Photo by Karl Callwood on Unsplash

Audio: iTunes | Spotify | Download

Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.

᛭ INI ᛭

Today the we hear about when the LORD called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to be Apostles. The main point of this is clear, but if we cast the net a bit more broadly into Scripture, there’s something more FOR YOU. It all ties to fish and nets and fisherman, to “preaching and God’s Word,” and, of course, to “saving those who believe.” (1 Cor 1) So, without any further ado, let’s jump right into it.

(3. The Lord’s net is His Word, chiefly the Word of His Cross!)

The Lord Himself casts a net—His Holy Word, but not just any word. It’s “message of the cross.” The “message of the Cross” is written down in the Scriptures. It’s echoed in faithful sermons. It’s delivered also in the visible, physical Word of Baptism, Absolution, and Communion.

“The message of the cross” is that you are in really bad shape because of your sinfulness. It’s why you sin daily and much! And the fact that we so often don’t think we actually sin that much is just proof of how sinful we really are! (Even the sin you think is just a slight bad habit actually makes you worthy of eternal damnation before an all holy God!) Yet, “the message of the cross” is that Christ has redeemed you from all your sins and sinfulness by becoming your sin, shedding His blood, and dying FOR YOU. The “message of the cross” is that you should not sin that grace may abound. (Rom 6)

When the Lord casts His Word, we’re all trapped under condemnation, and yet it doesn’t just hold you captive but captivates and captures your heart for Christ because “the message of the cross” is that yes, you are lost in yourself but Christ has in fact paid for it all! He alone saves you and has saved you! All your sins are paid for by Jesus’ blood and death, and “the message of the cross,” as well as its benefits, are delivered to you through Baptism, in Absolution, and at Communion. Those Sacraments are holy and powerful through the Word. The benefits are received by faith alone.

The miraculous catch of fish is a picture of the Lord’s work. There wasn’t a catch without the Lord. There wasn’t a catch without the Lord’s Word: **“Let down your nets for a catch.”** The Lord Himself casts a net, His net is His Word. The Word that He specifically casts to catch men, to catch the hearts of men is **“the message of the cross,”** that Christ has redeemed you from all your sinfulness and death itself by becoming your sin and dying. “It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

(Transition.)

THE LORD CASTS HIS WORD FOR A CATCH, to save you, but casting His Word is just like casting a net. Nets don’t appear out of nowhere, neither does “the message of the cross.” Fish aren’t just caught by a net. The net is just a tool or instrument. Fish are caught by fisherman who use a net. I have to bring it up because of how Jesus uses the miraculous catch of fish to teach what He says. When He called His first four Apostles, Jesus said, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.”

(2. The Uses His Ministers to Cast His Word.)

THE LORD CASTS HIS WORD FOR A CATCH, but the Lord uses His Ministers to do it! The Lord gives the command to cast the net, but it can’t be cast without fisherman. And so, you can’t have a sermon without a preacher, a Baptism without a Baptizer, an Absolution without an Absolver, a Supper without a Server. (You, of course, need hearers, someone to baptize, sinners to forgive, and people at table to eat.) But when it comes to preachers, Paul lays it out this way in Romans 10:

“Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” … So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Or to put it another way:

That we may obtain this faith, the Office of Preaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given [John 20:22]. He works faith, when and where it pleases God [John 3:8], in those who hear the good news that God justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake. This happens not through our own merits, but for Christ’s sake. (AC V)

(If you don’t like that, you’re not Lutheran…)

(Transition.)

THE LORD CASTS HIS WORD FOR A CATCH, AND HE USES His Ministers to do it! That’s the main point of this text. The Lord has in each generation men who will stand in His stead to preach repentance and forgiveness in His Name, to Baptize in His Name, to forgive sins in His name, to deliver Communion in His name. The Lord prepared His Elisha to replace His Elijah!

But that’s not all! Pastors don’t do ALL the work. There’s a reason Paul uses kinds all kinds of terms to talk about those who were his partners in sharing the Gospel! There’s no reason to try to make them all pastors. They weren’t! Same with the Old Testament, it wasn’t just prophets and priests, either. The LORD sent Prophets, appointed Priests, but He also commanded all His People to have His Word in their homes. Yes, “the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.” (Mal 2) But the LORD also said that all Israel “shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Ex 19) To the whole congregation He said, “the Word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.” (Deut 30)

(1. The Lord uses all His people to Cast His Word.)

As much as the LORD uses Pastors to cast His Word, He also uses all His people to cast His Word, too! That’s you! And it all begins at home. For too long Christian parents, and Christian fathers in particular, have abandoned their responsibility. This isn’t just about moral obligation, it’s about casting the Lord’s Word to catch the heart of your child for Him! Only sending your kids to Good Shepherd or Sunday School or confirmation doesn’t keep your duty.

As the Lord says through Paul, “You fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” (Eph 6:4) As the Lord also says through Moses, These words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. (Deut 6)

Husbands and fathers should lead their households in devotions and teach the Scriptures there. They should know the Bible for their wives and children’s sake! Father’s should teach the Small Catechism also, as the Small Catechism itself says. Why the Catechism? It’s just a summary of all the Bible teaches.

The vocation of husbands and fathers is limited to the home, but there they’re called to be priests and prophets, as Adam was for Eve, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were, as Job was, as Solomon was. The examples of godly mothers and grandmothers in the Bible doing the same, like Lois and Eunice [2 Tim 3], are in addition to, “a help suitable for,” what the Lord says, “You fathers, [you] bring up your children in the training and instruction of the Lord,” that is, teach them the Word. For the Word saves you and them.

That’s what congregation at prayer is all about, to give you the tools to fulfill the responsibility God has given you. Aren’t up to the task? Neither was Peter. Neither am I. Neither are you. “Depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” That’s why God’s Word and teaching it at home flows back here. Fathers bring their kids to church, so that families together, and a bunch of families all gathered, will have their hearts captured and captivated by the Lord’s Word preached and Sacraments delivered here.

(Conclusion.)

(THE LORD USES MEN TO CAST HIS WORD TO CATCH MEN.)

The Lord casts His Word, and He uses people to do it. That’s His pastors, of course—preaching and teaching God’s Word, Holy Baptism, Absolution, and the Supper of Jesus’ body and blood. That’s also you in your homes. It’s a weighty responsibility. He’s using sinners to do it. But here is more forgiveness to support you, to build you up, and uphold you as you go about doing what His forgiveness frees you to do. If we’ve forsaken the responsibility, His forgiveness frees you from the burden of making up for it. Now, you go forward forgiven, set free no longer to fail but to uphold the Lord’s Word, in the Bible, the Preaching, and Sacrament, for through His Word delivered, by me and by you, He’s casting His net for a catch, to save even you and me.

᛭ INI ᛭