Sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity - Rom 6:19-23

 

   Trinity 7

                                                                                                            Rom 6:19-23

                                                                                                            7/19/26

 

 

            The Gospel announces the free gift of forgiveness and life for sinners. We learn that this is a matter of God’s grace – it is completely a gift from God that we could never earn. It takes place on account of Christ. It is possible because of the death and resurrection of Jesus for our sin. It is received by faith. It is received by believing and trusting in Jesus as our crucified and risen Lord. And it is received by faith alone. Faith in Christ receives the gift, and there is nothing that our actions contribute to our status as forgiven sinners – to our status as saints in God’s eyes.

            This is indeed good news! It is Gospel. But as sinners, it is easy to see how we might be inclined warp the Gospel into something that serves sin. It is quite tempting to conclude: “I like to sin. God likes to forgive. This is going to be great.”

            Twice in Romans chapter six Paul addresses this perversion of the Gospel. At the beginning of the chapter he says, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Then just before our text he repeats the same idea when he writes, “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

            The apostle tells us that no, life in Christ is not a matter of “I like to sin, and God likes to forgive.” Instead, he explains in our text today that we are always going to be slave to something. Either we are going to be a slave to sin which results in death, or we are going to be a slave to righteousness because of what God has done for us in Christ through our baptism.

            In the previous chapter, Paul had been describing how Christ is the second Adam whose death and resurrection frees us from the sin that Adam brought into the world. He writes, “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”

            The apostle is in the process of describing how the law and sin interact with one another. He has said that through the law there is the knowledge of sin. But the law itself cannot be the answer to sin. Paul will explain in chapter seven how our sinful passions actually work through the law. When the law forbids doing something, sin causes us to desire it all the more.  But the good news is that God’s grace in Christ to provide forgiveness abounds beyond our sin. He says at the end of chapter five, “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”

             The grace of God’s forgiveness in Christ abounds beyond our sin. So does that mean we should just go on sinning? As I mentioned earlier, Paul writes at the beginning of chapter six, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

            Paul says it can’t work this way because we have died to sin. Then he supports his point with something he knows the Romans already understand. He says, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

            The apostle says that something happened in baptism. This no mere symbol. It’s not an action you carry out to demonstrate your commitment to Christ. Instead, it is something God does to you. It is the means by which you shared in Christ’s death. It is the way in which you were buried with Christ. Through baptism you have shared in Jesus Christ’s saving death. And therefore, you are now forgiven.

            But Paul’s point here is not simply to say that baptism delivers forgiveness. Instead, he reminds the Romans that baptism is the source of God’s resurrection power in your life. God raised Jesus from the dead. And now the Spirit of the risen Lord is present in you. The Spirit who gave you regeneration in baptism now enables you to walk in newness of life – to live in ways that are true to God’s will.

            Baptized into Christ – living in Christ through the work of the Spirit – means that you will say no to sin. Just before our text Paul says, “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.”  You have been brought from death to life by Christ’s Spirit. So Paul urges you not to present your bodies to sin as the means for carrying out more sin. Instead, Paul tells you to present your bodies as instruments that do the things that please God – as instruments for righteousness.

            The reality is that you are going to be a slave to something. Paul writes, “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” You are going to be controlled by something. If you present yourself to sin then that is the path that leads to death. On the other hand, the obedience of faith leads to salvation and the life that pleases God.

            What Paul then says about the Romans is true of you. He writes, “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” You were once slaves of sin. But you have been called to faith by the Spirit. You have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were handed over.

            The language of “the standard of teaching” describes the apostolic faith that you confess. And notice how the apostle doesn’t say that it was handed on to you.  Instead, he says that that you were handed over to it. Through the work of the Spirit you believe and confess what God has revealed in the Scriptures. Paul says the result is that you have been freed from sin. This means that you are forgiven before God. But more importantly in this context it means that you have been freed from living in sin. Instead, the apostle says that you have become a slave of righteousness.

            In the words of our text, Paul exhorts you to live as what Christ’s Spirit has made you to be. The apostle grants that he is speaking in ways that acknowledge our condition.  He says, “I am speaking in human terms, because of the weakness of your flesh.” 

