Trinity 5 Sermon 2020
Trinity 5 (Luke 5:1-11)
St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Laramie, WY
12 July A+D 2020
Ezekiel prophesies in chapter 47 of his book that in the latter days, the days of the New Testament Church, a river will flow from the Temple. The temple is Christ and His Church. The water flows from the most Holy Place, which is where Christ made His sacrifice for sinners on the cross. The water is the Holy Spirit and His Word. Ezekiel tells us that the water flows so that it finally cannot be crossed and its depth cannot be measured. We can never plumb the depths of God’s Word, and who has known the mind of God to be His teacher? And it is written,
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
God has revealed to us that He has mercy on sinners for Christ’s sake. His mercy flows from the Temple, that is from Christ’s wounds through His Church, which is built on the doctrine of the apostles and prophets, the Holy Scriptures.
And the vision of Ezekiel tells us that the stream heals the waters all around, so that it is full of fish, and fishermen stand on the banks of the river to catch the fish. The fish are the Christians. The fishermen are the apostles and the pastors who are their successors. The nets are the preaching of Christ’s word and baptism and His holy Supper.
But there are swamps and marshes that are not healed and where there are no fish. The waters that are not healed are the false teachings, the false spirits and false christs, who lead people away from Christ and the teaching of His apostles. May God lead us from the marshes to the deep, pure water of His Word, where Christ bids His pastors to cast their nets. To this end let us pray with a humble heart and with all boldness and confidence that our dear Father in heaven will hear us because of Christ.
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 our Lord. Amen.
Jesus had already called His disciples to be fishers of men. They had followed Him for a while, but then they had gone back to their careers. They needed to make a living.
It happened later that Jesus was by the Sea of Galilee, and the crowds were pressing in on Him to hear Him, because no one had ever taught like Him before, with authority and certainty, not with speculation and opinions. And Jesus saw two boats there that belonged to the disciples whom He had already called to follow Him. They had given up for the night and were cleaning their nets. But our Lord claimed one of the boats and asked Simon Peter to put the boat out a little bit, and Jesus preached from the pulpit of a fishing boat, and the people were glad to hear Him.
So Simon and his companions were kind of forced to listen to the Word that they had been neglecting for their work. And after Jesus had taught the people, because He loved them, and He knew what they needed, He told Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
Simon and his companions had been fishing all night and caught nothing. They had returned to their work and it wasn’t going well. When we work without God’s Word in our hearts it is all in vain, “for whatever is not from faith is sin,” (Romans 14:23), and “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
This is how life is. There are no fish in the marshes and the swamps where false doctrine rules. And false doctrine rules wherever God’s Word is not. Jesus calls the devil the father of lies (John 8:44) and he says that out of man’s heart flow evil thoughts and blasphemies, that is, false doctrine (Matt. 15:19). And the disciple whom Jesus loved says, “The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” That is why Jesus calls the devil “The prince of this world.”
We are every moment of our lives surrounded by false teaching. The waters around us have no life. Unless we hear the truth of God’s Word, we are left to our own devices and our own intelligence and our own decisions and our own emotions, and “Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” (Prov. 26:12) We can’t trust in ourselves. Even our abilities to do good things can’t be trusted in to provide for us what we need. Both our bodily and spiritual needs are all dependent on the word of Christ.
Peter and Andrew, James and John, they were all good fishermen. They had grown up learning the trade. They fished at night because it gets cooler at night and the plankton and little fishes that big fish eat go to the top of the water, which makes it easier to catch fish. So when Jesus tells them to cast out their nets in the deep, Peter has to cite his own experience. “We have worked all night and caught nothing.”
That is a picture of our work when we try to do anything without Christ. It is true that people can work and make money and become rich and powerful and successful without Christ. But since when does God care about earthly riches or power or success? “What is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15)
Without Jesus and His Word, we labor at night and catch nothing. It doesn’t matter what else we work on. It doesn’t matter if we get our degrees and three car garage and vacations every Summer and success and respect before the world and a comfortable pension and 10 more years of life because we made sure everyone wore a face mask and properly socially distanced. You cannot work hard enough by yourself to catch the fish. You can employ all that you have learned in this short life and give all your strength and put your heart and determination into everything you do, and it will mean nothing in the end if you do not have what actually gives you life, health, riches, honor, peace, love, and joy. If you will not have Christ, you will catch nothing.
But Jesus comes in the day time. After the night of labor that was useless, He comes to those who walked away from Him for the cares and riches of this life. “For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which is lost.” (Luke 19:10) Jesus comes and brings light with His Word. And He plops Himself down in the middle of our busy lives, when we are tired and haven’t succeeded, and He teaches us. He speaks the words of life that cleanse the waters. Jesus says, “The words that I speak to you are Spirit and they are life.” So the water flows from the temple, and cleanses hearts and teaches us not to trust in what we do, in what we think, in what we experience, in what we have resolved and decided to do. Jesus teaches us to trust in Him.
