“Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” (Luke 5)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Work is hard. Living outside the Garden because of the Fall into sin. Thorns and thistles grow. Work is filled with the sweat of your brow. Peter has been out fishing all night with nothing to show for all his work. An empty boat and a heart filled with frustration.
Work is hard. Working as a parent. (Home.) Working in the Lord's Church. (Kingdom of God.) Working in your community. (Citizen.) Do not go it alone. If you do, the only thing you will find is sweat and frustration. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15)
Peter tried all he could to catch fish only to come up empty. The Lord Jesus proclaimed His Word. “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” (Luke 5) The Word of God gives what it says. So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55)
At the Lord's speaking it was done. The nets that the Disciples let down were so filled they began to break. They needed other boats to come. Peter confesses his sin. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Luke 5)
Fear not. Jesus has come to be with sinners. To atone for all your sins. Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace....To reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. He came and preached peace to you. (Ephesians 2)
No more going it alone. Jesus teaches Peter now you will be a "fisher of men". The net to catch sinners is the Gospel. This is the Good News of Jesus Christ that has brought you into Christ’s Church. By the net of Holy Baptism the Lord caught you. Christ has placed you into the boat, the Ark of the Holy Christian Church. By the power of God's Word you were rescued from the depth of sin and death. God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4)
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1)
In Holy Baptism the Lord’s Word has its way with you. No more are you alone. Christ is with you, "never to leave nor forsake". For you, the Baptized Child of God, the Lord has a calling for you. To hear His Word. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. (Psalm 119)
“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11) Each week the Church gathers around Christ’s life giving Word. Devoted to the Apostles’ teaching. Gladly hearing the Word and holding it sacred. At your Word, Lord, our ears, hearts, and lives bow. At His Word Baptism births you into the Kingdom of God. At His Word you come to receive forgiveness through His Holy Absolution. At His Word our mouths receive the Body and Blood in the Lord's Supper.
The Word sends us forth in peace. Working together in the Lord. Hearing the Word. Living in the Word. Speaking and confessing God's Word one to another. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3) In the Name + ofJesus. Amen.
Go, My Children, with My Blessing LSB 922:1
Go, My children, with My blessing, Never alone.
Waking, sleeping, I am with you; You are My own.
In My love’s baptismal river I have made you Mine forever. Go,
My children, with My blessing — You are My own.