Net Results
Matthew 13:47-50 assures us that when the message of God's love, that good news, goes to work, there will be Net Results. Find out how to get in God's net, stay in the net and use the net. July 20, 2008.
If you worked for a company that made electric motors, you would appreciate the owner of that company if you knew that he was well informed about the business from top to bottom, if he not only knew how to manage the company personnel and finances and market the product but also knew how the product was built, how the feet can get tired while standing at the assembly line, and how improved lighting and piped in music made the factory more pleasant. If you were employed at a grocery store, you would probably appreciate the manager more if you knew that he was experienced in all the duties of his workers, if he not only knew how to set up work schedules and when to advertise sales, but also knew how to stock the shelves, clean up a broken jar of olives, and run the cash register.
Read chapter thirteen of Matthew’s gospel and I’m sure you will agree that Jesus is a King who knows his kingdom from top to bottom. In this chapter the Bible writer has strung together seven parables told by Jesus, all about his kingdom – how people get into it, how it grows, how big it is. The seventh and last parable is a part of today’s gospel lesson, and it is the story from which we want to glean a bit more spiritual wisdom. In this little parable Jesus states, “The kingdom of heaven is like a net”.
The word “net” has multiple meanings. In our high-speed communications world ’Net is short for the Internet. But ask a corporate executive about the net, and he’s more apt to think of net profit or net income. Years ago “net” had only one meaning – any of various meshed fabrics used to trap, snare, hold, or protect something. The word “kingdom” is like that, too. It can have multiple meanings. Most folks would assume, and rightly so, that a kingdom is a defined territory controlled by some king or queen – a place, a hunk of real estate on good old terra firma. But the way Jesus uses the word “kingdom” and the way he uses the phrase “kingdom of heaven,” it’s obvious that he is not describing a place. He is describing an activity. A bowling alley is a place. Bowling is an activity. In the same way, kingdom can be a place, but it can also be an activity, specifically the activity of the good news about God’s love for sinners. So, when Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven here, he’s talking about the way in which the message of God’s love for sinners operates in the world so that sinners end up in heaven. This little story assures us that when that message, that good news, goes to work, there will be Net Results.
Get in the net
I know a few people who enjoy fishing. When they go, they use a rod and reel or some kind of fishing pole. I would imagine that there aren’t too many people here today who have used a fishing net like the one in this parable. There are actually all kinds of fishing nets from hand-held nets to large nets spread out between boats and hauled into shore. The one Jesus is talking about here is the big drag-net. Some of his disciples, Peter, Andrew, James and John, had been commercial fishermen before they became full-time followers of Jesus. So they knew what Jesus was talking about when he Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish”. This net could be up to several hundred yards long. One edge was weighted. The other had pieces of cork attached to keep it afloat. Two boats went out into the lake and spread it out between them. Then the fishermen rowed toward shore, snagging all kinds of fish.
So, how did the fish get into the net? The obvious answer is that it was not their doing, not their activity, not even their choice. The fishermen took the initiative to use the net. The net did the work. Net Results came not because the fish were so willing but because the net worked.
How do we get into God’s kingdom? How do sinners get into the network of the message of God’s love? Isn’t the answer obvious? It is not our doing, not our activity, not even our choice. God goes to work and uses his net. The net of God’s message of saving love did the work. So, if we want to be saved, if we want eternal life, if we want God to like us, if we want his message to warm our hearts so that we can live with him now and cope with all the ups and downs of life, if we want to live with him forever, then God has to do something. He has to cast out his net. He snags us. If a corporate executive is looking for Net Results, he has to be a good manager, and the people of his company have to be productive workers. If you want to get on the ’Net, you have to access to a computer that is hard-wired for that connection or is capable of a wireless connection, and then you have to click on. But if you want to get in the net of Jesus’ kingdom so that you are safe and saved forever, God has to cast the net. And he did. The message of his love – that even a crummy sinner like you and me can be forgiven and that we are forgiven – has gone out, and that message is intended for all. Jesus does not discriminate. He died for all. So, to get in the net, Jesus did it. You and I are in. Thanks be to God!
Stay in the net
In learning from Jesus’ parables, one of the key factors is not to press the details too far. There’s usually just one main point that he’s trying to get across to us. The mail point of this story has to do with the separation of the fish. The fishermen pulled[the net]up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. Those fishermen had trained eyes and skilled hands. They had to separate the edible food fish from the carp, suckers, garfish, and other slimy sea creatures fit only for the garbage pile. Whether the fish knew what was going on or not, the net was pulled in, and that was the end.
