|
Heaven Shining Down on Our Enemies
Luke 6:27-38 and Genesis 45:3-15 Seventh in a Series of Nine Epiphany Sermons February 23 and 24, 2019 Dear Christian friends, We’ve been weaving our way through the life and ministry of Jesus rejoicing, exploring, and reflecting. First of all rejoicing that God has reached down from heaven to rescue us in the Person of Jesus Christ. Secondly we’ve been exploring the obvious truth that mission and ministry happen in specific locations, each with their own significant history and particular opportunities. Third, we’ve been reflecting on this epic battle between the Light of the world and the forces of darkness taking place in ever corner of God’s kingdom, and in every generation, including ours. In previous weeks, we’ve seen heaven shining down / (referencing map)
The location of today’s sermon is on a level plain, and he’s preaching. Three circles of people are surrounding him, a small circle of 12 disciples, a larger circle of followers, and a much larger circle of folks from all over Galilee and Jerusalem and Judea, even the coastlands are represented. Last week, we saw heaven shining down on outsiders, on those who have no power and no privileges here and now. Today, we see heaven shining down on our enemies through us. Heaven shining down on our enemies by the way we we think, the way that we speak, the way that we listen, the way that we act. Two parts to our sermon today, first we identify who are our enemies, and secondly, we think about how and why we are to go about loving them. Would you rescue him? Imagine that you are a college aged guy, that you are a lifeguard at a beach, and that there is a group of guys that has been giving you a hard time. They have been making fun of your physical appearance, they have been embarrassing you in front of your girl friend, and the worst of it is that one of the guys in particular is working hard to steal away your girl friend. In your heart, a spirit of bitterness has turned into hatred, and more than once you have wished for him to be dead. Now imagine that he has wandered into deep water, and it comes to your attention that he’s in very real danger of drowning. Your assignment, in that moment, is to love your enemy, it is to do good to a person who has hated you. Would you rescue him? A couple of weeks ago, we saw Jesus calling Peter and others away from their fishing business to be on a rescue mission to catch people alive. Today we hear Jesus making it clear that it’s easy to love those who are loving us back. Even unbelievers can do that. It’s easy to be kind and patient and forgiving towards those who are kind and patient and forgiving kinds of folks. Just about anybody can do that. Today Jesus invites us collectively to be on a rescue mission which includes being kind to the rudest of the rude. It includes being patient towards those who couldn’t care less what we are thinking of them. It includes forgiving those who aren’t asking for our forgiveness. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Sermon part #1 - (Identifying) our enemies For the early disciples, enemies were easy to identify. There were the Pharisees and the Saduccees who were secretly and eventually openly plotting against and wanting to harm Jesus and anybody who was following him. All four Gospels are filled with first century religious leaders giving Jesus a hard time, they tried hard to trick him and trap him with their riddles, they spread rumors far and wide about him breaking sabbath and other ceremonial laws, as you well know, they ended up crying out for his crucifixion and bullying Pilate and Roman soldiers into doing just that. A second group of enemies for those early disciples were Samaritans. Right in the middle of Palestine in Jesus’ day, right between Galilee to the north and Judea to the south, was Samaria. This was a no – go area for Jewish people. Galileans who wanted to travel to Jerusalem would tend to bypass this whole area on their way southward. They would go down the Jordan Valley towards Jericho and then into Jerusalem, which would add another 25 miles to their journey. Samaritans and Jews had been sworn enemies for 400 years. On one occasion, John and James asked Jesus if they should call down fire upon an unwelcoming Samaritan village. You will remember Jesus healing ten lepers, and only one of them, a Samaritan, bothered to return thanks. In the story of the Good Samaritan, it was the Jewish priest and levite who came out looking self-centered and lacking compassion. Samaritans and Jews were both political and religious enemies. Animosity was bred and taught right into their souls from childhood on. Who might you and I identify as enemies in these days? Often they are the people close to us who have been hurt. It could be a spouse, a former spouse, or even a parent. It could be a son or daughter, a co-worker, or a Face-book friend who has opposite political views. Our enemies could be folks who have insulted us or we have