July 17, 2022 Trinity 5 The Sunday of Jesus Calling the Disciples
(No audio available this Sunday.)
Trinity 5
Luke 5:1-11
July 17, 2022
“Time for Worship and Time for Work”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We’re going to walk through Luke 5:1-11, Jesus calling the disciples. And this is, first and foremost, the story of this select group of men that Jesus wants to be His first pastors. Peter, James, John, and so forth. But it’s also, secondarily, the story of every one of you Christians. God has also called you. And He’s called you to do two things. First, there must be time for worship just like here in this reading, everyone pressing in to hear Jesus’ word. He’s called you to listen and receive. To hear His Word. Second, He’s called you to work. To serve others. To put down the nets. That’s the rhythm of your life—you need time to worship and then there’s time to work.
Luke 5:1, “On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear the Word of God.” Note this well. Something was so compelling about Jesus’s word and teaching that they were mobbing Him. He’s on the beach and really has nowhere to go because he’s trapped between the water and this crowd pressing in on Him. He has to get in a boat and teach them from the water so that He has a natural barrier between Him and the crowd. So what was it about this teaching that was so compelling? That they loved hearing Him?
Have you guys noticed the effect a TV has on you? It’s disturbing how much power a screen has over our attention. This last week I was visiting shut-ins and two different times this happened to me. It happens quite often actually. There was a TV on in the nursing home room where we were sitting and I’m trying to talk with them and do our service and give Communion and so forth and where do I have to keep fighting my eyes from going? That stupid TV screen. Did I really give two cents about the show that was on? No, of course not. I could care less. It’s almost always a garbage waste of time on TV. But that screen is compelling.
Now you might think, “Well, let’s put some big screens in the sanctuary here and use them to teach God’s Word since they’re so powerful and compelling.” Yes, that kinda makes some logical sense and many churches have done it. But just because something can keep your eyes doesn’t make it good and it also doesn’t mean you’ll remember it. There’s many reasons we call this a sanctuary and one of them, I hope, will continue to be that it’s a “sanctuary” from screens. We need just such a sanctuary.
But here’s the biggest thing you need to see. There’s something much more compelling than a screen. And that’s when the actual message and word being communicated to you is eternal truth. That’s compelling. In other words, we don’t need or want screens to bring this message, because the message itself is that compelling and powerful that we don’t want to distract from it.
The more you listen to Jesus’ word and hear it in faith, the more you love it, the more you’re compelled by it, the more you want to hear it. That’s why people were pressing in on Jesus to hear the Word of God. Because that word of God is powerfully true. Both Matthew and Mark make note that Jesus wasn’t teaching like the normal scribes. He was teaching as one who had authority. He was teaching it right from His own authority. In other words, if you were to say to Jesus, “How do I know you’re telling the truth? Why should I believe?” Jesus wouldn’t say, “Well, so-and-so says so and so you should believe Me.” No, Jesus says, “Why should you believe Me? Because I say so!”
Jesus isn’t a life coach or a counselor saying, “Hey, maybe you should try this and see if it works for your life.” He’s not a self-help guru saying, “You should really read this book because it’s helped a lot of people.” Jesus isn’t a hack on TV saying, “75% of people have tried this and it really works.” Jesus isn’t a head on a screen saying, “Listen to Me, I’m on TV.”
Jesus is God saying, “I made you. I made everything around you. I knew you before you were even conceived in your mother’s womb.” Jesus is God saying, “Hey, don’t even try to hide anything from Me because I know it all about you already anyway.” Jesus is God saying, “Don’t even try to play games with Me and act like you’re something that you’re not. I know the real you and your sin is ever before Me.”
Jesus is God saying, “Let Me explain to you why the world is the way that it is. Let Me tell you about My eternal kingdom and what I’m doing right now to make all things right and what I will be doing in the future to brings everything to completion.”
