Sermon 01.26.2025: Fishing for People

In today's Gospel lesson, we'll hear the story of the disciples becoming disciples--the moment they followed Jesus. 

Do you have a moment when you followed Jesus? Or did it happen over time? Are you still figuring out what it means to follow Jesus? Come and see what God is calling us to today. 

Scripture

Luke 5:1-11

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ 

Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’ When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Sermon

Our story today from the Gospel of Luke is about the call of the disciples. Jesus is walking along and a huge crowd is following him, wanting to hear what he has to say. He walks by the shore, where some fishermen have just come in from their night’s work and are putting away the motors, cleaning the nets, stacking up the life jackets, etc. 

For these fishermen, you wonder if Jesus and the crowd that is following him are just a nuisance. “Excuse me, people. I know you want to see Jesus, but could you please not stand on my nets???” 

Then Jesus just climbs in Simon Peter’s boat and says, “Put out from shore a little way.” 

Peter obeys. And Jesus teaches to the crowd gathered on the shore. 

But when he’s done teaching, he turns to Simon and says, “Take the boat to deeper water and set out your nets for a catch.” 

And Peter, no matter what he thought about this instruction from the guy who wasn’t a fisherman, Peter does mention the facts—we fished all night and caught nothing thank you very much—and goes on to say, “but if you say so, we’ll do it.” 

In Matthew and Mark, when they talk about calling the disciples, the call appears to be the first time Jesus has met the disciples. And in those accounts, it is even more remarkable that Simon goes along with the pleas of this stranger who has climbed into his boat. 

In Luke’s story, though, listen to this story from the previous chapter, beginning at 4:38, right after the story Victor preached last week, the one where Jesus got run out of town for preaching mercy: 

“After leaving the synagogue, Jesus entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked Jesus about her. Then Jesus stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her.” 

We don’t know if Jesus knew Simon before this healing story at Simon’s house in Capernaum. I’ve been to Capernaum. Other than the church now built over the ruins of Peter’s house, the rest of it looks very undeveloped, so you can imagine Jesus walking there. The ruins of the synagogue are very near where Simon’s house is, and it is all very close to the shore of the Galilee. It was one of my favorite places in the Holy Land. I felt close to Jesus when I was there. 

The picture on the bulletin cover is one my friend Kelley took on one of her trips to the Holy Land, from the shore of the Sea of Galilee. 

In Luke’s account, when Jesus gets in Simon’s boat, Simon already knows exactly who Jesus his. Jesus is the guy who can rebuke a fever and heal a loved one. (We’re going to assume he had a good relationship with his mother-in-law. The Bible isn’t clear). 

Everything I thought I knew about the call of the disciples is up for grabs in the way Luke orders the story. 

Simon has seen what Jesus can do, yet Simon is not in the crowd, pressing in on Jesus. Simon is washing his nets after a night of work. Simon’s first encounter with Jesus has not immediately translated to following Jesus. Simon is still a fisherman. He is not a disciple. 

So Jesus comes to him again. Jesus is like that. Sometimes we (or our loved ones) need healing. Sometimes we need help fishing. Jesus keeps meeting us where we are and inviting us to take the next step. Because maybe Jesus has things for us to do. 

‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’ 

Simon Peter’s decision to cast the nets again is at least a glimmer of faith, a willingness to trust that maybe this Jesus guy is worth listening to. And as soon as the nets are in the water, the fish arrive. So many fish their nets start to break. So they call the other boat to come out and their nets are full up. And then they are concerned the boats will sink under the weight of the harvest. 

Peter drops to his knees and tells Jesus that he is a sinful man and so Jesus ought to just leave him. 

Peter has now recognized something in Jesus—from how he healed his mother-in-law, to what Jesus had said when he was teaching, to the authority with which he commanded them, to the way he out-fished the professional fishermen—Peter recognized that Jesus was not like us. 

Peter recognized his own broken, sinful humanity and realized if this Rabbi is looking for people to become like him, for someone to teach all he knows, then Jesus better look somewhere else because we’re not worthy. 

And have you ever had an experience where you were selected for something you thought you weren’t qualified for? Ever been picked for a sports team and wondered, “Why’d they pick me when so and so hasn’t been chosen yet?” Sometimes when you have those moments, where people pick YOU, instead of picking the people you would have chosen, do you ever hear that voice in your head with imposter syndrome, saying, “If they chose me then I guess they aren’t quite as smart as I thought they were?” 

I absolutely understand Peter dropping to his knees and telling Jesus he picked the wrong boat. “It is very nice that you stopped by, and I really appreciate this big haul of fish, but I know these guys—and trust me— we are not the disciples you’re looking for.” 

Jesus tells them to leave behind their nets, their boats, the giant haul of fish they just caught, and to also leave behind their fears of their own inadequacy, their fears that they have nothing to offer to God because they are “just” fishermen, and their fears that Jesus has made a bad decision that he will regret in a few days. 

