Sunday, February 27, 2022
Sermon Text for February 27, 2022 - "Fishing With Jesus: Fishing By Listening To and Proclaiming Only Jesus"
“Fishing With Jesus:
Fishing by Listening to and Proclaiming Only Jesus”
February 27, 2022
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
Since I don’t want to get stuck in a rut, I’m not going to ask for a show of hands and then ask a seemingly bizarre question. That’s not to say that won’t come back again soon. Instead, this morning I’m going to have you all think about this question: Why are you here? I don’t mean to ask why you’re here in some sort of general existential sense. Instead, I want to ask, why are you here at St. Andrew this morning? Of all the places you could have been this morning, especially on another cold morning like this one, you chose to be here. For those of you who are watching the video or listening to the podcast, there are a lot of other things you could be doing right now, yet you chose to be here. Why? I’m sure that if we went around the room, we could come up with all sort of different answers as to why we think we’re here. Maybe we’re here because it’s our habit, what we’ve always done since we were younger. Maybe we’re here because we want our kids to have a positive influence. Maybe we’re here ourselves because we want something relatively positive to start off the week. Maybe we’re here because we want to visit with our family members and friends, especially those we don’t normally get to see during the rest of the week. Maybe we’re here because it’s the first stop on our way to a busy day full of other obligations and errands. Maybe we’re here because we need advice. Maybe we’re also even here because we have nothing better to do.
And all of these reasons why we think we’re here this morning are perfectly valid. But there’s a more important reason why we’re here, and one which is the real reason: we’re here to listen to Jesus. We’re here because Jesus wants to meet us here. We’re here because Jesus wants us to take time to spend with Him. We’re here because Jesus wants us to stop everything else, put everything else down, and listen to Him.
Coming to listen to Jesus is indeed the most important, especially to take time out from the insanity and activity of all the rest of the week. We’re here because almost all we’ve been hearing about this week has been the war going on between Ukraine and Russia, and the implications it may have for us over here, and we need somewhere where we can just have a moment of peace. We’re here because, for the past couple of years, we’ve been stressed about everything going on with the coronavirus, how it’s changed our lives and everything else, and we need somewhere just to take time out from the ever-changing world. We’re here because we’ve been having to deal with personal issues with our families, in our neighborhoods, at our jobs, or at our schools, and we need somewhere where we can just spend an hour or so away from what we’re having to deal with. We’re here because we’ve been having to deal with issues with our health, or facing some other kind of crisis, and we need support from other people. But in all of these, the solution, and, again, the real reason we’re all here is still the same: to listen to Jesus. We’re here to meet with Jesus, to encounter Him, let Him speak to us, and listen to Him.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus’ disciples have a special encounter with Him, as they see Him as fully God. They see Him glowing dazzling white, and talking with Moses and Elijah. But then the most important part of the whole experience happens: a voice from heaven says, in plain language, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen, listen to Him.” (Luke 9:35) That was an experience that changed everything for Peter, James, and John, because they now could really see and experience Jesus for who He really was – and understand who He really was, that He now was fulfilling everything Moses and Elijah had talked about, everything they had heard about in their worship services before, and that now He was the one they were to listen to.
So the other question to ask ourselves this morning is: are we really listening to Jesus? What I mean is, every time we come here, we hear a lot of things. We hear about what’s going to be going on at the church for the next week or two. We hear passages from the Bible being read. We hear words be spoken, as we are now. But are we really listening? We hear, but does it mean anything to us? Every time we come here this morning, Jesus is actually trying to talk to us. He is talking to us in the words of the Bible being read. He wants to encounter us, to actually meet with us. The difference between hearing and listening is this: when we hear, we’re just taking everything in. We’re hearing a lot about Jesus and what the Bible says, but all we’re doing is just receiving it. It’s like we’re handed a note, we look at it, and then put it in our pockets, forget about it for a bit, and then are reminded about it again when we take it out of our pocket. It’s more passive. But when we listen, it’s more active: we’re seeking to understand what is being said, and what it means for us. We’re not just receiving a note and then putting it in our pockets to forget about it: we’re acting on what is said on the note, it’s motivating us to do something. And that’s the difference between simply hearing Jesus and listening to Him: we can hear His words being spoken, but then leave here, with everything still the same – it has no impact on us. But if we listen, then what Jesus tells us can make a difference – it can change us, it can impact us, and we can leave here changed. So we are to ask, whenever we listen to God’s Word being read: what is Jesus trying to say to me? What does He want me to listen to? How does He want me to be changed by what I’m listening to? This is something we are to be actively asking regularly.
