“Called to be fishers of men” Luke 5:1-11

1 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. Luke 5:1-11

I remember when I was contemplating studying for the ministry, an uncle of mine jokingly told me being a pastor was a great job because you only had to work a half-day a week and you could go fishing the rest of the time. To be honest with you, it’s even better than that. A pastor’s job allows him to go fishing every day of the week. And, of course, the same is true for every Christian. Even though we may have toiled all night and tried everything we can think of, Jesus tells us to let down the nets for a catch and He fills the nets beyond belief.

Jesus calls you and me — every believer — to be fishers of men (cf. Luke 5:10; Luke 24:46-47; Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16) and He commands us to let down our nets again and again, trusting that He will accomplish His purposes. And so we do. We continue to preach and proclaim God’s Word, knowing and trusting God’s promise that His Word will not return to Him void, without accomplishing His purpose (Isa. 55:10-11).

Perhaps we can take the analogy of our text even further. Jesus commanded His disciples to launch out into the deep and let down their nets for a catch. He didn’t tell them to stand on the safety of the shore and try to bait the fish in. He sent them out to where the fish were — in the deep — and it is there where they were to let down their nets.

So also, Jesus would have us to go out into the world where the people are — maybe even into places we would rather not go — and there let down our nets. It doesn’t usually work to call the fish to come onto the shore or to jump into our boats. Nor is it sufficient to simply invite people to come within the walls of our church building that they might hear the Word of God and believe. We need to go to them and find ways to reach them with the Word of God where they are. It’s only when they are caught in the net out there that they can be brought into the boat and in here!

So, how do we launch out into the deep that we might catch men for Jesus? First of all, we need to go out where the people are and not expect them to come to us where we are. Secondly, we need to let down our nets, and they may need to be let down deep to where the fish are. That means finding ways to touch people’s lives with God’s Word where they are and in ways that they will hear. Thirdly, we need to remember who it is that fills the nets and follow His fishing instructions. We won’t catch souls for Jesus unless the nets we let down are His words of Law and Gospel — warning people concerning their sin and its eternal consequences and telling them of God’s mercy and forgiveness and life in Christ Jesus, who fulfilled all righteousness for us and then suffered and died on the cross for our sins and the sins of all and rose again in victory!

And what a great job God has given us! We get to go fishing every day by taking the message of His Word out into the deep, where the lost are, and catching them with the good news of forgiveness of sins and eternal life through faith in Christ Jesus, God’s Son and our Savior!

Dear Lord Jesus, You have called us to be fishers of men, to launch out into the deep and let down the net of Your Word for a catch. Grant us the faith to go out into the world and proclaim Your Word to people where they are that You might fill the nets and bring people from the depths of sin to faith in You as their Savior. Amen.

[Scripture quotations are from The ESV® (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. Isaiah 66:1-2

We seek to make houses of worship and to honor God with the finest forms of praise, but does God seek these things? Do these things win us God’s favor or cause Him to take note of us? What does God say?

“Thus says the LORD: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.’”

God created the heaven and the earth by the power of His Word and He speaks of heaven as His throne and earth as His footstool. So, can we cause Him to dwell among us by building Him beautiful churches and cathedrals or honoring him with the most majestic sounds of praise? Indeed, what can we give Him in comparison to what He already possesses?

Again, what does God say? “But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”

Instead of taking note and looking upon the high and lofty efforts of man, God looks on those who are humble and contrite in spirit, who tremble at His Word. In other words, God looks with favor and in mercy upon those who tremble in awe and respect at His Word and all it teaches, who humble themselves before God and His Word, acknowledge their sins and are sorry for them, and look to God for pardon and forgiveness in the Son, Jesus Christ, who came into this world to redeem us with His holy and precious blood shed upon the cross for the sins of all.

Are you trying to make God accept you by your own efforts or your own lofty worship and praise? Or, do you humbly submit to His Word, repent of Your sins and trust in the shed blood of Jesus for pardon and forgiveness and then, as a fruit of your faith, seek God’s help and strength to amend your life and live for Him in accord with His holy Word?

“But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”

Your Word, O God, reveals my sinfulness and utter failures to be pleasing in Your sight. Even my best works and praise are unclean before You. I deserve only Your eternal anger and punishment for my sin and disobedience. Have mercy upon me, LORD, for the sake of the Son, Jesus Christ, and His holy life and innocent sufferings and death in my stead. Amen.

[Scripture quotations are from The ESV® (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.” Psalm 51:4

We don’t often think of our sins as offenses against God. Rather, we see our sins as offenses against those people to whom we have done wrong or caused harm. But, truly, all our sins are sins against God, for even when we hurt others through our sins, God is offended as our Creator in that we fail to honor Him in our thoughts, words and actions, and we abuse and harm others whom He has made.

Psalm 51 was written after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and then tried to cover up his sin by having Uriah the Hittite killed in battle. Certainly, David sinned against Uriah. David first took his wife and then his life. Cf. 2 Sam. 11-12.

Yet, David could pray: “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.”

So also, it is with us. We may have offended our spouse, our parents, our children, our boss or our fellow employees, and yet we have sinned against the LORD God who created us and commanded us to love Him above all else and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

With David, we confess: “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.”

And God would be perfectly just if He were to condemn us to the eternal fires of hell for our sins against Him. He made us to love Him and serve Him but we have turned aside and become self-centered and self-serving.

It is for that reason that we join with David and believers everywhere in confessing our sins to the LORD God and asking Him to deal with us in love and mercy for the sake of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross.

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” (Psalm 51:1-3).

And we know that God “is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” … because “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 1:9; 2:1,2).

Against You, and You only, I have sinned, O God. Wash away my sins in the shed blood of Christ Jesus, Your Son and My Savior. Amen.

[Scripture quotations are from The ESV® (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]