insulted them. The animosity could be male/female, it could be baby boomer/millennial, it could be democratic/republican, it could be conservative/liberal, it could be employer/employee, the conflict could be real or imagined, it could be based on long standing differences or merely a hot tempered reaction. For reflection – who are the three or four folks in my life who I have been avoiding in these days? Who are the folks who I have taken cheap shots at instead of caring about their story. Who are the folks who have made it clear they are against what we believe? Sermon part #2 - (Loving) our enemies. So how is it and why is it that we are to be loving our enemies and doing good to those who hate us? How is it and why is it that we should be trying to rescue people who don’t think they need to be rescued? Loving our enemies isn’t just thinking nice thoughts about them. It’s about throwing ourselves on the mercy of God and Him doing a heart change within us. Loving our enemies is about hearing Jesus pleading for his father to forgive those soldiers who were nailing him to the cross, for they didn’t know what they were doing. Loving our enemies is about God somehow loving the nation of Israel even when they were thumbing their nose at him, it’s about Jesus Christ dying for us while we were yet in our sins, it’s about God in heaven above working in Joseph the kind of faith able to forgive his brothers who had sold him into slavery, loving our enemies is about the Holy Spirit teaching and counseling and guiding us into the truth that set us free, it’s about us letting our Gospel light shine so that others may see our good works and glorify our God in heaven above. In these three ways, we would go about loving our enemies this week. First, we would be loving our enemies With intelligent (purpose). The kingdom of God is like a Christian who regularly engages in political debate on Facebook, Instagram, and twitter. Most days, she restrains himself, tries to be reasonable, and let’s a lot of comments slide by. But on her bad days, she gets fed up and just lets it rip, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. This week, she makes a promise to herself that before she comments in writing, she will ask this question, “How can I comment in such a way that whoever reads it will be directed to Jesus Christ as the kind and patient Savior that he is? Second, we would be loving our enemies With words, actions, and (restraint). The kingdom of God is like a man who is as wounded as he can be by a marriage gone bad. Most days, he watches what he says to his ex wife, he tries to take the high road, and he bites his tongue hard and often. But on his bad days, he has been known to get fed up, he lets it rip, he curses, he demands, he counts the ways he has been wronged, he takes the low road. This week, he makes a promise to himself that whenever tempted to go small and petty, he will ask this question, “How can I speak, how can I act in a way that will honor Jesus Christ, in a way that his name would be kept holy, in a way that his kingdom would come? Third, we would be loving our enemies With the right (attitude), The kingdom of God is like a middle aged person who regularly prays for her family, her friends, her small town, her congregation, and all those who are in authority. Rarely does she pray for those who have offended, those who have excluded, those who have treated her as if she doesn’t really exist. This week, she prays that God would help her to care about that which He care about, she prays that God would work in her heart a stronger faith and a better attitude. Speaking of attitude, I was sitting in my favorite chair this past week, and our 8 year old grandson Oli was sitting nearby. As I often do with my grandchildren, I was giving advice, even though they weren’t asking. I was reading an article about having a good attitude, and so I interrupted his screen time by asking, “Oli, you know what?” “What?” I read to him a quote about how attitude is everything, and as I started pontificating, he looked me in the eyes and said, “No, Grandpa, (Christ) is everything! After a little bit of back and forth, I agreed with him, and Debi and I had one of those “proud to be grandparents” moments! Dear friends in Christ, as you go about loving those who are hard to love this week, know that Jesus Christ lived a perfect life for you, he suffered for you, he was crucified until he was dead and buried for you, he rose up again for you, he is ruling all of heaven and earth on behalf of us, and this week, he invites us to join him on this grand rescue mission that includes both friend and foe alike. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
0 Comments
I know the plans I have for you
