FEBRUARY 9, 2025
Jesus Nets a Sinner Text: Luke 5:1–11 Other Lessons: Isaiah 6:1–8 (9–13); Psalm 138; 1 Corinthians 14:12b–20 Sermon Theme: In Jesus, God calls terrified sinners into his wonderful net. Sermon Goal: That we would appreciate the magnitude of the problem of sin and how God mercifully overcomes it in Jesus. Based on a sermon in Concordia Pulpit Resources by Rev. Thomas B. Chandler
Sermon: Maybe you live with a malady that is all too common—living in the world with a guilty conscience. You don’t have to be a religious person to have this debilitating disease. No one needs the Ten Commandments to know things like lying, cheating, stealing, and hurting other people are wrong—and that you deserve to be punished for doing them. A guilty conscience is living in fear—fear of losing the respect of others, of losing your husband, wife, or job. It’s the terrifying prospect of seeing your face on a YouTube video with thousands of comments underneath—all condemning you for the secret you’re so desperate to hide. The worst thing is isolation. You can’t have a genuine relationship with the people around you or with God. because his job is to make sure you pay for your sins.
Where can a sinner go for help when he thinks God only exists to even the score? I think far more people are living this way than we realize. They’ve grown used to it as a way of life. But it’s a sad life of fear and isolation—waiting for the day karma will catch up.
The problem is worse than most people think. People with a guilty conscience understand God is good and that they are not good, because they’ve done bad things. Most people think that we’re called sinners because we sin. But God says we sin because we are sinners. And that is far worse.
The Ten Commandments teach people to stop hating and start loving, but God says the Law can only reveal the disease and cannot cure it. Our fallen human nature is incapable of loving God or loving one another as we should. By nature, we love ourselves—and our charity for others extends only until it gets in the way of loving myself, even if loving myself just means giving myself a good feeling for being so generous. People who try to become right with God by following the Law are fighting a losing battle against the symptoms without seeking the cure for the disease. Where does it leave people who try and try to stop doing the things that make them feel guilty—only to discover that the harder they try, the more they’re drawn to do those very things? If you had a fruit tree that kept producing sour, rotten fruit, eventually you’d decide there’s something wrong with the tree.
The problem is not just that we’ve done bad things; it’s far worse. God is light, and we are darkness. God is fire, and we are ice. In our fallen human nature, we are incompatible with God, and there’s nothing we can do about it. That’s why, as soon as Peter realized who was on his fishing boat, he fell on his knees and begged Jesus to go away: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man” (v 8).
Peter was afraid because he realized behind the human flesh of the rabbi Jesus burned the terrifying glory of God. What he didn’t realize was that God took on human flesh to cure the debilitating disease of sin. In Jesus, God Calls Terrified Sinners into His Wonderful Net.
Like fish out of water, Peter was waiting to die, and in a way, the old sinful Peter did die. But then God breathed new life into him with a word: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men” (v 10). By that powerful word, God lifted the burdens of guilt and sin from Peter’s shoulders. Peter was no longer afraid of God’s presence. He longed to be as near to God as he could. He left everything behind to follow Jesus. Jesus went fishing for men that day. He cast the net of his powerful word into the deep water of this world and pulled a terrified sinner up onto the boat. What a wonderful thing to be caught up in Jesus’ net! Peter was afraid when he realized who was on the boat with him. What he didn’t realize was why Jesus stepped onto his boat. God had come to cure him of the disease of guilt and sin. His fear melted away when he heard the word of Jesus. Jesus said to him, “From now on you will be catching men.” Like the prophet Isaiah in our Old Testament Reading, God sanctified the lips of Peter and the other apostles to preach his powerful, holy Word. From the boat that is the church, Peter cast the net of the Gospel into the deep water, and God pulled billions of human beings onto the deck.
The Good News Peter preached is that God sent his glorious Son to take on human flesh so that he could take human sins onto himself—your sins, and Peter’s sins, and the sins of the whole world—die on a cross, and on the third day rise again. Jesus absorbed every bit of every bit of God’s anger the moment he died. Not only that, but when God baptized you into Jesus’ death, the old sinful you also died, and a new person arose. The only cure for the disease of sin is death and resurrection—and that is exactly what Jesus gave to you in Baptism. Cured of the disease, you can confidently call on God in every situation. This doesn’t mean you won’t struggle with your old sinful nature; it means the new you will seek God’s help when you do struggle. The deck of the boat that is the church is where you find that help. The same holy flesh and blood that stepped onto Peter’s boat is here today on this altar—the glory of God hidden in the bread and wine. He is here to help you.
Oh, what a wonderful thing to have been caught in Jesus’ net! God has taken the heavy burden of guilt and fear from your shoulders and given you new life. Instead of running away from God, you now long to be as close to him as you can. Jesus said to Peter, “From now on you will be catching men.” Peter threw out the net, and God pulled billions of people onto the boat that is the church.
And now Jesus has put the net into our hands. Peter said as much: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9). Like Isaiah, like the apostles, God sanctified your lips to speak his powerful, holy Word to suffering sinners.
I wonder how many people are out there living with the terrible disease of a guilty conscience. How many are living in fear of being discovered? How many don’t know that God loves them and wants to help them? We will never know unless we cast the net.
We have the cure in our hands. God sanctified our lips to speak his powerful, holy Word to suffering sinners. There is still room on the boat.
I know what you’re thinking. The water around here has been fished out. We’ve thrown out our nets and drawn up nothing for a long time now. I also know what Jesus would say. Don’t you? Amen.