticed it that day on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The crowd who’d gathered on the shore that day to hear Jesus speak from Peter’s boat must’ve recognized, as well. Those who encountered Jesus, either in a one-on-one basis, or in large groups, also recognized it. Cornelius recognized it, as did the group who heard Peter speak on the Day of Pentecost.
God at work in the person of Jesus Christ….that is what attracts us, and it is what has attracted countless thousands of Christian believers down through the centuries.
It is this that attracts us, and calls us into service for Christ. As we are called into a relationship with Him, we, too, are called to share what we’ve found with others, whether it be in individual encounters in our daily lives, or in groups.
From now on, we will be catching people!