The exhortation to living in righteous ways here and elsewhere in this chapter sets before us a reality of the Christian life. Through the work of the Spirit you are a new creation in Christ. You are new man in Christ. But until you die or Christ returns, that is not all you are. In yourself you are also old Adam. Paul described this to the Galatians when he said, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

The life of a Christian is made possible through the work of the Spirit. But we are not the Spirit’s robots. We are people who are involved in the choices that we make. And so as we live in Christ through the work of the Spirit we need to seek to act in those ways that are righteous – those ways that are good and pleasing to God.

That’s what Paul says in our text, “For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.” The apostle urges us to live in Christ by presenting ourselves as slaves of righteousness – as people who seek to live in ways that please God. He says that this orientation results in sanctification – in a life that is holy according to God’s will.

The apostle notes that a person who is a slave to sin is free in regard to righteousness. If you give yourself over to sin, then you don’t have to worry about what God says. You can just do your own thing. However, this comes at a cost. Paul asks, “But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.”

The fruit produced by sin in our lives is strife, anger, pain, and loss. It harms the people in our lives. It harms us. We were created in the image of God. We were created to live perfectly tuned to God’s will – to the ways God ordered his creation to work. When we no longer do this, it throws everything off. It makes everything worse. It’s like replacing one of the tires on your car with another that is the wrong size. Sure the car still runs, but now the ride is terrible and it doesn’t handle correctly.

And Paul tells us that the end of the life of sin is death. Now because of sin, we will all die. But in our text Paul sets death in contrast to eternal life. This is not just physical death. It is eternal separation from God in the judgment of hell.

However, Paul says in our text that for the Christian the outcome is very different. He writes, “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Through the Gospel and the work of the Spirit you have been set free from sin. You have become a slave of God – the God who gave his Son into the death of the cross to save you. Now, the fruit of being a slave to God and his righteousness results in sanctification. It results in the life produced by faith. And the end of this life is eternal life.

Slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness? The apostle Paul says in our text today that we do have a choice about the one to which we are going to offer ourselves. That’s why he says, “For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.”

Earlier I made the point that we are not the Spirit’s robots. We are in fact people who are involved in the choices that we make and the actions we undertake. But if we cooperate with God in the life produced by faith, we must recognize that he alone is the source of this life and is the One who continues to make it possible.

So if we are to present ourselves as slaves to righteousness we must be focused on the source by which God has caused us to be a new creation in Christ in the first place. We must put Christ’s Means of Grace at the center of our life. This is, of course, true of what we receive in the Divine Service.  Here through Word and Sacrament the Spirit gives us forgiveness and strengthens faith.

But in particular I want to emphasize the importance of reading Scripture during the week in our devotional life. In the Scriptures the Spirit is doing several things at once. The Scriptures are the word through which the Spirit sustains faith and supports the new man in us. But it also the word through which the Spirit sets before us how to live. This word teaches us what righteousness looks like. It encourages us as we see what the life in Christ means, and we know that yes, that is what we want to be. And it is also the word that the Spirit uses to restrain and repress the old man as he helps us to live in Christ.

There is a certain inertia in the Christian life. The more we attend the Divine Service and read Scripture during the week, the easier it becomes to present ourselves as slaves to righteousness.  The less we do so, the easier it becomes to present ourselves as slaves to sin.  Without a doubt, we have a choice. In the habits of our life we are deciding whether we are going to align ourselves with the work of the Spirit by which he empowers and leads us to live as God’s people.

Paul says this morning, “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.”  In Christ through the work of the Spirit you have been freed from sin. The life of faith now belongs to God as we are slaves to righteousness. This faith produces the fruits of sanctification as we live according to God’s will. And it leads to the end of eternal life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity - Mt 5:20-26

 

   Trinity 6

                                                                                                            Mt 5:20-26

                                                                                                            7/12/26

 

 

The Gospels are theological biographies. They are biographies in that they tell us true and accurate information about the life of Jesus Christ.  However, they do so with a theological purpose. They are teaching us about who Jesus is and what he means for our life.

