The Fifth Sunday after Trinity, 2019
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The melodies are linked in the hymn name.
The lyrics are linked in the hymn number.
The Hymn # 375 If Thy Beloved Son The Confession of SinsThe AbsolutionThe Introit p. 16The Gloria PatriThe Kyrie p. 17The Gloria in ExcelsisThe Salutation and Collect p. 19The Epistle and Gradual The Gospel Glory be to Thee, O Lord!Praise be to Thee, O Christ!The Nicene Creed p. 22The Sermon Hymn # 649 Jesus Savior Pilot Me
Trusting the Word, Not Our Feelings, Not Our Experience
The Communion Hymn #350 Jesus the Very Thought (St. Agnes)The Preface p. 24The Sanctus p. 26The Lord's Prayer p. 27The Words of InstitutionThe Agnus Dei p. 28The Nunc Dimittis p. 29The Benediction p. 31The Hymn #52 Almighty Father, Bless the Word
In Our Prayers
- Andrea will have retina surgery this week.
- Pastor Palangyos' daughter and father-in-law were having medical difficulties.
- Christina Jackson celebrated her birthday with a catered meal served at home.
- Elizabeth Mior - has cancer. She is the mother of two small children.
- Those looking for work and a better income.
- Glen Kotten is doing well and appreciates your prayers.
- Carl Roper will have another growth treated.
- Pastor KE and Moliner Kym Dennhardt had diabetic crises over the weekend.
- Alicia Meyer's birthday is Saturday.
KJV 1 Peter 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: 9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. 10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: 11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:KJV Luke 5:1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.Fifth Sunday After TrinityO Jesus Christ, Thou Son of the living God, who hast given us Thy holy word, and hast bountifully provided for all our temporal wants, we confess that we are unworthy of all these mercies, and that we have rather deserved punishment: But we beseech Thee, forgive us our sins, and prosper and bless us in our several callings, that by Thy strength we may be sustained and defended, now and forever, and so praise and glorify Thee eternally, Thou who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Background for the Sermon
The only way to understand the modernist approach to the Scriptures is to see how Zwingli, Calvin, and their followers treated the Word of God. The Calvinists would say about the Word - It points the way, like a sign in the road, but it does not have have power beyond that. Calvin was even more brash, saying a sermon or the sacraments were completely void if the Holy Spirit was not present. That also lies behind the slogan "sovereign grace," which communicates that grace falls on those God has predestined to salvation, apart from the Word, apart from faith, apart from the Means of Grace (the Word and Sacraments).
My introduction to the Word was the meaning in Hebrew, in the Old Testament. There is no distinction between the will and the Word of God, as seen in Creation. When God commanded through the Word, the Son who is the Creating Word, the universe was fashioned in six 24-hour days.
All the miracles of Jesus are from the power of His Word, whether commanding the elements or creatures, healing, or raising the dead. His Word is so great that there are no limits on what it can do with what He created. The universe is subordinate to Him, not to man's reason or experience.
- That same power is wedded to the Word, since God has promised it always has the power of the Holy Spirit and (like rain and snow) never returns void
- always accomplishes His purpose
- always prospers His purpose. Isaiah 55:8ff.
Therefore, our challenge is to listen to what the Word teaches and not make our own feelings and experiences the judge of the Word. If we listen to those who reject the efficacy of the Word, it is clear that they appeal to both, feelings and experiences. Forgiven? Saved? Do you feel forgiven and saved? No? Then you have to do this... We then make ourselves our own savior, and so fickle. Our feelings change from gloom to exultation and back again, daily.
If we can say, that cannot happen, based on everything we have seen before, then our reality subordinate's God reality.
If we look at the pile of doubts cast on the Christian Faith and the Christian Life, it all comes from not trusting the Word of God, which means of course - not trusting God. Gerhardt's hymns deal with this very thing.
4.
Thou Christian heart,
Whoe'er thou art,
Be of good cheer and let no sorrow move
thee!
