Sunday, January 22, 2017

Jesus Cast His Net and Pulled Out Some Ugly Fish

Third Sunday after the Epiphany
January 22, 2017

Matthew 4:17-20
Jesus Cast His Net and Pulled Out Some Ugly Fish

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

Fishing requires patience. For long periods of time you see no results and often go home empty-handed with nothing to show for the days work . . . this is also true when you are fishing for fish.

17From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!” 18As He was walking along the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen. 19He told them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men!” 20Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
MATTHEW 4:17-20 NIV 1984

Jesus Himself fished and caught these men as He called these first disciples. And His call to them was to make them also fishers of men. As they would learn, their new calling would require patience.

They would still use nets, but these nets would not be made of rope. Instead they would cast out Gods Word. They would cast out these exact words, repeating the very words of Jesus:

Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!”

This preaching of Gods Word is saying that we are sinners. God says that we are and so we prove our sinfulness daily. Jesus calls you to forgive your enemies and pray mercy upon them. But instead of immediately saying, “Yes, Lord,” we curse them privately in our homes as we listen to the news.

But to us the kingdom of heaven has come near. Through His Word, Jesus is with us. And this real presence that He promises and gives is heaven here on earth. He has come to us in Holy Baptism and washed us clean with water and His promise.

But there are some churches that havent seen a baptism in a long time. Is the pastor to blame? The people of the congregation? Probably! We are sinners who are lazy. We always are tempted to ignore Jesuscall. But perhaps we might remember the work of the apostles. Or even of Our Lord.

Often they would have nothing to show for their efforts. Consider how many souls Jesus had at His crucifixion—what had been hundreds of followers, if not thousands, had dwindled to a handful. The Virgin Mary and the other faithful Marys, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, definitely the thief on the other cross, and perhaps St. John. According to the measurements employed by many in our own circles, Jesus was a failure as a pastor and fisher of men. Then 53 days after Jesus died and 50 days after He rose from the dead, He sent His Holy Spirit and through the sermons of those first Christian preachers, those apostles, over 3,000 souls were baptized into the name of Triune God.

This reminds that preachers are simply to cast out Gods Word: “Repent, the kingdom of heaven has come near!” This means that I am to preach how lazy we are and sinful we are and selfish we are. If we weren't all those wicked things and more, we wouldnt need to repent, we wouldnt need to turn away from sin and turn to Jesus. We are, and by the Word of Jesus, He comes near to us and we turn to Him for life.

In the life of Christian and their pastors, there are times for action and rebuke, especially those who are members of our congregation and call themselves believers. If we fail to ever sound a warning, we are unloving and cruel.

But above all, fishers of men must be patient. We cast out Jesuspromise of life to all who may hear. And sometimes the fish that the Holy Spirit catches up in His nets are ugly. Look at the disciples that Jesus caught. These were ugly men who abandoned Jesus with their doubt and lack of faith and then actually ran away from Him just before He was murdered by evil men.

Our nets caught the same souls. We are not fish that are appealing to the world, but Jesus is delighted to catch us and rejoices to come near to us.


For even the Son of Man did not come to be Served, but to Serve, and to Give His Life as a Ransom for Many. Amen.

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