Luke 5:1-11 Grace, mercy and peace from God our Heavenly Father and from our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. The text is from the Gospel:

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1 Luke 5:1-11 Grace, mercy and peace from God our Heavenly Father and from our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. The text is from the Gospel: 4 AND WHEN HE HAD FINISHED SPEAKING, HE SAID TO SIMON, LAUNCH OUT INTO THE DEEP AND LET DOWN YOUR NETS FOR A CATCH. This is the Word of the Lord. INTO THE DEEP in the Sea of Galilee meant around 150 feet, which was deep, but not out of Simon s depth. He was, like his partners, an experienced fisherman. So he obeyed Jesus, and launched out from Gennesaret. After all, what s the worst thing that could happen? We wasted a whole night of fishing, what s another hour? MASTER, AFTER WORKING HARD ALL NIGHT WE CAUGHT NOTHING, BUT ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD I WILL LET DOWN THE NETS. Don t get me wrong, we can definitely take a lesson from SIMON S obedience: the MASTER says, PUT OUT A LITTLE FROM LAND, SIMON S boat is a pulpit. The MASTER says, LAUNCH OUT INTO THE DEEP, SIMON S boat is ready for fishing, although SIMON the fisherman went on the record in front of the crowds that he endorsed neither the practice of fishing IN THE DEEP, or in the day. But that just makes his obedience more commendable. We always obey when we agree. Why do you think there are so many Christian denominations? It s when the command goes against everything we want, or see, or think we understand, that obedience becomes an issue. But SIMON said, MASTER... ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD I WILL LET DOWN THE NETS. For SIMON, MASTER meant MASTER. And the Master s word trumped his fishing expertise, even if it cost him time, which is money.

2 2 When we hear Bible stories like this, we may be tempted to think: Yes, Jesus commanded Simon to do something contrary to what he knew would work; and that s fine, and when Jesus physically appears to me, I, too, will obey. Even if Jesus tells me to repeat the same thing and expect different results, I ll call it sanity. Clever, but not careful. Because if I really read the Bible: if I actually listen to God the Holy Spirit, Simon said, ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD I WILL LET DOWN THE NETS. The Gospel is doctrine written down for us to apply. Otherwise, it would have said, Simon obeyed, or in my case, Don rolled his eyes and snickered as he pushed the boat out into the deep. But this was written to those of us who would not have Jesus physically appear to us. ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD I WILL LET DOWN THE NETS. Ah! BLESSED ARE YOU. The Master s Word says, AS NEWBORN BABES, EARNESTLY DESIRE THE SINCERE MILK OF THE WORD, IN ORDER THAT YOU GROW AS A RESULT. 1 Pet. 2:2 But I m tired, and Sunday s my only day to sleep in, but ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD, LORD, I WILL rise from my bed on the day You rose from the dead. The Master s Word says, THE SILVER IS MINE, AND THE GOLD IS MINE, DECLARES THE LORD OF HOSTS. Haggai 2:8 But I earned it, and I need it, and I want it, but ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD I WILL trust you with a little of it. The Master s Word says, FREELY YOU HAVE RECEIVED, FREELY GIVE, Matt 10:8 but they hurt me, and I don t want to forgive, but ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD I WILL send it all away to the cross where You died and all debts were settled.

3 3 And as if obeying Jesus because its right wasn t enough, SIMON S obedience was rewarded. AND WHEN THEY HAD DONE THIS, THEY ENCLOSED A GREAT QUANTITY OF FISH; AND BEGAN TO BREAK THEIR NETS AND THEY SIGNALED TO THEIR PARTNERS IN THE OTHER BOAT, FOR THEM TO COME AND HELP THEM. AND THEY CAME, AND FILLED BOTH OF THE BOATS, SO THAT THEY BEGAN TO SINK. They were fishing boats, big enough to carry Jesus and the twelve across the lake, and both boats were sinking INTO THE DEEP because of the catch! I would think Simon would have felt definitely validated when his obedience brought these returns. It doesn t get any better than that for a disciple, does it? Especially INTO THE DEEP of blessings in your own vocation. Isn t that what we all want? The Master rewards our obedience. Jesus gave him what we all want! God helping us make our living! Miraculous success in the workplace! Not instead of God, but because of God. Right here is the difference between the shallow, saccharine, popgibberish that s passed off as faith, and real saving faith. Peter could have come away with a success in fishing gimmick (Netting with the Nazarene, Alpha-Omega Lures), not only could he have made a killing at the market, but he could have talked people into hearing his story for cash, by appealing to their greed that they could make a killing too. I m sure Judas would have, if he was as clever as some of the charlatans on TV, peddling Jesus like currency. Saints, I want us to have a more sensitive gag-reflex. Jesus, the means to an end. Does that appeal to us? The end being the temporary kicks we wanted all along? Jesus, on my way to wealth. Jesus, on my way to success. Jesus, on my way to power. Jesus, the

