The Fifth Sunday after Trinity
Sunday, July 20 (Trinity 5)
Hear, O Lord, when I cry unto Thee with my voice:
Thou hast been my help;
Leave me not, neither forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
The Lord is my light and my salvation:
whom shall I fear?
—Psalm 27: 7a, 9b, 1a
A writing for the Holy Gospel, Luke 5:1-11:
“For [Simon Peter] and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.”
—Luke 5:9-11
The unforgiving waters of Gennesaret yielded no fish for Peter, James, and John. They toiled all night and caught nothing. Yet as our Lord stepped onto the boat, Peter obeyed the Lord’s command to launch the boat back onto the water. Peter was convinced that relaunching onto the waters was pointless. He did not believe anything would come of it. Nevertheless, He did as the Lord commanded. The Lord then blessed him with a miraculous catch of fish. Thenceforth Peter believed, acknowledging that He, a sinner, was unworthy to stand before the Lord.
Faith is required to believe that God can perform such miraculous wonders in our midst. We cannot simultaneously live skeptical of God’s promises and yet expect that those promises will come to fruition. We must simply believe that God will act as He has promised. Peter was doubtful that Christ’s command to launch the boat back onto the waters could yield anything—yet the Lord nevertheless provided.
Seldom do Lutherans speak of God’s providence. Rightfully, our theology, doctrine, and practice are founded on faith. Apart from faith, no man may be saved. We therefore emphasize God’s means of grace, through which faith is created, sustained, and nourished. We speak boldly and frequently—as well we should—concerning the Sacraments, God’s mercy and strength, and all the like.
God’s providence, however, exists apart from faith. The Lord provided for Peter even as he doubted. The Lord provided for Adam and Eve even after they had hidden themselves from the Father, doubtful that He could forgive them. The Lord provides for us even though we cower in fear and disbelief. God provides even for the unbelieving world. Often we speak of faith, yet little do we speak of God’s provision—and its sovereignty over faith.
Nevertheless, we dare not speak of God’s providence at the expense of faith. It is this providence which created faith in us, as our Lord gave His Holy Spirit to us in baptism. It is this providence which strengthens and nourishes our faith. It is this providence that will see us by faith through this vale of tears into His marvelous light. The Lord’s provision exists even for those who lack faith, yet for those who have faith, this provision yields ten-thousandfold the gifts that God loves to give.
Faith is also required to confess that we are unworthy of this provision—indeed, that we are unworthy to stand before the Lord. Nevertheless, we must joyfully thank and praise Him that He so freely gives His gifts to us, including His true presence in the Sacrament. We are sinners, for which reason our Lord comes to us, stands in our midst, and provides us with all that we need. God’s providence extends far beyond the bounds of our unworthiness. By faith we trust that our Lord provides for our every need. By faith we trust that even amid our doubt, the Lord’s promises are fulfilled.
Do not be afraid, dear Christian. Even as you doubt God’s Word, know that His providence is sufficient for your every need. Let us not, however, doubt and despair. We must have faith in our Lord, whose providence is sufficient. We are called to be His children. Christians must resist every temptation to doubt and despair, firm in the faith that Christ has given to us. He provides for all—but the ultimate promise our Lord has given us, the gift of everlasting life, comes through faith.
So we, like Peter, James, and John, forsake all and follow Him. The Christian life is a life of toil, hardship, and discipline—yet above all, these things require faith. Founded on faith in God and His provision, we trust that His will is for our good. The world offers vain pleasures—wealth, fame, and temporal sustenance. Christ offers true relief from our guilt and shame. When we fall, when we sin, and when we doubt, God nevertheless provides for our every need.
Luther on Luke 5:1-11:
In the first place Christ shows that those who believe on him will certainly have sufficient also for this present life. And this he does in that he gives Peter and his partners such a great multitude of fishes, more than they had any reason to expect; also, in that Christ also provides for the feeding of our stomachs, if it were not only for our cursed unbelief. For behold Peter and look deep into his heart and you will find, that he had no idea that he should catch so many fishes; then God came and drove the fish into the net, and more than all the disciples had desired.
