125th Anniversary of Three Saints Church, Ansonia, CT
September 26, 2021
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This morning, the words of the Evangelist come to us and ask us to consider the meaning of faith. We know that faith is of the highest importance to us. We all want faith: faith in God, faith in Jesus Christ, faith in His Church. But too often we find this faith difficult to find when we search for it inside of our hearts. We may ask sometimes, in the difficult places of life, whether it is possible for our faith to grow much at all. We ask: “How do we get this strong faith? I believe, but how can my faith grow?” Some of us may even go so far as to ask: “Why do I need faith at all? Why should I bother?”
These tempting thoughts are encouraged day in and day out by the world around us, which would prefer that we put our “trust in princes and in sons of men” (Ps 145/146:3). It would like us to place our faith in anything except our Lord, and God, and Savior Jesus Christ. Faith in God, in this day and age, is often seen more as a liability than a strength.
Yet, we Christians do still believe in Christ and the gospel. So why does our faith stay so small? We come to the Church faithfully, as all of us have this morning; as our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents have for over 125 years. And yet, our faith too often stays weak, as we are battered by the temptations of the world on one side and uncertainty about how to grow our faith on the other.
So it is with a special gratitude to our Lord that we can hear this gospel story this morning. In the story, the people press in on our Lord to hear the word of God; and so, with the crowd surrounding Him on the shore, He teaches the crowd from a nearby boat. But now His teaching ends and He asks Simon Peter to go once more into the deep water of the lake and put out his nets to catch fish. Peter resists: “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing” (Lk 5:5). Against his own judgment, Simon Peter obeys—and a catch so large is pulled in that the nets start to break and the boats start to sink. In his astonishment, he exclaims: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Lk 5:8).
Yes, this story concerns the miraculous catch of fish and the disciple’s response. But importantly for us this morning, it shows us all the process of how we come to a strong and sincere faith in Christ, which we all desire.
When Saint Peter is told to go out again onto the lake, as an experienced fishermen, he knew very well that he was not going to catch any fish. Daylight was not the correct time to make a catch. Even more, he was asked to go out on the lake again after he had already endured a night of backbreaking work with nothing to show for it. No doubt Peter was tired and wanted to rest. We can imagine the frustration and irritation he must have felt at being told to go back out onto the open water and fish once again—and, worst of all, to do all that work knowing there was no real chance of catching anything.
We sympathize with the disciple. We know what it is like to be irritated when asked to do spiritual labors like keeping the fasts in a culture of indulgence, or when we try to say our prayers when we’re already exhausted, or when there are strains in our finances and we are tempted to keep our alms for ourselves instead of giving them to charity.
But in the end, Peter accepted Christ’s instructions. He did what the Lord asked, even though he thought he knew better. He did what the Lord asked, even though he was exhausted. And, most importantly, he did what the Lord asked, even though he didn’t understand why.
Peter surrendered his will and said “Thy will be done” (Mt 6:10) by letting down his nets. When he did that his heart was forever changed, and he saw who he really was: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” That change of heart is a much more impressive miracle than the catch of fish. The fish are gone but Peter found his faith, left everything behind for the gospel, and would become a great Apostle.
That is how we grow in faith as well: we can follow Peter’s example. First, like the crowd, we hear the word of God. But it is not enough to simply hear Christ’s teaching. We must then obey it and consistently put it into practice—even if it is confusing for us sometimes, and even if the world throws its temptations in our path. Our faith in Christ is given life when we trust Him enough to do what He asks of us in every circumstance.
Our faith gets stronger when we follow the gospel and commit ourselves more and more to His service. We abandon ourselves and embody the words “He must increase and I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). We will find that the more we do the will of God, the more we come to love His teaching, and our faith grows even more in that love. As the Psalmist says: “Lead me in the path of Thy commandments, for I delight in it” (Ps 118/119:35).
So if you are struggling to find a strong faith this morning, I encourage you all to follow the example of the Apostle Peter. Ask yourselves: “What is Christ asking me to do which I am resisting?” Perhaps it is forgiving someone who has hurt you. Or helping your neighbor who is in need. Or picking up your neglected prayer book again.
There are always challenges to faith: the path of the gospel is the path of self-denial, the path of turning the other cheek, and the path of loving our enemies. All of this seems like nonsense to the world. But listen to the word of Christ and do these things despite the difficulty. Trust that the Holy Spirit is at work, take the commandments into your hands, and apply them to your life.
That is when the miracle can occur, the miracle of truly realizing who we are in the sight of God, so we can dedicate ourselves unreservedly to the good news of Christ.
Don’t be afraid. Like Peter, who was told “Do not be afraid, henceforth you will be catching men” instead of fish (Lk 5:10), our Lord will take you out of the gloomy life of this age with its back-breaking, futile work and will set you on the road of His service, which is the road of repentance—if only we will leave everything behind and follow Him.
This is how we come to see who we truly are, this is how the miracle of faith is nurtured and grows in our hearts, and this is how Christ is revealed to us. To Him be all glory, honor, and worship, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.