For God's own Child,
In mercy mild,
Joins thee to Him; - how greatly God must
love thee!TLH, #81 - O Jesus Christ, Thy Manger Is
Trusting the Word, Not Our Feelings, Not Our Experience
KJV Luke 5:1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
Each detail is important in these eleven verses. The Bible is concise, so no words are wasted. Although the Bible as a whole seems intimidating in its size, just the opposite is true of all teaching and history provided, from Creation onward. "It came to pass" is a phrase used by Luke to show an important event follows. This involves the people gathered to hear Him, the Word of God being preached, and the location by the Sea of Galilee.
As Lenski says, this is a sermon (not quoted) and the visualization of the sermon. Just as the parables combined a lesson with memorable characters (Prodigal Son) or items (mustard seed), this combines the Word being taught with the effect of the Word (a miraculous catch, beyond expectations).
Jesus was crowded by the people around Him, so this was not a good way to teach.
2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
Here is a common element. In Creation God provided vast fields where He grows food for us - all the creatures of the seas and the lakes. When I was reading about the formation of new bodies of water, I wondered - how did they obtain their supplies of aquatic life? One article explained it - the birds that fish carry fish eggs (and other eggs) on their feet. So there is never any lack, because God has provided - and most of the world lives within 100 miles of the oceans or around large bodies of water.
Although this miracle is not primarily about God taking care of us, it reminds us of how He works to do that. The disciples were ordinary working people and their jobs before being called by Jesus were definitely blue collar - except Matthew (tax collector).
Luther:
3. Although it is not indeed the purpose of Christ’s coming or preaching to foster and provide for the body, yet he is not unmindful of it when the first thing sought is his kingdom. He therefore takes upon himself the distress of these poor fishermen who, through all this night, and with all their efforts and toil, have caught nothing. However, as they have lent him their boat to preach, and have listened to him, he, without any thought on their part, and before they have uttered any prayer, provides for them a draught of fishes so great that they are thereby enabled fully to learn and clearly to understand that in him they have a Master who cares for them and will not forsake them, provided they abide in his Word and remain his disciples.
4. He would that his Church, or believing people, should be comforted by the fact that he provides for them, and that somewhere on earth they shall find bread and an abiding place, even though they are everywhere so persecuted and scattered, that their place and provision in the world must be uncertain. We find this set forth, not only in the present instance, and in others like it, but in many a beautiful passage, such as Psalm 34:10: “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; but they that seek Jehovah shall not want any good thing.” And Psalm 33:18-19: “Behold, the eye of Jehovah is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his loving kindness; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.” And Proverbs 10:3: “Jehovah will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish,” etc.
Psalm 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
The large, flat, stable boats were nearby but empty. The fishermen had used them all night and were washing their nets after catching nothing.
3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
We have so much in one verse. Jesus had a solution for teaching, which was not practical when crowded along the shore. He would preach the Word to everyone and demonstrate the Word. This miracle provided a vast amount of food and demonstrated the power and mercy of God.
The lake made a great sounding board and the shore provided a rising level of "pews" so they could all listen comfortably and pay attention to the Gospel. Jesus sat because that was the traditional way rabbis taught, as demonstrated in the Sermon on the Mount, with the topography changed, Matthew 5.
ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 5 1550 Stephanus New Testament (TR1550)5 ιδων δε τους οχλους, ανεβη εις το ορος, και καθισαντος αυτου, προσηλθον αυτω οι μαθηται αυτου2 και ανοιξας το στομα αυτου, εδιδασκεν αυτους λεγων
That Jesus taught from the boat is quite an image. Joe DiMaggio hated the stink of the fishing boat, and he begged his father to let him leave it for baseball. But Jesus did not scorn the ways of the people He taught.
4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
Human wisdom and experience cannot see this miracle. Experienced fishermen knew where and when to fish. Modernists who are purely rationalists say - "This is mythological, but it teaches an important point." Calvinists want to make it reasonable, relevant, and appealing. The worst of them want to draw followers by promising them the same kind of abundant material gain as the miraculous catch. Those preachers illustrate it by wearing gold chains and driving big luxury cars - proof they know the formula.