We don’t have a copy of Jesus’ sermon, but we know that He preached repentance and the forgiveness of sins. This is always what He taught. This is what the Father sent Him to teach. He taught the people to turn from their sins that held them chained, to admit the unbelief and lack of trust in God that was making them trust in their own work, to deplore it, to hate it in themselves, and to find their life when they lost it, to find God when they saw that they did not have Him, but as the Scripture says, “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach).” (Rom. 10:8)
When Jesus tells Peter, “Cast your nets,” he has already made a beginning of faith in Peter’s heart. Peter says, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at Your word I will let down the nets.” Peter calls Jesus, “Master.” That is like calling him sir or mister. Peter still wants to cite his own experience. He wants his expertise to be known before he does what Jesus tells him to do. He wants his work to be weighed against Jesus’ words. He has worked with all his know how, and now Jesus is telling him to do something that is against his knowledge, experience, sight, decisions, and understanding.
Think about this. Jesus tells Peter to do something that contradicts his own will. Peter wouldn’t have decided to cast out his nets at this time. Peter didn’t want to cast down the net on his own accord. Peter didn’t plan this. He didn’t decide to do it. Jesus did. Jesus set him to work after his work had all been for nothing.
But Peter has one thing, even if he is still clinging to the dignity of his own expertise. Peter has one thing still, even while his hurt pride is still holding onto something of his own natural powers. What does Peter have? Peter has the Word of Jesus. The stream has flowed from the temple and begun to sweeten the salty water of Peter’s soul. “We worked all night and took nothing! But at Your word I will let down the nets.”
That is all he had. All he had was Jesus word. But when you have Jesus’ word, you have Jesus with you. They let down the nets at Jesus’ word.
And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
Jesus made the fish come to them. He is the Maker of all things. He is the Preserver of everything. Against Peter’s experience, above his decisions, beyond his expertise, surpassing all that Peter has done and thought he could do is the word that told him to let down his nets when it all seemed futile.
“All our knowledge, sense, and sight
Lie in deepest darkness shrouded,
Till Your Spirit breaks our night
With the beams of truth unclouded!
You alone to God can win us!
You must work all good within us!”
Peter saw God’s almighty power standing in front of him. He saw all his own talent and aiming for success, all of his work and decision to leave Jesus to do his job – he saw his pride with all of these things crumble to the ground, and it brought him to his knees.
But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.
And so it must happen with us. We fight against our flesh because out of our hearts flow evil thoughts and blasphemies. What evil thoughts and blasphemies? Everything that would make us trust in our own labor and decisions and understanding, so that we walk away from Jesus and rely on ourselves and not on Jesus. And we are so prone to stray, like sheep turning each to his own way. We see it in our actions, but when Jesus shows us His almighty power, it cuts to the heart.
God’s almighty power without His mercy is terrifying. People say they lose faith in God by thinking about how God is powerful, but doesn’t do enough good for those who are suffering. But that is because they walk by sight and do not listen. Peter fell to his knees because he saw the almighty power of God standing in front him. Jesus even broke their nets that they had just spent time cleaning! He destroyed the means by which they could make a living. He was sinking their boats! He gave them more fish than they had ever caught in one sitting. He destroyed their livelihoods in front of them with what they thought they really needed! Was this unmerciful?
It seems so sometimes. God lays crosses on you and takes what you love, what you thought you needed, the means by which you were going to be successful, be happy, finally get some rest or dignity from your work. Is this His anger? Is this His mighty power that knows no mercy? Has God forgotten to be merciful?
And so we are tempted to push this powerful God away. Peter no longer calls Jesus “sir,” but says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” That is voice of a conscience that knows sin, but is making the wrong judgment about God. That is voice that knows God’s almighty power, but has not seen the mercy which always accompanies God’s power.
But remember Jesus’ words to Peter. “Do not be afraid.” Peter tries to push Jesus away again, like he left Him before. But Jesus doesn’t leave. He doesn’t listen to Peter’s experience, just as He didn’t before. He doesn’t do what Peter asks, because “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.” (Ps. 34:18) And He says through the prophet Isaiah (66:2), “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.” And Jesus says, “Whoever comes to Me, I will in now wise cast out!” And Peter came to Jesus on his knees after Jesus came to him with His Word.