Listening to Jesus is active – and is something we ought to expect. At any moment, Jesus can speak to us, and we can listen. Listening to Jesus is something which takes being active, and being intentional. However, it’s usually easier said than done, because we still have all kinds of other things which are clammering for our attention at any given time. We’re almost constantly checking our phones to make sure we haven’t missed any texts or alerts. We’re looking to our devices, or TVs, for information and entertainment. We have to deal with the needs of another person at any given time. It’s nearly seemingly impossible for us just to be able to take time out to listen to Jesus. But in order to be able to listen to Jesus, we have to be intentional: we have to be intentional about setting everything else aside, turning off our phones, devices, and TVs even for a few moments, telling everyone else who may want our attention that we need time to listen to Jesus, and then doing so. It does take effort, and it does take being active and intentional, but setting aside everything else, even for a few moments, just be able to spend time with Jesus and listen to Him, makes everything else easier to deal with. I’ve mentioned before that one of the things I greatly appreciate about living in Farmersville is how quiet it is here. That’s especially helpful for me because sometimes I have a tendency to let myself be overwhelmed by trying to pay attention to everything else around me, especially sounds and sights – and I’m sure many others of you probably struggle with the same kind of thing. However, I’ll confess that even I still struggle with being able to set aside everything else in order to be able to listen to Jesus. At any moment, I have a task, a text or other message, or some other issue which seems to be more important than anything else, and which I have to deal with, but which I may not know how to be able to deal with right at that moment. So I too have to practice being intentional about setting everything else aside, putting my phone down, waiting on responding to a message, putting aside any thoughts of a particular issue, and just spending some quiet time with Jesus, listening to Him. And what I find, when I do so, is that everything else is easier to deal with, and I usually find the most effective solution to what I’m having to deal with, if I take time, even for a few moments, to spend time listening to Jesus. The moments of peace and clarity which I gain from being able to set everything else aside just to listen to Jesus are ones which I consider valuable, and which I frequently wish would happen more often. But the way such moments can happen for each of us is if we are intentional about taking time out, whether once a day, or even a few times a day, just to be able to listen to Jesus. And when we listen to Jesus, things can change. Things can even change for the better.
And, believe it or not, church is not the only place where we can listen to Jesus. Jesus speaks to us, and we can listen to Him, any time, anywhere. Coming to church ought never to be a matter of guilt: believe it or not, God’s opinion of us doesn’t change whether or not we’re here in church regularly. We don’t need to fear punishment, or even worry about whether God will keep liking us or not, if we’re not here in church on a regular basis – even if we’ve been told that’s what God wants. Which leads to another issue: we can actually determine what Jesus is really telling us by what He seems to be saying. I’ve mentioned before that we can actually distinguish between what the voice of God is and what the voice of God is not. I’m going to expand on that a bit to say that, over time, there have been a lot of voices which have claimed to be the voice of Jesus, but have actually tried to add on to His words and are, in fact, not His voice, even though they claim to speak for Him. For example, any voice which tells us that we have to judge, hate, or condemn another person is not the voice of Jesus, because that is contrary what Jesus did on earth, and how He is now. Any voice which tells us that we have to fulfill even more requirements, or follow even more certain rules, in order for God to love us and in order to be saved, is not the voice of Jesus, because the reason He came to die in the first place was to save us from having to follow requirements and rules in order to be saved. Any voice which tells us that Jesus speaks to certain people and not to others is certainly not the voice of Jesus, because Jesus speaks to all of us. No one person can claim to have greater access to Jesus than anyone else: everyone has the same access and the same opportunity to listen to Jesus. On the other hand, any voice which offers us comfort is the voice of Jesus. Any voice which offers us encouragement is the voice of Jesus. Any voice which offers us a solution to whatever we have to face which, even though it may be a challenge, ends up working out well, is the voice of Jesus. Any voice which encourages us to encourage others is the voice of Jesus. Any voice which motivates us to comfort others is the voice of Jesus. If we listen to the voice of Jesus, and what it really says, then we are able to speak.
And that is the main reason we listen to Jesus: to be able to speak. The moments of peace and clarity which we gain from listening to Jesus are meant for us to be able to act on, to, once again, be active. The words we gain from listening to Jesus are those which we are to pass along – especially words of comfort and encouragement. Even as we can listen to Jesus at any time, at any time we might be given the active opportunity to speak the right word to someone who needs special guidance or relief. That is why we’re all really here this morning: to listen to Jesus, to be changed by Him, to be encouraged to listen to Him every day, and to pass along the comfort and encouragement we hear to others. This is something we can expect, an something we can be actively expecting and pursuing. So let us no longer just hear – let us listen. Let us seek to understand what Jesus is telling us, and what He wants us to say. As we listen and understand, let us speak. Especially as we continue to struggle in a world currently plagued by war, illness, conflict, and struggle, let us listen to the encouraging and comforting voice of Jesus, and let us encourage and comfort each other and other people with the voice of Jesus, as we speak with His voice.
