"I Have Good News and Good News, Which Do You Want First?" Fifth Sunday after Trinity Commemoration of Elijah Confirmation Day July 20, 2014 Luke 5:1–11
You know the way it works, if someone has good news and bad news, they say, “I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?” The bad news is chosen first so that way you can hear it and get it out of the way, and then you can get on with the good news. Also, if you hear the good news first, then it will be spoiled by hearing the bad news afterward. Today, I don’t have good news and bad news for you, only good news. But as with the good news/bad news scenario, I will offer you a choice. Because I have good news for you and I have good news for you. Which do you want first? You’ll be able to answer that question when I tell you that the one piece of good news I have to tell you is one that you probably won’t like to hear and the other is one that you very likely will want to hear. If you’re confused, you’re not alone. So was Peter in the Gospel reading for today. We usually think of bad news as what we don’t want to hear and good news as what we want to. How can good news be something we wouldn’t want to hear? That question is answered in today’s Gospel reading. Even though Jesus didn’t say anything of the sort, Peter came to the realization of this good news. He asked Jesus to depart from him because, in his words, he was a sinner. But how is this good news? How is it good to come to the awareness that you are a sinner and that standing in the presence of the God who can bring about a miraculous catch of fish you realize that you are hopeless as you stand before Him? Isn’t it bad news to hear that you are a sinner? Isn’t God coming to us a with a bad news/good news sort of thing? The bad news is that you are a sinner but the good news is that you are forgiven? If that were the case, that would destroy God’s character. From your perspective it sounds like very bad news, hearing that you are a sinner. But that’s just the problem, you’re looking at it from your own perspective. That’s why you hear it as bad news. In fact, it’s good news. Peter heard it as bad news and that’s why he asked the Lord to depart from him. If he had realized that it was good news, then he would rather have been able to ask of his Lord to forgive him. But that is exactly what Jesus does. He forgives Peter. Do not be afraid, Peter. You are a sinner. But now, though you are a fisherman, you will become a fisher of men. You are forgiven of your sin so that you may become one who announces the good news to other sinners. The good news is that they are sinners, but sinners Christ has died for. Every one of us here today needs to hear the good news that we are sinners and the good news that God forgives our sin in Christ. Alex and Karissa, today you are being confirmed in the faith and it may seem to you and to all of us that you need to hear a particular message that applies only to you on your Confirmation Day. What you need to hear, though, is what we all need to hear. You need to hear thet good news and you need to hear the other good news. The whole scene of the Gospel reading today brings this point home. Luke sets the scene: “On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on [Jesus] to hear the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.” For you, Alex and Karissa, and for all of us, this is how we are when we are in the House of God. Being in the Lord’s House on the Lord’s Day, you are pressing in on Jesus to hear Hs Word. You are taught by Him. You are receiving His good news and His other good news. When you are here you are receiving the news that you are a sinner. This is good news because it is your Lord drawing you to repentance so that you may hear the good news that He forgives you. Luke further tells us that Jesus did something after He had finished teaching the people the Word of God. He told Peter to place the nets down into the deep water for a catch. Now, Peter and his fellow fishermen were just that, they were fisherman by trade. They knew what they were doing. Jesus was not a fisherman by trade. He was, however, God in the flesh, and He wasn’t intending to help them out so much as He was continuing His teaching of the Word of God, this time through a display of His divine power. Peter and his fellow fishermen were already done. They had already spent an exhausting night fishing and now they were cleaning up. So when Jesus told them to put out their nets again, I can imagine that they might have wondered why Jesus had waited until they were already cleaning up. Even so, His command to let down in the deep they knew was a waste of time. Being fishermen by trade they knew where to cast the nets, and it wasn’t in the deep water. It was in the water closer to the surface, where the fish would swimming around the rocks. But this was their master. This was their teacher. They would show Him respect and obey Him. Peter answered Jesus, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at Your word I will let down the nets.” It’s safe to say that Peter didn’t understand why Jesus was giving this command, but he obeyed anyway. As you are confirmed, Alex and Karissa, pray that God will grant you also the desire to do what your Lord bids you to do. Following the response of Peter, “At Your word, O Lord, I will do what You give me to do.” What happened when they let down the nets was shocking to these fishermen. This was something that didn’t happen in their line of work. Fishing all night, not catching anything, and then when Jesus says to put down the nets, and to cast them in the last place they normally would, this was a miracle. This was a sign that they were in the presence of one who was not just a teacher and a master, but the Lord. And that is where Peter got confused. That’s where Peter heard the good news of God that he was a sinner and heard it as bad news. Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinner. Thankfully, Jesus did nothing of the sort. Rather, He forgave Peter. He gave him the good news that he was forgiven. A sinner, yes. But a forgiven sinner. A sinner who would now be giving the good news to other sinners. Sinners who needed to be forgiven just as he did. Alex and Karissa, this is why you’re here today. Not just to be confirmed, but to hear the good news. And each week as you are here in God’s House, that is what you hear. You are convicted of your sin, and that is a very good thing. It means that God loves you so much that He is willing to let you know that you need help. You need to be forgiven. It is why He gives you His good news that you are forgiven. It is why He gives you His Son in His Son’s own feast, His Holy Supper. His body given for you, a sinner. Given for you, for your forgiveness. His blood given for the very same purpose, shed for you for your forgiveness. When you approach the table of your Lord you may very well be thinking you are unable to be in the presence of your Lord. That you need to implore Him to depart from you, for you are a sinner. It is true. It was for Peter, it is for you. The good news for you is that this is good news. For your Lord has come for sinners. He has come for you. Amen. SDG -- Pastor Paul L. Willweber Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS] 6801 Easton Ct., San Diego, California 92120 619.583.1436 princeofpeacesd.net three-taverns.net It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything except where the marks of the Church are concerned. [Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian] _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list Sermons@cat41.org http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
