Category: Sermon Page

First Sunday in Lent
March 6, 2022

“Tempted” (Luke 4:1-13)

“Tempted”: Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. But was the problem so much in what he was being tempted with or more in the timing of the temptations? Let’s find out. And as we do, you will see a faithful Savior, who is just the right one for you.

Jesus has just been baptized in the Jordan River. At his baptism, the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus, and the Father’s voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Now Jesus is about to start his public ministry. But first he is led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days to be tempted by the devil.

Jesus is tempted by the devil in a wilderness. Adam and Eve were tempted by the devil in a garden. They failed. Man fell into sin. And this sinful nature has been passed down from generation to generation, down to you and me today. And with sin, death fell upon the human race. Can this one representative man, Jesus, the second Adam–can he succeed where all the rest of us have failed? If death and the devil are to be defeated, Jesus must overcome the temptations that you and I so often surrender to.

Jesus was tempted by the devil for forty days. Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years. They too failed. They groused and grumbled. The children of Israel did not overcome temptation. And many of them fell in the wilderness as a result. Now here is Jesus, in a way, Israel reduced to one. Will he overcome where Israel failed? If there’s going to be a new people of God, Jesus must lead the way.

So Jesus goes out into the wilderness to meet the devil’s temptations head on. But notice what sort of temptations he is tempted with. Are these things really so bad in themselves?

Take the first temptation, for example. Jesus had eaten nothing during the forty days, so naturally he was hungry. Thus the devil comes with the first temptation: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” A food temptation had worked with Adam and Eve: They liked the look of the fruit on the tree. A food temptation had worked with ancient Israel: They were always grumbling about the manna menu. So the devil figures he’ll try it again. “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

Now think about it. Is there anything inherently wrong with Jesus turning a stone into bread? Jesus is the Son of God, after all. The Father had just said that at Jesus’ baptism: “You are my beloved Son.” And what sort of father, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? And it’s not like Jesus couldn’t do this thing. As the Son of God, he was there in the beginning, active in the creation of the heavens and the earth. He is the one “by whom all things were made,” including all the stones in the wilderness and the wheat in the field. It would be no problem for Jesus to make bread out of a stone. No big deal.

In fact, Jesus will do something like that later in his ministry, on an even more spectacular level. He will feed 5,000 from just five loaves and two fish, with twelve baskets left over. Here it’s just a matter of turning one little stone into bread. What’s the problem?

And Jesus is so hungry. Doesn’t he deserve to get something to eat? What would be the harm in that? Who is more entitled to have, not just a piece of bread, but an entire feast held in his honor? And Christ will have a great heavenly banquet, the marriage feast of the Lamb in his kingdom, which has no end. Jesus is worthy of feasting not fasting. So why begrudge him some food here after forty days of going without? What would be so wrong? “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

But Jesus has more important things on his mind than filling his belly. Jesus answers the devil, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” The bread can wait for another time. Right now, Jesus is on a mission from God. Here at the outset of his ministry, Jesus denies his own desires in order to do the will of his Father. That’s what he’ll need to do at the conclusion of his ministry, when he says, “Not my will but thine be done.” Completing this fast will be a good preparation for that. So Jesus turns away this first temptation.

Now a second temptation: “And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, ‘To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’”

Of course, worshiping the devil at any time would be wrong in and of itself. But for Jesus to have all the kingdoms of this world, all this authority and their glory–what would be wrong with that? Isn’t Jesus entitled? He is the Son of God. Why not receive all that glory? The angel Gabriel had said about Jesus: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And later on, Jesus himself will say, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” All authority. So what’s wrong with Jesus claiming that power and glory now?

But this is not the time. Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, not as the world reckons power or glory. And Jesus’ kingdom, his authority and glory, will not be won by taking shortcuts. His kingdom will mean a crown of thorns and a sign on a cross that says, “The King of the Jews.” So Jesus answers the devil, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’” Second temptation, overcome.

Now the third. The devil takes Jesus to Jerusalem. They go up and stand on the pinnacle of the temple. The devil says, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

Again with the “If you are the Son of God.” But it’s not like the devil is denying that Jesus is the Son of God. No, it’s more like, “Since you are the Son of God, do something to prove it.” You deserve God’s protection and his guardian angels. Surely God would not let you, his beloved Son, see any harm! Go ahead, Jesus, take a leap of faith! Take God up on his promises! “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.”