We need to recognize that since this is their goal, they do not always narrate what Jesus said and did in a chronological order.  Instead, they sometimes group material in order to convey a truth about Jesus.  It is easy to see this in Matthew’s Gospel. In chapters eight and nine, Matthew narrates ten miracles performed by Jesus. There is no other kind of material in this section. We see that Jesus is powerful in deed.

Our text this morning is found in a preceding grouping of material. In chapters five through seven we find only the teaching of Jesus. So in chapters five to seven we find Jesus powerful in word. And in chapters eight and none we find Jesus powerful in deed.

Our Lord taught constantly during the course of almost three years.  Any good teacher finds wording and explanations that work well and then keeps using them. Surely Jesus was no different. As he was teaching in different places it’s very unlikely that he said something completely new every time. No doubt there was a repetition of material with slight variations.

Chapter five begins with the words, “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.” These words give us the familiar name for the material in these three chapters: the Sermon on the Mount. On the other hand, in Luke’s Gospel we find very similar material as Jesus came down and talked to a crowd in a level place. This is to be expected – Jesus shared the same basic content many times in different places.

Our text today is at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount has always occupied a significant place in Chistian thought. We have here three chapters of powerful teaching as Jesus describes the life of those who believe in him.

So what is Jesus doing here? Is he telling us what we must do in order to have salvation? After all, the first verse of our text says, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Is Jesus describing what we can never possibly do in order to reveal our sin? The answer to both of these is no – though we will see this his words certainly may confront the continuing presence of sin in our life.

Instead, Jesus is describing what the kingdom of God – the reign of God that arrived in our Lord – means for your life. The kingdom of God – or kingdom of heaven as it is expressed in a more Jewish version in Matthew’s Gospel – was the central feature of Jesus’ ministry. Matthew tells us about the beginning of his ministry, “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

Jesus declared that in his person the reign of God was present that was overcoming the forces of Satan, sin, and death. When the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by being in league with the devil, our Lord replied, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Jesus was the presence of the kingdom of God – the reign of God for us. He spoke with the authority of God. Matthew tells us at the end of the Sermon on the Mount: “And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”

He had authority over demons as he cast them out. They knew who he was, even if they were confused about why he was present and yet it was not the Last Day. They cried out to him, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” He had the power and authority to heal the sick, raise the dead, and even control creation itself as he stilled the storm on the Sea of Galilee.

But the surprising thing is that his great action to bring God’s reign by freeing us from sin did not look mighty and victorious. After Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Matthew tells us, “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Jesus declared, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” He offered himself as the sacrifice on the cross by which we now have forgiveness before God. But death was not the end. As he had predicted on the third day God raised him from the dead. On Easter the tomb was empty and the angel told the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.”

            This is what Jesus did for you. And then he brought his saving reign to you through the work of his Spirit. He called you to faith in his death and resurrection through the Gospel in Word and Sacrament. He made you a new creation in Christ through the water of Holy Baptism.

            Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes. In the first of these he says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Who are the poor in spirit? You are. You are because you know that you don’t love God above all things. You are because you know that you don’t love your neighbor as yourself. You know that you are sinful. Then, at the same time, you believe in Jesus. And so in Christ, the kingdom of heaven – the reign of God – is yours. You have received the forgiveness won by Christ – you are a saint. You have been born of again of water and the Spirit. You are in Christ, because the Spirit of God is present and at work in you.

            And so the Sermon on the Mount describes how you now live because of Jesus Christ. Jesus is not describing what you must do in order to receive salvation. You already have it! He is not describing what you can never possibly do in order to reveal your sin. Instead, he is describing how you now live because of what he has made you to be.  You have received the reign of God in Christ.

            Just before our text Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”  You have received God’s saving reign in Christ. And so your life now shows forth was God has done for you – what God has made you to be.

            Our text begins as Jesus is concluding his introductory comments about how we are to view the law of Moses. He says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

            Jesus came to fulfill the law.  Now, in his death and resurrection, all has been accomplished. And so the law of Moses is no longer the law that directs God’s people. Instead, we learn in the Sermon on the Mount that it is Jesus’ teaching that directs our life. There is, of course, continuity between this teaching and what we find in the Old Testament law. God’s moral ordering of creation has not changed. That is why Paul could say of the Gentiles, “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts.” But you never find Jesus teaching anything about keeping food laws, or being circumcised, or any other parts of what we call the ceremonial law. These are things that are no longer binding for Christians.

