Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Third Sunday after the Epiphany—January 24, 2021
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Amen.
Of the twelve Apostles appointed by Jesus we are specifically told in the
Gospels that four of them were originally fishermen, two sets of brothers, whom
Jesus calls in today’s Gospel Reading: “As Jesus walked beside the Sea of
Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for
they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I
will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets
and followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee
and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called
them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and
followed him.”
The only other Apostle’s occupation that is told to us is Matthew, who
originally was a tax collector. We don’t know the previous
occupations of Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, James Son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus,
Simon the Zealot, or Judas Iscariot. But, after Jesus’
resurrection, there’s an incident recorded when he appears to seven disciples
who are fishing on the Sea of Galilee, and we are told that Thomas, Bartholomew,
and two other unnamed disciples have gone fishing with Simon Peter, James, and
John, so it seems likely they were former fishermen too, meaning that at least
half the Apostles had once been fishermen.
“Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Although most of the Apostles whom Jesus called were former fishermen, the
Gospels tell us that before he began his ministry of preaching and teaching at
about age 30, our Lord himself was not a fisherman, but he had followed in the
footsteps of his stepfather Joseph and originally was a carpenter from Nazareth,
about 20 miles west of the Sea of Galilee. Christians have
traditionally seen great symbolic significance in our Lord’s original human
occupation. For, Hebrews says, “Every house is built by
someone, but God is the builder of everything,” and the Gospel of John says of
Jesus, “All things were made through him.” So, the Carpenter
from Nazareth actually built the entire universe!
“If you continue in my word,” he says, “you will know the truth.”
Carpenters use such tools as levels, squares, rulers, and plumb bobs to
determine what is correct and accurate. It is actually called
being “true.” So, the Carpenter from Nazareth gives us the
tool to measure what is spiritually “true”: “If you continue in my word . . .
you will know the truth.”
Carpenters not only build, they also repair. Paul says in
Ephesians, “Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought
near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our
peace, who has . . . destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.”
Your sin was an ugly barrier, a wall where it shouldn’t be, separating
you from God and eternal life. But, the Carpenter from
Nazareth came to tear down that wall, to repair your relationship with God, to
clear the way and open the door for you to enter eternal life.
Through the blood of Christ your sins are forgiven, you are at peace with
God.
Finally, Jesus said, “I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it.” This beautiful sanctuary was not really
built by you or your ancestors. The wonderful addition added
a few years ago was not really built by us or the construction company or its
workers. Although my great-great-grandparents were founding
members of Trinity in 1868, this Christian congregation was not really built by
them, or your ancestors, or any other laity or pastors here over the last 150
years. For Jesus declares, “I will build my church.”
All the credit for building this congregation and the entire Christian
Church goes to the Carpenter from Nazareth, for it is he who builds his Church.
As Paul says in Ephesians says, “In him you are being built together to
become a dwelling in which God lives.”
So, there is great symbolic significance in our Lord’s original occupation as
a carpenter. But, when it came time for him to leave the
carpenter shop, and his former earthly occupation, and begin his ministry as the
Messiah, he didn’t gather together group of fellow carpenters to be his
Apostles. Instead, he journeyed 20 miles east of Nazareth to
the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and called as his Apostles a group of
fishermen. “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of
men.”
Perhaps it was not just a coincidence of history and geography that most of
the Apostles’ original occupation was fisherman. Could there
also be some symbolic significance? Jesus told a parable and
performed several miracles that help us understand.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and
caught all kinds of fish.” You see, it’s not just those
original 12 Apostles whom Jesus has called to be “fishers of men.”
The sanctuary of a Christian church building is called a “nave.”
It comes from the Latin word for “boat,” and is actually the same root as
our word “navy.” We call this room where we worship a “nave,”
literally a “boat,” because Christ’s Church is one big boat for catching souls
for him, and he calls all of us to be his “fishers of men.”
“The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught
all kinds of fish.”
Some he calls, like the original 12 Apostles, to full-time ministry in his
Church, as pastors and other workers. But, Paul says in 1st
Corinthians, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of
it”; and in Ephesians, “To each one of us grace has been given as Christ
apportioned it”; and Peter says, “Each one should use whatever gift he has
received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various
forms.”
Jesus has given you unique gifts, talents, and abilities for service to him
and your fellow man. Even if you are not called by Christ
into full-time ministry in his Church, he calls everyone to use the gifts he has
entrusted you with to be a “fisher of men” for him. A good example is those
serving in various offices and other ways in our congregation—God’s people using
their gifts, talents, and abilities for service in his kingdom.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and
caught all kinds of fish.” “Come, follow me, and I will make
you fishers of men.”
Two different times Jesus performed miracles about catching fish that are
also very instructive. He once instructed Simon Peter, “‘Put
out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’
Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught
anything. But at your word, I will let down the nets.’ When
they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began
to break. . . [they] were astonished at the catch of fish
they had taken.”
And, after Jesus had risen from the dead, he appeared to the disciples by the
Sea of Galilee and performed a very similar miracle: “Just
after daybreak, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that
it was Jesus. He called out to them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’ ‘No,’ they
answered. He said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the
boat and you will find some.’ When they did, they were unable to haul the net in
because of the large number of fish.”
This pair of miracles by Jesus are like bookends at the beginning and ending
of his earthly ministry. For, by this pair of miracles he
teaches the Apostles and us that he is in charge of the fishing expedition, he
alone is Captain of the fishing boat which is his Church. Just as in these
miracles he very specifically directs the Apostles how they should catch fish on
the Sea of Galilee, he tells specifically how we are to go about being “fishers
of men” for him. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
Baptizing and teaching, preaching the Word and administering the Sacraments
in his name, that is how we are to go about being “fishers of men” for him.
However, just as Peter initially doubted Jesus’ fishing instructions on
the Sea of Galilee, there is sadly a trend of preachers and churches that doubt
his instructions for being “fishers of men.” They say in
order to attract people we have to abandon what God says in his Word, modernize
the Church’s teachings, and especially change Biblical morality to accommodate
the twisted ideas of our culture. That’s nothing less than
mutiny, and Captain Jesus will have none of it! “If you
continue in my word you are truly my disciples.”
“Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”; “The kingdom of heaven
is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish.”
The Church is really a fishing boat to catch souls for Jesus, and Captain
Jesus tells how we are to go about being “fishers of men” for him, sharing the
Good News of “Christ crucified,” preaching the Word and administering the
Sacraments in his name. Martin Luther puts it this way in his
95 Theses: “Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which one . . .
fishes for men . . .”
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