Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (C)

February 6, 2022

Text: Luke 5:1-11

            Well, I have to confess, when it comes to expectations of success in ministry, I tend to be a “fish all night and catch nothing” kind of guy.  I expect the Isaiah treatment.  Here I am, send me.  Okay, go preach, and they’ll hear, but not understand; they’ll see, but not perceive; their hearts will be dull, their ears heavy, and their eyes blind (Is. 6:9-10).  Or as Isaiah complains in another place, “Who has believed what he has heard from us?  And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?" (Is. 53:1; ESV).  Or, as St. Paul says to Pastor Timothy, “the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).  These verses are true, of course.  But that is not to say the Word has no effect.  And, much to my shame, I tend to be overly pessimistic about whether the Word will "work."  Whether the people will hear, whether they will believe, whether hearts will be converted, whether sinners will repent and cling to the forgiveness of sins in Christ, whether the Church will succeed, or whether it will fail. 

            On the other hand, there is this temptation to think that if you do everything right, if you preach the right word, at the right time, in the right way, to the right people, with the right skill and the right charisma, employing all the right methods, it will be like Peter’s nets.  The Church will be bursting at the seams.  A new building, a BIG one, will be absolutely necessary, and attainable, because, if you do it right, the Lord will bless.  And that means big numbers.  Peter preached one sermon in Acts and, all at once, three thousand souls were added to their number (Acts 2:41).  That is how it’s supposed to work, right? 

            But just as I exhibit unfounded pastoral pessimism, this second attitude is a misplaced optimism.  Of course, the Word of God is effective and powerful, living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword (Heb. 4:12).  It performs.  It does not return to the Lord empty, but accomplishes His purpose and succeeds in the thing for which He sends it (Is. 55:11).  That is true.  That is the Promise.  But this misplaced optimism is, first of all, a confidence, not so much in the objective efficacy of the Word, but in my ability, my skill, to get it right.  And it is an expectation that when (and only when) I get it right, God will respond by blessing me with visible success.  By which I mean numbers.  People in the pew and bucks in the plate.  What is particularly frustrating is that on the basis of our Holy Gospel this morning, many have preached my pessimism, and many others (particularly those espousing Church Growth methods) have preached this misplaced optimism in human methods… when, in fact, our Holy Gospel this morning obliterates them both.  Because both miss the point.  Both miss Jesus’ role in the whole enterprise.  And both miss the call our Lord here gives to the Church and to her pastors.

            What is that call?  Well, it is not a call to be in the driver’s seat.  Jesus is in the driver’s seat, and it is at His Word that we let down the nets.  Nor is it a call to visible success.  Sometimes God does grant a visibly impressive response to the preaching, as He did in the wake of Peter’s sermon in Acts.  Most of the time, He does not.  Never mind that.  That isn’t the Promise, and it isn’t the call.  The call is to faithfulness as Jesus preaches through His people, through His pastors, and through His Church.  In our Holy Gospel this morning, there are at least four components of the call to faithfulness.  1. Let down the nets.  That is, preach the Gospel.  Preach the Word.  That is what the Church is sent out to do.  Pastors to preach publicly.  You to confess Christ in your daily lives and vocations, especially among your family, your friends, and your neighbors.  2. Do not fear.  Don’t always be wringing your hands about what will work and what will not, whether the people will like you or hate you, whether the Church will grow or decline, whether people will believe or reject.  No, stop that.  Do not fear.  Christ is the end of all fear.  This is His Church and He will do with it what He will.  3. Believe the Promise: From now on you will be catching men.  That is not a command to get out there and get busy.  That is not a threat that people will go to hell if you don’t.  That is pure Gospel Promise from Jesus’ lips to your ears.  It is the reality in Christ.  You will be catching men.  You can count on it.  4. Follow Him.  Follow Jesus.  That is what it means to be a disciple.  And it does mean suffering, by the way.  It means taking up your cross and going the way He goes.  It may be necessary to leave everything to follow Him.  It was certainly necessary for Peter and Andrew, James and John.  Or that may not be your calling.  You will only know that particular cross if it comes to you, most likely by force.  It will mean people thinking less of you, saying mean things to you and about you, rejecting you.  It may mean physical suffering, or even death.  But follow Jesus.  After all, you know where His cross leads.  To resurrection and eternal life.  And His is the only way that leads there.  That is the call. 