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Sunday, February 20, 2022
Sermon Text for February 20, 2022 - "Fishing With Jesus: Fishing With Mercy and Forgiveness"
“Fishing With Jesus:
Fishing With Mercy and Forgiveness”
February 20, 2022
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and
peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, Amen.
How many of you have some sort of collection? Those of you who follow me on social media know that I have a growing collection of musical instruments. I also have a few other collections, including hats. What are some of your favorite things to collect?
Whether or not we may realize it, all
of us share the same common collection: we collect memories.
Each one of us carry around a
lifetime’s worth of memories, both good and bad memories, and these memories
affect us in different ways. The question is, what do we do with those
memories? Even further, what do we do with the bad memories we’re continuing to
carry around? How are we letting the bad memories, the negativity, we’re still carrying
around affect us? How are we letting our bad memories determine how we act and
think, especially how we act towards others, and think about others and
ourselves? The key, as we hear about in both today’s First Reading from
Genesis, as well as today’s Gospel Reading, is forgiveness. Now,
forgiveness does not always mean what we think it means. So today we’re going
to talk about what forgiveness is, and why it is not only important, but
something God wants for us.
1.
Forgiveness
is necessary, rather than optional.
Forgiveness is why we are here as Christians in the first place. We are here
because God chose to remove the sin which had separated us from Him by sending
His Son to die as a sacrifice on the cross. He satisfied the consequence which
was necessary for sin by dying in our place, and then rising again to show that
everything had been fulfilled. Because of Jesus, and only because of Jesus, all
our sins are forgiven. Nothing we do can earn this forgiveness: Jesus has
already accomplished everything necessary for us to be forgiven. Therefore, we
can believe, with absolute confidence, that since God has already caused
everything to be forgiven, it can be easier for us to let go of any guilt we
carry because of things we have done, or hurts that have been done to us. Furthermore,
not only is forgiveness something that is good for us to be able to heal and
move forward, but it is also commanded. We are commanded to forgive
ourselves, and forgive other people. God always knows what is best for us, and
what is best for others. He wants us to be happy and content in life. He doesn’t
want us to be constantly focusing on how we have been hurt, or how we’ve hurt ourselves,
because all we’re doing is hurting ourselves. Which is not at all what God
wants for us: Jesus came to die to suffer our pain on the cross, and heal it by
His death and resurrection. Because He is risen, and is victorious over death, that
means He is also victorious over our pain. Which means that any pain we inflict
on ourselves is not of God, but only what we do to ourselves. Even though we
may want to keep score, and either keep dwelling on hurts that have been done
to us, or think about ways we can hurt other people back, God has already let
everything go. Since He has let everything about us and others go, we ought to
as well.
All
that being said:
2.
Forgiveness
does not mean excusing or forgetting, but is instead an absence of vengeance. Very often forgiveness is
confused with forgetting; this is a common misconception. The memory still remains,
and what has been done cannot be undone or simply swept aside. But, forgiveness,
in fact, does not mean that the memory of the hurt that has been caused has
been forgotten, but instead that the hurt caused by the memory no longer
affects us. It means that the hurt caused by what has been done to us no longer
affects how we behave or what we think, or what motivates us to act in a
certain way, but instead it means that we have learned from the hurt, and move
forward, rather than react in anger or vengeance. Forgiveness also demonstrates
a desire to work at restoring the relationship that has been damaged, but also
recognizing that this takes time and can be a process that goes for as long as
is necessary. Sometimes it may not happen: the relationship may be permanently
damaged and may never be restored. But it means that we can be released from
having to be attached to the damaged relationship in any way, and instead move
on and having it no longer affect who we are. It also means that, rather than
excusing the behavior of the other person who hurt us, that we instead work to no
longer let their behavior affect us. It further means releasing the person who
hurt us from the obligation of having to apologize: instead of us waiting for an
apology in order to heal, we simply release ourselves from having to wait, and the
other person from having to apologize, and instead we allow ourselves to move
forward and be healed. This is also why Jesus commands us, in Luke 6:27, to
love our enemies, and pray for our persecutors: to be able to be released from waiting
for our enemies and persecutors to change, but instead moving forward from
letting them affect us negatively. Loving our enemies does not mean letting our
enemies and persecutors walk all over us: that is a common misconception. It
also does not mean that what our enemies and persecutors say about us is right:
we ought not to let what our enemies think about us affect how we think about
ourselves, but instead we can be confident in who we really are and feel good
about who we are. Instead, what it means is not trying to pay back the hurts we
have been forced to suffer in the same way, by seeking revenge, but instead showing
mercy.