If Jesus wants disciples like Peter, then there is room for us. If Jesus didn’t go to career day at the Temple to pick out his disciples, we should take note. If he called disciples who were just minding their own business, fixing their nets, going to soccer practice, binge watching something on Netflix, whatever, then perhaps we should expect him to call us as well. 

Perhaps all of the excuses we use to NOT answer Jesus’ call—not educated, not old enough, too old, not smart enough, too smart, too busy, whatever—perhaps all of those excuses aren’t going to work. 

After Peter points out to Jesus that Jesus is hanging out with the wrong people—namely Peter and his friends—Jesus says, “Have no fear, Peter. From now on, you will be fishing for people.” 

I’ve been thinking about this metaphor—fishing for people. And it can be a little troubling. We don’t throw hooks into people so we can snag them out of their lives into an environment where they can’t breathe and bring them into the nets of our churches. 

But all of my life I’ve heard this story preached as an evangelism story. If you become a disciple and follow Jesus, your church will grow so big, your nets will break. 

I had a different sermon partially written for today, but the actions of this week sent me back to the drawing board. I promise you I try not to be partisan in my preaching, but this week, our government was dismantled by a felon, while his party cheered him on. 

He pardoned dangerous convicted criminals who sought to overthrow the government 4 years ago when he lost the election, all while claiming his draconian immigration orders are to save us from criminals crossing the border. 

He wrote executive orders that cannot change the law, but can create chaos and confusion. One of them ended birthright citizenship, something enshrined in the Constitution he vowed to protect. 

He is threatening the deportation of millions of people, and promising to invade churches, hospitals, and schools to find them. 

He is seeking to remove rights from LGBTQIA citizens, and is endangering the health and safety of trans kids. 

His supporters have made death threats to an Episcopal priest who preached a sermon where she kindly asked the president to show mercy to vulnerable people. One sitting member of congress said the priest should be deported, even though she was born in New Jersey. 

This week, Jesus’ call to ‘fish for people’ didn’t feel like an instruction to go get more church members, the way I’d always heard it preached. This week, it felt like a call to take our boats out into a storm to rescue people who are at risk of drowning, throwing a lifeline to people clinging to the wreckage created by this administration. 

To be a disciple, a follower of Jesus, in these days, is going to involve some motion sickness, choppy water, and waves that threaten to overtake our lifeboats. And if you don’t feel qualified for that work, you’re not alone. But Jesus calls the disciples even when they don’t have any qualifications for the job. Jesus calls us to fish for people. 

I don’t like this anymore than you do. My preferred day by water and boats includes sunscreen and a good book. I don’t want to have to put on a lifejacket and brave stormy seas. In truth, I feel more qualified to sit on the shore with a book than I do to go into the storm. But there is a storm raging in our country today and Jesus calls us to respond. So we will. 

I’ve been thinking about Peter a lot this week. How he’d seen Jesus heal his mother in law, gone back about his life as a fisherman, and then encountered Jesus again by his boat. 

I bet he didn’t want to take his boat back out at all. I bet there was a part of him that had zero desire to fish for people that day. Because he was tired. Because he hadn’t been able to catch fish the night before and wondered how effective he could possibly be fishing for people. 

But scripture tells us that he obeyed Jesus’ instruction to fish for people. And it changed his life, and he became Peter, the rock on whom Jesus built the church. 

What happened this week in politics was intentional. It was a campaign of shock and awe, intended to overwhelm us, to distract us. He continues to talk about invading Greenland, so we won’t notice he’s ended funding for cancer research, disaster assistance, public health, etc. 

If you are overwhelmed and worried, it is a good thing, even if it feels terrible right now. It means you don’t think cruelty is okay. It means you care for the safety of people other than yourself. It means you don’t want to normalize nazi salutes and racism in government policies. 

Jesus is calling us to respond, to get back into our boats, armed with life jackets and Dramamine, and head into the storm so we can fish for people who need the church to show up and help them keep from drowning. 

The one thing that has brought me comfort this week is you. We don’t have to do this alone, isolated from each other. We do this together. When Peter’s boat started sinking because he had too many fish in his nets, he signaled to his friends to bring their boats and come and help. And they did. I am grateful for this community, for this congregation. 

This is not the first time Calvary has had to stand together, to save people from drowning in the storms of life. Woven throughout our 170-year history are countless stories of Calvary people braving the waves to fish for people hanging on to debris from the shipwrecks of life. Jesus is calling us to do it again. 

Not for a political agenda, but for love, for mercy, for hope. Anne Lamott, in one of her recent books, writes this: 

“Love is our only hope. It is not always the easiest choice, but it is always the right one, the noble path, the way home to safety, no matter how bleak the future looks.” 



Love is the path through the storm we’re in. Let’s put on our life jackets and fish for people together.