Luke 5:1-11
1 Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and 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 way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." 5 Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning 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 that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" 9 For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
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Today we have one of my favorite stories from scripture: the miraculous catch of boatloads of fish. In fact, when I was confirmed, this was the passage that I chose as mine. Pr. Maakestad asked us to think about a bible verse that was meaningful to us. My only question was, "What’s the one where they catch all the fish?" I don’t doubt that there were a significant number of eyes being rolled in the church that day when I read my verse.
I may be a little bit predictable: many in the congregation probably could have seen that one coming. And I will admit that I picked my verse for all of the wrong reasons, because it is the one where they catch all of the fish, but God has used this verse to lead me throughout my life.
One thing that I never saw coming was how we can see God working in people and places where you would never see it coming, from a group of smelly fishermen to a tall skinny kid in the ‘80s with a mullet and a love for fishing. God is active and uses those whom we might least expect.
I love the idea of Jesus needing little space to speak to the crowds, just commandeering Peter’s boat. It’s not a polite inquiry or subtle request. He sees two boats that are empty because their owners aren’t in them… and because they hadn’t caught any fish!… and he just gets into one of them because sometimes God doesn’t ask our permission to get involved in our life, to encounter us with grace. God just goes ahead and does it.
Of all of the bible stories, this may be the one that I can most easily picture. Of course, fishing by net in the Sea of Galilee is different than trolling for bluebacks on Dworshack or drifting shrimp for salmon and steelhead. These were commercial fishermen who would have used big gillnets that drifted to catch fish. I have read that commercial boats would have typically been about 26 feet in length and wide and deep enough to be stable. Fishermen tending to their nets by the shore would be as much a part of the daily landscape as Moscow mountain is here--just another part of the landscape, but a part that God sees and cares for.
Fish typically move into shallow waters at night to feed, so they would probably have been fishing with nets which were not the kind that would go very deep. The latest and greatest innovation in fishing line today is a fluorocarbon line that has the same light refraction qualities as water and is pretty much invisible underwater. I don’t know what they used for nets, but suspect that they were a little bit more visible that modern nets, and I suspect that fishing at night was the way to go. The fish can see the net in daylight and easily escape its trap. This is why Simon and his partners fished at night.
One time while I was living in Alaska I was offered a seemingly good sized chunk of money to clean a gillnet for a friend who was a commercial fisherman and had to go to Anchorage before he got to cleaning his nets. The net was full of sticks, seaweed that was impossible to remove, snotty jellyfish that stung and all kinds of nasty things that ensured that I would be retiring from the fishing net cleaning business as soon as I finished that net. It stunk, it made my fingers and back hurt, and it was a far cry from the easy money that I thought I was going to earn. When I finished that net, I not only retired from cleaning commercial nets, but I was tired and remember going home, showering, and going straight to bed early.
I would suspect that the fishermen who fished lake Gennesaret were probably a bit of a tight knit group. I have worked a bit of shift work before and you tend to associate with others who are on similar schedules. I suspect that these fishermen were known in their local community, but not too many of those in the crowd followed this son of a Carpenter who taught with such authority.
I think that one overlooked miracle in today’s story is that after a night on the water of getting skunked and then cleaning up, this man got into their boat so that He could teach the crowds from the boat. When He told them to put out their nets, the miracle is that they would do it for somebody who is not a part of their group, especially in deep water and after getting skunked.
Modern purse seiners are able to fish in daylight in deep water, but this technology was 1,500 years from being developed. After a night of having a skunk on the boat, I just want to go home and put the boat away and have a bite to eat then go to bed. But that is not what God had in mind for these fishermen.
Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." When they had brought their boats to shore, they l left everything and followed Him.
The discipleship that Jesus is calling them to is different than becoming proficient in learning local fishing currents, hotspots, or even having secret fishing holes that always produce, even when nobody is getting anything. Often when following Christ, we don’t see the results of our efforts, at least not as obviously as a netful of fish that is tearing apart or a boat so loaded with fish that it risks sinking. God still uses us every day, and it is the message of God’s unconditional love and unmerited grace that is shared with others through us.
These disciples that Jesus called would go on to follow Christ and share in the good days and the bad days. Simon (who later becomes Peter) makes perhaps some of the most noteworthy mistakes as he seeks to be a servant of the Lord. James and John also famously try jockeying for position to gain seats of honor during the resurrection. Through all of this Christ is constantly with them and uses them, these fishermen, to bring God’s Kingdom to the world.
When Simon Peter points out his own unworthiness for God’s blessing Jesus assures him with “Do not be afraid.” These same words appear frequently throughout not only Luke, but throughout the entire Bible (about 120 times throughout scriptures) but certainly with great frequency in Luke. Certainly in Luke, and maybe the hallmark of the whole gospel is that Jesus comes so that we don’t have to be afraid anymore.
And Jesus doesn’t stop at comfort and encouragement, but moves on to give Peter something to do, something bigger and larger than anything he’d ever imagined: catching people up in the unimaginable and life-changing grace of God. The Holy Spirit is present and guides Peter as well as each of us to live into God’s Kingdom that Christ ushered in.
Peter has no reason to expect this call. Yet Jesus calls him anyway. because that, too, is how God works, always choosing the unlikeliest of characters to work through, putting aside all their doubts and fears and excuses and shortcomings to do marvelous things through them.
Of course, the story doesn’t end there. Because after these words, the fishermen give everything up in order to follow Jesus. And, I think of them, just up and going to follow Jesus, with little to no idea where He will lead them. No, I’m not sure I love this part because I don’t think Jesus is talking only to Peter and his friends. I think he’s talking to all of us, too.
He's asking us to put aside all our doubt and fears and excuses and professed shortcomings so that He can do marvelous things through us. I’m reminded that in this respect, too, this story isn’t done. Jesus is still coming to us to say, “Do not fear.”
Jesus is still coming to us to call us to do things we can’t imagine. Jesus isn’t finished calling people who know their sins and doubts and fears and inadequacy first hand. And Jesus is still coming and speaking to us, and by his speaking, accomplishes in us what He has asked. Because that is what the Word of God does.