But the devil’s temptation–to take a shortcut, to take the easy way out–will not work with Jesus. He replies, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” And the devil’s line will not work later, either. When Jesus starts talking about going to Jerusalem to suffer and be killed, Peter objects, “No, no, Lord, that should never happen to you.” But Jesus recognizes this sort of temptation and rebukes Peter accordingly: “Get behind me, Satan!” Likewise, the mockers at the cross will echo the devil’s words when they say, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” But at that time also, Jesus will resist the temptation to take the easy way out.

It’s all about the timing. There will come a time when the Father does vindicate his Son, by raising him from the dead. But that time is not yet. There will come a time when Jesus does receive an everlasting kingdom and all authority and glory. But that time is not yet. There will come a time for joyous feasting at the great heavenly banquet. But that time has not yet come. First, Jesus has a job to do. And he will stick to the task. No shortcuts. No easy way out. No using his divine power to serve himself. “For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” That is what Jesus is all about. And it will mean a journey to Jerusalem and the way of the cross. Jesus now is setting out on that journey. And he will not be taken off course.

And this is good news for you, my friends. For you have a Savior who has overcome all the temptations of the devil. Jesus has defeated your foe for you. You and I have yielded to temptation and sinned many times. We fall for the devil’s lies: “You deserve it. You should get what you want. Have it now.” Yes, we are weak, but Jesus is strong. He stays true to the course. In Christ, you have a Savior who is completely faithful, utterly reliable, strong to save, totally committed to your salvation. That’s why he turns down the bread and the glory and the protection. He will not be deterred from going to the cross for you.

For Jesus, glory is coming, but it will come through suffering. Jesus will suffer and die for the sins of the world, for your sins and mine. And that is his greatest glory. The glory comes through the cross. “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Yes, it was necessary, and Jesus knows this. From the temptation in the wilderness to the cross in Jerusalem, Jesus knows what his mission is.

The things Jesus was tempted with–sustenance, all authority, vindication by his Father–these were not inherently wrong for him to receive. But it was a matter of the timing. Jesus knew what time it was. It was time to forego the glory, in order to go to the cross. And because he did, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

The Transfiguration of Our Lord
Sunday, February 27, 2022

“At the Transfiguration: Moses, a Mountain, and an Exodus” (Luke 9:28-36)

Today is the Transfiguration of Our Lord. It’s the last Sunday of the Epiphany season before we enter Lent this week on Ash Wednesday. Our text is Luke’s account of the Transfiguration. In all three accounts, in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we see Jesus transfigured, on a mountain, standing with Moses and Elijah, talking with them. Only in Luke, though, do we find out what they were talking about. And so our theme this morning: “At the Transfiguration: Moses, a Mountain, and an Exodus.”

Moses? A mountain? An exodus? Our text leads us to reflect on these things. First of all, Moses himself shows up, some 1400 years after he died. God must have brought him back for this event for a reason. So we look back on the life of Moses to see what the significance might be. Second, the transfiguration of Christ is literally a “mountaintop experience.” And when we think about the life of Moses, we recall that he also had a number of mountaintop experiences. But this third thing, about an “exodus”–where do we get that? Well, it’s there. You just don’t see it at first glance. More on that later.

Let’s start with the person of Moses. Moses is, arguably, the most important person in the Old Testament. Abraham, David, Elijah–you could make a case for them, but you would not go wrong in saying that Moses is the key figure in Israel’s history: Moses was the great deliverer, the great lawgiver, the great prophet. “And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.”

But here at the Transfiguration, there is one greater than Moses. Here is Jesus Christ, receiving the greater glory. The reading from Hebrews puts it like this: “For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses. . . . Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son.” You see, Moses’ role was to point ahead to Jesus, to prophesy, in word and deed, of the good things to come in Christ. Moses received the word of God from the Lord himself and spoke it to the people. Jesus does that in an even greater way, more directly, and with an even greater message. As St. John says: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” Jesus is the very Son of God, and when you see and hear him, he is making God known in the ultimate way. All of God’s grace, all of God’s truth, is wrapped up in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ.