You might get the feeling sometimes that you’ve got too much to do to take the time to go to worship. I understand. It’s a favorite lie of the devil. We’re too busy and have too much work to do to go to Church on Sunday morning, to pray, to read the Scriptures. But the bottom line is you can’t work well if you don’t first worship well. “Pray and work” is a motto that came out of the rule of St. Benedict. Pray and work. That’s our rhythm. We must first “press in” to pray and hear God’s word and receive His forgiveness and then we can go to work.
So think about those words “press in”. I want you to “press in” to hear God’s Word. Don’t let anything keep you from here on Sunday morning. Yes, I may not have a flashy TV screen for you to watch. But I’ve got something better and more compelling—the eternal truth and authority of God’s Word. I’ve got Jesus. So press in to hear Him on Sunday morning. And press in to hear Him every day. To pray to Him in the morning and evening and to read His Word. To do the readings and prayers in the Portals of Prayer. Press in to hear Him.
Then we move into the story a little further in Luke 5. Peter, Andrew, James, and John, and maybe others, were all some of the people who were there pressing in to hear God’s Word. And it’s now them who will hear the second part of our rhythm—it’s time to work. After Jesus was done preaching, He tells them to put out in the deep water and let down the nets for a catch. This is, of course, silly because Peter’s a good fisherman and he knows they’re not going to catch anything. He’s not an idiot. He fished all night in the good places where you actually catch fish. And he’s already got his nets all cleaned up and mended.
But here’s the takeaway from every one of you and me today. Peter says, “At Your word I will let down the nets.” We trust Jesus’s word. We trust it to do what He wants to do. Let me give you some examples of what I mean. Here’s some of the instructions we’ve been given from Jesus and our Father and we trust them:
To pastors He says to preach the Word, to administer the Sacraments, to be faithful in calling sinners to Jesus.” So we do it and trust the results to Him.
To all earthly rulers Jesus says to punish the wicked, to uphold those who do good, to enforce His commandments, to judge with righteousness. And so they should do it.
To fathers and mothers He says to raise your children in the glory and praise of God, to not exasperate them, to teach them the Word of God. So we do it and entrust our children to God’s care and keeping.
To all of us subjects who are under other authorities He tells us to obey them, pray for them, respect and honor them, to pay our taxes, and so forth. And so we do and we trust the results to God.
To all of us He has said to love our neighbors as ourselves and do unto others as we’d have them do to us. He told us last week not to judge but to be merciful and generous, to explain everything in the kindest way and put the best construction on everything. So we do it and we trust the rest to God.
Let down the nets and trust God with the results. You may not realize that what He’s telling us is don’t be pragmatists who only want to do things that will give us the results we want. Don’t only do things if you think they’ll make you happy and rich.
I’m sorry to do this but I must come down a little hard on our society right now and on us. We’re lazy. We’re like Peter, “Oh, come on, Jesus we’ve already cleaned up our nets. We just want to chill in front of the TV for a while.” You can hardly get us Americans to do anything if it’s not for our own pleasure and enjoyment. All we can think about is “what will make me happy.” Once in a while the right question ought to be asked, “What will make God happy?” What does He want me to be doing?
We’ve been caught, hook, line, and sinker, by this American lie that life is all about our pleasure. All about us. Jesus says otherwise. Life is about your neighbor. You’re called to serve. Yes, of course, it’s fine and good to rest and renew once in a while. Fine and good. But Jesus is calling you to let down the nets. Serve your neighbor.
Finally, what happens when we put these two together? We take the time to worship and we take the time to work. Then what happens? Look at Peter. All hell breaks loose. Nets are breaking. Boats are sinking. “Jesus, I can’t handle this. Go away from me. I’m too much of a sinner.”
At times you’ll look around in your life, in the world, in the Church…it looks like everything’s tearing apart. The nets are breaking and the boats are sinking….
“Don’t be afraid,” Jesus says. We have nothing to fear. He stills storms. He’s in control. He controls the results. He knows our sins and has died to take care of them. We simply do what He’s told us to do. Pray and work. Take the time for worship. Take the time for work. And trust Jesus with everything.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.