A Homily given by Deacon Ben Jones, assisting Deacon;
St. George’s Anglican Church, Raleigh, NC;
on the Fifth Sunday after Trinity, A.D. 2009.
“Our Mission”
+ In the name of God the Father, and of God the Son, and of God the Holy Ghost, Amen.
Luke 5:11. “and when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.”
The obedience of the men that would become the Disciples of Christ never fails to amaze me. In our Gospel lesson this morning we have an account of Simon Peter, James, and John following a night of pulling up empty net, after empty net. The boats were pulled up to the shore. They were washing and tending their nets. These fishermen must have been tremendously frustrated because they were cleaning nets and not fish. Let’s relate this to our own daily tasks. It is getting near the end of the work day as you carefully watch the clock, straighten up your desk, and get ready to go home. Then all of a sudden the boss comes in and says, “OK, let’s do it all over again, my way. No one leaves until we do it my way.” I bet we would be of the same thoughts along the lines of, “I was hoping we would be able to do the days work all over again in another way!!” Now, what did the group of fishermen, (the future Disciples of Christ), have to say about Jesus’ command?
Jesus “said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto Him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.”1 The thoughts of a few commentators that Peter probably obeyed Jesus because of a previous meeting following Jesus’ baptism. Peter as well as the others were tired and wanted to go home. So they pushed out the boat, dropped the net and went to pull it up again. Peter more than likely did this very quickly to give the appearance of a token effort at this second fishing excursion. He was thinking that Jesus apparently didn’t know that you were supposed to fish at night.
As a matter of fact, during this period of time it was illegal to fish during the daylight hours. How many times when we attempt to prove a point does the opposite takes place? Well, Peter had the surprise of his life! Peter had so much of a surprise, that his life was changed forever. When Peter went to pull up the net to show Jesus that there were no fish, he couldn’t pull up the net. “And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.”2 Peter’s life was now changed forever.
When the labor of the catch was behind them, Peter began to consider what had just occurred and what it meant to him. Only at the command of Jesus Christ could the fish crowd into the net as he had witnessed. “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”3 Peter was not telling Jesus to go away. Peter, due to his lack of faith, was confessing his own unworthiness, to be in the presence of Jesus Christ. Jesus had a different calling for Peter. “And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.”4 Apart from this being the calling of the second group of Disciples, we get another calling; the calling of our mission, both personal and corporate, as the Church.
“He said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.”5 Go deeper. Give it the 100 and 10% in our mission to spread the Gospel. By this miracle, Jesus is teaching the future Disciples that evangelizing among themselves, as essential as it is, is just not enough to produce the results necessary to grow the kingdom of God. Corporately, we are nourished in Christ’s saving grace through the power of the Holy Ghost in the Sacraments. Pray to God that through this power of the Holy Ghost, He would dwell within us. And that through the power of the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, He would cleanse our hearts, our souls, our bodies, our minds, and our eyes, that we might clearly serve Him. Pray that He would fill us with the Holy Ghost that we might carry Him out into the world to show forth His many blessings. “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”6 What will we do with our individual gift of the light of Christ?
“And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.”7 Today we share in that task that Jesus set before Simon Peter and the others that day. We are “catchers of men”. Jesus told Simon Peter that “thou shalt catch men”. He did not say “thou shalt be fishers of men” as some Church denominations have built their missions around. Fishermen come back with empty nets as evidenced in this Gospel lesson. However, as you know, WE do the best WE can. WE try this program and WE try that fellowship. WE visit and WE invite people to come to Church or to some sort of program or fellowship. WE do everything within OUR power and the Church seems to not be in any better shape in the end than in the beginning with all of the efforts of OUR fishing. What are we missing??
The truth is that ALL successes belong to God. We are His Created. We live and have our being in His Creation. His Son was crucified and rose again for us. His Holy Ghost is His power that dwells within us. Consider Simon Peter, James, and John. They fished all night long and caught nothing on their own. The success of the subsequent drop of the nets was due to their “OBEDIENCE TO” and their “FAITH IN” God. This is our example.
We are to be obedient and faithful to the living God. Just as we hear in the Summary of the Law, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great Commandment. And the second is like unto it; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”8 This is the best that we can give God, our belief and our faithfulness, and to love one another in such a way as to share the Word of God with our neighbour. We trust in God, just as Simon Peter, James, and John, that He will give us the increase.
Think back about your boss coming back at the end of the day asking you to do the day’s work all over again, in a different way. Are you holding that answer on the tip of your tongue?? Now think about Jesus walking up to us and asking us to perform a certain task for Him for maybe the second, or the third, or who knows how many times.
Are you holding this answer on the tip of your tongue?? I will give us a hint. Jesus comes to us with this type of request all of the time. This answer should be automatic, “My Lord, and My God”, just as the response of Thomas to the risen Christ. Jesus asks us to push OUR boat out one more time in obedience and in faith to Him. Jesus asks us to drop OUR nets one more time in obedience and in faith to Him. And even when WE know there is no catch waiting, just as Simon Peter knew with all of his being that he could muster up at that time, we drop OUR net, DEEPER.
This obedience to and our faith in the risen Christ continues right here at the Altar of God. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the re-presentment, the memorial of what Christ has done for us, “that through our faith in His sacrifice, once offered, we, (the Church Militant), and all thy whole Church, (to include the Church Expectant, and the Church Triumphant), may obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of His passion”. Here is the key to this obedience and faithfulness in a story about Mother Teresa. Towards the end of her life, Mother Teresa granted a young aspiring reporter the chance to interview her. The reporter carefully crafted a question as if the secret of life itself would be revealed. The reporter phrased the question to Mother Teresa in the following manner. Well, I guess it is pretty tough to realize that after all the things you have done here in Calcutta, the conditions aren’t much better than the day you started. Mother Teresa, how do you respond to that? The reporter smiled thinking, how was Mother Teresa going to get out of this corner? Mother Teresa answered the question in her usual kind, gentle, stoic way. “God did not require me to be successful; all He required of me was to be faithful”.
So here it is in a nutshell. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”9 BE FAITHFUL. This is our mission and the mission of the Church.
Let us Pray.
O Lord Jesus Christ,
who saidst unto thine Apostles,
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you;
Regard not our sins,
BUT THE FAITH OF THY CHURCH;
{WE PRAY ESPECIALLY FOR ST. GEORGE’S};
and grant to it that peace and unity which is according to thy will,
who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost,
one God, world without end.
AMEN.
+
“AND NOW UNTO GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON, AND GOD THE HOLY GHOST; BE ASCRIBED ALL MIGHT, MAJESTY, POWER, AND DOMINION, MOST JUSTLY DUE THIS DAY, BOTH NOW, AND FOREVER, WORLD WITHOUT END,
AMEN.”
1 The Gospel according to St. Luke 5:4-5.
2 The Gospel according to St. Luke 5:6-7.
3 The Gospel according to St. Luke 5:8.
4 The Gospel according to St. Luke 5:10b.
5 The Gospel according to St. Luke 5:4.
6 The Gospel according to St. Matthew 5:15-16.
7 The Gospel according to St. Luke 5:10b.
8 Book of Common Prayer; ’28 ed., pp. 69.
9 The Gospel according to St. Matthew 5:16.