Mercy, like forgiveness, is yet
another word that gets tossed around a lot, with almost little or no
explanation of what it actually means. And its meaning in this case is very simple:
giving someone something they don’t deserve. While we may want to revenge
ourselves against someone for what they’ve done to us, we are to show mercy
instead – as Joseph did to his brothers in today’s First Reading. We are to
treat those who hate us with kindness, those who wrong us with caring, and
those who hurt us with compassion. That is how God treats us: He has given us
exactly what we would not expect, and has instead forgiven our sins, the wrongs
we have done, and has already forgiven the wrongs others have done to us. While
there may be consequences for the wrongs we do to ourselves or other people, God
does not cause us to endure those consequences forever. He is gracious, and so
He brings an end to what we have to go through in order to learn and understand
what we have done to ourselves or other people, or what has been done to us,
and be able to forgive.
This
is also why, in Luke 6:37, Jesus commands us not to judge: the judgments and
criticisms we level against other people, especially those based on rumor,
gossip, or suspicion, frequently turn out to be false. Far too many promising
relationships, and far too many healthy relationships, have been damaged by
mistrust caused by misunderstanding. As Christians, we ought to be thinking
about how we would feel if such things were done to us, and consider that what we
treat others is ultimately how we end up being treated by others. Therefore, if
we desire mercy and compassion to be shown to us, then we ought to show mercy
and compassion to others. This means protecting the reputations of all people, making
sure that relationships are preserved and restored as possible if damaged, and
that any perceived misunderstandings are addressed and forgiven.
In today’s world, it is also good
for us to follow God’s leading in seeking alternatives to vengeance. Much of
what we hear, especially on the news, is basically about vengeance, which is often
expressed as a desire to right wrongs, but is actually nothing more than a
desire for revenge. Even apart from what is going on in society, one of our
basic desires is to give people what they deserve. If we believe someone has
hurt us, we want to punish them for what they’ve one, and give them what we
think they deserve for what they’ve done to us. If all we focus on is how to
punish someone for what we think they’ve done to us, then that causes us to act
that way towards everyone: we eventually get to the point where we act in mistrust,
suspicion, or anger towards everyone because we focus on our hurts so much. We have
had enough mistrust, suspicion, and anger: it is now time to move forward to
the next step of growth and maturity God wants for us.
3.
Forgiveness
is both a sign of and leads to spiritual growth and maturity. Holding on to bad memories, past
hurts, or past grudges is what causes us to stay stuck in one particular place,
especially one particular point in life. The more we relive the same hurt which
was done to us over and over, the more we stay stuck in one particular stage in
life, and are unable to move forward to the next stage of growth and maturity.
However, being able to forgive means that we are able to grow and move forward
past wherever in life the hurt that was done to us was caused. Forgiveness is
also a sign that we understand: we understand either the hurt that was done to
us, or the hurt that we did to another person, and we are able to move forward
from having it affect our thoughts and behaviors. When we are able to forgive,
that is a sign that God is working in us. When we are able to move past the
hurts and wrongs we have suffered, and are able to move forward, it is a sign
that we are growing and maturing, and that God is causing us to grow and mature.
Forgiveness is therefore literally letting go and letting God – letting go of
the hurts, bitterness, and resentments which have been holding us back and keeping
us from growing, and letting God replace those hurts, bitterness, and resentments
with peace, contentment, confidence, and love and concern for others.
Also,
a more responsible, and more effective, witness to our Christian faith is being
able to forgive and seek relationships. Unfortunately, we have been seduced by
a desire to identify with a cause, idea, or faction – which, again, comes out
of a desire for revenge, to give other people what we think they deserve because
we think they have done wrong, or they have wronged us somehow. All these have
done have been to cause divisions and suspicions. Our ultimate aim and goal
ought not to be suspicion and division, but instead forgiveness, peace, and unity.
And peace and unity can be best pursued by starting with forgiveness. Therefore,
it is time for us to move beyond focusing on causes or what makes us different
from other people, even other Christians, and instead focus on and emphasize
what we have in common with each other. And what we all have in common
with each other is a desire for peace, and, most of all, to know that we can
heal. We all need to know that we can be forgiven. We all need to know that we
can move forward from past hurts. We all need to know that there is something
more than being stuck in once place because of something we have one, or
something that has been done to us. The key is forgiveness: knowing and
believing that we have been forgiven by God, and being able to forgive because
we are forgiven. So let us move forward from the hurts and bad memories we have
collected, let God heal them, and let us be able to forgive – forgive ourselves,
forgive others, and forgive the past, so we can move forward into God’s future
for us.