Funeral Sermon for Scott Steinberg Matthew 11:28-30 // Revelation 2:10-11 // Jeremiah 29:10-11 Grace, mercy, and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our sermon text for today is Jeremiah 29:11, I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, and Matthew 11 where Jesus says, “I will give you rest.” Dear friends in Christ, Jesus says, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Come to me, you who are tired, and I will give you rest. I can tell you this, there are different kinds of tired. I remember my summers at camp during my college days. I would get done with the college semester just tired. Long nights, lots of caffeine, little sleep, bad food, reading, typing, and sitting. It was exhausting. But then, I would go to camp. I remember that our days would start as the sun rose and we would be watching children until late. My days were full of canoeing and swimming, full of silly games and Bible study, full of walking miles and miles and miles through the woods and making breakfast, lunch and dinner over the fire. I was tired but in a different way. Not so much of late nights and caffeine but full days and tasks well done. Not so much of writing papers and taking tests, but the questions of campers dealing with real life. Scott was so tired at the end. But let me tell you what he was tired of. He was tired of breathing through a trach tube. tired of sickness, tired of pain, tired of doctors, tired of treatments. But I can tell you what he wasn’t tired of. He wasn’t tired of his dear wife. He wasn’t tired of his daughters. He wasn’t tired of his dear little granddaughter, Emma Lynn. And today, I would invite you to be tired, to be absolutely tired of death. To be tired of pain, tired of tears, tired of sorrow. Tired of struggle, tired of sin. Today, I would invite you to be tired of all these things that will pass away. And today I would invite you never, ever be tired of these words, the words of our Gospel reading, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Never ever tire that the grace given in Jesus Christ is amazing, just as Trista sung, that the Lord is exactly what it says in Psalm 46, a refuge for all who are weary, and a strength especially when you are weak. Though your whole world would fall down around you, he is ever-present as a help in times of trouble. I can tell you that when my son Benjamin was born, he was whisked away from us up to Children’s Hospital in St. Paul. We traveled on up in the afternoon and spent his second night alive up there, taking turns feeding him his bottle during the night, and I remember looking down at him, this precious little one in my arms, just two little handfuls of human being, and thinking, I’m never going to be tired again. I don’t need sleep anymore. I just need to look at this little guy, and I’ll be fine. That didn’t last long. But still, I know that I will never tire of seeing him grow up. I will never tire of seeing him figure out who he is. I will never tire of seeing this two little handfuls of human turn into a walking, talking toddler, turn into a speaking, running big kid, turn into a young man and beyond, wondering at the plans that my God has for him. I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. God’s plan for Scott included working construction and providing for his family. They included raising up four beautiful daughters. They included being a husband for 41 years. They included being a gentle and fun presence at daycare with all the girls and the boys (Because of him, Benny knows more about hunting than I do). They included the days of cancer, God’s plans included the days in the hospital, the days of pain. They included the surgeries gone well and the surgeries with complications. And in the end, they included the days when he could hold his little grandbaby, Emma Lynn Charlotte. I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. More than all of that, God’s plans included that he sent his son to die for Scott, that he rose up on the third day for Scott, that in his baptism, Scott’s name was written in the Book of life, and in the name of Jesus, there is no more pain and there is no more cancer and there are no more tears where he is at Jesus’s side. I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. That there will be a day when you, Carol, will speak to Scott once again in his flesh, and he will respond to you with his own voice. There will be a day when you will sit down together to enjoy the feast which has no end, to eat and drink in full what we know in part on the bench in your dining room. In the chapel during Christmas. The Lord’s Supper where we eat and drink with all the living and all the faithful departed. There will be a day when we know in full that cancer and loss and tears and hospital beds and pain no longer will ever have the last laugh. I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. They are plans to prosper you and not to harm. Plans that end only in endless joy. Plans that end in a future far better than we could imagine. Plans that end in eternal life that has no end. May Scott rest in peace. Amen. I know the plans I have for you
