The Call to be Fishers of Men
18th Sunday after Pentecost
2 Corinthians 9:6-11; Luke 5:1-11
From today's Gospel story, we realize first that many people pressed in to hear the words of Jesus Christ's preaching. People just kept crowding, and Jesus boarded Simon's boat, “and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down, and taught the multitudes from the boat.” (Luke 5:3)
There was a great positive aspect in this, a positive sign about the people, for they sought to hear the word of God; thus, they were feeling a spiritual hunger, a spiritual appetite. Just as a good appetite for material food is a sign of good bodily health, so a good appetite for spiritual nourishment serves as a sign of spiritual health. Each of us can check ourselves by this sign, to see how things stand with that health in us.
Secondly, what impresses us from the Gospel story is the performing of the miracle of the catch of fish. When Christ said to Simon:
“Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
But Simon answered and said to Him,
“Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” (Luke 5:4-5)
And, following Christ's instruction, the fishermen caught such a large quantity of fish that when they began to unload it into the boats, even the boats began to sink under the great amount. Peter, being an experienced fisherman, understood that Jesus had performed a great miracle, because such a catch could not be achieved by ordinary, natural means. And then Simon Peter realized that before him in the boat was not just the man Jesus, not merely Jesus the preacher, the Teacher, as they had accepted him, but the Lord, the Son of God. And so, Simon-Peter was terrified, fell to his knees before Jesus, and said:
“Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”. (Luke 5:8)
He understood the boundless holiness of Jesus, His divine greatness, and felt his own unworthiness and sinfulness. But the Lord reassured Simon, and those with him, and Jesus said to Simon:
“Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” (Luke 5:10)
The evangelist Mark reported that Jesus said the same thing to the multitude of fishermen:
“Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17)
And indeed it happened — Jesus made all those He had called to be fishers of men for the Kingdom of God, for the Church of Christ. But the Lord made it clear to the disciples that without God's help they would be unsuccessful, just as they were in fishing; but, with His help, with His blessing, they would accomplish miracles.
And, as we know, Christ's disciples, the apostles, did perform miracles; they filled Christ's nets with people, preaching his Gospel, and his Church grew more and more, despite the brutal persecution. And even the persecution of Christians in Palestine led to the spread of the apostles' preaching to other countries.
The apostles and their followers went to other countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe. They took the preaching of the Gospel of Christ to the depths of the Roman state, to its capital, Rome, which was proud of its power and authority over other nations. The apostles took the preaching of Christ's teachings to the centre of science and education of the pagan world of that time, and to the center of Hellenic culture — Athens. They took it to the centres of pagan trade — Corinth and Alexandria, to the depths of pagan religion, Ephesus; but first of all, of course, after Galilee, they preached in Jerusalem - the centre of Jewish scholarship.
And although almost all of Christ's apostles (with the exception of John) physically died a martyr's death, yet it was by their martyr's blood, by the blood of their successors, the Church of Christ was established and built, and, as Christ said, “the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16,18)
When we recall from what small group of disciple-apostles the Church of Christ grew to the whole world, we will inevitably come to the conclusion, to the conviction, that this could only happen thanks to the grace the power of God.
And we should also never forget that the spread, the general existence of the Church of Christ was opposed by the power, administrative and military apparatus of the mighty Roman Empire, the strongest state-empire, which for many centuries subdued many countries on three continents of the world (the kings of many countries walked in chains through the triumphal arches of Rome).
Scholars of the Greek world, with Academies in Athens with developed philosophical systems, spoke against the ideological and spiritual foundations of the Church of Christ. And by now it is certainly well known (for it is documented in the Acts of the Holy Apostles) that the scribes, high priests, and Pharisees fought against the faith of Christ by all means, not only in Palestine, but in all countries where there were Jewish communities.
But all the measures of the Jewish elders, the Roman administration, and the Greek scholarly philosophers did not withstand the circle of poorly educated Galilean fishermen and their followers. It is impossible to explain all this as happenstance, for the struggle lasted for 280 years—up to the time of Emperor Constantine's Edict of Milan.
The ancient prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled, which says:
“Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.” (Isaiah 29:14)
Just as the development and eventual victory of Christianity over paganism in the first three centuries of our era cannot be explained by natural human causes, so too it is impossible to explain by the same causes the attraction of youth in the (former) Soviet Union to God, to Christ, over the past couple of decades. Recently, over the last years, not even Komsomol newspapers can endure and speak out against the strange fashion in which young people are drawn to participate in Christian rituals, desire to wear crosses (not stars) on their chests, and want to have icons.
And all this happens after the brutal persecution of the followers of the Christian faith for more than 60 years. Such persecution and destruction of Christianity and the Church of Christ did not even occur in the first three centuries. The official Church, through its appointees, was turned by the Soviet government into an obedient tool of propaganda, but from below, from among those who sincerely believe in Christ, shines the light of Christ, which influences young people in a way that is impossible to explain, even though no one can teach them about faith in God or Christ under threat of severe punishment.
We can only say that it is directly due to God's power. After all, when Christ had already ascended to heaven, He could speak and act upon Saul, a persecutor of Christians, so that he became the greatest preacher and missionary of the Church of Christ. The same Apostle Paul said while conveying Christ's words:
“My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
The Lord chose weak and imperfect people even under godless rule so that through them—just as once through imperfect Galilean fishermen—a miracle would be performed: making them fishers for His Church. We do not know God's means or plans, but we believe that just as God's light shone for “the people who sat in darkness” (Matthew 4:16), it can also shine where spiritual darkness has been created through the efforts of the ungodly and the servants of the devil.
Godless people, servants of the devil, as we are convinced, can destroy and bring great suffering to many faithful people; they can create the darkness of godlessness, but they are not able to destroy the light of God, the light of Christ.
“The light shines in the darkness,” as it is testified in the Gospel (John 1:5).
Therefore, with faith and hope, we believe in the victory of Christ on the land of our ancestors – in Ukraine.
Amen.
Very Rev. Fr. Taras Slavchenko
Taras Slavchenko was born on March 8, 1918 in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine. After graduating from school and the Pedagogical College, he entered the language and literature faculty of the Scientific Pedagogical Institute. Having successfully completed it in 1938, he served as a teacher in a secondary school.