Moses had told the people of Israel: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers–it is to him you shall listen.” That prophecy of a prophet like Moses is fulfilled in Jesus. The Father’s voice from the cloud echoes this prophecy and tells the disciples why Jesus receives the greater glory. He says: “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” Then the disciples look up, and they no longer see Moses and Elijah. They see Jesus alone.

Then there’s the matter of being transfigured, of having your appearance changed. When Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai and came down from the mountain, his face was shining from being with God. But Jesus is God himself, the Son of God in the flesh–hidden in lowliness, but now at the Transfiguration, revealed in glory. So Jesus’ whole appearance is shining with an even more glorious light. “The appearance of his face was altered,” transfigured, “and his clothing became dazzling white.”

Moses points ahead to Jesus, but in such a way that the prophecy yields to the fulfillment, the lesser gives way to the greater, the servant gladly gives all glory to the Son.

So first, there’s the person of Moses. And second, there’s the mountain. Moses had a number of mountaintop experiences. It seems he spends half his time on top of mountains, meeting with God. The Old Testament reading today has Moses on top of Mount Nebo, looking out over the Promised Land before he dies. But before that, of course, Moses met with God on Mount Sinai, where he received the Ten Commandments. And even before that, Moses was on a mountain when the Lord told him, from a burning bush, to go and lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. The Lord said: “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey. . . . And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

You see, the children of Israel were trapped down in Egypt, groaning in bondage and slavery. The Egyptians were harsh taskmasters, and the Israelites were suffering there in a foreign land. But the Lord had made a promise with their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to settle the people of Israel in their own land, in freedom, in a land flowing with milk and honey. And the Lord always keeps his promises. So the Lord was making good on his promise. There would be an exodus out of Egypt–an “exodus,” literally, a “way out,” a “departure.” The Israelites would escape Egypt and be brought up to the Promised Land. And the Lord would do that through Moses. That’s what the Lord told Moses at the burning bush on the mountain. That was Moses’ mountaintop experience before the exodus.

Now, at the Transfiguration, God is doing it again, in an even greater way, with Jesus, on a mountain. This is the mountaintop experience before the exodus that Jesus is about to accomplish. Remember, I said earlier that the exodus is mentioned in our text today, only you don’t see it at first glance. Well, now let’s give it a second glance, and we will see it.

You don’t see an “exodus” in the English. But you do see it in the Greek. And only Luke has this, in the verse where he mentions what Moses and Elijah and Jesus were discussing: “And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” “They spoke of his departure”: the word here for “departure” is the Greek word “exodus.” Moses and Elijah and Jesus were talking about Jesus’ exodus, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Because from this point on, Jesus sets his face to go to Jerusalem, where he will accomplish a new and even greater exodus for you and me.

You see, you and I were groaning under the bondage of slavery, slavery to sin and Satan. Satan, that old Pharaoh, is a harsh taskmaster. Afflictions are the chains that bind us. Oppression is the whip that lashes our back. Guilt, the burden that weighs us down. Death, the heavy load that drags us to the ground. And there is no way that we could free ourselves from that slavery. We had no way out.

But Jesus comes, and he is the leader of a new exodus, our escape from sin and death and the grave. Jesus tells old Pharaoh, “Let my people go!” But how Jesus will accomplish this exodus at Jerusalem–this is where the story takes an interesting twist.

What was it that led directly to the exodus from Egypt? It was the plague of the death of the firstborn. And that plague would have struck the homes of the Israelites, too, if the Lord had not provided the Passover lamb. The Israelites were told to sacrifice a lamb without spot or blemish and to spread its blood on the doorposts of their homes. The angel of death would see the blood and pass over that house. Their homes were spared. At the same time, the plague hitting Egypt was the tipping point that finally let the people of Israel go. They made their escape out of bondage and started heading toward the Promised Land.

All that is what is fulfilled in the new exodus that Jesus has accomplished at Jerusalem for you and me. He himself is the perfect Passover Lamb, by whose blood we are spared death. God sees Jesus’ blood, the holy precious blood he shed on the cross, and death passes over us. Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, your sin and mine.

As a result, we are free. Satan, that old Pharaoh, is defeated. He no longer has any hold on us. Christ is our exodus. He is our way out, in his person, in his flesh. He leads us out of our bondage. He brings us out and leads us through the wilderness of this world, on our way to the Promised Land of heaven. Our exodus will result in the resurrection from the dead, eternal life with God and with his people, in joy and blessing forevermore.

