Introduction – The Challenge of Jesus

Our Gospel story today presents a radical challenge. And I want us to be able to hear it. Peter, who represents us, is confronted by a man with a completely different set of values to him, a man who appears to have found a better way to live. That man is Jesus, and he promises us that, if we follow him, we may have life to the full (John 10:10). As Jesus says elsewhere,

The Fishing Lottery

In our story, Peter and his friends have been out for the night fishing on the Sea of Galilee. This was normal practice as deep-sea fishing gave the greatest opportunity to catch large quantities of fish. Indeed, if you got lucky, you might haul in a massive catch that would change your life. When this happened it was akin to winning the fishing lottery.

We don’t know specifically what was driving this economic need in Peter. He may have been in dire straits. He was married at the time and he had family members to provide for. But he may also have been ambitious to be rich.

What we do know is that the night had not been successful. Somehow Peter ends up getting caught up in the latest fad: a travelling Rabbi, followed by a great crowd, who asks him if he might commandeer his boat so that he might get a better platform from which to teach. Peter obliges and puts out from the land, controlling the boat, so that Jesus can do his business.

After this comes the key moment, ‘When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”’ (Luke 5:5-6).

This statement can be read in several ways. I tend to think that Peter was being somewhat sarcastic. After all, as far as he knows, Jesus is a landlubber from inland Nazareth, whereas Peter was a professional fisherman. He’s been trying all night at a time when such a catch is far more likely. And now, this man who knows apparently nothing, is telling him to try again during the day: Okay, “master”, if you think you’re so clever, watch what happens.

We can here observe in Peter an apparent lack of spiritual interest. He had been hearing the Messiah speak but his body and mind were likely exhausted after being up all night. He did not have the capacity for spiritual things.

So Jesus had to get his attention, and he did it by giving to him a miraculous catch of fish. At his command, and by his power, Jesus won the fishing lottery for Peter, so great was the catch that their fishing nets were breaking. This was truly a life-changing moment.

And what would Peter have thought? Perhaps that he was encountering a genius, somebody who could make them all a huge amount of money. But how does the story end? A revelation of Jesus’ holiness and Jesus says to him, ‘“Do not be afraid; from now on your will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him’ (Luke 5:10(b)-11).

What this reveals about this Jesus – and no doubt what it revealed to Peter – is that Jesus wasn’t interested in winning the fishing lottery. Jesus was more interested in something else: “catching men”, sharing his vision of the Kingdom, preaching the so-called evangelion (or the Gospel) and beckoning people to follow him and learn from him. “You can do this too,” he tells Peter, and Peter chooses this new life in place of the old one.

Fruitless Toil

I believe that this story speaks very deeply to the human condition. It reminds me of the quotation of Jesus above: come to me all who labour and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. But there are several others in Scripture as well such as Isaiah 55:2

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,and your labour for that which does not satisfy?

The point of these Scriptures, and I believe our story today, is to teach us that we can spend our energy, our time, our lives upon things which do not truly satisfy. And it is so easy to do.

Many people in our day and age end up with some version of the following: a desire to do well in life, perhaps a good education involving going to university or perhaps just starting work straightaway. From there a job, which might start out being exciting but turns stressful and demanding. After a while a career which must be committed to because one has responsibility – mortgage maybe, wife, children, perhaps debts and other things. And, before you know it, somehow this work has taken over. You are preoccupied by it. You think about it at night. In the evening, when you are not working, you are drinking or just watching endless Netflix, or doom-scrolling on your phone. You wake up too early in the morning because you can’t rest. There’s no peace in your body because there is no peace in your mind.

All of this is driven by a sense deep within that there is simply not enough: not enough money, not enough time, not enough energy and strength to get whatever it is done. The only solution is to work, work, work. And maybe, one day, you might start to feel slightly better.

You may very well identify with the words of Peter, “Master, we toiled all night, and we’ve taken nothing!”

Recognising this within ourselves is the first step to healing. Lay down your nets. Don’t go back out to the Sea of Galilee tonight. Think about your life a bit: is all of this really worth it?

Finding Rest

Now let’s assume we want the peace that Jesus offers. What can we do? I see at least three things here:

Firstly, obedience. Peter obeyed Jesus’ command to put out his net. Obedience to God, surrender to his will, is a necessary part of the spiritual life. The precursor to obedience is repentance, which in Greek is metanoia, literally a change of mindset: I am no longer following what seems right to me, Lord, but I am following you now.

So, if there is an area of your life which involves disobedience, change. Repent. Follow after Jesus and leave that thing behind. Easier said than done but seek a way.

Secondly, consideration. And I don’t how else to put this. One of my favourite passages of Scripture is Matthew 6:25-24, from the Sermon on the Mount: some of it reads,

Jesus says, “Look at the birds of the air.” “Consider lilies of the field.” Emblepsate, he tells us – look at, consider. Katamethete – Observe, notice.

Work out the implications of the faith by paying attention to God’s provision for the birds of the air, the lilies of the field, and for you.

I believe that as we do this sort of thing enough, our mindset will shift. And we will see the world not as a scary place where there is not enough, but as the theatre of God’s grace and his generous provision for us.

The third thing, and perhaps the most challenging: commitment. They left everything and followed him. Now, we can’t all simply leave everything behind because we have responsibilities. But what can we do? Well, we can walk away from some of what we have by giving it away.

Let’s consider the psychology for a moment: we are toiling because we think we don’t have enough – money, time, strength, energy, whatever it might be. We know that that is not true because God will provide everything we need. What therefore do we do? To prove to ourselves that God will provide and that we do and will have enough we give what we have away. And, as we do that, God provides and our trust in strengthened.

Money is relevant here. Money enslaves us to itself. The more money we have the more anxious about money we get. And this is because we are worried about losing it and there’s more of it to lost. So one solution is to give lots away, to be generous, and to see how God provides for us as we are generous to others.

This year we are being encouraged to consider our stewardship of the resources that God gives to us and so it’s relevant to point out that practicing some form of tithing through regular giving to the church and to other causes is a foundational spiritual discipline. We are blessed so that we might be a blessing. That is the basic point. And as we give away that which God gives us, we trust him that he will give us more and that he will, in fact, give us an abundance one way or another.

But to find all of this we must turn outwards from our fear and anxiety, from our fruitless labour, toward God and others. Obedience, consideration, commitment. These three things are, I believe, keys to going from fruitless toil to blessed trust.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.