            Instead, our Lord says, “Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus says that we are to teach and do what he is teaching, and nothing less.

            Then in our text he adds, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” This is not a description about how to be saved. You have already received the kingdom of God. Instead, it means that only by being in Christ as those have received God’s reign can your righteousness have any standing before God. The scribes and Pharisees rejected Christ. Their keeping of the law that followed their own interpretation of it meant nothing before God.

You on the other hand have received the kingdom of God through faith in Christ. You have been baptized into Christ and his Spirit has given you new life. It is Christ through his Spirit who now causes you to walk in his ways. This is the life produced by faith and so it is pleasing to God in a way that the Pharisees and scribes never could.

Jesus is the Son of God who has brought the kingdom of God. And so he teaches with authority. In this section of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus addresses understandings of the law that were present in his day and corrects them. He gives a full and deeper understanding of the law as he describes how we will live because of him.

He says in our text, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”

Our Lord teaches us that the Fifth Commandment does not simply prevent murder of another person. I does not even just prevent physical harm. It means that we do not nurse anger in our heart and we do not speak in ways that disparage our neighbor. We do not allow anger and hate to direct our actions.

Jesus makes this point clear as he applies what he has just said to our lives. He says, “Therefore if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

Our Lord describes the setting of first century Jerusalem. The life of a faithful Jew involved making offerings in the sacrifices at the temple. But Jesus says that if a person remembers that there is some division or animosity with another individual he is to leave his gift at the altar. He is not to follow through in making the sacrifice to God. First, he is to go and be reconciled to the brother.

Your life in Christ is not ruled by anger. It is not one of seeking payback. It does not speak ill of others. Instead it is directed by the love and forgiveness you have received in Christ. So forgive those who have wronged you. Where possible, seek to be reconciled. As Paul told the Romans, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

This is true as you interact with everyone. But it becomes true in an even deeper way when you come here to the Divine Serivice. The high point of the Divine Service is the celebration of the Sacrament of the Altar. Paul told the Corinthians, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”

In the Sacrament you receive the true body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. But it is not you alone who does this.  So also do all those who are receiving the Sacrament at the altar. The apostle tells us that the body and blood of Christ join us together as the Body of Christ. The Sacrament is Christ coming to you.  It is vertical and individual. But it is also Christ joining you together with those who commune. It is horizontal and corporate.

The Sacrament of the Altar is the sacrament of unity. It is the place where Christ joins us together as the Body of Christ. Divisions are contrary to the very nature of the Sacrament. And so we don’t bring our divisions there.

This means that before we come to this altar we forgive and reconcile with one another. The Pax Domini – the “Peace of the Lord in the liturgy - is a verbal and visual announcement of this fact. The pastor chants, “The peace of the Lord be with you always” as he holds up the host over the chalice – as he holds before you the body and blood of Christ. This is a declaration of the peace Jesus is giving you in the Sacrament. But it is also a reminder that we need to be at peace with one another if we are to come and receive the body and blood of Christ. When we have not forgiven one another and are not reconciled, then that is the time not to commune.  And this fact makes all the more clear what we need to do as we live in Christ. We need to forgive and be reconciled.

Though Jesus does not speak the Sermon on the Mount for the purpose of showing us our sin, it is law and so it will also reveal the ways that the old Adam is still resisting the work of the Spirit in our life. They are words that will demonstrate where sin is present.

Our response then is twofold. In that baptismal life of daily contrition and repentance we confess it as sin and hold on to the forgiveness we have received in our baptism. And then recognizing sin for what it is we arise to live in newness life made possible by the Spirit of Christ.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is not telling us what we must do in order to have salvation. He’s not describing what we can never possibly do in order to reveal our sin. Instead he begins by saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The kingdom of heaven – the reign of God entered into our world as Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead. You have received that saving reign through the Gospel as the Spirit has worked through Word and Sacrament. The Sermon on the Mount describes how we now live our lives through the power of the Spirit as we are in Christ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity - Lk 5:1-11

 

   Trinity 5

                                                                                                            Lk 5:1-11

                                                                                                            7/5/26

 

            During May we realized that our hot water heater was not working.  On a Wednesday we noticed a change – the water didn’t seem to be as hot as it normally was. On Thursday there was no hot water, and we clearly had a problem.