Funeral Sermon for Scott Steinberg Matthew 11:28-30 // Revelation 2:10-11 // Jeremiah 29:10-11 Grace, mercy, and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our sermon text for today is Jeremiah 29:11, I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, and Matthew 11 where Jesus says, “I will give you rest.” Dear friends in Christ, Jesus says, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Come to me, you who are tired, and I will give you rest. I can tell you this, there are different kinds of tired. I remember my summers at camp during my college days. I would get done with the college semester just tired. Long nights, lots of caffeine, little sleep, bad food, reading, typing, and sitting. It was exhausting. But then, I would go to camp. I remember that our days would start as the sun rose and we would be watching children until late. My days were full of canoeing and swimming, full of silly games and Bible study, full of walking miles and miles and miles through the woods and making breakfast, lunch and dinner over the fire. I was tired but in a different way. Not so much of late nights and caffeine but full days and tasks well done. Not so much of writing papers and taking tests, but the questions of campers dealing with real life. Scott was so tired at the end. But let me tell you what he was tired of. He was tired of breathing through a trach tube. tired of sickness, tired of pain, tired of doctors, tired of treatments. But I can tell you what he wasn’t tired of. He wasn’t tired of his dear wife. He wasn’t tired of his daughters. He wasn’t tired of his dear little granddaughter, Emma Lynn. And today, I would invite you to be tired, to be absolutely tired of death. To be tired of pain, tired of tears, tired of sorrow. Tired of struggle, tired of sin. Today, I would invite you to be tired of all these things that will pass away. And today I would invite you never, ever be tired of these words, the words of our Gospel reading, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Never ever tire that the grace given in Jesus Christ is amazing, just as Trista sung, that the Lord is exactly what it says in Psalm 46, a refuge for all who are weary, and a strength especially when you are weak. Though your whole world would fall down around you, he is ever-present as a help in times of trouble. I can tell you that when my son Benjamin was born, he was whisked away from us up to Children’s Hospital in St. Paul. We traveled on up in the afternoon and spent his second night alive up there, taking turns feeding him his bottle during the night, and I remember looking down at him, this precious little one in my arms, just two little handfuls of human being, and thinking, I’m never going to be tired again. I don’t need sleep anymore. I just need to look at this little guy, and I’ll be fine. That didn’t last long. But still, I know that I will never tire of seeing him grow up. I will never tire of seeing him figure out who he is. I will never tire of seeing this two little handfuls of human turn into a walking, talking toddler, turn into a speaking, running big kid, turn into a young man and beyond, wondering at the plans that my God has for him. I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. God’s plan for Scott included working construction and providing for his family. They included raising up four beautiful daughters. They included being a husband for 41 years. They included being a gentle and fun presence at daycare with all the girls and the boys (Because of him, Benny knows more about hunting than I do). They included the days of cancer, God’s plans included the days in the hospital, the days of pain. They included the surgeries gone well and the surgeries with complications. And in the end, they included the days when he could hold his little grandbaby, Emma Lynn Charlotte. I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. More than all of that, God’s plans included that he sent his son to die for Scott, that he rose up on the third day for Scott, that in his baptism, Scott’s name was written in the Book of life, and in the name of Jesus, there is no more pain and there is no more cancer and there are no more tears where he is at Jesus’s side. I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. That there will be a day when you, Carol, will speak to Scott once again in his flesh, and he will respond to you with his own voice. There will be a day when you will sit down together to enjoy the feast which has no end, to eat and drink in full what we know in part on the bench in your dining room. In the chapel during Christmas. The Lord’s Supper where we eat and drink with all the living and all the faithful departed. There will be a day when we know in full that cancer and loss and tears and hospital beds and pain no longer will ever have the last laugh. I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. They are plans to prosper you and not to harm. Plans that end only in endless joy. Plans that end in a future far better than we could imagine. Plans that end in eternal life that has no end. May Scott rest in peace. Amen. Heaven Shines Down on the Outcasts