            Incidentally, if success means the cross, then success doesn’t look very much like success in the eyes of the world, or to your fallen eyes, does it?  Godly success means faithfulness through suffering, and in the end, the reward in eternal life.  But now we are talking about the true optimism.  That in spite of it all, Christ crucified, Christ risen from the dead, is preached, and sinners come to repentance and faith in Christ, and so live and become faithful confessors.  The success of preaching lies in the picture Jesus paints for us this morning.  Jesus is in the boat with His disciples, and in the same way, here He is in the Nave where you are gathered together in His Name.  He speaks His Word to the crowds across the water.  And that is a baptismal image, Words and water, preaching to the baptized.  The boats are sent out, and at Jesus’ Word, the nets let down into the sea.  The Church is dispersed throughout the nations, that the Gospel be preached to the ends of the earth.  In Hebrew thought, the sea is a symbol of the chaotic world, the unbelieving Gentile nations, afflicted as they are by demons and death.  So where are the nets cast?  Where are we to preach the Gospel?  Right into that.  And what is the result?  Fish.  And this, Jesus says, is a sign of what will happen when the Gospel is preached to men.  It is no wonder that the ancient symbol for a Christian is a fish!  One caught by the Gospel net.  One brought forth from the water.  There is even an acronym involved here.  The Greek word for fish is ἰχθύς, and on the basis of that word, the early Christians formed an easily memorable Creed: “Iesous Christos Theou Huios Soter,” “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.”  That is, this Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the promised Messiah.  He is the Son of God.  And He is the Savior of the world, for by His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, He saves us from our sin, from death, and from the power of the devil.  The Word of God is successful whenever it brings a sinful human being to believe and confess that.

            But how do you measure that success?  Not by sight.  By faith.  Believing the Promise.  You will be catching men.  Sometimes we get a glimpse.  Most of the time we do not.  But we know by faith in the Promise that, when Jesus is in the boat with us, speaking His Word, whenever we let down the Gospel net, fish will be drawn out of the water, baptized Christians who believe and confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, our Savior.

            Now, this has practical implications, first of all, for pastors.  There is no place for my unfounded pessimism.  Jesus has made a Promise that men will be caught in the net of His Word.  I should always trust that Promise.  For Jesus is the One who does it.  By His Spirit.  In His Word.  Neither, however, is there any place for optimism on the basis of my own skill or charisma, my ability to execute all the right strategies, employing all the right gimmicks, to bring in the numbers.  There is no place for that, because that would be a confidence in me.  Rather, I must confess, for my part, “I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8).  “Woe is me… for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Is. 6:5).  No, thank God, it doesn’t depend on me, on my talents or my ability to get it right.  It all depends on Jesus and His Word.  My confidence is to be in Jesus and His Word.  In His speaking.  His nets.  At His Word we let them down.  And then there is the catch. 

            And this has the same practical application for you.  In your confession of Christ.  In your witnessing.  In your speaking and suffering for His Word.  Just be faithful.  Do not be afraid.  Don’t worry whether you get the words just right, or whether the person to whom you confess will respond with faith or rejection.  Trust Jesus.  Trust His Word.  Success isn’t up to you.  Your call is to simply let down the net.  Speak Jesus’ Word.  Love with His love.  Serve in His Name.  Let all your speech and all your actions be seasoned with the salt of Christ.  Raise your kids in the faith.  Come to Church faithfully.  That, too, is a confession to your neighbor.  Pray for those who don’t believe.  If the opportunity presents itself, invite them to Church.  There is no pressure, here.  Remember, you’re just fishing.  Sometimes it can feel like you’ve labored all night for nothing.  And it is true, God does not act according to our expectations.  But you never know when it will happen.  Suddenly, at Jesus’ Word, there is a catch.  A new beloved brother or sister is brought into the boat.  Because that is the Promise. 

            And if you must count, remember this.  Jesus counts by ones.  Success is not measured by looking at the whole multitude gathered in any particular place or time.  It is measured by looking at each individual as one Christ loves, for whom Christ died, praying for that one, speaking Christ to that one, and rejoicing with the angels in heaven if that one repents and comes into the Kingdom of God.  But again, that isn’t up to you.  It’s all up to Jesus.  Just keep fishing. 

            The true optimism is not about the number of fish.  It is the sure and certain knowledge that Jesus is here with us in the boat, speaking His Word.  He’s already caught us.  And so He will catch more and more by the net of His Word, often using us as His fishermen, until the full number are with us in His presence.  This is what we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer every time we say, “Thy Kingdom come.”  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.