The Call of Peter

“And He got into one of the boats which was Simon’s, and He asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.’ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’s knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’” – Luke 5.3-9

Though he didn’t realize it, washing his net rather fiercely - as I imagine him - by the side of Lake Gennesaret, Simon was perfectly positioned to be used of Christ for the furthering of His ministry. So often we assume that we are in control of our lives; and if we are in control, we are therefore responsible to “make things happen” – whether in terms of our ministry or the meeting of our monetary needs.

Christ’s calling of Peter proves that neither assumption is accurate. The truth is that God is in control of our circumstances; and because He is in control, He is also responsible for the meeting of our needs.

Christ’s command presumably ran counter both to Peter’s intuition and experience; nonetheless he obeys, acknowledging Christ's authority by calling Him “Master.” Peter does not attempt to mask his feelings from God but says very openly, possibly even with a tinge of bitterness, “we toiled all night and took nothing!” But still he acts according to Christ’s bidding rather than his own understanding.

It is no accident that Christ’s first encounter with Peter occurs at the hour of his deepest need. We know from Peter’s own admission that his inability to catch any fish was not due to lack of effort or industry. In spite of the commotion and the crowds caused by Christ’s teaching Peter had not stopped working! Yet Peter’s illusions about himself had all been shattered. He was a broken man, beaten down by one failure after another. And it is precisely this moment which Christ seizes to call Peter to Himself, giving him a new name and a new vocation.

Peter's posture of brokenness demonstrates that God fulfills His purposes in our lives in spite of us, not because of us. His call is a call to obedience over understanding; brokenness versus self-sufficiency; process above productivity. Until Christ stepped into Simon Peter’s boat, he caught nothing. But this does not mean that the time before Christ appeared was wasted. Not at all! Yes, he was forced to wait on God through a wilderness of seeming stagnation and failure. But it was then that Peter learned he could not, in his own strength, fill his own net. It was then that he came to see himself as he really was: a sinner in need of grace.

And so we too act out the motions like characters in a play. We let down our nets and cast our bread upon the waters, feigning surprise, after a time, to find them always coming up empty. But we can rejoice, even in such moments, for we know that through them we are not only learning the truth about ourselves but of God: He controls our circumstances; He will be faithful to appear; and His goodness is proved not just because He brings the fish, but because he brings us to our knees. It is the one place where we can rest assured we are seeing reality as it truly is.