Jesus has come to you, to you sinners, to you who have run away from God, who have chosen the pleasures of this life over the joy of eternal life, who have broken your promises to follow your Lord, who have trusted more in your own work and rejoiced more in your own money and success than in the word of God that will not pass away; to you who feel yourself passing away, losing your strength, seeing your work become futile; to you who see God’s almighty power over all things when He destroys what you build and yet continues to feed you and clothe you and give you more than you need; to you who have run from God with Adam and Eve, to you whom He finds in the Garden and in the boat, on your knees, having lost your trust in yourself, having lost your nets and your boat and your pride because what was that except the spiritual stupidity of a sheep who followed his own heart – to you, who have every reason your mind can conjure up to be afraid, to give up, to push Jesus away again because you don’t deserve mercy from the Power that is above you; to you, sinner, Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid.” With you, sinner, Jesus stays. He doesn’t leave you. He doesn’t say, “I just wanted to put you in your miserable place.” He says, “Don’t be afraid.”
There stands here with us today He who said, “And surely I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.” There speaks here still today through the mouth of His fisher of men the one who promised, “Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in the midst of you.” You cannot see Him. You can hear Him. You have His word.
I have Thy Word,
Christ Jesus, Lord;
Thou never wilt forsake me.
This will I plead
In time of need.
Oh, help me speed
When troubles overtake me!
And He does. He abides with you. He stays with you to tell you, “Don’t be afraid.”
“Don’t be afraid of the sin you see inside of you. I am come to be made sin for you, to have it all carried in My body, to die for it in the Temple of My body, to ruin every sin that has ruined you, to take your place under the Law that curses you for leaving Me, but I have not left you. See God made Me to be a curse for you on the tree, and so I am not hear to curse, but to bless. I do not return insult for insult, I bless you. I forgive you. I stay with you just as I did not leave the cross until My blood was shed on every sin to wash it all away, and all was finished. I did not leave until the water had been cleansed in the Most Holy Place, and now it flows from My side to you in your baptism, washing you clean every day, giving you My name that takes your shame away, using all My power, all My authority, not to condemn you, but to release you from judgment, to assure you as often as your heart condemns you that I am God, I am greater that your heart, and I know all things, and I know that I love you, a sinner, and I forgive you, a sinner, and I will not leave you a sinner when you tell me to. No, I will tell you not to be afraid.
“So what if your work has amounted to nothing – I make all things new. So what if your own mind and heart have deceived you? I give you a new heart, a new mind, so that you see that your labor in me is not in vain. So what if you have lost earthly things? I have all of heaven’s treasures hidden in me, to reveal to you in the Word that I now preach to you, and the sum of it all is an absolution containing the words, ‘“Do not be afraid.’ So, no, I will not depart from you, a sinful man, a sinful woman. I will stay with you. I will lead you to still waters which heal the whole world. I will feed you with Myself, with My words.
Jesus tells Peter, “Don’t be afraid. From now on, you will catch men.” Jesus does not call every Christian to be a pastor. There were probably thousands listening to Him at the sea of Galilee that day, and he didn’t call them all to be fishers of men. He called certain men to do it. He wanted to teach all pastors and all Christians that just as those first pastors’ experience and knowledge didn’t mean anything without His Word, so we cannot rely on anything to catch men, to bring sinners to faith, than the pure Word of Jesus that flows from the Temple to cleanse the waters where we cast the nets of the Gospel and sacraments.
Jesus does not call everyone to be fishers of men. But the application applies to all of us. Pastors are to be an example to the flock, so model your labor after the labor that Jesus established for the apostles and their successors. Don’t rely on yourself. Let down the nets at His Word. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (Prov. 3:5-6) Don’t despair when you see that God’s power is greater than your strongest efforts. Remember that God doesn’t want you to view His power except in His mercy, except in Christ who loved you and gave Himself up for you, that you might no longer live for yourself, but for Him who is merciful to you again today, whose grace abounds more than your sins, who knows you and all you are and still loves you and wants to be with you.
You will recall that the nets began to break and the boats began to sink from the catch of fish that day. It was after Jesus’ resurrection when Jesus appeared on the same lake to His disciples, but they didn’t recognize Him. He told them to cast their nets out on the other side of the boat. And when they did they caught an even bigger catch of fish, and they had to drag it in. The nets didn’t break this time, and they only needed one boat.
Then Peter did not say, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.” John told him, “It is the Lord.” And Peter stripped of his clothes and dove into sea and swam to Jesus. Because Jesus was risen. Peter was an even more sinful man than before at that time. He had denied Christ three times. But Christ is risen. He makes all things new. Our nets will not break anymore. Jesus is standing at the shore waiting for us.
So let us strip of the Old Man; let us repent when we see God’s almighty power and dive into the waters of our baptism, because that stream will take us to Christ cleansed and confident to find that all His power is in His mercy, and His mercy is for us poor sinners, to comfort us, to forgive us, to guide us in all trials and finally from all evil, to lead us to that Temple where no sun or moon is needed, but Christ is our light, and we will be with Him forever, praising Him, enjoying Him, seeing His Word fulfilled in front of our resurrected and cleansed eyes.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
~Pr. Mark Preus