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Sermon 380 St. Martin’s 136 (Riverway) 2/9/25
Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
Luke 5:1-11
I remember the first time I walked into this space. It was still under construction, and my knees buckled when I saw these stained-glass windows. I have been in a lot of churches—that’s one of my wife’s complaints when we go on vacation—we visit a lot of churches.
But the windows in this space should take your breath away.
They are low enough to the floor that a child can touch them, and tall enough that an adult can feel small in their presence.
And the stories they tell.
At 9:15 every Sunday, this church is filled with children—it’s loud and chaotic, but anything and everything you need to know about the Good News of Jesus Christ is summed up in the window above me. “Let the little children come to me.” And in that sense, you and I are called to be childlike too.
We truly are blessed with the windows that surround us, and the stories they tell.
There is another window that has captured my imagination for years. Tucked away in the Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis, Maryland is the Sampson window.
My father-in-law is gonna have a few words for me after this sermon because he’s a West Point grad, but for today’s lesson, I want to talk to about this stunning window, even if it is housed in (what some might consider) the inferior Naval Academy Chapel.
This window depicts peace as an angel holding a sword down by her side in one hand and a dove above her head with the other. The point is clear, the angel is choosing peace over the sword.
It’s a massive window with a powerful message. So much so that you may not pay any attention to the window directly below it. In this much smaller window, we see Jesus standing by a boat with another man looking up at him on bended knee.
It is, of course, Peter from our lesson today in Luke 5. The windows remind us that the angel of peace is not the only one watching over Peter, but also the Prince of Peace who calls him by name.
It seems appropriate that in a chapel where future sailors go to pray, they should be reminded of the simple fishermen who left their nets and followed Jesus.
Peter’s Journey It is amazing to think about the journey that Simon Peter—along with his fishing partners James and John—began that day on the lake. From that one moment, their life would forever change.
Little did these young men know that they would follow Jesus for three years, witnesses of his death and resurrection, only to then be sent out to proclaim this good news to the ends of the earth.
I doubt their goal was to end up in a stained-glass window.
One small encounter with Jesus can change the course of our life because when we take Jesus seriously, we can take his call on our life seriously.
But let’s take a moment to dissect at what actually happened on that fateful morning, and why in the world Peter would go to such extreme measures to follow Jesus.
When Simon Peter pulled his boat ashore he was probably thinking about what he’d have to eat when he finished washing his nets; he had been working all night so he was planning to take a long afternoon nap, before getting back in his boat at sunset and doing it all over again.
Fish. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
Jesus was delaying Peter’s daily routine. You see, Peter and his buddies just happened to be on the shore—moments from wrapping up their work and heading home—when a crowd began pressing on this preacher who had been walking on the rocky lake shore.
Needing some breathing room, Jesus asked to get in Peter’s boat, and Jesus quickly made the boat into his personal pulpit. Not only would this allow everyone in the crowd to see him clearly, but they would be able to hear him.
Though the boat was only five or ten feet off the shore, and behind the crowd was a hill. The Sea of Galilee is surrounded by hills.
And so, giving some distance between himself and the crowd allowed the sound of Jesus’ voice to travel across the water and bounce off the hill behind them, creating the effect of a natural amphitheater. He didn’t even have to raise his voice—everyone would be able to hear him—and as Luke said—that’s the whole reason they were there; they wanted to hear him speak the word of God.
It was the crowd who wanted to hear Jesus; Peter just wanted to go home.
Though the boat had become Jesus’ pulpit, notice that Luke mentions that Jesus sits down to preach. Jesus wasn’t worried the boat might tip over if he stood.
If you remember the story of Jesus in the synagogue in Nazareth, he stood while reading the scroll of Isaiah and then sat down to give his famous (or infamous) interpretation: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Rabbis stood to read and sat to preach (something I’m thinking of doing from now on). Jesus had not only turned Peter’s boat into a pulpit, but he had turned the shore into a synagogue, and the crowd into his congregation.
So think of Peter in all of this. He’s not looking up at Jesus as he proclaims the word of God from his boat. No, Peter is sitting right next to Jesus, eye to eye, probably leaning in. And just like that, his plans for the day melt away. He is enraptured by the man right next to him and the message he’s preaching. It’s like nothing he’s heard before.
And so, it’s no wonder once the sermon is done, Peter is willing to take fishing advice from a Nazarene carpenter and stone mason. There was an authority about Jesus, even if his advice was doomed to fail. The nets Peter used were made of linen, which meant the fish could see the net coming during the day. That’s the whole reason they fished at night.