Therefore this is in example that all who believe will have enough for their temporal needs; but those who do not believe can never get enough and have no rest in scheming how to secure riches, by which they fall into all kinds of vice.
[…]
And although God is near us and will give us what we need, yet he requires on our part both work and hope, even if he delay for a time; therefore he gives Peter here a catch of fishes and says: “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.”
Therefore if you wish to lead a truly Christian life, let thy God see to it how the fishes come into your net, and go and enter some calling in life that you may labour . But we all wish to fill such positions, where we do not need to labour ; that has ever been the trick of the devil. And because of this we became monks and priests, only in order that we might live like noblemen and would not need to work. Moved by this mothers left their children go to school, in order that they might have good days and serve God. In this way it came so far that people didn’t know what good living was; and yet God commanded and took pleasure in it, that man should eat his bread in sweat; as he said to Adam: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,” Gen. 3:19. And the deeper you stick in the law, the better It is. Therefore labour and believe, and let God rule unhindered.
If we speak of faith and are to lean upon God and let him care for us, then they say: Yes, I must believe a long time before a roasted dove flies into my mouth, if I do not labour . Yes it is true, you must toil, for you are commanded to do so: but let thy God provide for you. Believe and labour , then will not only a dove but a roasted goose fly into your mouth.
But to these belong also another part, namely, that we should hope, even if God does delay for a time. Hence Christ here left them toil all the night without catching anything and it seemed he would permit them to die of hunger. Peter might have well thought since he fished so long and caught nothing: now God will let the stomach languish. But he despairs not, continues to labour , and stands and hopes. Then God comes and gives him such a great multitude of fishes all at once, and more than he had been able to catch in eight days.
Therefore you must learn this part well, that you are to work and hope, even if God should delay a little and let you toil in your sweat, so that you imagine your labour is now lost. Then you must be wise and learn to know your God and to trust in him. Then he arrives and gives you more than you need, as he does here to Peter. Therefore if God has already delayed, only remember in the example of Peter there was also a little delay and yet it richly came. Thus it strikes in the time of his good pleasure; therefore do not despair, but hope and then thy works will be golden and pleasing to him; and then hope waits patiently, when God withdraws from us and does not do at once what we earnestly wish. Therefore he must make an appendix and hang on it a costly stone that thy works may become important. This precious stone is faith; but the works of unbelievers are stubble, for they are not built upon faith.
—Martin Luther, “Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity; Luke 5:1-11,” taken from his Church Postil; the sermon first appeared in 1522.
Hymn of the Day for Trinity 5:
1. If thou but suffer God to guide thee
And hope in Him through all thy ways,
He'll give thee strength, whate'er betide thee,
And bear thee through the evil days.
Who trusts in God's unchanging love
Builds on the Rock that naught can move.
2. What can these anxious cares avail thee,
These never-ceasing moans and sighs?
What can it help if thou bewail thee
O'er each dark moment as it flies?
Our cross and trials do but press
The heavier for our bitterness.
3. Be patient and await His leisure
In cheerful hope, with heart content
To take whate'er thy Father's pleasure
And His discerning love hath sent,
Nor doubt our inmost wants are known
To Him who chose us for His own.
4. God knows full well when times of gladness
Shall be the needful thing for thee.
When He has tried thy soul with sadness
And from all guile has found thee free,
He comes to thee all unaware
And makes thee own His loving care.
5. Nor think amid the fiery trial
That God hath cast thee off unheard,
That he whose hopes meet no denial
Must surely be of God preferred.
Time passes and much change doth bring
And sets a bound to everything.
6. All are alike before the Highest;
'Tis easy to our God, we know,
To raise thee up, though low thou liest,
To make the rich man poor and low.
True wonders still by Him are wrought
Who setteth up and brings to naught.
7. Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving,
Perform thy duties faithfully,
And trust His Word, though undeserving,
Thou yet shalt find it true for thee.
God never yet forsook in need
The soul that trusted Him indeed.The Lutheran Hymnal #518
Text: Georg Neumark, 1640, tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1863, alt.
Collect of the Day for Trinity 5:
O God, who hast prepared for them that love Thee such good things as pass man’s understanding, pour into our hearts such love toward Thee that we, loving Thee above all things, may obtain Thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.