Now may the peace of God, which passes
all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Sunday, February 13, 2022
Sermon Text for February 13, 2022 - "Fishing With Jesus: Fishing by Being a Blessing"
Fishing With Jesus: Fishing by
Being a Blessing
February 13, 2022
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and
peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, Amen.
Today, we will possibly witness
history being made, as the possibility of the Bengals winning their very first Super
Bowl ever is well within reach!
In fact, the way commentators,
pundits, and regular news reporting seem to be talking, the Bengals are
definitely favored to win, and not just the way people in Ohio are talking. If
reports are to be believed, a good majority of people in many places want the
Bengals to win. Bengals fans can also be found in many unexpected places. For
example, I have a good longtime friend who is a lifetime Bengals fan and who
currently lives in New York, who was able to travel all the way from there to
Los Angeles to be at the game. I’ve even seen people posting on Facebook in the
past few days about people rooting for the Bengals where they live in the world
– the UK, for example, seems to have a large number of people, probably the majority
there, rooting for the Bengals to win. But, let’s ask: why do so many people
want the Bengals to win? Obviously a lot of people here want the Bengals to win
because they’re the local team, but why are the Bengals suddenly getting
support from many different places? It’s because they’re the underdog
team. The team hardly anyone expected to make it this far, but they have. And
so, because they’ve also never won a Super Bowl up to this point, they’ve
gained a lot more support than they ever have before. People want them to
succeed because they’ve come this far, after having been in a losing underdog
position for so long. It is – and I mean this with all sincerity – a real
blessing for the Bengals, that so many people are rooting for the Bengals, and
wanting them to win.
However, if you think about it,
the fact that so many people are rooting for the Bengals actually runs counter
to how we normally think. Usually, when we have to choose one person, team, or
the other, to support, we go for the person or team we think will have the
better chance of winning. We tend to choose who think are going to be winners,
instead of losers. We don’t always root for the underdog – we try to support
who we think are going to come out on top. We want to identify with success,
and we think that identifying with people who we think are successful will
help us feel successful as well. We don’t like losers – and we have our own
ideas of what a winner and a loser is. More often than not, people who don’t
fit our personal ideas of what someone who can dominate, who can run other
people, who have the kind of personality to be able to attract other people, who
is in a position of power or advantage, who don’t have any of these kind of
characteristics, are people we consider losers. The idea of competition
has unfortunately pervaded every part of our lives: numbers, figures, results,
wins, successes have become what dominate our ways of thinking about others,
and what drive us in how we live our own personal lives. We even assume, whether
or not we realize it, that a lack of success means not only personal failure,
but failure to be blessed by God.
And yet, God’s idea of success is
very different from ours. He does not look at personal achievement or ambition
as being any kind of a mark of success. He also does not look at the ability to
dominate others in competition as being any kind of a mark of success. He
certainly does not look at self-promotion or group promotion as being any kind
of a mark of success. In fact, we can say that the more we seek self-promotion,
domination, achievement, or ambition, the farther away we move from God’s
purpose for us. He identifies as much with people we consider to be losers as
much as with people we consider to be winners – He looks at everyone equally. As
we saw in last week’s Gospel reading, Jesus did not choose people who were
considered to be winners in society to be His followers – in fact, He chose people
who were considered the underdogs, losers, people who were considered to be
unsuccessful. They were also considered unsuccessful because they were in a
position of being spiritually unclean, outcast from the community, constantly
breaking the religious laws by being in contact with unclean sea creatures. But
the people we consider to be already successful and qualified, or who were
considered to be successful and qualified by the standards of the day, are not
the people Jesus automatically chose, or chooses, to follow Him. He chose His
first disciples regardless of whether or not everyone else considered them
successful – He chose them precisely to show that His calling, His message, is
not one of success – it is one of following Jesus, becoming more like Him, to
transform lives through His power and love. He also chooses us, unworthy as we might
be considered to be, to follow Him. He calls whomever He chooses to follow Him,
and ignores any qualifications we may want to put on others. Jesus Himself, by
the standards with which we usually measure success, was unsuccessful. He did
not have the kind of dominant, forceful personality we have come to expect from
religious leaders – He was meek, humble, and focused not on promoting Himself or
His own successes to make Himself more important than others, but instead on
helping people, meeting them where they were at, for the purpose of showing
them His Father’s love, and bringing people to a relationship with His Father. He
was considered unsuccessful by religious standards, because He failed to follow
the traditional laws, and regularly associated with those considered sinners,
outcasts, and lawbreakers. He could also be considered unsuccessful in another
way: He was captured and put to death by His enemies. Instead of fighting back,
He allowed Himself to be killed – what we would consider to be a loser. But by
doing so, He did something necessary: He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our
sins, and for the sins of all people, dying on a cross. Then, even though it seemed
like He lost, He actually ended up winning, even defeating His enemies – by rising
again from the dead, and now living victorious, never to die again.