He could’ve easily said, “Jesus, I know these waters and grew up on these shores. I work on this lake every day! It’s not because of a lack of knowledge or skill that I can’t catch fish.”
Instead he says, “We’ve caught nothing all night…yet if you say so, I’ll let down the nets.”
What was Jesus’ rationale for telling Peter to go into the deep waters? Was Jesus testing Peter? Was he seeing how Peter would react to a rabbi’s amateur fishing advice?
The more I’ve thought about it the more I’m convinced that Jesus wanted to see how Peter would respond. Was Peter’s gut reaction to have faith in Jesus or to question and doubt? What was Peter’s instinct?
Peter showed his instinct was to have faith; to trust this unknown rabbi, and I think that went a long way for Jesus. This was a foundational moment in their relationship.
That gut reaction to have faith is likely why Peter was welcomed into Jesus’ inner circle. Jesus entrusted him a special role, and it didn’t take him long to become the spokesperson for the rest of the apostles.
But as many times as Peter displays extraordinary faith, he also has a keen ability to put his foot in his mouth.
He walks on water with Jesus, only to sink moments later out of fear. He witnesses the transfiguration of Jesus, only to blurt out a phrase that was so strange that even the gospel writer had to comment that poor ole Peter had no idea what he was saying. He even bravely proclaimed Jesus as Lord, only to be denounced as an agent of Satan moments later when he tried to correct Jesus’ teaching of the suffering messiah.
But when we think of Peter, we can’t help but think of his darkest moment as well. When Jesus needed him most, Peter denied him not once, not twice, but three times.
We shouldn’t be surprised: Peter explicitly told Jesus from the beginning, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
But that remarkable sense of honesty—and his initial, gut reaction to have faith—gave Jesus hope that there was more to Peter than his present and future failures. As clumsy and bumbling as he could be, Jesus knew that Peter would return to him after the resurrection.
Our brokenness may tempt us to flee, but it is Jesus (and his word to us) that call us out of the shadows of fear.
And so, Peter gives us a helpful lesson in discipleship: Stop, Drop, and Follow. There are so many things to hold onto, including all the reasons we cannot put our full trust in God or his purposes for our life, but at some point, we have to ask ourselves what is our gut reaction going to be?
Are we going to stay fearful and allow the doubts or despair to overcome our faith, or are we going to let those go in order to Stop, Drop, and Follow to the Lord of lives and the Lord of this world?
Fractured Faith Peter is a great reminder for us that faith, even when it seems fractured and weak, can guide us through the greatest trials and tragedies of life.
Our faith can be tried at times, but that doesn’t mean it is lost for good. Instead, it has the possibility of forming into something new, something even stronger that builds us up for the work of God has for us.
And it’s important to note that when Jesus says Peter will be tasked with “catching people”—unlike fishing which you catch to kill, the word Jesus uses specifically means “to capture alive; to restore life.” Broken Peter was called to fish for other broken people and bring them the abundant life he found in Jesus.
Stained glass windows are a great metaphor for this. Pieces of glass, that seemingly look small and shattered can be recreated into something beautiful. And when put in its proper frame, light can shine through and the glory of God is revealed.
It seems fitting that so many churches have had stained glass windows of St. Peter, including the one at the Naval Academy…and even hear at St. Martin’s.
Peter, by the end of Jesus’ crucifixion, was a broken man, his soul shattered into a million pieces knowing that he had forsaken his now crucified Lord.
Yet…yet God put him back together, piece by piece, and he did it by using the faith that Peter first displayed on the boat that day. Peter’s utter failure and brokenness would not be the end of his story. Being a sinner didn’t disqualify him, being a coward did not prohibit him. The power of Jesus’ love and grace was able to renew him and make him whole…over and over again.
And the same is true for us.
Peter is a great reminder that God isn’t looking to make perfect people more perfect. First and foremost, he is making broken people whole again. At its essence, that’s what salvation means.
And so our lack is not our whole story. No matter what the facts of our life might be, like Peter, we must be willing to say “Yet, Lord I cast my nets in deep waters. I will follow you.”
What might you need to let go of to follow Jesus more fully today? What attitude or behavior do you need to stop, drop in order to follow?
We may never get a stained-glass window of ourselves in a church, but that doesn’t mean our fractures can’t be put back together so that we are renewed and transformed into that which is beautiful in the sight of the Lord.
That kind of transformation will allow the light of Christ to shine through us more beautifully than any stained-glass window ever could do. And I can promise you, in the process of “stop, drop, and follow,” you will find peace.
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