            The timing was less than ideal. I wouldn’t be able to get the plumber to come out that very day. On Friday we were going to the state track meet to watch Michael throw the discus, and then Saturday as well in the finals. I wasn’t going to pay the rates for emergency service on a Sunday. So we were without hot water for four days before the plumber could come out and work on things on Monday.  It felt like I was back in South Sudan.

            I was thrilled when the plumber finally came on Monday. But you know what I didn’t do? I didn’t go down into the basement and tell him what to do as he assessed the problem. When he discovered that the issue was the hot water heater itself – an item that thankfully was still under warranty – I didn’t tell him how he should disconnect it and install a new one.

            I didn’t do this because I am not a plumber. I don’t have the knowledge about how to figure out problems.  I don’t have the expertise about how to do the work to fix things. It would be foolish for me to start telling the plumber how to do his job. 

            Jesus was not a fisherman. But in our Gospel lesson this morning he tells the experts how to do their job. He gives them instructions that demonstrate he has no idea what he is talking about. But he uses these circumstances to reveal who he is. And then in his words to Peter we learn what he means for us.

            In the previous chapter Luke tells us about the temptation of Jesus. Next he narrates the beginning of our Lord’s ministry. The Holy Spirit had descended upon Jesus at his baptism. Now Luke tells us, “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.”

            The people were astonished at Christ’s teaching, because his word possessed authority. Jesus himself demonstrated his authority as he cast out demons. The people were amazed and said, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” Luke tells us that reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

            This authority extended to Jesus’ ability to heal people. We learn that Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law. Then Luke adds, “Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.”

            Because of his teaching and healing, people sought out Jesus. Just before our text we hear about how people didn’t want Jesus to leave. But he said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”

            In our Gospel lesson we hear about an instance when a large crowd was there to hear Jesus. We learn, “On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.” 

            The crowd was pressing in on Jesus as he was standing on the shore of the lake. So he got into one of the boats that belonged to Peter, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Jesus sat down in the boat and taught the people on the shore.

            We learn from John’s Gospel that this wasn’t Peter’s first interaction with Jesus. There we find that Peter and his brother Andrew had been associated with John the Baptist in Judea. John the Baptist had seen Jesus walking by and he declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”  Andrew was one of the disciples with John, and he went to get Peter and brought him to Jesus. When they met Jesus he said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas”(which means Peter).

            The fact that Andrew and Peter had been in Judea around John the Baptist and his work tells us a lot about them. They were obviously concerned about spiritual matters. Now they were back in Galilee, and here they once again encountered Jesus.

This background from John is helpful because we learn that it wasn’t a random stranger who asked Peter to put out from the shore so that he could teach.  He had met Jesus before and understood that he was different and special. It also helps us to understand what happened next.

When Jesus had finished speaking he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Jesus, the son of a carpenter, gave instructions to Peter the fisherman about how to fish. Peter answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 

Peter’s response was a polite way of saying that Jesus’ instruction made no sense.  He didn’t know what he was talking about. Fisherman on the Sea of Galilee fished at night close to the shore. They knew that this was the best way to catch fish. Peter and his companions had done this the previous night and had caught nothing. Yet now Jesus told Peter to go out into the deep during the day and let down his nets.

Our Lord’s instruction made no sense. But it was direction that came from Jesus and so Peter replied, “But at your word I will let down the nets.”  When they did so they enclosed such a larger number of fish that their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners James and John in the other boat to come and help them. When they came they filled both of the boats with so many fish that they began to sink.

Peter and those with him were astonished at what had happened. In particular, Peter was overwhelmed by what it meant. We hear in our text that when he saw the catch of fish he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Peter realized that he was in the presence of the divine. And this recognition led him to the acute perception of his own sinfulness.  His response was, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” This is a fundamental biblical truth. God is the holy God. Sinners cannot exist in God’s presence, for sin evokes God’s wrath and judgment. When Isaiah found himself before Yahweh he said, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Scripture teaches that we are sinners from the moment of our conception.  Jesus told Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Sinful nature brings forth more sinful nature. No one has ever had to teach their child how to be jealous or angry.  It’s just there in them. Paul told the Ephesians that we were dead in our trespasses and sins, and were under the power of the devil. He added that we “were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.”

