“Faithful Stewardship, Part 4: “How to Be a Total Steward” by the Rev. Dr. Don Wahlig, November 16, 2025, Year C / Proper 28 (33) – Isaiah 6:1-8 ¨ Luke 5:1-11. [TEXT FROM Year C / Epiphany 5]
THEME: Follow Jesus’ call to serve our neighbors with our whole lives.
Do any of you like to fish? No doubt you have heard your fair share of fishing humor and wisdom. One of my favorites is the man who comes home from a day out on the water at his local pond. His wife asks him, “How was the fishing, honey?” He replied, “The fishing was great. The catching wasn’t so good.” This fisherman clearly understood the wisdom of Henry David Thoreau who he famously said, “Many men go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” Thoreau’s point is that something more significant is happening in fishing than simply catching fish. That is certainly true in our scripture passage today.
Today is, of course, Commitment Sunday. This is the culmination of our Season of Commitment, the day when we all make our 2026 pledge commitments to God’s work here at SSPC. We began 3 weeks ago by talking about the importance of giving out of humility and gratitude to God. Two weeks ago, we saw Zacchaeus’ example of holding money loosely and using it generously to make this world more like the Kingdom. Last week we saw how the Rich fool squandered his money by giving in to greed. He hoarded his unexpected bonanza of crops and lived for himself alone, only to die that very night. When we compared him to the faithful generosity of Zacchaeus, we understood that Jesus is warning us to use our gifts for God’s purposes.
This week, Peter is presented with the very same temptation the Rich Fool faced. Jesus has been teaching and healing throughout Galilee. He has made quite a name for himself. He speaks with a certain authority. He commands attention and his words demand a response. That is why the crowds who follow him are growing. Now, as he makes his way along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he comes across some fishermen, 2 sets of brothers: Peter and Andrew, and James and John. This day, the crowd has grown so large, that Jesus has to step into Peter’s boat and move offshore a little ways in order for all to hear him. Peter is in the boat with him. His brother Andrew is nearby, and so are their business partners, the Zebedee brothers, James, and John. As they all clean their nets, they are listening to Jesus speaking the Word of God. Jesus finishes teaching and dismisses the crowd. As they wander off, he turns to Peter. “Push out a bit and let down your net,” Jesus tells him.
Having failed all night to catch a single fish, Peter is understandably skeptical, but something about Jesus makes him agree. Before you know it, the catch of fish fills his boat, and the Zebedees’ boat, too. This is the catch of a lifetime. It is a catch so large it would have kept them and their families fed and clothed for a long time. It is like winning the lottery. It is entirely unexpected, and it begs the urgent question what will he do with it? Peter’s choice tells us everything we need to know about him. To understand it, let’s look at the choice he did not make.
He could have gathered up all those fish, rushed to the market with his partners, sold them, and divvied up the money. They would have had no need to work for a long time. They could have taken a long holiday, put their feet up and enjoyed their new-found wealth. Maybe build a bigger boat or a nicer house. That is the choice the Rich Fool made. And we all know how that turned out. But Peter does not do that. His first reaction is not greedy glee at his new-found prosperity. His immediate reaction is awe at the one who provided it. He realizes what it means: he is in the presence of God. It drives him to his knees. Like the Publican praying for forgiveness, Peter humbly repents, “Lord, I am a sinful man. I am not even fit to be in your presence.”
But Jesus sees something in Peter that Peter does not see in himself. It is the capacity for faith. The willingness to trust Jesus. That is why he wants Peter to lead his disciples. Together, Jesus says, they will be doing more than catching fish. They will be saving lives. Peter drops everything and follows his Lord. Andrew, James, and John do the same. They leave behind that monster catch of fish for others to enjoy. They have found something and someone more important, something worth leaving their old lives behind for. That is the power of the Word of God. The Word of God Jesus proclaimed was the good news – the gospel. In the Kingdom, the marginalized are now the mainstream. Broken lives and broken communities can be mended and made whole. The least and the lost now have a new lease on life.
His message has power by virtue of what he said and who he was, God in the flesh. Peter realized that. He heard the Word, he saw the Word, and he experienced the Word. Now, Jesus was calling him to live the Word. Jesus called him to see beyond a life focused solely on the pursuit of material abundance. He called Peter to a life of relational abundance, before all else. He called Peter to give his entire life to serving Christ and the Kingdom.
Friends, Jesus calls you and me to do the very same. In this season of Commitment, we have explored what makes faithful stewardship. We have talked about the importance of humility and gratitude, of generosity and justice, and above all, using our material gifts for God’s purposes – to make his Kingdom visible. When it comes to money, we have talked about the importance of tithing as a spiritual discipline. We saw Zacchaeus give half his wealth to the poor. We saw John Templeton give 90% of his wealth to serve Christ. But the truth is that Jesus wants even more from us. He wants you and me to serve him, not only with our money, but with our whole lives. Wherever we work and worship, wherever we study and sleep, wherever we shop and play, our highest purpose is to serve the needs of others so that they will experience Christ’s love through us.
The great Lutheran scholar, Gene Veith, put it this way. He said, “Vocation means that those who are closest at hand . . . are given by God. It is (our) neighbor whom (we are) to love.” This is the life to which Jesus called Peter. It is the call that he makes on our lives, too. It requires of us what it required of Peter. It requires us to commit our whole selves to being disciples of Jesus Christ in all phases of our lives.
Friends, this is what total stewardship looks like. So, now, as we make our pledge commitments to God’s work here at Silver Spring, let’s follow Peter’s example. Along with our financial commitments, let’s renew our commitment to serve Christ in every part of our lives with everything we have.
May it be so.