This a picture of Judgment Day, the end of all things created, when Jesus returns in all his glory. On that day there will be no battle between Jesus and the forces of evil. That was over when he shouted his victory cry from the cross. He will not clean up the earth and make it a little more pleasant. He will not show up and give people another chance to change their stripes and fins and gills. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. How will God decide who’s a slimy, putrid poor excuse for a fish and who’s a keeper? Well, the basis for judgment is clear. Judgment is based on a person’s relationship to God through Jesus. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved”(Acts 16:31), the Bible says. Reject him, and you will be thrown into the fiery furnace. Hard to believe anyone would not want to be safe in Jesus’ net – kind of like a poisoned person refusing the antidote – because there really is such a thing as hell. The Bible writers describe it as a place of darkness, very scary. They describe it as a place of fire, very painful. But the real terror of hell isn’t the physical torment. The real horror is the spiritual and emotional agony of being eternally separated from God’s love, left all alone and burdened with a truckload of guilt which can never be pushed off one’s shoulders. The apostle Paul wrote that people who end up there will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power(2 Thessalonians 1:9). Hell is not something to be taken lightly or joked about. It is real, and God tells us about it so we stay out of it.
How do we avoid it? How do we make sure we end up as keepers? Stay in the net! How do we stay in the net? How do we remain in the sphere of the influence and power of the good news about what Jesus did for sinners like us? You’re here. Worship builds a protective net around us. Grace Bible Study Week is coming up. Your fellow fish want to keep swimming with you in the protective, wide, and roomy enclosure of Jesus’ net. Unlike the fish in “Finding Nemo,” being in Jesus’ net is a good thing. Being a fish in Jesus’ net is good because the net result is not a frying pan or a deep-fryer for a Friday fish fry. It’s eternal freedom and life in God’s gigantic aquarium, where the net result is being fed and protected and cared for forever. That’s the ultimate net result of being in Jesus’ net. We got in by his doing, and we’ll stay in by his doing. Thanks be to God!
Use the net
There is one detail of this parable that is significant. Look how big the net is! The net result of it being thrown out is that it brought in all kinds of fish – small ones, big ones, short ones, long ones, good fish, and bad fish.
The kingdom of heaven, the area covered by the influence of the good news, is like that net. It’s global. Love from God is for all. Jesus’ disciples had trouble with that at first. Why? Because it didn’t take them long to figure out that they would not only be fish but also fishermen, and they didn’t want to deal with bad fish. Kind of odd wouldn’t you think? Professional fishermen, who were used to getting their hands dirty with all sorts of real fish, didn’t want to deal with messy people or people they considered unworthy of the net. But sorting was not going to be their job. God will send his holy angels to do the sorting. Their job was to cast the net out, to use it.
That’s our job, too. Let God worry about the Net Results. Let God be the one who looks into hearts. Let God sort out who goes to heaven or hell. Just use the net. And I’m not talking about clicking on the ’Net. I mean use the message of good news. Proclaim it. Share it. Build contacts with more people. Strengthen the friendships you have and throw out that net. Let it go. God will haul it in. God will send his angels to do the sorting. That’s his job, not ours. Thanks be to God!
Jesus knows his business. He knows his kingdom from top to bottom. We are both in the net as a good fish, and we get to cast his net of love to bring in others. This is no fish story. This is the truth. Thanks be to God! Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (http://www.gracedowntown.org/) on July 20, 2008
Related Sermons
A Disciple Named __________
Good stories don't have to take long to tell. Take Dorcas, for example. Dorcas was "always doing good and helping the poor," and we'd never know it except for what's written about her in Acts 9:36-42. Like Dorcas, each of us is "A Disciple Named ________. " Each of us makes a difference. May 13, 2012. Read on
Branch Out, but Not on Your Own
Jesus declares that he is the Vine—and we are his living branches, connected to him. And like grapevines, we often need to be "pruned" to be "productive." Through that, how do we stay connected to Jesus, our Vine? John 15:1-8 encourages us to "Branch Out, but Not on Your Own." May 6, 2012. Read on
Keep Watch, Shepherds!
Many joys and privileges come with positions of power and freedom; along with it comes just as much responsibility. No wonder the apostle Paul's final words in Acts 20:28-32 to the church leaders in the Ephesian church warned, "Keep Watch, Shepherds!" April 29, 2012. Read on