Sermon Recording

The writer Mark Twain loved to boast about his hunting and fishing exploits. One year he went on a three-week fishing trip deep in the heart of Maine — a fishing trip that took place long after the state’s fishing season had closed.

On the train home from the trip, Mark Twain found a stranger in the lounge car, and he began to tell him all about his fishing adventures. Unfortunately, Twain’s boasting about his catch did not impress the stranger. Instead, the man looked very, very grim.

Finally, Twain asked the stranger, “By the way, who are you, sir?”

“I’m the state game warden,” the stranger growled. “Who are you?”

Mark Twain nearly swallowed his cigar. Thinking about all the fish that he had on ice in the baggage car, Twain answered, “Well, to be perfectly truthful, warden … I’m the biggest [darn] liar in the whole United States!”

Something fishy’s going on!

Today’s passage from the Gospel of Luke is a very fishy story, and it is a good one to hear as we come together for the third of our summer Gatherings. After we enjoy a reception for Sallie Horner, we’ll return to the Sanctuary for an old-fashioned hymn sing. There will also be water games and crafts, a meeting of the Golden Age Ministry, and lunch with ice cream in Fellowship Hall. If you have donations for our food pantry, place them in the well, and they will help to feed our hungry neighbors.

In the Gospel of Luke, people are gathering beside the Lake of Gennesaret, and they are anxious “to hear the word of God” (Luke 5:1). They have discovered that Jesus is not “the biggest darn liar” in the country, but instead he is a man of “gracious words” (4:22). He speaks “with authority” (v. 32), “he commands the unclean spirits and they come out” (v. 36), and he proclaims “the good news of the kingdom of God” (v. 43).

These are the kinds of words we need to hear today, in a world so full of lies and sarcasm and bad news. I suspect that many of you are here today for the same reason that the people gathered at the lake — “to hear the word of God.” You need a word of guidance, a word of acceptance, and a word of challenge. I know I do, and for all of these reasons I am really happy that we are hearing this story together.

This is the word of God, coming to us today. And although there are some fish in the story, there’s really nothing fishy about it!

First, it contains a word of guidance. Jesus gets into a boat belonging to Simon Peter, pushes away from the shore, and teaches the crowd from the boat. This way, he is not mobbed by the crowd, and his voice can be heard clearly across the surface of the water. When he is finished, he says to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch” (5:4).

These words of guidance come as a surprise to Simon. After all, he is an experienced fisherman, and he has just fished all night without a bite. Deep water, shallow water — what difference does it make? The fish are either biting or they’re not.

There is something very fishy about this instruction from Jesus.

But Simon, to his credit, agrees to follow these words of guidance. “If you say so,” says Simon, “I will let down the nets” (v. 5). When he and his fellow fishermen do this, they catch so many fish that their nets are beginning to break. They call for help, summon another boat, and they fill both boats so full that the boats begin to sink.

They end up with an incredibly abundant catch, far more than they ever dreamed possible.

The key to their success was to follow the guidance of Jesus. So often, when we trust our own instincts, our own practices, our own habits, and our own common sense, we end up with empty nets — and even emptier lives. But when we follow the guidance of Jesus, we end up receiving more than we dreamed possible. Imagine what might happen if you step out in faith and actually follow the guidance of Jesus when he says, “Follow me … love your enemies … do not judge … feed the hungry … clothe the naked.”

When the Midlife Men on a Mission and I went to Honduras last fall, we didn’t know exactly what we would accomplish. But we traveled to this foreign land with open hearts and minds, and we reflected on these words from Jesus, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

We set aside our North American instincts, practices, and habits, and trusted Jesus to provide a catch for us. What we received was truly abundant: The smiling faces of children enjoying improvements to Camp Rancho Vida, the boldness of nurse Lisa Armstrong doing God’s work under difficult conditions, the perpetually sunny outlook of our friend Henry the Welder.

Not Henry the Pastor. That’s me, and my outlook is not always sunny. The one who gave us such inspiration was our Honduran friend Henry the Welder. As much as we might do on a mission trip, we always come back feeling that we have received much more than we have given.

There’s nothing fishy about it.

Second, this story contains a word of acceptance. When Simon Peter sees the abundant catch of fish that is sinking his boat, he feels unworthy of such a generous gift. “Go away from me, Lord,” he says, “for I am a sinful man” (v. 8). He knows that he is weak and broken, sick and sinful — not deserving of such goodness from God.

But Jesus accepts him, just as he is. “Do not be afraid,” says Jesus; “from now on you will be catching people” (v. 10). Jesus calls us to follow him long before we deserve to be called, and he promises to use us as the weak and broken and sinful people we are. “Do not be afraid,” Jesus says to each of us — I’ve got a job for you. From now on, you will be “catching people.” The verb that Jesus uses here is an interesting one — in addition to “catch,” it can also be translated “capture alive” or “restore to life.” When we catch people for Jesus, we are helping to bring life to the world.

A year ago, the elders of our church made a pledge to fill the pews of this church, not only on Summer Sundays when we have a single service, but on Sundays throughout the rest of the year when we have services at 8:45 and 11:15. Our mission is not simply to offer a pleasant worship experience, but to catch people for Jesus and restore them to life. To accomplish this, we need warm hospitality and a clear order of worship. We need meaningful prayers and stimulating preaching. And we need music that embraces a variety of styles and enables people of all ages and backgrounds to lift their voices in praise.

That’s why we have been introducing a number of musical styles this summer, in our opening hymn sets and Fourth Sunday Encounter Services, in addition to our traditional hymn singing. This is part of our mission, because God wants to use this church to spread the Christian message. “Do not be afraid,” says Jesus; “from now on you will be catching people” … capturing them alive … restoring them to life.

Finally, today’s story contains a word of challenge. The last verse of the passage reports that the fisherman “left everything and followed him” (v. 11). They left everything … their family members, their boats, their nets … even the enormous catch of fish that Jesus had just given them. They left it all … their instincts, their practices, their habits … even their own common sense. They just left everything behind, and followed Jesus in obedience, following behind him as his disciples.

This is strange behavior, no doubt about it. If someone in your family left everything to follow a traveling teacher, you would surely say that something fishy is going on.

But Jesus lays this challenge before us because he wants us to be more attached to him than to anything else. He promises to care for us and give us whatever we need — don’t forget, he has just produced an amazing catch of fish. But in response to this generosity from Jesus, we are challenged to let go of our possessions and share our resources with others. Jesus does not object to wealth, but he has a big problem with rich people who will not share their abundance with the poor. “From everyone to whom much as been given, much will be required,” says Jesus in Luke 12; “and from the one to whom much as been entrusted, even more will be demanded” (v. 48).

These are the words of Jesus — words of guidance, words of acceptance, words of challenge. They tell us what it means to be a disciple, and what it is like to walk behind Jesus. They are not a fish story, told by the biggest liar in the world.

Instead, they are words that can restore us to life.. Amen.