TITLE: “Caught”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for today is the Gospel lesson just read.

The people were anxious to hear the Word of God. They pressed around Jesus to hear Him preach to them of the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. They longed for the words which only Jesus could give to them.

Hard to imagine, isn’t it? It’s hard to imagine people getting exited about preaching. Preaching in our day and age has sort of gotten a bad rap. Don’t preach to me, or so the saying goes. Preaching for us kind of has the connotation of someone sitting in judgment, acting as if they know all of the answers and can mete out punishments as they see fit. Generally speaking we grate at the idea of preaching, because it suggests something about us that we don’t really want to know and realize.

But not the multitudes in our text; they long to hear Jesus words. What is it that they know about preaching that we don’t know? Martin Luther once said that if people were to realize how scarce the Gospel really is, they would walk a hundred miles to come to church. But this is hardly the view we have today. For so many, including us here if we were to be honest, preaching, church, even God is kind of a convenience that we put up with, unless something more important comes along.

Jesus, of course, knows the trials and difficulties that the devil, the world and our own sinful nature throw at us to keep us from hearing His Word of forgiveness. He knows that you need Him. He also knows that there is always one part of you that believes you don’t need Him, or that you will have time for Him later.

This is what the disciples in our text thought as well. They were fishermen, and so they could sit back and look at all of this “god talk” that Jesus held up with a little distain. I mean, it’s all fine and good to talk about God and forgiveness and the like, but is that really going to put food on the table? If it isn’t practical, so they might say, it just really isn’t worth it. Jesus, however, has bigger plans for them.

After preaching to the multitudes from the boat for a time, Jesus decides to preach to these disciples of His in a different way: "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." Go out into the deep. Give me a break. No one catches fish out in the deep. You might as well just hold your net out and ask the fish to come in real nice and hope for the best. Peter knows that Jesus, obviously, doesn’t know what He’s talking about when it comes to fishing. But Peter says to Jesus, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net."

They can hardly imagine the result. More fish than they can possibly imagine. A hundred and fifty-three, to be exact, and God is always exact when it comes to caring for His children. At first glance, this fish thing doesn’t seem like such a big deal. But think about it from the perspective of the fisherman. They aren’t leisurely fisherman, playing around for fun. This is their life and livelihood. If they don’t catch, they don’t eat. It’s just that simple.

So why does Jesus perform this miracle for the disciples? Martin Luther put it this way: If Christ is to help, there must be trials, trouble and toil, and it must come to this, that we despair of all human counsel, comfort and ability.[1] In other words, in order for Christ to do His work of making you whole, forgiving your sins and drawing you into His eternal presence, you first have to come to realize that you can’t do it yourself. The Law must do its work of crushing you so that the Gospel can do its work of remaking you in His image.

Peter realized this. He recognized in an instant that all of their bravado and talk of controlling their own lives and of not needing God was nonsense. He is the Lord of the wind and the waves, and the fish as it turns out. That’s why he says to our Lord: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” Now in once sense, Peter is right. He is a sinful man, just as you and I. He does not deserve God’s mercy and care. But that’s where it ends. For you see, God knows your sin. He knows your weaknesses and failings. He knows your faults and your problems better than you know them yourself. But the mercy of God is that He still feeds you and takes care of you. He not only takes care of you for the things of this world, the fish you need, the bread on your table and the like. No, he feeds you with His very body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.

Now Satan tries to play a trick with you at this point. What he wants you to believe is that because you are a sinner, you do not deserve to be in God’s presence, and that you should stay as far away from God as possible. That is his great lie, his deception. But Christ our Lord says to you this day and always: don’t believe the lie. Of course you don’t deserve His mercy and love and forgiveness. But the whole point of the Gospel is that He gives it to you freely, without any expectations, stipulations or plans. God gives this all to you because of His great love for you through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

This brings us back to preaching, where we began not long before. For many, preaching is a reminder that they are sinners and do not reach up to the expectations God, family and others have for them. But preaching, if it is truly Christian preaching, never ends with Law and condemnation. If preaching is truly Christian preaching, then it has a lot more to do with Christ and what He does for you than it does with you and your own weaknesses and failures.

Christian preaching, which Christ called these disciples to and which He continues to call preachers to every day, Christian preaching points the sinner to Jesus, who He is and what He does for them. Because of that, preaching in this world suffers much. All preachers can do is let down the net and see what God will bring into the boat. God is the one who will cause the increase. The world, of course, is not exactly satisfied with this. But for you fish caught in the net of Christ’s Church, this is very good news indeed. God continues to send out His Word of forgiveness into the seas of this world. He continues to give out His forgiveness freely. And He uses such lowly means as preaching, as Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. So to you sinners, Christ says, come into the boat of the Church. Everything is ready. Come into the boat and live. Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

And now the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith unto life everlasting. Amen.

[1] Church Postils, v. 4, p. 144