In today’s Gospel reading,
usually known as the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus further emphasizes . The word “blessed”
means someone who is considered righteous – someone who is favored by God in a
special way, even someone who is considered a winner in His eyes. We may
consider being poor to be the mark of a loser, because we associate having
things with success, but God considers it the mark of a winner. We may consider
being hungry, or lacking anything, to be the mark of a loser, because we
associate hunger with laziness or irresponsibility, but God considers it the
mark of a winner. We may consider mourning or being sad to be the mark of a
loser, because we think we are supposed to be tough and plow on through every sad
situation, but God considers it the mark of a winner. We may consider being humble,
even meek, to be the mark of a loser, because we think some sort of controlling
or dominating personality means being a winner, but God considers it the mark of
a winner. The reason God considers all of these to be marks of winners is
because these are the people who are in the best position to be helped by Him: people
who are helpless, who are considered weak, who are poor, who are unsuccessful,
are the ones He blesses by providing for them in special ways.
The people we look down on, the
people we ignore, the people we consider to be the underdogs, losers, or
unsuccessful, are precisely the people Jesus is sending us to be blessings to.
After all, we ourselves might be in the position of being helpless and
considered unsuccessful, and many of us probably already have been there at
some point or other. We have all been underdogs at some point or other. When we
think about the times we have been in such positions, what we can keep in mind
is we did not get through them by our own effort or hard work – God blessed us
by being with us bringing us through them by His own power. Being a Christian
does not always mean being successful, but it does mean that when we are
struggling, when we are losing in life, God is bringing us through whatever it
is we’re going through to victory. We could say that God roots for us when we
are underdogs, as much as many people are rooting for the Bengals. But God not
only hopes for us to win in those situations, He helps us win. He blesses us by
helping us win. The Prophet Jeremiah encourages us, in today’s First Reading,
to trust God when the situation is hopeless – He will never let us down. He
will never leave us to struggle on our own. He will bring us to victory.
It also means that just as we have
been blessed in this way, by God helping us through these times of being unsuccessful
and struggling, God wants us to be blessings to all who are struggling – we are
the instruments He uses to help others. Even though our instinct is to pull
away from people who are struggling or losing, we are instead to be drawn towards
them, because Jesus is drawn towards them. We are to identify with those we
consider to be losers, because we all have been losers at some time or other. We
are to provide for those who are poor with whatever they need financially or
materially. We are to provide for those who are hungry by giving them food and
access to everything else they need We are to comfort those who mourn by not
letting them alone in their sadness, listening to them, and letting them express
their sadness. We are to befriend those who have no friends. We are to reach
out to those everyone else wants to ignore. We are even to associate with those
we would normally not want to associate with. Just as God is there for us, we
are to be there for everyone – even those we consider underdogs, and even if it
means humbling ourselves and our idea of what success and successful people are.
Being a Christian does not always mean being successful, but it does mean being
blessed by God and being a blessing to others.
Sometimes following where Jesus
leads means going against what everyone else is thinking or doing, and facing
ridicule, even persecution for it. Many of our brothers and sisters in other parts
of the world, where being a Christian is either discouraged or even illegal,
are discriminated against in education, jobs, housing, or other opportunities. Being
a Christian is looked on as being weak, because it is against what the rest of society
and the culture assumes to be the mark of a winner or successful. Being a
Christian means being a loser, being far from successful. Even here, being a
Christian, choosing to follow what God wants, instead of what other people
want, may mean being considered a loser and a failure. But being a Christian
means for our brothers and sisters who are persecuted, as it does for us, means
looking forward to something even greater, to the ultimate victory, which St.
Paul talks about in today’s Second Reading: the victory Jesus has won by rising
from the dead, everyone who believes in Him being able to live forever in
eternal life. Until we reach that day, we will all continue to struggle – we will
all be the underdog at some point or other. So until we reach the day of
ultimate victory, we are to be there for each other, and for others. Just as
many people are being a blessing and rooting for the Bengals today as the underdog
team, we are to blessed to help those who are considered underdogs – being
blessings to everyone, as we have been blessed. In being so, we follow Jesus, we
are like Jesus, and we bring people to Jesus – by blessing others as we have
been blessed.
Now may the peace of God, which
passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Amen.
Sunday, February 6, 2022
Sermon Text for February 6, 2022 - "Fishing With Jesus: The Call to Fish"
“Fishing With Jesus: The Call to
Fish”
February 6, 2022
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and
peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, Amen.