This is what we are by nature, and then it shows forth in our lives. We see sin happening as we have jealous and covetous thoughts. We speak angry words. We lust and indulge that lust through the use of pornography or even fornication itself.  We do not trust God to provide for us. We doubt his love and care when difficulties arise.

Peter knew his sin and so he wanted to flee from God’s presence. But Jesus said to him, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” Peter acknowledged his sin. But Christ’s response was not one of judgment and condemnation.  Instead, he said, “Do not be afraid.”

Jesus said “Do not be afraid” because as the Son of God he had not entered into the world in order to bring God’s judgment. Instead, he was here to brings God’s forgiveness and salvation.

            In the previous chapter Jesus was at his hometown of Nazareth on the Sabbath. He went to the synagogue and the people were eager to hear from this well known teacher from their own town. Jesus took the scroll of Isaiah and read this text: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

            Then he said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  Jesus had been anointed by the Holy Spirit at his baptism. He was the Servant of the Lord who had come to proclaim good news – Gospel – to those who are trapped in sin. He had come to give liberty to the captives of sin and all that it does in our lives.

            Jesus Christ was numbered with the transgressors. True God and true man, he was the holy Son of God who committed no sin. But he took our sins – he became sin for us as he died on the cross and received God’s judgment.  The holy and just God judged your sin in Christ.

            Sin brings death. It did for Adam. It has for everyone since. Paul told the Romans that the wages of sin is death. Our sin caused Jesus to die. But Jesus was the second Adam through whom God has given us not only forgiveness, but also rescue from death because Jesus rose from the dead on Easter.

            In our Gospel lesson we hear about how Jesus causes a miraculous catch of fish. During the forty days after Easter seven of the disciples once again went fishing on the Sea of Galilee at night but caught nothing. Then as day was breaking Jesus stood on the shore and enquired about whether they had caught any fish. When they said no, he replied, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” They did so and then caught so many fish that they could not haul the net in. The event caused John to exclaim in recognition, “It is the Lord!”

            In our text Jesus says to Peter, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” Then Luke adds, “And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.” The disciples – who would become apostles – left everything and followed Jesus. Jesus was crucified and buried on Good Friday. But then the apostles kept following Jesus.

They did so because they had encountered the risen Lord at so many times, in so many different places, and in so many different groups that they knew for sure that Jesus had risen from the dead. In the resurrection of Jesus they had come to understand what his death on the cross meant for them. As Peter went on to write, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” They also understood that in the resurrection of Jesus they had the hope of eternal life. Peter wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Jesus told Peter, “from now on you will be catching men.” Fishing is a good metaphor for the work of sharing the Gospel. There is certainly a skill involved – there are techniques and equipment. There is a knowledge base about how to do it. But it is still something that you can’t control. Some days, for whatever reason, the fish aren’t biting. All one can do is keep fishing the next day.

In the same way, we recognize that we can’t control the process by which people are called to faith. Only the Holy Spirit can create faith in Christ. He does so where and when he pleases. But we do know the means by which he does so. He does it through the Gospel – the good news that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. Paul told the Romans, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” We speak this word. And then the next day, we speak this word again. We keep speaking about what Jesus Christ has done for us because we know that through faith in Christ we are saints – we are forgiven and holy in God’s eyes.

You came here this morning to hear the Gospel. You came because here the Lord delivers the Gospel to you through the Means of Grace. He did in the word of absolution. He did in the reading of his word – the Scriptures.  He is right now in the proclamation of the sermon. He will in a few moments in the Sacrament of the Altar. Through these means the Spirit delivers forgiveness and strengthens you in faith.

You keep coming back here because it is the Gospel place. And because it is, the simplest way to catch men and women for Christ is to invite them to come here. In this place they will hear the Gospel through which the Spirit creates faith in Christ. Here they will be called to be united with other sinners, who are repentant sinners and therefore are forgiven sinners. Here Christ makes us saints.