St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church

Sermon by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Epiphany 5 February 4, 2007 Luke 5:1-11

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 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 fishes that their nets began to break. So they signaled 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 catch men.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

Jose is a tough man—a strong man and wiry man who lives in Pelejo—a small village on the muddy banks of the Amazon River. Jose grew up not knowing that Jesus lived a life without sin—then died on a splintered wooden cross—to wash away all his sins. Because the serpent Satan had control of his heart and life Jose would be the first to tell you—he would drink himself into stomach churning, bed spinning throwing up—passing out drunk. Because Satan was in his heart—Jose would abuse his wife—use absolutely filthy language and even practice witch craft! Only the Holy Spirit—working a miracle in a heart—by the power of the Gospel could turn such a man into the very literal body guard—of the one who goes into the jungle again and again—to preach Christ crucified and risen—nothing less and nothing more! The other day—Jose got what everyone calls “jungle fever”! Jungle fever means you have a fever—a temperature that goes so high—you become delirious—even unconscious. You get chills—tremble uncontrollably--from chills—when the air temperature was 110°! Then comes the most deadly part of all—a nose bleed! How serious can that be? It starts from a runny nose that will not stop running—until it becomes so sore and thin inside—it begins to bleed. And there’s no way to make it stop. Not all the packing and squeezing and whatever desperate things you try. Jose was bleeding. This strong wiry powerful little man was dying. His life blood was very literally draining through his nose—as his wife cradled his head in her lap. Was she helpless? No she was not. She woke up their little daughters—and they began to pray. They prayed desperately—with tears running down their cheeks—even as blood was running down their father’s chest. They prayed to their Heavenly Father—and by grace alone—God was merciful. Their Heavenly Father spared the life of their earthly father—making the bleeding stop! Miracles happen still today. All you need to do is look around. When you know the grace and goodness of God like that—you can’t keep it to yourself. That’s why God’s Word encourages us today:

Jesus Makes Us Fishers Of People!

1. Don’t be afraid

2. But follow Jesus

As we catch up in spirit with the Lord Jesus—His public ministry has just begun. We heard last Sunday—Jesus preached law and gospel in Nazareth—where he grew up. And the people were so angry—in such a blind murderous rage—they dragged Jesus to the edge of a cliff. His literally next door neighbors—planned to push Jesus to his death! That’s how cold and hard their hearts became! As Jesus—the Word of God made flesh was obviously right there—before their very eyes. So the devil was obviously right there—demons taking hold of people—before their very eyes. In the synagogue in Capernaum—on the Sabbath—as Jesus was teaching the people. There was—right there in church—a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, “Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!” And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area. Luke 4:33-37 Demons—horribly powerful spirits from the pit of hell—cannot hang on to a heart or soul—when the Son of God says, “Get out!”

It is painful to imagine—When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ. Have you ever spent time by the Emergency Room? They bring in people in terrible pain—crying, screaming, shouting. People who bring in loved ones in terrible pain—sometimes they are in a panic—yelling and crying and shouting for help! People who are desperate—calling out—help us here—help us over here—help us now! It’s painful to imagine—people who are sick—with fevers and sores—people with broken arms and legs—people with cuts and bruises—bleeding. It must have been horrible! But Jesus—calm, gentle, patient—powerful to help—made each one better! Jesus didn’t turn people back. He didn’t reject people because they didn’t deserve his help. No one did! But Jesus helped them all. The ultimate tragedy had to be this. Jesus healed heads that ached—eyes that were blind—ears that could not hear—noses that could not smell—people with parts that were dying from leprosy—people possessed by soul murdering demons. Jesus healed them all. No one was sick or hurt or suffering beyond his power and love to help. Jesus never told a one of them—I’m sorry—we did everything we could—but the damage was just too great. Jesus never told anyone—if only you would have come by me sooner—I might have been able to help. Jesus helped everyone! What is eternally tragic is the fact that no matter how great the miracle of physical healing—it was only temporary! How forever tragic—if Jesus fixed your physical heart and mind—while your immortal soul remained forever dead in sins and mistakes! Only Jesus would know and he did—if he was doing temporary repairs on the outside—of people who looked at him as an Emergency Room for their body and nothing more! Only Jesus would know—who was there to have their body repaired while their soul remained fatally wounded. How sad that must have been!

The people by Capernaum wanted Jesus to stay by them. But he had to leave. Jesus said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent. And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. Jesus did not stay one place—waiting for people to come to him. Jesus went where the people were—to tell them the essential good news about the kingdom of God—Jesus’ rule and reign in people’s hearts!