We cannot shut off the practical, rational side of our thinking. That part usually works overtime. Without being shaken and inspired by the Word, our minds get ever-more fixed on what we can figure out for ourselves. Jesus did not prove Himself first with this miracle, but asked the impossible after the sermon.
Here is one thing that will never work. Simon Peter struggled against it and explained why it was impossible. Faith moved him to say, "But at your Word I will let down the net." (Word - utterance, not just talk, but a solemn, divine proclamation.)
This is where the OJists fall on their faces - as a group - they consider faith "looking inward" and condemn it. Faith is created and built up by the Promises of God, and this faith in Him makes us look outward, just the opposite of the rationalists who pile up their teachers and their opinions and say, "Here is a great treasure, and they all agree."
It is so strange that anyone ordained would define faith as "looking inward" and condemn it. That means they do not comprehend what faith is and what God promises. The purpose of the Bible is to create faith in the Savior, and that is expressed hundreds of ways. Thus the Word always has the power to create and build this faith, but clergy turn from the Word to statistics and studies to make themselves confident in what they are doing. Slowly, faith is snuffed out in these clergy, so they become rationalistic and statistical - or they find meaning in Left-wing socialistic actions.
Jesus told them to cast their nets into the deep (wrong place) in the broad daylight (wrong time). Peter resisted, doubtless seeing the looks on the experienced fishermen in the crowd. "But at your divine Command, I will do it."
As Luther has said - we can ask God anything, but we do not demand the manner, time, or amount. If we do not think He can hear us or manage things well, we lack faith.
I know where people get misled, if they think they have to believe harder. Trust in God is outward and objective in the sense that He has told us what He can and will do. How that develops is often an exercise in opposition and difficulty, but faithfulness to God bears fruit in many ways.
6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
There are so many parallels to this. What God can accomplish is beyond our thinking and greater than our wishes. But that is done His way and in His time, often through and because of the experiences of the cross.
As soon as the Gospel begins to take root, opposition arises. It always has, from within and without. That is necessary to prove what is good, to separate the good from the bad. If a country is burdened with a powerful hierarchy that can do no wrong - not just the LCMS but the Church of Rome too - then the good cannot flourish without a separation.
Peter did not even ask for fish, but Jesus gave them such an abundance that the steady, stable fishing boats began to sink and the nets began to break. Thus Jesus showed them how God would care for them in the future (at the last chapter of John too).
That is the first meaning of this miracle. God will provide and do so in abundance.
8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
Luther:
34. The second part of this Gospel presents the great doctrine of the inner distress and conflict of conscience, and what constitutes our true comfort in the midst of it. Only after Peter saw this wonderful work of Christ and the abundance it produced, did he begin to consider what sort of a Man this Wonderworker must be, and what sort of a man he himself was in comparison. Out of this great blessing there comes upon him a greater distress than he has ever experienced from any bodily want. He now becomes so thoroughly poor and destitute, that, on account of terror, he almost sinks to the earth and bids Christ depart from him. He has begun to feel his unworthiness and sins. He is forced to acknowledge and lament that he is a poor sinner.
35. Peter is to become a different man; and a greater miracle is to be wrought in him than in the draught of fishes.
Peter is overwhelmed at the miracle because he feels the great gulf between the righteousness and power of Christ and his sinfulness and weakness.
The difference is frightening and reminds us of how people only see the power and condemnation of God because they do not know the mercy of the Gospel.
Knowing his spiritual poverty makes Peter that much more needy of God's grace and forgiveness. So Jesus went to ordinary people because the rich and powerful were too full of pride to feel the need for the righteousness of faith.
10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
The ending of the miracle is its ultimate meaning. They will go out with Jesus and draw more people into the Kingdom of God than they could ever imagine. The fish were real and they were also symbolic of the future.
Matthew 13:47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
Fishing nets are not smart-nets. They catch everything. A current video has a net pouring out all kinds of fish - and one enormous walrus.
The net is thrown and gathers, good and bad. The living Seed of the Word is cast and grows various ways, good and bad.
We are inclined to worry, but God's Word accomplishes His will. Where and how is determined by Him alone. The greater our trust in Him, the more we look outwardly to Him, His mercy, and His power.