Thank God we survived the past couple
of days! Even though there’s still snow and ice around, and it’s still going to
be cold for most of today, we still made it through the winter storm. Actually,
it hasn’t been all bad: I happen to know a number of families were able to go
out sledding and have some fun, so winter can be fun. And, now that I’ve been
here a few years, I’ve finally learned to appreciate the good parts of winter. However,
as we’ve also been reminded over the last couple of days, winter can be
dangerous: police departments in most of our state were warning people not to drive
anywhere unless absolutely necessary because of the road conditions. The danger
in driving in the snow and ice comes in two ways: either sliding off the road,
or around the road, or getting stuck in the snow. Either way, winter is a
challenge because it can cause you to go off track. Sliding or getting stuck
can cause you to get knocked off course, and keep you from going where you need
to go. Even having to stay indoors because of the weather can cause you to get
knocked off course, and keep you from going where you need to go.
We could say that the past couple of
years have been like living in one long winter storm with freezing weather
afterwards. We’ve been knocked off track by the pandemic. We’ve been knocked off
course and kept from going where we need to go. It was around this time two
years ago that the news of the coronavirus first started to emerge: no one
could really say exactly what it was, only that it was dangerous and spreading rapidly.
We began to slide all over the road trying to figure out what direction to go
with the new threat, which caused us to lose control. After a while, we got
stuck. It became like having to stay inside during a winter storm: the situation
became so dangerous that we all had to stay home. Because it was dangerous and spreading
rapidly, churches began to close. We were even forced to close for a couple of
months. Then, as there was more clarity as to what the coronavirus was and how
to adapt to it, as businesses and society began to adapt to the pandemic, many
churches, like ours, began to try to find ways to open up again and adapt to
the new conditions. But in the process, we, and many other churches, began to
suffer. Attendance dropped, finances, dropped, activities dropped. Now we’ve
become comfortable with how we’ve adapted to the pandemic; in a way, it’s like
we’ve been in a vehicle stuck in the snow. But the problem with getting stuck
in the snow and trying to move is twofold: one, you either try to move, and end
up spinning your wheels, and burning out your engine; two, you either give up
entirely and refuse to even try to move. Once you get to either point, you
focus on how bad your situation is, and you start to lose hope. You become
passive, rather than actively trying to get yourself out, because you have no other
ideas. Then, you need someone to come and pull you out. But that involves
trusting the person who comes to pull you out, trusting that they will keep you,
and your vehicle safe as they do so. Keep that in mind for about a minute or so
from now.
All of these have been challenges
we’ve had to face the past couple of years. In the process, we’ve become
inwardly focused, especially as we’ve become more focused on survival, which
has caused us to become more inwardly focused. In the process, we’ve also been
afraid of change: the pandemic has caused a lot of fear because it’s disrupted
what we were used to before. We’ve been kept from going where we need to go. We’ve
gotten off track from what our true mission is.
And yet, today we are reminded, Jesus
reminds us Himself, about what we are really all about: we have a mission. We
are a people, a church, with a purpose, with a mission. Literally, we’re on a
mission from God. Our mission is all about Jesus: living for Jesus, telling
about Jesus, acting like Jesus. And Jesus is all about people. Jesus is
all about looking for people, caring for people, bringing people to Him. And
that’s what we’re about as well, that’s also our mission: looking for people,
caring for people, bringing people to Jesus. That is our real mission: it’s all
about Jesus, and Jesus is all about people. That’s why, in today’s Gospel
reading, He says clearly, “From now on you will catch men.” Our primary
concern, everything we do, everything we focus on, everything we plan, every
goal we work towards, especially from this point on, ought to be about how we believe
Jesus is calling us to look for and care for people. Our mission is to
be outwardly focused: focused on Jesus, focused on people. For the next
few weeks, the theme of our sermon series will be talking more about what this
looks like, as we talk about how Jesus calls us to fish for people where we
are, right here, right now.
The reality is, people need Jesus.
People may say they need all kinds of other things, but ultimately, people need
Jesus. Jesus died on the cross and rose again to be able to satisfy the
greatest need people have: to have their sins be forgiven, to have their lives
be changed, and be given the promise of eternal life after death. However, not
only is Jesus is the only way to be guaranteed eternal life, Jesus is the only
way to find true satisfaction, the answers to life’s questions, healing, and
everything else that is needed. In order to lives to be changed, restored, and
healed, people need Jesus.