My friends, all of this is being shown to us here in the Transfiguration of Our Lord. The Transfiguration was prefigured in Moses on his mountains and in the exodus he led. But that deliverance has been fulfilled in an even greater way in the new exodus that Jesus has accomplished. The Transfiguration of Our Lord is the mountaintop experience before the greatest exodus of all. The Son of God’s glory is shining forth, as he is about to go to Jerusalem to set us free.

Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany
February 20, 2022

“Sharing in Your Father’s Character” (Luke 6:27-38)

Listen to the things Jesus tells us to do today: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.”

Sounds like a tall order! Are you up to it? Well, I’m going to say yes! Why? Because you, dear Christian, you share in your Father’s character.

Yeah, I think Jesus really expects his disciples to do these things. This is not a trick. This is not a trap. Jesus really means for us to live this way. But we come up with all kinds of excuses, don’t we? How easily we dismiss what Jesus has to tell us!

One common excuse is that this is a trick, it is a trap. Jesus doesn’t really expect us to do these things. I mean, come on! Jesus knows that we’re sinners and that these sorts of things are way beyond ability to do. Really, love your enemies? Do good to those who hate you? Get real! Nobody can do that. Well, OK, maybe Jesus can do those things, but then he’s the Son of God. We’re not.

So why does Jesus tell us these things? According to this line of thinking, it’s to show us that we can’t do them. He wants us to try, and then when we fall flat on our face, we’ll be driven back to Jesus for forgiveness, and that’s the only point in here. Since you’re a sinner, you are unable to do any love beyond the ordinary, which is just to love the people who love you. You are a sinner, and therefore are unable to do good works. But when you realize that, it’s OK, because you’re forgiven, Jesus died on the cross, and thus you can dismiss the idea that Jesus really expects us to live like this. End of sermon.

Now there’s a little grain of truth in this. You are a sinner. You will not be able to do all these things perfectly. You will fail. And thus you do need to come back to Jesus for forgiveness on a regular basis. All that is true. But that’s not all there is to this. It’s a gross oversimplification. It only tells one side of the story.

But that’s what you’ll hear in some places. There are those who call themselves “radical Lutherans.” They say that you should never preach like Jesus does here–or like Paul does, or Peter, or John, in their epistles. They say you should not exhort Christians to a life of love and good works, because that’s just dumping law on their heads. The preacher should only mention these things in order to get people to realize that they can’t do them, that they’re sinners. But that’s OK, because they’re forgiven. And that’s about as far as these so-called “radical Lutheran” preachers go. They don’t really preach that you can and should actually live this way, as Jesus instructs us here in our text.

But that’s not really the Lutheran position. In fact, confessional Lutherans are in favor of exhorting Christians to love and good works. Just don’t think that you earn your salvation by doing them. But that doesn’t mean we are against teaching Christians to do good works. Quite the contrary. Our Lutheran Confessions state: “We teach that it is necessary to do good works. . . The Holy Spirit is received through faith, hearts are renewed and given new affections, and then they are able to bring forth good works” (AC XX:27, 29). “The adversaries falsely charge that our theologians do not teach good works. They not only require good works, but they also show how they can be done.” (Ap V:15). “Christians should not be frightened away from good works, but should be admonished and urged to do them most diligently” (FC IV:40).

And that’s what Jesus is doing here in our text–and what Paul, Peter, and John do in their epistles. They are exhorting believers to live a new kind of life, different from that of the world. The Bible teaches that Christians are not only sinners–yes, we are that–but that we also are new people in Christ, enabled and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do good works. We are the baptized children of our heavenly Father. And therefore, we share in our Father’s character, which is to be merciful and loving and forgiving. That’s exactly what Jesus is teaching here in our text.

What will this new life look like? It will look like Jesus. Jesus is the Son of the Most High, who gets it exactly right. Jesus was merciful, wasn’t he? Think of all the times he had compassion on the suffering and showed mercy to the marginalized. Jesus loved his enemies, didn’t he? He prayed, “Father, forgive them,” even as they nailed him to a cross. Jesus forgave, didn’t he? He restored Peter, after Peter had denied him three times.

