The Fifth Sunday after Trinity
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Lord’s miracle of the great catch of fish and His subsequent calling of the first disciples illustrates how Jesus is the only answer for lost humanity. Our world is filled with people who are searching for meaning and answers. They go through life blindly led about by their passions and whims, which are typically more informed by social media algorithms than by sensibility. Our world is filled with people who are lost, purposeless, and hopeless. Through His miracle of the great catch of fish and His calling of the first disciples, our Lord shows that His Church possesses the only answer for lost and wandering humanity. The Christian faith is not a national birthright nor is it an individualistic faith. The fact that our Lord chooses this particular miracle of the great catch of fish to accompany the calling of His first disciples is not accidental, nor is it a coincidence based merely on the fact that Simon Peter and his friends were fishermen. Rather, the miracle in today’s Gospel text is an illustration meant to demonstrate to those first disciples and to us how one becomes and remains a Christian. In short, One becomes and remains a Christian in the fellowship of Christ’s Church.
Our story begins with a great multitude pressing upon Christ because they desired to hear Him preach the Word of God. This crowd had come to find what our lost culture so desperately longs for. They had come to realize that Christ’s Word is their source of life and meaning. Apart from Him, life is meaningless. But in Christ’s Word, true and abundant life is given. So that we might more fully understand the implications of this, our Lord performed the miracle of the great catch of fish and called His first disciples in the immediate aftermath of His teaching this great multitude. And so, the connection between His teaching and this great miracle and call cannot be understated.
On the land, there had stood a great multitude who had come, waiting for Christ’s preaching to captivate them. But under the water, there was also a great multitude—this multitude consisting of fish. And so, Christ commanded Simon Peter: “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4). In the water, Christ was about to illustrate what had happened and continues to happen on the land. The great multitude of the fish would be brought into the boat as an image and illustration of Christ’s Word calling and gathering men into the boat of the Church.
And this image of the Church as a boat is quite significant. It is an image that shaped the thinking and art of the first centuries of Christians. And when the Christian faith was legalized in the Roman Empire under Emperor Constantine, church buildings were constructed with this image in mind. Even our own church building is made to be reminiscent of a ship. Look up at the ceiling, and you will see a shape like the hull of a boat. It’s no wonder, then, that the central part of the space where a congregation gathers for the Divine Service is traditionally called the “nave”, which comes from the Latin word for “ship.” It’s a shame that we have followed the American Baptist practice of calling this space the “sanctuary.” It’s nice enough to think of this space as our “safe haven” from the world. But the biblical image of the Church as a boat is much more powerful. For this image evokes the salvation of Noah and his family in the ark. And it is central to how our Lord would have us think about salvation. In the world there is much trouble. But within the boat of Christ’s Church, there is rescue and salvation.
So it is that Simon Peter responds to our Lord’s command to let down the nets with these words: “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net” (Luke 5:5). Simon Peter’s objection reveals our natural human tendency. We always want to be independent. We take pride in our accomplishments, and so we always want to do things ourselves. But like the fishermen who toiled all night and caught nothing, our spiritual efforts will always be in vain when they are undertaken by our own efforts. For it is at Christ’s Word that the great multitude of fish are caught. When we rely upon our efforts alone, we will always be left wanting.
This means that many of the spiritual approaches which have become so closely associated with Christianity are nothing more than vanity. Many churches, especially of evangelical and Pentecostal leanings, have an over-reliance on what I will call “feel good” music. Their services are designed to systematically “work up” emotions to give a spiritual experience or to “usher in the spirit.” But such efforts are, at best, manufactured “feel good” moments and, at worst, are satanic “sacramental” replacements for the Means of Grace instituted by Christ.
And then there are the “decision theology” groups which focus on the so-called “sinner’s prayer” or “believer’s baptism.” And these are no better, for they miss the heart of the Christian faith. Holy Scripture not only teaches that Christ has accomplished all things needful for our salvation on the cross (a truth which these “decision theology” groups admittedly affirm). But Scripture also teaches that it’s not on you to seek out the benefits of Christ’s atonement. For Christ is the one whose Word brings the fish into the boat. His Word delivers grace to the one who believes apart from any human efforts. The real problem with this kind of “decision theology” is that it causes the Christian to place his confidence in his own actions. I know that I am saved because I prayed the prayer, or I made the decision to be baptized. But when doubts and sins arise, such a person is led back to his own efforts—better pray the prayer again or be baptized a second time! Instead, Christ would have us see that all human spiritual efforts are in vain. Salvation comes from His Word alone and is delivered to us in the Means of Grace.
There on the boat, Simon Peter and his companions had a very real and human encounter with Christ. They finally came to despair of themselves and their own worthiness. In seeing the miraculous catch of fish, they recognized their own sinfulness, such that Simon Peter exclaimed: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8). This is what happens to a man who is left on his own. People in our world typically don’t recognize their sinfulness so acutely because we have enough distractions in our lives that we rarely if ever have to think about reality longer than we want to. But for a man who, by the grace of God, recognizes his own sinfulness and wretchedness compared to the holiness of the eternal God, this is the only response: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8). But Jesus responds with these blessed words: “Do not be afraid” (Luke 5:10). These words deliver peace to the troubled conscience. These words grant salvation. For it is as if Christ said: “Do not be afraid. I know that you are a sinful man. That is why I am here. You are not worthy to stand in the boat of My Church on account of your sins. But I have come to take them from you. I will bear your sin and shame unto the cross. I will make you whole and clean. I will grant you salvation. I will make you worthy to live in the fellowship of My Church for eternity.”
This is what Christ has done for Simon Peter and for you. Though your sins make you unworthy to stand in the presence of God, Christ has atoned for your sins upon the cross. But the cross was not the end of the story. For Christ has also made a way for the benefits of the cross to come to you. He has provided means by which His gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation can be given to you apart from human effort or manufactured emotional experiences. All that is required of you is to come and receive by faith what He offers in the ark of the Holy Christian Church.
And so, it is profoundly beautiful that our Lord says to Simon Peter: “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men” (Luke 5:10). With these words, our Lord invites all Christians into something beautiful. He invites us into His Church where His gives ordinary men a place to belong. The Church is not some heavenly place which is devoid of all humanity and earthly goodness. The Church is a place where people belong. The Church is a place where Christ is at work through the ministry of ordinary men to deliver His blessed Means of Grace to sinners like you and me. This is why disciples of Christ are made in the Church. Disciples of Christ are not made in the isolation of one’s home or through an online community. Disciples of Christ are made in the Church. For just as the fish are caught and brought together in the boat, so too are Christians made and sustained in community with one another.
And so, dear friends in Christ, this is where you belong. One becomes and remains a Christian in the fellowship of Christ’s Church. As ordinary at it may seem, the Church is where Christ is at work through the Word and Sacraments to forgive our sins, to strengthen our faith, and to grant us purpose and meaning.
May the God Holy Spirit keep us steadfast in this confession and Church unto life everlasting.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