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. Jesus preached law and gospel. Jesus always preached the law first. Jesus always pointed out sin—the flawed human heart that treasures what is worthless—and ignores what is priceless. The flawed human heart that is selfish and self-centered and self serving and self-righteous. The flawed human heart that remembers hurts from literally decades ago—holding on to bitter hateful spiteful grudges. And at the same time forgets to be thankful and content. Jesus pointed to himself as the promised one—the Messiah—the Redeemer—the one who would die on the cross to wash away the sins of the world. Jesus is the vine. We are the branches. Stay connected to Jesus—and he will make you strong—to bear sweet fruits of faith—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

After Jesus preached God’s Word—he told Simon Peter—to go fishing one more time. And Jesus filled his nets with more fish than ever! Nets were breaking. Boats were sinking. When Jesus gives you fish—that’s how many he can give you. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Simon Peter was painfully aware of his personal sinfulness! He was a full grown man who was standing in the presence of his Lord and Savior—and he felt so ashamed it pushed him to his knees and made his heart ache! Do you know how that feels? Sometimes—I’m afraid we don’t feel that guilty! Oh, I read about a bunch of computer hackers who tried to steal about $423 million dollars from a Japanese bank—to electronically transfer all that money to ten secret accounts. But they got caught! Now—that’s a big sin—isn’t it? Or that famous lady who was driving her really big SUV the other day—down the freeway—when her mind wandered. Do you know how that feels? One minute you are alert—looking every direction—checking your rear view mirror—checking your speed. And the next minute you are thinking about what you are going to do or say when you get where you are going. All of a sudden—everybody in front of you slams on their brakes. There are red and orange lights all in front of you. And before you can slam on your brakes—wham! You smack into the car ahead of you. You jump out to make sure everybody in the car you hit are ok. Come to find out a 38 year old mommy is dead—and it is entirely your fault. Now that’s a big sin, too, isn’t it? I’m afraid—most of the time we don’t consider our sins so bad. Smack your thumb with a hammer—and what do you say? A bad word? Who doesn’t? Stand in a group of people telling off color jokes. Do you tell one, too? A pretty girl goes by—don’t you look? Someone calls on the phone—and offers to tell you some really juicy gossip. Don’t you listen? You are doing your taxes—and if you write down the real numbers—aren’t you going to pay more taxes? Don’t you work the numbers a little bit? Didn’t you hear—they have wasted literally millions of dollars in New Orleans and Iraq—and everywhere in between? We sin all the times. I’m afraid some times it’s on purpose and with practiced skill. And we think—as long as we don’t get caught—what’s the harm? I drove through Oconomowoc the other day—past a police officer aiming his radar gun at me and the cars ahead of me and behind me. I was not going 25 mph when I drove past him. It’s hard to imagine how Jesus’ day to day life must have been—never ever doing anything wrong! It’s impossible to imagine how much his heart must have hurt—when he took responsibility for 54 and ¾ years of sins I have done—plus yours and yours and yours! Jesus bore that burden willing—because he loves us that much!

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. The message of law and gospel is intended for and needed by everyone! It is an important concept to work to understand—everyone! That includes people who are born—with physical imperfections! There is a man named George F. Will—who is exceedingly intelligent. He uses huge words—that most people never even heard of—not to show up—but just because those words are perfect words to convey complicated thought! George Will this week wrote again this week—about his son Jon--who was born less than physically perfect. His son has low muscle tone, small stature—he’s kind of short and stocky. He has a single crease across the palm of his hand—he has an upward slant to his eyes—his head is not perfectly shaped. His physical heart is less than perfect. He has increased risk of heart troubles—increased risk of leukemia—increased risk of Alzheimer’s! That doesn’t sound easy—but it doesn’t sound impossible does it? If you know your baby might—might have these troubles—there are all kinds of health professionals that say you should have tests—and then have an abortion—to put this little person to death—rather than have them live with these difficulties! George Will’s son was born with troubles—was born less than physically perfect! And yet—his life is precious—not because he has season tickets to professional football, baseball, hockey and NCAA basketball! His life is precious to Jesus! His life is precious because Jesus died on the cross to save his soul! His life is precious because Jesus died to rescue him! It doesn’t matter—that his body is less than perfect. No one has a perfect body—in this world infected by sin. There are people everywhere—all around us—in our families—in our shoes—with physical hearts that are less than perfect—with heads that are not perfectly shaped—with hands that are not perfectly shaped—with minds that don’t understand everything—eyes that need thick glasses—ears that don’t hear everything. What matters is not the shape of the outside. What matters is that everyone everywhere needs to know that Jesus is the only Way to Heaven! Jesus is the only Way. We need to share that message before it’s too late. Amen!

To God alone all glory!

Rev. Anthony E. Schultz