Jesus reveals the character of the Father to us. Your heavenly Father is kind and loving, merciful and forgiving. The psalmist says: “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. . . . As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

Your heavenly Father is that way, and you and I are his children. We reflect his character in our lives, in the way we treat others. “But love your enemies, and do good,” Jesus says, “and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” Do you love and do good to the people who love you and are nice to you? OK, fine, but that’s nothing special. Even sinners do that, Jesus says. But you as Christians are more than sinners. You are children of your Father, and his love goes deeper than that.

Think of the love of God, how high and broad and deep and wide it is. That God would love a bunch of rebellious sinners like you and me, so that he would go so far as to send his own Son into the world? That Christ would suffer and die for us, to forgive our sins and the sins of all humanity? That is love that goes far beyond the ordinary. Now, if God has forgiven our enemies, why can’t we? We can, because we are God’s children, and we share in his character.

Are you holding a grudge against anyone? Are you waiting until that person comes crawling back to you and begs for forgiveness, and then maybe you’ll consider it? That is not the love that Jesus is teaching us today. Repent of your unforgiveness. Forgive that other person. Be reconciled with your brother or sister. Take the initiative in seeking reconciliation. This is the love that reflects who you are as God’s child.

“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful,” says Jesus. Mercy is love put into action. Mercy is practical love, in acts of service toward your neighbor. Is there anyone you know whom you can serve and help this week? Think about that. And when the opportunity arises, do it. I know you know this. I know you are doing this. I see the acts of love and service that the people of our congregation are already doing. It comes naturally to you, because you have the new nature dwelling in you.

“As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.” That is a good guiding principle in life, isn’t it? We call it the Golden Rule: “Do unto others, as you as you would have them do unto you.” It’s the same as saying, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” When you see someone else in a situation where they could use some help, think about, if you were in that situation, what you would like someone else to do for you. Then go ahead and do that for the person in need. God will give you the opportunities. When you see them, go for it. You can do it. You are a new person in Christ.

Generous, giving, loving, forgiving, going the extra mile–this is who you are, in Christ. Now, to be sure, you still have that old Adam hanging around your neck, and you will be battling that old nature until the day you die. And so, when you see yourself fail, recognize that, confess it, and come running back here to church for the forgiveness from Christ you receive here in Holy Absolution and Holy Communion. You need that. I need that. We are not yet perfect in our life of sanctification.

Yes, we are sinners. But that is not all who we are as Christians. We are God’s children. We are new people in Christ. We are energized and renewed by the Holy Spirit. Jesus really, sincerely, expects his disciples to live the kind of life he tells us to do today.

So, ask God to help you in your new life of love and good works. We will pray for that now, in a moment, in the Prayer of the Church. And come back here to church every week to receive the help you need to live as God’s child. You’ll get that help right now in the Lord’s Supper. Through this salutary gift, you will be strengthened in faith toward God and in fervent love–not just mild, but fervent love–toward one another. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany
February 13, 2022

“Plain Speaking: Blessings and Woes” (Luke 6:17-26)

Our text today, from Luke chapter 6, begins with these words: “And he came down with them and stood on a level place.” Who is the “he,” who is the “them,” and where is he coming down from? The “he” is Jesus, the “them” are his twelve disciples, and where Jesus is coming down from is a mountain. He had been up on that mountain all night, praying. In the morning, he came down and gathered together the twelve, along with a whole bunch of his other followers. Having come down from the mountain, he now stood on a level place, a plain, and began to teach this large group of disciples. The teachings that follow in Luke are very similar to those known as “the Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew. But because on this occasion Jesus is standing on a level place, the teachings here in Luke are known as “the Sermon on the Plain.”

What? Similar teachings, but in Matthew, Jesus is on a mount, and in Luke, he is on a plain? What, did Matthew and Luke get their stories crossed? Are they contradicting one another? No, no need to jump to that conclusion. Even if they were talking about the same event, it would not mean they got something wrong. Even if Jesus were on a mountainside, he could still find a level place to stand and address a crowd. But the other possibility is, as any teacher can tell you, if you teach the same content on different occasions to different groups, a lot of your teaching is going to sound pretty much the same. The wording will be very similar. So this “mount” vs. “plain” problem is really no problem at all.

