For the four weeks leading up to and going beyond Easter, let’s take a look at the life of Peter. Because he’s so often at the center of both the brightest and darkest moments in the Gospels, he has always been a source of hope and inspiration for those endeavoring to follow Jesus.
If we look back to the earliest days of the church, we discover that followers of Jesus gathered to worship on the first day of the week.
A particular ritual began to emerge. The worship leader would say, “The Lord be with you.” And the people would answer, “And also with you.” The leader would then say, “Lift up your hearts.” And the people would respond, “We lift them up unto the Lord.”
Those four sentences go back in the history of Christianity as far as we can see. They are older than Amazing Grace, older than Kum Ba Yah, and older than that Sunday School teacher who described the feeding of the 5,000 to you in such vivid detail that you finally concluded she had actually been there.
What do those four sentences mean?
They concern the with-ness of Jesus. “Since the Lord is with us, right here and right now, we’re ready to tell anyone who’s listening that all’s right with the world.” Every year at Christmas we hover over the angel’s promise that the newborn Jesus will be called Immanuel, or “God with us.” So how does Jesus end up being with his disciples?
Specifically, how does he begin the journey of being with Peter?
The answer to that question is that he joins Peter on his fishing boat – a fascinating story that is told in Luke 5:1-12.
“One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret [another name for the Sea of Galilee] with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by fishermen, who were washing their nets [nets needed to be regularly washed so they wouldn’t rot]. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon [that is, Peter], and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘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.”
Let’s pause for a moment. Peter is saying, “Look, I may not understand everything you were just teaching, but I know a little something about fishing. You don’t catch the kinds of fish that swim in this lake in the middle of the morning. Trust me. I know fishing.”
Most of us have had a similar thought cross our minds. I don’t need some Messiah telling me how to do what I already know how to do. I don’t need a lecture from Jesus about how to sell real estate, or pay my light bill, or use a rototiller. I know how to coach soccer. I know how to make Alfredo sauce. I know how to run a business.
These are, of course, the very areas in which it is most difficult for us to follow Jesus. That’s because we don’t think he has anything to tell us. It’s hard for us even to imagine cooking or coaching or day trading or hanging wallpaper as spiritual activities – perhaps especially hanging wallpaper. But the meaning of the resurrection – if we can briefly look ahead to Easter – is that Jesus is loose in the world. He is loose everywhere – which means no matter what you are doing, Jesus is in your boat.
Returning to our text: “Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’” That word “but” may represent Peter’s very first surge of faith. Lord, our nets are empty. We’ve pulled out all the stops and done everything we know how to do. But…just in case you do in fact have some clue as to what is going on in our humble profession, we’ll give it a shot.
Whereupon their minds are seriously blown.
“When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.”
What does Jesus say to every one of us? “Listen to me. Let me influence you. I am in your boat.”
Right now Jesus is in your marriage. He is in that mess you’re facing at work. He is in your financial disaster. Jesus is in your boat whether you’re out in a storm or drifting aimlessly or anguishing over empty nets or wondering what to do with nets that are so full you suspect a miracle has taken place.
As Craig Barnes puts it in Sacred Thirst, “Jesus can find us while we are on the way to the top or the bottom; on the way to a great career or a terrible divorce. He can find us on the way to our first apartment or on the way to a nursing home; on the way to give birth or on the way to bury the dead.”
Is Peter excited about this? No. He is horrified. He is immediately overcome by the reality of his unworthiness.
“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’” Please, Lord, get off my boat.
If Jesus had replied, “You’re not kidding that you’re a hot mess,” he would have been absolutely theologically correct. But no such words need to be exchanged. Peter is already right where he needs to be. He can now receive grace because he knows how much he needs grace. Jesus says, “’Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”
What does it mean to fish for people?
Jesus uses a word that means, “to capture alive or rescue.” It means to catch people so they don’t fall.
Make no mistake. We are continually surrounded by individuals, organizations, and social forces that are fishing for people for less honorable purposes. DraftKings is trying to catch people. They want to convince you that sports is far more fun when you’re wagering your next mortgage payment on the outcome of a game. Extremist groups on the Left and Right want to draw you into their way of seeing the culture wars. Social media is trying to make you believe that you cannot live without social media. Retail giants are fishing for your wallet, your calendar, and your brand loyalty.
When our eyes are opened to the fact that Jesus is in our boat, it suddenly dawns on us that we, too – like Peter – have been given a new mission.
We may continue to attend the same school, drive to the same office, and square off against the same stacks of laundry. But now we realize that we are doing it all for a reason. We are to help catch people so they don’t fall short of God’s incredible purposes for their lives.
Which means we may never say those ancient words the same way again:
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up unto the Lord.
The news that never grows old is that Jesus, God-With-Us, is in your boat right now.