Luke 5:5-10
Failure and Faith: The Turning Point of Peter’s Calling – Luke 5:5-10
Luke 5:5-10 (NIVUK)
Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’ When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’ For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’
Commentary
Revd. Mark Fletcher: And I think in this story, this is really important for Peter, because he is confronted with those things, and he is confronted with the power of God compared to the weakness of humanity. What Peter and his partners had spent all night trying to do, God was able to do infinitely more in just a moment. Confronted with his failure, he realises that he can’t rely on himself. Never forget, it is neither he who plants or he who waters who is anything, but it is God who gives the growth. Work is a gift from God. Success and failure are in his hands. We should honour God in our work and depend on him when it is difficult.
It also shows us the danger of missing out on what is really important. I think Simon Peter, by nature, is self-reliant, a little proud, caught up in his own busyness. And it isn’t until he experiences failure that he is able to kind of open up to the possibility of something much more important. He is humbled in order to be blessed. There’s a great line in Tolstoy. It says, in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, and look around you. And you see that that’s what Peter has to do.
And when he looks around, what does he see? Well, he recognises the presence of God in this unlikely figure of Jesus. A figure with no outward glory and yet such powerful control over creation. And, like any good Hebrew, recognises the holiness of God and his own unworthiness. Verse 8, when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. Standing in the presence of greatness, he recognises his own shabby pride. Standing in the presence of holiness, he recognises his own sinfulness.
Did you hear he said, go away from me, Lord? And I think it’s because he thinks that his sinfulness or his recognition of that disqualifies him from coming to Jesus. But ironically, you know that that is the only qualification. That is the best qualification for coming to Jesus. So many other people come in a position of thinking they are righteous in themselves, thinking of their own worth. But Peter is better qualified than any of them because he knows he’s a failure and a sinner. And in that case, he relies not on himself or his own strength, but on the goodness of God.
This is the turning point of Peter’s life. And the turning point in all of our journeys of faith is that recognition that we cannot do this by ourselves when we admit that our best efforts aren’t good enough and that we need God.