The problem, if you will, is in us receiving and believing what Jesus has to say. For he says some very challenging things. Indeed, when you compare what Matthew includes with what Luke has, something jumps out at you right away. Matthew has the Beatitudes, of course, those “Blessed are” statements. And Luke has them, too. But Luke also includes their opposite, a number of “But woe to you” statements. They’re the opposite of beatitudes. We might call them “Woeitudes.” They are tough and harsh. But Jesus gives it to us straight. Here in the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus is speaking truth to us, whether we like it or not. And so our theme this morning: “Plain Speaking: Blessings and Woes.”

First, Jesus gives us the Beatitudes, the “Blessed ares.” But even here, we’ll find some things we don’t like to hear. It’s in the first half of each beatitude. Take the first one, for instance: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” We like the “Blessed are you” part–that’s nice. And we like the promise in the second half: “for yours is the kingdom of God.” But it’s who Jesus says is blessed–that’s the part that troubles us.

“Blessed are you who are poor”: We don’t like that. We don’t like to be poor. Now I know, in Matthew it says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” and one can be poor in spirit without being poor in cash flow. But here in Luke it just says “poor.” And there is something to be said about the blessedness of being poor, poor in pocketbook. Because when you’re that kind of poor, then you have to rely on God to take care of you. There’s a reason Jesus spoke elsewhere of how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Because when you’re rich and you can get anything you want, there’s a special temptation to not rely on God. You can become very content with your life here on earth. All the pleasures you can desire are yours. And so, what do you need God for? Or so you think.

But when you’re poor, and especially when you’re poor because you follow Christ, that can be a blessed place to be. You realize that this life is not all so wonderful. You look to God to supply your needs. And if you’re poor in part because you’re a Christian. . . . And Christians have been deprived and discriminated against economically in times of persecution. Also, Christians may not have as much disposable income as the unbelievers do, since we give a greater percentage of our income away–giving generously to our church, for instance, to support the ministry of the gospel.

So, Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor.” Oh, we may not have a lot of money. But what we do have is worth so much more. Infinitely more. Our Lord Jesus tells us what we have: “for yours is the kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God–what could be more valuable than that? “For the kingdom of God,” as Paul says in Romans, is a matter of “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” To have righteousness, right standing before God, to have peace with God, to have a joy that goes deeper than your circumstances–I wouldn’t trade those gifts for all the money in the world!

Next beatitude: “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.” Again, we don’t like the hungry part. It means that nothing in this life can fully satisfy us. We realize something is lacking, something is missing. Our life is not perfect, it’s not complete. Not in this life, that is. But we have a future to look forward to, a future when all will be put right. You will be satisfied, Jesus assures us. Jesus himself is going to come and fix all things. You have his word on it, and he is the one you can trust.

Next: “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.” This life is a vale of tears, isn’t it? We have experienced that once again just this past week, with the death of Pastor Reeder. You and I weep, we mourn, at the constant stream of death that surrounds us. And one day that stream will come and sweep us away. Or our sons or daughters, our parents, our friends and relatives and neighbors. There is so much to make us weep in this life. But the day is coming when we can put all that mourning and sadness behind us.

Our Lord Jesus has overcome the sting of death. He took all our sins upon him, into his own body, and he paid the price for our iniquity on the cross. Now your sins are forgiven. The death sentence has been served, but you didn’t have to pay it. Jesus did it for you. And because he is the holy Son of God, death could not hold him. He rose victorious from the dead. And all those who trust in him as their Savior, who are baptized in his name–Jesus shares his resurrection victory with us. We await that day with sure hope. And then, in the resurrection, our tears will turn to laughter, in a joy that never ends.

One more beatitude: “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.” We don’t like to be left out. We don’t like to not be liked. And hopefully, we’re not disliked because we’re being a jerk. But there is a dislike we incur precisely because we belong to Christ. The world hates Jesus, and therefore they hate his followers, too. Get used to it. It comes with the territory. And the world, our current culture, is becoming increasingly more hostile toward Christians. So don’t be surprised when you feel the brunt of it. Now we don’t go looking for persecution or martyrdom. But when it comes, it comes. And when it comes, take it as a badge of honor. You belong to Christ, and someone doesn’t like that. Oh, well. Our Lord calls us blessed, and that’s what counts, and so we are. “Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven.” The glory we will enjoy far outweighs the grief we experience.

