Let Down Your Nets
If you’ve been thinking about what you have to offer for the good of others and the glory of God, maybe you feel as though there is nothing left to offer. Seven years ago, I remember standing in a room of people singing “I’ve see you move the mountains, and I believe I’ll see you do it again.”1 I wept as I sang those words, with a bit of faith that I squeezed out like the end of a tube of toothpaste. I chose to believe the words to be true, even when it felt like there was nothing left in me. I didn’t see it happening, but I spoke the words out of faith that God would do what only God could do. Have you ever prayed a prayer like this? The simple words, “I’m trusting you” when you don’t know how it’s going to work out, but you are at the end of yourself? Singing, “I know the night won’t last; your word will come to pass … great is your faithfulness to me” as a reminder more than a bold confidence? I wonder if Simon Peter felt like he was at the end of himself when he dragged in an empty net by the lake one morning. This morning, let’s pull up to the side of that lake, where Jesus stood near the beginning of his ministry.
Luke 5:1-11
One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
5 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.”
6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 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.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” - Luke 5:4
Imagine Simon Peter washing his nets after an unsuccessful night of fishing. The day has come, and he must be ready to head home so he can muster up the energy to try again the next evening. Jesus re-directs Simon Peter’s day by asking to use his boat, so the crowds can gather without pressing into him. What a contrast: Simon Peter pulled his empty boat into the shore, and Jesus pushes out with a shore full of people. Here’s a picture of abundance: so many people. Simon Peter, on the other hand, has only seen lack that day. In spite of that, he does what Jesus says: Simon Peter puts out his nets into the deep, even though he had tried before and failed. The abundance of the catch is overwhelming, and it is here that Simon’s life is changed. Where Jesus is surrounded by a sea of people, Simon is now surrounded by a sea of fish.
The point of the miraculous catch wasn’t to make Simon financially prosperous, or to launch him into a career as a renowned fisherman. Instead, this miracle points to the provision of God in situations where we have given up hope. It’s not a miracle for the masses, but for Simon Peter to see the what Paul prays in later in Ephesians 3:20, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory”. The Son of God uses what Simon knows to show him what HE can do. Simon is in humbled awe over what Jesus has done, redeeming his disappointments and re-purposing his life. I wonder …
Are there places I don’t want to put out my nets again cease I’ve already tried and failed in the same spot? Have I packed up and moved on after defeat? Where might Jesus be asking me to put out into the deep and let down my nets? Where might he want to encourage me? How might he want to redeem what I viewed as failure and lead me into his purposes? When it seems like I have nothing to offer, what might Jesus want to do?2
I recently read that “fisher of men” was a revered title for great rabbis in the time of Jesus3. Jesus isn’t just inviting Simon to trade his catch, but to trade his vocation from learned fisherman to apprenticeship under a great rabbi in order to become one himself. Can you believe it? Immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine.
And then what happened? Just a few years later, when Jewish leaders “saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). They had been with Jesus. Peter walked in the confidence of a disciple who had seen God move the mountains - even more, had seen him risen from the dead - and believed he would continue to move. They had indeed become abundantly more than they could have imagined - fishers of men, doing what Jesus did and following him through the power of the Spirit.
This week, consider these questions.
Do I believe that Jesus sees me in the midst of my failures and cares for them?
What ways has God abundantly provided for me in the past?
What places may Jesus be asking me to cast out my nets again?
How is Jesus asking me to follow him more closely this week?
Read Luke 5:1-11 and Acts 4:1-13.
Things I’m (Still) Loving:
The Pour Over Newsletter: As election season sneaks back up (insert crying here), I love The Pour Over even more. It’s a short email that shares news email with Bible verses interspersed as an encouragement to focus on the kingdom of God. If you want to stay informed of current events without being overwhelmed, you can subscribe by clicking the link above.
Let’s Read the Gospels: Annie F. Downs recently shared that Target loves “sneaky Jesus”; books that talk about God but don’t broadcast faith on the cover. This year, her publisher compiled her work from her Gospel reading plan and Target picked it up. There’s nothing sneaky about a book called “Let’s Read the Gospels”. I’m so excited for my copy, and you can pre-order yours at the link above.
Working on my spiritual habits e-mail series. It will be ready for you by Lent this February - keep your eyes open!
Things I’m Reading/Listening To:
Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer (just finished)
Stories that Stick by Kindra Hall (listening on audio)
Love Her Well by Kari Kampakis
Love Your Enemies by Arthur Brooks
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
You can listen to the song here:
From Seedbed’s Wake-Up Call on February 1:
Tim Keller put it like this: “With Jesus, all you need is nothing. But most of us don’t have that.”
How does one come with nothing? Ironically, coming with nothing actually costs something. It requires that we give up our titles, our ambitions, and our reputations. We lay aside our answers, our preferences, our experience, and our qualifications. And these are not given up in an earning sense but as a response. Love transforms us so that it becomes our joy, not our obligation, to give them up. We are not earning love, but responding to it.
So today, offering nothing but yourself, simply say “Jesus, I need you. I have nothing.” And you’ll find that it is everything.
John Marker Comer, Practicing the Way