Text:
A Reason to Hope
Grace to you and
peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jesus
does something that goes against all logic. He tells Peter, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets
for a catch.” Anyone who is even casually familiar with fishing, at
least it is true of fresh water fishing, knows that you catch fish in the
shallows where the fish congregate and feed. And that is especially true when
you’re fishing with nets; you need to go where they nets can actually reach the
fish. What Jesus suggests here goes against all that experience teaches. Peter
also informs Jesus that they had just been fishing all night without success. They
had put to use all of their skills and techniques and knowledge as experienced
fishermen, and hadn’t caught a thing. It just wasn’t a good time to fish. And
what’s the point now of going out during the heat of the day, which is
absolutely the worst time? Jesus is in over His head here; He doesn’t know what
He is talking about.
And
yet, Peter responds: “But at your
word I will let down the nets.” Because you say so, Lord; because
it’s your words, I will do it, even though I have my doubts.” And when Peter and
his friends did so, they caught such a great amount of fish their nets began to
tear, and they ended up filling two boats with fish! And so, even though
today’s Gospel might seem to be all about fishing, what it’s really about is
the word of Jesus. Nothing happens apart from that word. The word of Jesus may
seem foolish to human reason and logic, but in truth it is powerful and
effective to do what it says, and to deliver what it promises, and to save
those who believe it.
In
today’s Epistle, St. Paul wrote: “Always
be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that
is in you.” The world thinks of the Gospel, and all of Scripture for
that matter, as a myth for the naive and the gullible and the shallow-minded.
No one who has any real intelligence or education would go for that. They
regard it as superstition. The Word of God is constantly being mocked in our
world as being backward and outdated and even dangerous and hateful. We've seen
ample evidence of that these past few weeks. Biblical morality has been called
bigotry, and the day is coming when preaching faithfully from the Word of God
will be considered a hate crime. If the world needs a god, they’ll find one
that’s more logical to them—usually the one they see in the mirror.
And we
know well the temptation of wanting to follow such thinking, to walk by sight
and not by faith, to have a religion that is based on human wisdom and glory
rather than God’s wisdom and the cross. But like Peter, by God’s grace we have
been brought to trust in Christ’s Word, even in the midst of our doubts. We
have been brought to know that, though the Word of the cross is foolishness to
those who are perishing, to us who are being saved it is the power of God. It
is written, “I am not ashamed of the
Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who
believes.”
In
order to humble those who are proud and wise and strong in their own eyes, our
Lord chooses to hide His power behind that which seems foolish and weak. In
that way His saving wisdom and strength will be perceived only by lowly,
penitent believers to whom He reveals Himself. After all, where has human
wisdom really gotten us? Technology and science can do wonderful things. But
has man’s wisdom eliminated crime and violence? Is there any less loneliness or
depression in the world? Have people stopped dying? Man’s wisdom is severely
limited. We dare not rest our hope there. Just as Peter had been able to catch
those fish solely by the power of the Word, so now Jesus would make him able to
draw men solely by preaching Jesus’ powerful Word. In this way, others who were
weak and foolish would be made wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus
Christ.
That’s
the whole point of this catch of fish; it all happens at the Word of Jesus.
Luke tells us that Jesus had been “casting the net,” so to speak, as He
preached the Word from Peter’s boat. Jesus had turned that boat into a
cathedral. He was not afraid to launch out into the deep and let down His nets.
Just as the Spirit of God hovered over the waters at the creation, so our Lord
goes to the deep, to the very depths of sin and death, in order to pull up His
catch of sinful men and raise us to the light of His resurrection life.
So, let us hear clearly for
ourselves the words Jesus spoke to Peter. “Do
not be afraid.” And as Peter took our Lord at His Word, let confess the
reason for the hope that is in us. At the Lord’s Word, even though all our
senses can grasp here are worldly objects—things like water, things like bread
and wine—yet because Christ has said so, we believe that Christ is truly
present to make us God’s child, to feed us with His body and blood, to proclaim
our sins forgiven. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all
understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.
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