So those are the Beatitudes as we have them in Luke. But here in our text, we also get a set of woes–the “Woeitudes,” as I called them. It’s plain speaking here, remember. Jesus is holding nothing back. And these “Woeitudes” are simply the direct opposite of the Beatitudes, stating them in the reverse: “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”

You think you’ve got life easy now? You think you don’t need God? You’re rich, you’re full, you’re happy, you’re popular? Everything’s going your way, and so you think you’re fine on your own, as you are. Well, guess what? You’re not. Your good life could be gone in a moment–in a tornado, in a car wreck, in a heart attack. You have no guarantees. Wait, there’s one thing I can guarantee you: You will die. All your stuff will do you no good then, when you stand before the judgment seat of God. And what will you do then? All your supposed goodness–all your relative goodness over the really bad people–all of that will not amount to a hill of beans, and you will be heading down the highway to hell.

So Jesus is speaking very plainly here. Why? Just to scare us? No, to warn us. Jesus speaks this plainly with these woes as his way of saying “Whoa!” Whoa! Stop and take a look in the mirror! Do you have what it takes to overcome sin and death and hell on your own? No, you don’t. No one has.

Only Jesus Christ can give you what you need. Only he has the righteousness and the life and the gift of heaven to bless you with. Here in the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus makes it plain: He warns you with the woes, and he freely offers you his enormous blessings.

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
February 6, 2022

“Catching Men Alive” (Luke 5:1-11)

Last week we saw Jesus’ authoritative word in action: proclaiming good news to the poor, proclaiming liberty to the captives, setting at liberty those who are oppressed. We saw his authority in doctrine, his authority over demons, his authority over disease and death. This week we see Jesus’ authoritative word in action again, this time persuading fishermen, catching fish, and using the witness of sinners to be “Catching Men Alive.”

Our text is the Holy Gospel for today, from Luke chapter 5. Jesus is teaching people the word of God as he’s standing by the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Gennesaret. There are so many people pressing in to hear him, that he’s having trouble being heard. So he sees some fishermen with their boats there by the shore, and he has an idea. He asks Simon Peter if he could get in his boat and teach from it, since if Peter pushes out a bit from the shore, Jesus will be heard better by the crowd. Peter agrees, and that’s what happens. Jesus gets in, Peter pushes out, and Jesus teaches from the seat of Simon Peter’s boat.

Once that’s done, now Jesus is going to teach Peter something about fishing. Huh? Come again? Jesus is going to teach Peter about fishing? That doesn’t make any sense. Jesus didn’t grow up in a fishing village. His father was a carpenter, not a fisherman. And Jesus is some sort of an itinerant rabbi. What does he know about fishing? On the other hand, Peter is a professional fisherman. He makes his living by catching fish. His boat and his nets are his livelihood. Peter and his partners know these waters better than anyone on the planet. And Jesus is going to give Peter advice on how to catch fish? Good luck with that!

But Jesus goes ahead anyway. He says to Simon Peter: “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Peter is thinking: “Okay! Here is a guy who knows nothing about fishing, and he’s telling me how to do my job! I’m sure he means well, but. . . .” So Peter says: “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!” In other words: “Look, if there were any fish to catch, we would have caught them. The conditions were just not right last night. And they’re certainly not right now.”

But then there’s this matter of Jesus’ authority, of his word. Jesus speaks like he’s got a direct hotline from heaven. Which he does. Peter had heard Jesus teach, and his teaching certainly has the ring of divine authority. So, against his better judgment and years of experience as a commercial fisherman, Simon Peter goes along with what Jesus says. He answers Jesus: “But at your word I will let down the nets.”

“But at your word.” That’s always a good thing to say when you hear the word of Jesus. Even when it looks like it will be a giant waste of time to do what Jesus is telling you, do it anyway. When he tells you to forgive the brother who has wronged you, go ahead and forgive. When Jesus tells you to love your enemies and help your neighbor in need, go ahead and do it. Even if it looks like it will cost you, go ahead and do what Jesus says. “But at your word.” Jesus’ word will never steer you wrong.

So that’s the first miracle that Jesus’ authoritative word accomplishes in our story today. Jesus persuades a professional fisherman to go against everything he knows about fishing and to put out into the deep and let down his nets for a catch.

