Sermons

In him who is light and life and salvation, Fellow fishers of men. “Jesus Calls…..” I. Forgiven sinners to proclaim his Word II. Believers to share their faith with others INTRODUCTION “Come on everyone, it’s time for dinner”. “Honey, would you bring up the clothes from in the dryer” “Yes, I’m calling to order a large deluxe pizza”. “911 – I need help right away!”. If you think about it, in the course of our earthly lives, we call different people in different ways for a variety of different things. But in our text for this evening/morning, we have a call that we probably wouldn’t consider normal. It doesn’t happen in a usual circumstance – it is not across the house or the yard or on the telephone. But it is a call which still happens in the life of every believer every day of their lives. This morning we see how and why Jesus Calls…. As he calls Peter to be his disciple, we are reminded that still today 1) He calls forgiven sinners to share his Word and he calls 2) Believers to share their faith with others. We read again v. 10b of our Gospel lesson from Luke 5. I. Forgiven sinners to proclaim his Word One of the things which is notable about Jesus’ ministry is the way he uses the current situation at hand to share the truths of the Gospel with people. One day Jesus sees Peter and others doing their regular job of fishing. As true God Jesus knew what they had just been through – fishing all night and catching nothing. Despite that, Jesus tells them to go back out to the same place where they had fished and try again. He wants them see the power of the Word in their catch. When they follow Jesus Peter, like Isaiah in our OT lesson when he sees that he is standing in the presence of a holy and perfect God is overwhelmed by his sin. But Jesus assures him “don’t be afraid”. Jesus’ words assure him that his sinfulness does not disqualify him from going out and proclaiming the Word of God. He instead assures him that that Word has given him forgiveness and with that forgiveness he can go out and share the same message with others – the power of the Word gives forgiveness, life and salvation. Each one of us here has seen the power of God at work in our lives and Jesus also reminds us that our sins and our sinfulness are not an excuse from listening to and following his call. We have seen that Word work right here in worship as God tells us “your sins are forgiven”. We have seen that Word work as it has gotten us through those times in life when there seems to be more tears and fears than hope and smiles. That Word has comforted us as we stood at the graveside with the assurance “I am the resurrection and the life”. As we, like Peter, have seen that Word work in our lives, God calls us, forgiven sinners to take that Word and share it with others and let it work in their lives as well. Our Lord removes our fears as he tells us that when we need to speak, he will give us the words to say. But not only does Jesus call Peter and us as forgiven sinners to share his Word with others, he also calls us to share the faith he gave us with others who do not have it. II. Believers to share their faith with others Jesus puts it this way to Peter “from now on you will catch men”. A recent Gallup poll asked people who did not have a regular church home “Would you join a church?”. More than 50% responded “Yes”. The poll then followed up to ask why people hadn’t joined one and the respondents almost all said “No one has asked us”. When Jesus says to Peter and us that he is making us fishers of men, he is not just talking about having a church and proclaiming God’s Word. He is talking about using the opportunities which God gives us in our daily lives to ask and invite people to join us to grow in their faith. Just think of how many different people we come in contact with in the course of just one week. Maybe they are family members or relatives who share with us their fruitless search for a purpose in life. Maybe they are the person on our volleyball team on Tuesday nights who has told us that they feel depressed and despairing. Or perhaps it is the person in the desk or station next to us at work and we hear their bitterness and rage all the time. Have we asked them? Jesus calls us to be fishers of men and simply gives us the opportunities to take the faith which is in our hearts and let it do the talking to others as he uses us to reach out to them. CONCLUSION A man whose regular job was that of being a meat packer was once asked what his profession was. He replied “I am a Christian”. The person who asked the question repeated it and added “I don’t think you understand me.” The meat packer replied “Yes, I did, my full-time job is being a Christian, I just pack meat to pay the bills”. We may teach children in a classroom, or work in an office full of people or even work in the heat and dirt of a factory, but like that meat packer we all share the same full time job – being fishers of men. As God’s Word continues to assure us that we are forgiven sinners and as it strengthens that God-given faith. May we, like Isaiah in our Old Testament lesson, when Jesus calls be ready and willing to say “Here I am, Lord, send me!” Amen.