4 4 speed-bump that got my life on track. Even Jesus, on my way to becoming holy. Peter could have settled for something that shallow and called it faith. But I think it dawned on him that whatever was going on in that boat, it wasn t shallow. This was no speed bump, this was no ticket anywhere, Peter realized, in my boat, is the ALPHA AND THE OMEGA, WHO IS AND WHO WAS AND WHO IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY. Like Isaiah in the temple, doing his job, doing his liturgy, performing the sacred rites, the deep things of God, as deep goes for carbonbased life forms; God is in His Temple, and all is right the world. Until it gets too deep for Isaiah. Suddenly its way too Crowded in the Temple! Listen to Isaiah. He s out of his depth. I saw YHWH! WOE IS ME, FOR I AM RUINED! BECAUSE I AM A MAN OF UNCLEAN LIPS, AND I LIVE AMONG A PEOPLE OF UNCLEAN LIPS; FOR MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE KING, THE LORD OF HOSTS. Isaiah is UNDONE with terror, The Temple is too small, The noise too loud: HOLY! HOLY! HOLY! LORD GOD SABAOTH, WOE IS ME! WOE IS ME! I ll be swallowed up by THE TRAIN OF HIS ROBES; that the huge, almighty, all-knowing, all-present, crowding, squashing; God PRESSING IN: angels crying HOLY! Isaiah says to me, Can you look in the Temple and tell me what doesn t belong? ME! Simon s boat was full of fish. Blessing! INTO THE DEEP! BUT WHEN SIMON PETER SAW THAT, HE FELL DOWN AT JESUS KNEES, SAYING, DEPART FROM ME, FOR I AM A SINFUL MAN, LORD! Why wasn t Simon happier about the fish? Making a killing at the fish market was the furthest thing from his mind! He saw the fish, dumb fish, stupid fish, clueless fish, jumping into the net crying HOLY! He saw that mere food had the wits to

5 5 know that once they have seen God they might as well jump into the net and die and be swallowed! And he said, WOE IS ME! God is here and I m not ready to meet him! God is here and I m not dressed, I m naked and dirty and sinful! PANIC! He s here, it s Him! Now! I m about to be swallowed. The weight of the worshipping fish aren t what s sinking my boat! I m the reason we re sinking! SIMON BAR-JONAH. SIMON PETER says, KYRIE! GO AWAY! GO AWAY FROM ME; I AM A SINFUL MAN, LORD Notice how the words change in the text. It s no longer SIMON in the boat with the MASTER. It s SIMON PETER with the LORD. The PETER is added to his name when he sees it s the LORD who is in the boat with him. Deep calls to deeper. The Bible says that AWE HAD SEIZED HIM AND ALL HIS COMPANIONS BECAUSE OF THE CATCH OF FISH WHICH THEY HAD TAKEN; AND SO ALSO JAMES AND JOHN, SONS OF ZEBEDEE, WHO WERE PARTNERS WITH SIMON PETER who is gripped by trauma of God pressing in on him and looking for a trap door in the boat because he d rather be swallowed by the 150 feet of lake water than swallowed by the One Isaiah saw in the Temple. LAUNCH OUT INTO THE DEEP turned out to be a boat-deck much deeper than 150 feet deep for Peter. Could anything be deeper for a sinner than the Presence of the Holy God? To know He s allpowerful and you are powerless; To know He s unspeakably good and you are sinful. To know it up close has to be as deep as it gets. No, beloved, it s not. LAUNCH OUT INTO THE DEEPEST. The Lord knew SIMON PETER WAS A SINFUL MAN, better than Peter knew it himself,

6 6 but the Lord didn t GO AWAY. He stayed close to SIMON PETER, and said, DON T BE AFRAID ANYMORE. Peter didn t need to stay afraid, because the Lord Himself was already planning His own LAUNCH INTO THE DEEP that Peter, you, or I would never know. INTO THE DEEP of every human sin, INTO THE DEEP of human suffering, INTO THE DEEP of wrath and hell. Peter could be in the boat with the Lord because Peter would be innocent ACCORDING TO JESUS WORD. Jesus could stay in the boat with Peter because He took on his brother s flesh and ours to die the deepest death on the cross, so that every time we read DON T BE AFRAID ANYMORE in the Scriptures it means Absolution. And whenever a sinner says, WOE IS ME! the Savior comes with forgiveness. Isaiah wrote, 6 THEN ONE OF THE SERAPHIM FLEW TO ME, WITH A BURNING COAL IN HIS HAND WHICH HE HAD TAKEN FROM THE ALTAR WITH TONGS. 7 AND HE TOUCHED MY MOUTH WITH IT AND SAID, BEHOLD, THIS HAS TOUCHED YOUR LIPS; AND YOUR INIQUITY IS TAKEN AWAY, AND YOUR SIN IS FORGIVEN. It was a preview of what Peter would see, and what we would hear: The real burning coal is Holy Absolution. The real Altar is the Cross. And then He called innocent Isaiah to be His prophet, and He called forgiven Peter TO CATCH HUMAN BEINGS ALIVE. AND AFTER THEY HAD BROUGHT THEIR BOATS TO LAND, THEY LEFT EVERYTHING, including the killing they could have made at the fish market, EVERYTHING that s in your way to the Most Holy Place, dear ones, and you already know, THEY LEFT EVERYTHING, AND FOLLOWED HIM.

7 7 And here we are, HUMAN BEINGS ALIVE, not with the Holy God pressing in on our sins, but with a welcome, DON T BE AFRAID, LIFT UP YOUR HEARTS, LAUNCH OUT INTO THE DEEPEST, and we press in on Him, closer and deeper, singing, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, LORD GOD OF SABAOTH without fear of being swallowed by the Deep, until He says, TAKE EAT, TAKE DRINK, and we do the swallowing: the body and blood of the very Jesus Christ who was in the boat with Peter. Righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, for free. When you launch up this aisle, say it to Him: Lord, we ve worked here all night, and we got nothing; and this world s taught us that nothing s for free, but ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD I WILL open my mouth. Amen. Draft #7 (1945)