Like the Prophet Isaiah, whom we
hear about in today’s First Reading, we are also asked, in Isaiah 6:8, “Who
will go for us?” Today, God is asking us – is asking you personally – the same thing:
“Who will go for us?” God wants you to answer. And how is God sending you? Where
is He sending you? Right now is actually a good time to ask: is there someone
you can think of at this moment, in your neighborhood, in your school, at your
workplace, maybe even a friend or family member, who needs to know and experience
Jesus in a special way? How can you help them be loved, supported, and
encouraged by Jesus? Perhaps this morning, God is speaking to you in a special
way, and asking, are you ready to go where I send you? Are you ready for the
mission I have for you? And, in response, like Isaiah, we are to say, “Here I
am, send me!” Wherever it is you need me to go, I’m ready to go. Whoever it is
you’re wanting to send me to, show me who they are, and send me to them. We are
to be asking, and especially asking Jesus to show us, what do the people
outside of our church, those next door to us, and in our communities, really
need? How can we bring Jesus, and who He is, to people outside of our church? Not
even thinking first about how can we bring people into church, but how can we
bring Jesus outside of our church building out to people? Perhaps this might
mean doing things, or going in directions, which we might not have thought of
to be able to find people who need Jesus, and who need us. As St. Paul
encourages us to think about in today’s Second Reading, we are to communicate
Jesus in ways people understand – not simply by telling with words, but showing
with meaningful actions.
Notice also, in Luke 5:4, that
Jesus encourages the fishermen to go into deeper water to be able to catch the
fish. This was actually considered risky, because deeper waters meant greater
danger – danger to the boats, danger of falling in and drowning, and danger of
not knowing what else might be in the water. The fishermen had probably been
stuck in a rut by fishing in familiar waters, by trying to stick with familiar
patterns. But these patterns clearly weren’t working: they had gotten stuck. So
they needed Jesus to pull them out of that rut. But that is exactly how they
are able to catch even more fish: by going into unfamiliar waters. It is even
time to go looking for people in places we never would have thought of before:
just as Jesus sent the fishermen into other, deeper waters, He sends us into
places and situations we never would have thought of, but where we are needed
to find and rescue people. The other reason He allows the fishermen to haul in
such a massive catch is because He is allowing them to be able to have their
families be provided for: their parents and other family members they leave
behind to follow Jesus will be able to sell the fish and live comfortably.
Jesus cares about people in every possible way, and He always makes sure everyone
is provided for in the best way possible. And, what He is ultimately doing is
allowing the fishermen He calls to follow Him to be able to do so: to leave
everything else behind, their jobs, their families, everything that is familiar
to them, and come follow Him. By giving them the massive haul of fish, He is
showing that He can be trusted and is dependable: they can trust Him to care
for them and their families, so they can depend on Him. This makes them able,
and eager, to drop everything and follow Him right at that moment. Are we able
to do the same? Are we able to trust Jesus, leave behind what is familiar, and follow
where He sends us?
Today Jesus also encourages us, “Don’t
be afraid.” Of course, following Jesus, and following where He’s going to lead
us, makes us afraid. We have already been living in fear and anxiety for the
past couple of years, as we have had to struggle because of the pandemic – to the
point where we’ve gotten used to it, even comfortable with being afraid and
anxious, stuck in a rut. But now we can trust Jesus again as we follow Him. He
has never once given us any reason not to trust Him. It is time to leave behind
what is familiar, what we have become accustomed to, and come follow Jesus. It
is time no longer to be sliding all over the road, being afraid because we
think we have lost control, and instead let Jesus take control and steer us
again. It is time to let Jesus pull us out of the rut we’ve been stuck in for
the past couple of years, so we can follow Him. It is time to start moving
again, and let Jesus move us again, because we have a mission. It is time to
start focusing outward again, focusing on Jesus, and focusing on people. It is
time to get back on track, and follow Jesus. It is time to get back to our real
mission, and follow Jesus. We can trust Jesus, because just as He caused a
massive fishing haul for the disciples to be able to provide for their families
to be able to leave their old life behind and follow Him, He is providing us
with everything we need to be able to follow Him in the true mission He has for
us. In just a few minutes, we will be receiving Communion, which is one of the
most important ways Jesus provides for us to be able to follow Him: by feeding
us with His true body and blood, with His very power, to motivate us to believe
in Him, follow Him, move forward, and look outward. Communion also reminds us
that even as Jesus feeds us, our mission is to feed other people. Does this
mean that we are perfect, that we are going to do everything exactly right, and
we will never struggle again? No. But even though we are not perfect, and we will
still continue to struggle, Jesus still calls us, makes us ready, and gives us
everything we need to carry out His mission, to go look for people, care for
people, and bring people to Him. It is time for us to stand up and reclaim our
true purpose. It is time to get back to what we are really all about, what our
real mission is: we follow Jesus, and Jesus is all about people.
Now may the peace of God, which
passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Amen.
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