Seventh in a series of nine, “Heaven Shines Down” Luke 6:17-26 // Jeremiah 17:5-8 // 1 Cor 15:12-20 Grace, mercy, and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our sermon text for today is the first portion of Jesus’s sermon on the plain, as Luke retells the Beatitudes, “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of heaven is yours...” Our text thus far. Dear friends in Christ, God does not choose places or people at random but deliberately. God does not ignore the past of his people but uses every bit, every scrap of everything that we are to demonstrate his grace, his mercy, and his peace. We’ve been seeing heaven shine down at Bethlehem, at the River Jordan, at Cana during a wedding feast, in Nazareth when Jesus is rejected, in Capernaum as Jesus heals and teaches, and last week, we saw heaven shine down as Jesus calls the disciples and tells them, I will make you fishers of men. Pastor Griffin said, “Jesus moved Peter from timidity to courage... and it wasn’t just a one-time deal.” So, after seeing thousand chasing after him for healing, after seeing hundreds of disciples gathering around him, after selecting his 12 disciples... Today, we see Jesus lifting up his eyes on his disciples, out and among so many that came to him for so many reasons, and he begins to teach. Four blessings and four woes for today, and all four of these, they really just say (one thing). One thing, one main point said four different ways. Let me read them all together. Blessed are you who are poor, and woe to you who are rich, for the kingdom of heaven is at stake. Blessed to you who are hungry and woe to you who are full, for satisfaction in heaven is at stake! Blessed are you who mourn and woe to you who are laughing, for joy in heaven is at stake. And here’s the most important one, and you know that because Jesus spends the most time saying it. Blessed are you when you are persecuted, and woe to you when people speak well of you, for your reward in heaven is at stake. But before we get to that one thing, notice some of the context. All of these blessings and woes point us again and again to the truth that this earth is a heavenly (battlefield), and remember our definition of heavenly from a few weeks ago—heaven is to be in the presence of God. Your kindness demonstrates the kindness of Jesus. Your response to adversity can encourage faith (which clings to eternal life!) in others. Your life in the body of Christ is where God has chose to make “Thy kingdom come and thy will be done” to come on earth as it is in heaven. To say it in a different way, if you had eyes to see it, you would see in every interaction, every situation, every action, every reaction, in every one of those, there is a supreme battle raging between light and darkness, where every one of your actions has a cosmic effect, where heaven itself is at stake. But back to the one thing. These verses only really say one thing, that’s this: Blessed are those who (have no power). Woe to those who (do have power). What does that mean? Blessed are you when you are on the margins, when you are on the edge. Woe to you when you are the influencer, when you are in the center, when you are the leader and the doer. Blessed are you when the only hope that you can possibly have is heaven. Woe to you when life is going well enough that you think you can do it on your own. What does that mean? Does that mean we should seek to be sad, that we should seek to make bad business decisions, that we should starve ourselves? And well, that misses the point as well, because those are only the outward signs of something greater. The point isn’t to be poor and hungry and weeping and scorned, because being that is only a by-product of what Jesus really wants. Instead, it’s about a person (and I quote), “who no longer requires such things for satisfaction.”[1] What would it look like to no longer require such things for satisfaction? To no longer require wealth to know serenity and security? To no longer require laughter to know joy? To no longer require food to know fullness? To no longer require influence to know that you are to be an example of Christ’s love even to those who hate you? Because, there will be a day when your Christian calling won’t match your gifts. The kingdom of heaven is like a man whose greatest calling in life was to be a husband, and he was good at laying down your life for your wife, but now she’s gone. The kingdom of heaven is like a woman who exulted in using her body to run marathons, making friends. She felt alive there in a way that nothing could compare, but now her knees give out and she’ll never be out there again. The kingdom of heaven is like a woman named Joni Earickson, whose promising life came to a halt when she became a quadriplegic. She couldn’t do what she always thought she would do. She couldn’t do hardly anything at all. But slowly and