Which leads to the second miracle: the miraculous draught of fishes, as it’s traditionally called. The fishermen put out into the deep, and they let down their nets. The result? A huge net gain! At a time when there should not have been any fish to catch, instead, there are so many fish that the nets are breaking and the boats are beginning to sink. It’s amazing! How was Jesus able to know that that’s what was going to happen? It’s like he’s the Lord of creation or something. Well, not “or something”: He is the Lord of creation! Jesus put all those fishes in the deep blue sea, so he knows where to catch them.

Simon Peter sees all this, and he’s never seen anything like this before in all his years of fishing. Peter knows there’s something different about this man Jesus. Which makes him all the more aware of his own inadequacy. Peter knows he’s in the company of a man sent from heaven. God’s power, God’s authority, is in this man Jesus. And in his presence, Peter feels his own unworthiness. He falls at Jesus’ knees and humbly confesses: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Is there anyone here today who could not make this same confession? I know I could. I know that I am a sinful man and that therefore the holy Lord would be entirely justified to depart from me and to leave me in my sins. I have broken God’s commandments. I have not loved the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I have not loved my neighbor as much as I love myself. That is sin. And that is what alienates me from God and brings me under his just judgment. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” I can say that with Peter, and so can you.

But thank God, that is not what the Lord does. He does not depart from us. Instead, he suffers and dies for us. He goes to Calvary’s cross, and there he bears the weight of all our sins and the sin of whole world. Christ lets himself be caught and captured and crucified. All for your sake, so that you will never die under God’s judgment. Jesus took it for you. Your sins are forgiven. Christ’s holy blood cleanses you from your guilt, and his authoritative word announces your absolution.

Jesus does not depart from you. He dies for you. He rises for you, showing that what he has done gives you life in place of death, eternity instead of futility, hope in place of despair. Christ’s authoritative word has baptized you and brought you into God’s family, the church. And now together as church, our Lord has given us good and rewarding work to do as his people. It’s like he told Peter: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

Peter the apostle, and we as the apostolic church–this is what we do. We catch men. Peter had been a fisher of fish. Now he’s got a new vocation. He will be a fisher of men. Now isn’t this amazing? Jesus will use an admittedly sinful man like Simon Peter–and Peter messed up a lot–Jesus will use the witness of this weak and sinful man, full of flaws, and through his gospel witness, Christ will draw many more men into the net of the church. That’s how you got here today. The Lord used the apostolic witness to bring you into the boat, along with millions of others around the world. Jesus even uses the ministrations of your poor, sinful pastor to forgive your sins, to preach the gospel to you, to give you the very body and blood of your Savior. How can I do this? Because the power does not rest in the person of the pastor. The power rests in the almighty, authoritative, life-giving, life-changing word of Christ.

And this life-giving word of Jesus is still doing its job today. Oh, it may not look like it anymore. It looks now like the world is walking away from Christ and his church. We feel like saying, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!” People are not flocking into the church like they used to do. Numbers are down all across the country. And it isn’t just the coronavirus. It isn’t just a cold and snow-covered weekend. This is a downward trend that has been going on for a long time.

Headline, from December: “About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated: Self-identified Christians make up 63% of U.S. population in 2021, down from 75% a decade ago.” “The secularizing shifts evident in American society so far in the 21st century show no signs of slowing,” the article states. “Currently, about three-in-ten U.S. adults (29%) are religious ‘nones’–people who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or ‘nothing in particular’ when asked about their religious identity.”

My fellow Christians, these “nones” are your friends and neighbors, they are your co-workers, they may even be your family members. But they are drifting in darkness, lost in their sin, and heading for hell. They don’t know they need Jesus. But they do. Oh, more than anything else, they need Jesus!

Friends, these are the fish that our gospel nets will catch! We have Jesus’ word on it! We have Jesus’ word with which to do the job! Christ will use even our weak and shaky words to deliver his authoritative word to people who need it. What Jesus told Simon Peter he says to his church today: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

Oh, and one more thing about this “catching men” business. The Greek word here is a very interesting and unusual word. It literally means to be “catching men alive.” And that’s fitting, isn’t it? For when Jesus catches us in his gospel nets, it’s not to kill us and condemn us to death. No, Christ catches us and lifts us to life, new life, everlasting life. For Jesus and his church are in the fishing business, and we are catching men alive!