Holy Angels Anglican Church
The Fifth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
(June 30, 2024)
St. Luke 5:1-11
“Thy Will Be Done”
Given by: The Rev. Fr. Vincent J. Varnas
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus: “... said unto Simon [Peter], Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake” (Lk. 5:4-6).
Simon Peter might have said: “Thy will be done in all things”, but he had his doubts. His recent experience told him that it was futile to repeat a failed effort.
Doubts! That’s our weakness! We all tend to rely upon experience for our knowledge, as well as education. And how often do we recall past failures in life that cause us to tell ourselves: “I won’t try that again”! Or should we sometimes be persistent in our daily efforts and just, “try it one more time”?
Simon Peter said to Jesus: “Master, we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing”. He might as well have said to Jesus: “Why should we ‘launch out into the deep’? It’s just a waste of time and effort to repeat the same activity when we already know that it is futile! If we didn’t catch even one fish after ‘toiling all night and taking nothing’, why do you think it will be any different now?”
But then Simon says: “... nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net” (Lk. 5:5).
Wow!! What faith! What obedience! What trust!
This is what we must learn from today’s Gospel: trust and obedience, these are the cornerstones of faith. It is what God expects from us all.
But how often do some of us at one time or another, if not all of us, substitute our judgment, knowledge or experience for that of the Almighty?
Rather than questioning the will of God, we must always and in all things say to Him: “I come to do your will”. That is the key to right relationship with God. “I come to do your will”. Never saying or assuming, that we know better, because we don’t!
We profess that we love the Lord our God “with all our hearts, souls and minds”, yet deviate from doing His will all too often, believing that we know better. But we don’t. How can we? Our knowledge of the future is drastically limited. Even our understanding of both the present and past is often flawed, incomplete, and inadequate. We are like children lost in a wilderness of doubt and ignorance, ready prey for any deceivers, yet seeking direction toward the safety of God’s truth. The signposts are there. They are to be found in Sacred Scripture and in prayer, always remembering to trust in God’s love for us and to say: “I come to do your will”.
Yes, that means turning ourselves over to Him: mind, body and soul, saying in our minds and hearts: “Not my will but thy will be done”.
We must “let go” and trust in His will for us. Let go of what? Let go of the pride that binds and prevents openness to doing God’s will.
Yet we are only human and there is fear in letting go: fear of losing control over our lives. But that is a false premise because God is in control!
As we learned from today’s Gospel reading, when Jesus finished speaking to the people on the shore, He ordered Simon Peter to, “… set out into the deep”. Thusly, Peter let go of his doubts and apprehensions and followed Jesus’ direction to: “Cast-out into the deep.
The deep. It was a place of both danger and of reward: how so?
First of all, “the deep” was greatly feared by those living at that time. Consider this:
• From the beginning of the Book of Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 2, the deep was a fearful place. “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” This was the primeval ocean, the abyss and a dark mass of water with fearful creatures lurking in its depths, seeking to devour those who dared to enter into its ominous presence.
• Then there was the Leviathan, a sea monster of Scripture. In the Book of Isaiah, the Leviathan is described as: “… the piercing serpent, ... that crooked serpent; and he [the Lord] shall slay the dragon that is in the sea” (Is. 27:1). That is the promise of God’s protection for those who trust in Him.
• And, then there was Sheol. Another deep and dark
place not unlike the void before creation. It was the abode of the dead and where Jesus descended immediately after His death on the cross. It was a smelly, watery, muddy, swamp-like environment. Did those resting in its fearful domain know that they would eventually enter into God’s heavenly kingdom? Or were they fearful of doom.
Thus, “the deep” was a destination of doom and gloom and of death.
But “the deep’ in the context of today’s Gospel reading was also a place of great rewards for fishermen. There was the source of nourishment and plenty. It was a source of sustenance.
So, “the deep” is both a fearful place of potential harm and a place of promise of reward, with the bounty of fishes that might be harvested there: a setting for both death and life.
And in another context, “the deep” was an area where sin abounded. It was like quicksand that pulls one down into certain destruction. And that is an apt description for sin, as it can destroy the soul when left unrepentant. Sin can be habitual. Often, we begin to enjoy its false pleasures, as it subtly pulls us down into the netherworld. We may struggle for escape from the quicksand of sinfulness, but our human weaknesses are not enough. We need help to escape its clutches.
Thus, the deep is also a location where sinners are to be found, as Psalm 130 tells us: “Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice. ... I look for the Lord; my soul doth wait for him; in his word is my trust. ... trust in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption” (1,5,7). This is a cry for God’s help to escape from the quicksand of sinfulness and find His mercy, fleeing from the depths of sin. “The deep”: from Psalm 130, it is defined as a state of fear because without God’s graces and His mercy there is no redemption. And without redemption, there is no hope of salvation.
But “the deep’ in today’s Gospel is about seeking and finding goodness. It is about sustenance for our bodies.
But it can also be about finding sustenance for our souls. And that comes by doing God’s will in our daily lives.
More so than catching fish was the direction from Jesus to Simon Peter to do His will which is to become one of the founders of His Church and an Apostle (one of the first bishops).
When Jesus told Simon Peter: “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men”, He commissioned Peter and the others to leave their earthly work of catching fish and attain to the spiritual work of saving souls.
If the deep was metaphorically a place of sin, evil and death of the soul, where better to search for the lost souls of the wicked and other sinners in need of repentance than in “the deep”.
So, Jesus directs Simon Peter to set sail for “the deep” in order both to catch fish for bodily sustenance and to cast forth his net of faith as a metaphor for saving the spiritually afflicted in need of redemption and spiritual healing. That net is the Word of God that pulls sinners away from the evil waters and into the saving boat of Christ’s Church.
And so Simon Peter sought to do God’s will. And his reward was, “... a great multitude of fishes ...” (Lk. 5:6), so many that it broke their net: and also a multitude of believers who became Christians, forming our first Church.
This was an abundance of fishes and an abundance of men; much more than Simon Peter ever expected, remembering that he doubted any catch at all, but hesitantly told Jesus: “... nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net” (Lk. 5:5).
An abundance of fishes and of followers was his reward and an abundance of life is our reward for dispensing with doubt and instead trusting in God’s mercy and accepting His will open-handedly.
As St. John’s Gospel reveals, Jesus said: “I come that they might have life, and that they might have it abundantly” (Jn. 10:10). Abundant life: life eternal, that is our reward and a reward for others. By casting-out our net of faith into the deep of doubt and fear and bringing-in the sheaves of those among us who are ripe for conversion (Ps. 126:5-7), we also become fishers of men and women.
Yes, we are called to do God’s will and so often that manifests itself in evangelizing His Word in one way or another, as the opportunities present themselves.
For in doing so, we become a shining light of faith for all the world to see. And this is how we too, whether ordained or lay, become fishers of men and women.
As Jesus told His disciples: “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 5:14-16). Thusly, we become a candlestick holding our candle of faith, first given at baptism, that is the light of Christ that illuminates the darkness of “the deep” and transforms it into that shining city on a hill: the New Jerusalem.
His will for us: to hear and follow His Word, to obey His commandments, always trusting in His love and mercy and to carry the light of the Good News of Jesus Christ into “the deep”. Do this and you shall have life and have it abundantly!