surely, she found that the Lord wasn’t done with her, and that he had more for her to do than she ever thought possible. Because each and every one of us is going to come to that point, when what we want to do doesn’t match what we can do. Or to say it the way that St. Paul said it, “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” Your reward is in heaven, and heaven shines down to us in (Jesus). Because, no matter however your circumstances change, your God stays the same. Jesus died for all of your sins, whether your sins feel heavy or not. Jesus was raised for your eternal life, whether you see the horror of death in front of you or not. Jesus empowers you with an unearthly peace and a godly strength whether you feel like it or not. He is the kingdom of heaven. He is our reward. He is heaven itself. And he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen and amen. [1]https://www.umass.edu/wsp/alpha/forum/egl2017/Wright-EGL%20Paper.pdf Heaven Shining Down By the Sea of Gennesaret
Luke 5:1-11 / I Corinthians 14:12b-20 / Isaiah 6:1-8 Sixth in a Series of Nine – Heaven Shining Down Feb. 9 and 10, 2019 Dear Friends in Christ, We are focusing on the specific locations of our texts in these days, to say this: that God does not choose places at random but deliberately. God does not ignore the past of his people but uses every bit, every scrap of everything that we are to demonstrate his grace, his mercy, and his peace. Two maps we have in our bulletin today focused on locations in Jesus’ day with significant history and particular opportunity. Locations where an epic battle raged between the Light of this world and the forces of forces of darkness, a battle that continues to rage to this very day. In the past weeks, we have seen
Luke 5 through 13 summarizes Jesus’ ministry mainly in Galilee, and in today’s text we find Jesus using the metaphor of fishing to teach about mission and ministry. In this text, the boats will symbolize the church, the sea is the world, fish=people, and the nets will represent the teaching and preaching and miracles of Jesus. Going fishing is the most (expensive) way there is to catch a free meal. That’s a little Facebook post that caught my eyes in recent days. I did a little research and found that in 2011 33.1 million Americans age 16 and over went fishing, they fished on average 17 days, they spent 41.8 billion dollars, (and I hope I’m not getting any men in trouble here today), which is an average of $1,261 a year spent by each fisherman or fisherwoman. No doubt many of you have heard a lover of fishing say something like this – “it’s better to be fishing and thinking about God than to be in church thinking about fishing.” I don’t know about that, but I do know that the first disciples were fisherman, and that’s precisely who Jesus chose to hang around, they are the ones Jesus decided to call into ministry. I don’t know exactly why Jesus didn’t choose the highly educated or the independently wealthy folks, but we do know that he did choose the men that society considered unimpressive, not particularly successful, and uneducated. In last week’s sermon, Pastor Muther’s third and final point was that going from Nazareth where he was rejected to Capernaum where there were all kinds of Gentiles mixed in with the Jews, Jesus was moving from the earthly to the heavenly. He pointed out that the heavenly wasn’t so much a place as it was and is the presence of God. Moving from the earthly to the heavenly. Specifically we want to see how Jesus took Peter in our text from Point A to Point B. He took Peter where he was at, and by teaching and perfoming a miracle, Jesus moved him to where he wanted him to be. Three movements in the heart and mind of Peter, we would note. First, Jesus took Peter From wanting to be left alone to (leaving everything). When Jesus first told Simon Peter to throw his nets back out into the deep, he was asking Peter to do something that defied logic. For starters, their nets were designed for night fishing, and secondly, the fish just weren’t biting! Peter wonders out loud why he should go back out fishing, but then replied, “but at your word I will lower my nets. He reminds us of the virgin Mary who wondered out loud how she could be pregnant, but then responded, “Behold I am the servant of the Lord, Be it to me according to your word.” When Peter saw the miracle unfolding he just wanted to be left alone. The catch was so great not just one but two boats were sinking. The miracle was so amazing Peter knows he is unworthy to be in the presence of Jesus. The awesomeness of the one true God had grabbed ahold of Peter, and he just wanted Jesus to leave. He reminds of us of Abraham who was bold enough to pray a third and a fourth and a fifth time for Sodom and Gomorrah to be spared, even though he was but dust and ashes. Peter reminds us of Job, who dared spout off to God and then backed down with these words of confession, “Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” Or Isaiah in today’s first lesson who is in the presence of the Triune God and cries out, “Woe is me. I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” Point A is Peter just wanting to be left alone as a poor and a miserable sinner, Point B is in the final statement of our Gospel lesson when he and his brother Andrew and fishing buddies John and James leave every one of their possessions, they leave their business, they leave their families, and they follow Jesus to places unknown. For reflection: In what ways have I fallen into that ditch where I just want to be left alone, that ditch where I just want to mind my own business, that ditch where I’m not really against those pastors and people over at the church making disciples of all nations, but I’m not really wanting to be involved? Secondly Jesus moved Peter From timidity to (courage) When Jesus invited Peter not to be afraid, he was absolving his sins. The great miracle of the abundant catch of fish pointed to a greater miracle – namely the forgiveness of sins. So also in the case of Isaiah, as soon as he cried out in unworthiness, the seraphim flew to him, touched his mouth with a burning coal and said, “your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” Keep in mind Jesus moving Peter from being afraid to being on fire for the kingdom wasn’t a one time deal. So also on this very same lake, recall another time when Jesus was sleeping, a terrific windstorm threatens to drown them all, the disciples wonder out loud if their Master doesn’t care that they are dying, Jesus rebukes the wind, he quiets the waves and wonders out loud where is their faith/wonders out loud why they have fallen back into being fearful little men. So also on this same lake, you will remember Jesus walking on the water, then Peter getting out of the boat with a strong faith walking on the water, then Peter wavering, Peter sinking, Peter crying out, Jesus reaching out and wondering out loud why he was of little faith, why he was doubting. Jesus moving Peter from Point A which was being afraid to Point B which is on his way to becoming a faithful preacher of God’s Word to the early church. For reflection: In what ways have I fallen back into that mood where I freak out in the storms of life instead of staying calm? In what ways have I retreated to my comfort zone where I stay quiet instead of speaking God’s truths with kindness and patience? In what ways have I been gripped with a spirit of timidity instead of courage? Third, Jesus moved Peter From catching fish to catching (people) Jesus doesn’t just forgive Peter’s sinfulness in this text, he commissions him to take that forgiveness to the villages by the Lake of Gennesaret and beyond. He doesn’t just invite Peter into the kingdom, he calls him to be a builder of that kingdom. He doesn’t just shine into Peter’s heart with grace and with mercy, he says perhaps with a twinkle in his eye, we’re going fishing full time. From this day forward, you and your buddies are going to be helping me catch people alive! In these next three years, Jesus would be teaching, he would be catechizing them with all kinds of teaching and with all kinds of preaching and with more miracles than they could even remember. By the time the next three years were finished, they would be fully equipped, trained, and ready to turn the world upside down. Just as fish would go from swimming loose in the lake to being caught and in the boat with Jesus, so also with thousands and eventually millions of lost and wandering sinners be brought into the kingdom through baptism, catechesis, and the Lord’s Supper. Peter’s commission to catch people alive was to go out and do what Jesus had just done to him, that is to preach the kingdom and forgive sins. Jesus would be moving on, the church would be going with him, and these ordinary fisherman would have brand new hearts, brand new desires, and a brand new vocation. For reflection: In what ways have I been seeking after all these other things instead of the kingdom of God and his righteousness? Have I been hearing God wondering out loud, “whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Where are the places in my little corner of the kingdom where this week I might step forward and say out loud, “Here I am, send me!” To fish or not to fish? The kingdom of God is like a father who is pretty regularly too busy to take his son fishing. Almost always there was a lawn to mow, a garage to clean, an errand to run, or a nap to enjoy. One day, he had the time. He took the time to take his 7 year old son fishing. For an entire afternoon and into the evening, the father was as patient as he could be, he taught his son how to bait and cast, he taught him how to reel and how to clean. That night as mom tucked him into bed and asked him how was his day, the answer was swift, the answer was simple. It was the best day ever. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. |
Worship Sermons & LettersArchives
October 2022
|
