Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (C)

February 9, 2025

Text: Luke 5:1-11

            Simon was a hard-working laborer, a man of the lake, and salt of the earth.  Faults?  Yes, of course.  A synagogue member, though, sins aplenty.  He is, after all, a sailor of the sea.  The blue-collar owner of a successful fishing enterprise, along with his partners, his brother Andrew (not mentioned in our text), and their friends, the sons of Zebedee, James and John.  But they hadn’t been successful on this night.  That’s how it sometimes goes.  Hard work and disappointment.  Life in a fallen world.  So, back to shore, washing their nets.  And here comes the Teacher.  They already know Him.  They already love Him.  He’d recently healed Simon’s mother-in-law from a fever (Yes, you can call Peter the first pope if you want to, but let it be noted, he had a wife).  Now Jesus is pressed by the crowds clamoring to hear God’s Word.  For they are hearing it from Him like they’ve never heard it before.  Things are happening in the preaching of that Word.  Shackles falling loose, sorrows soothed, diseases healed, demons sent packing.  Fallen creation remade, the curse undone as the Word blows forth from the mouth of this Man.

            There is a familiarity, now, between Simon and the Teacher.  Jesus is always welcome in Simon’s boat.  And it is a friendly favor the Lord asks of Simon… Push out a little from the shore, so that I’m not surrounded by the crowd.  This way, everyone can hear.  Jesus preaches to the populace from the boat.  He even sits down, as the rabbis do when they teach on the Sabbath.  Simon listens to the preaching as he goes about his tasks.  A good habit to foster.  When the hands are busy, meditate on God’s Word.  There is a difference, though, between Simon and the rest of the crowd.  Simon is in the boat with Jesus, and when you are in the boat with Jesus, you are always engaged with His Word.

            Okay, an interlude in the story, a little hint so we don’t miss the picture our Lord is painting for us.  The boat is the ark is the good ship Holy Church.  Because Jesus is in it, and He is speaking His Word.  The Word of God is preached to the world from the boat where Jesus sits.  And if you want to be in the boat with Jesus (and the Word of God is a call, an invitation to precisely that), you come through the water.  And there you are, with Jesus and His disciples.  And whatever the peril outside the boat… the wind, the waves, the hatred of the world, or the demons of hell… when you are in the boat with Jesus, you are safe.  You are saved.  That is what is meant by the phrase, “ there is no salvation outside the Church.”  You’re either in the boat with Jesus, or you perish in the flood.  If you are a believer in Jesus, you are in the boat.  The Church is, finally, believers in Christ.  Come all the way in, by water and the Word, if you haven’t already.  Be safe.  Be saved.  Join.  Then commune.  Whenever you read of a boat, or a ship, or a vessel upon the water in the Scriptures, it is probably written to project this image.  The Church is the fulfillment of Noah’s ark. 

            In any case, now the service has come to an end, and now the Teacher does impose.  Put out into the deep and let down your nets.  Well, everybody knows it’s the wrong time of day for fishing.  And everybody knows most preachers are lacking in practical knowledge.  But, what do you do when the preacher visits (or any guest to whom you want to show hospitality), and asks some inconvenient and bothersome favor of you?  (You can probably think of similar experiences you’ve had when entertaining guests… or your pastor!)  You do it.  So, Simon does it.  With expressions of skepticism, granted.  But he does it.  And what happens?  Such a large number of fish, the nets are breaking!  Too much success!  Overflowing blessing.  Call in the partners to share in the windfall.  Even at that, there are so many fish, the boats begin to sink.  (Maybe they need more boats.  You can think here about mission congregations!)

            And at this point, the light begins to dawn on Simon.  This is no mere Teacher and Miracle Worker.  There is something more going on with this Man.  It will take some time for the Father to reveal the fulness of the truth to Simon Peter, to bring him to his great confession of Jesus as “The Christ of God” (Luke 9:20; ESV).  But even here, Peter falls before Jesus’ knees, and says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (5:8). 

            Maybe you’ve said something similar.  Stunned by the righteousness and holiness and goodness of Jesus, and cognizant of your own sinfulness and uncleanness and wickedness, you think Jesus can’t possibly be for you.  You think He came for holy people, and you know that’s not you.  And you also know that if you get too close to the holiness, it will kill you.  There is a reason sinners can’t see God and live.  So you beg Him to depart.

            But He doesn’t depart.  No, don’t be mistaken.  He came for you.  He came precisely for you.  Here He is, in the boat… Bodily presence, by the way.  Jesus doesn’t just shout out to Peter from the shore, “I’m with you in spirit!  Let your faith stretch out from the boat so I can be present with you spiritually, but know that I’m not actually getting into that bucket of boards with you.”  No, don’t be ridiculous.  He is bodily in the boat.  And He’s pulled you on board with Him.  He came for sinners.  Like Simon.  Like you.  He wants you in His Church.  He wants you for His very own.  And He wants your brothers and sisters for His very own, too.  James and John… and Andrew, too… and the people sitting around you… they get in on the blessing of the Lord’s Word and presence in the boat.  Jesus came for you.  Jesus came for them.  Never disqualify yourself from the Lord’s saving presence.  And never disqualify anyone else. 

            Now, we particularly love this text when we’re teaching Sunday School or talking about evangelism, because we love the idea that we all become fishers of men.  Which is to say, we catch people for Jesus when we proclaim the Gospel.  That is all very true.  But it is worth recognizing that these words, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men" (v. 10) are first spoken to Simon Peter, not to you.  This is his call to be an Apostle, one officially sent to speak on behalf of the Lord.  This is his call to leave everything and follow Jesus.  That call will then extend to others, as well.  The total number of them will be Twelve, the number of the Tribes of Israel.  And then, as to one untimely born, the Apostle Paul, also, who will go beyond the confines of Israel to bring in the Gentiles.  Theirs is a special office.  We don’t become Apostles when we are called.  Even we pastors, though called and ordained to speak the Word of Christ in His stead and by His command, are not Apostles.  And there is no need for more Apostles.  Because to this day, Simon Peter and his brother Apostles, though dead, live, and are the fishers who cast the net of the Gospel and catch us, bring us to faith in Christ, bring us into the boat with Jesus.  It is their preaching that we have in the New Testament Scriptures, the preaching that is the very Word of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Even the Scriptures that weren’t written by an Apostle were written in connection with an Apostle, or Apostles.  Mark probably wrote his Gospel under the authority of Peter.  Luke interviewed a number of the Apostles (as well as Mary, and others), and served under Paul.  Apostolic authority is a requirement for a document to be included in the New Testament Canon.  So this idea of being fishers of men applies first, and most directly, to Simon Peter and the Apostles. 

            Does that disappoint you?  Well, relax.  You still get your shot at fingering the nets.  Because pastors are only to preach the Word of God as it is given in the Holy Scriptures… the Prophetic (Old Testament) and Apostolic (New Testament) Scriptures!  And Sunday School children, and evangelistically zealous Christians, are to share with others only that Word of God as it is given in the Holy Scriptures… the Prophetic and Apostolic Scriptures.  So it’s not wrong to apply this verse to all Christians, by extension.  The mistake we often make, though, is not proclaiming the Scriptures, but instead proclaiming our own personal testimony.  No, no.  You get out of the way.  You are not the point.  Christ is.  The Prophetic and Apostolic Word, spoken by the Father in His Son Jesus, inspired by the Holy Spirit, that is the point.  That is the power. 

            As a matter of fact, we learn that from the fishing going on today in our Holy Gospel.  What is the difference between the unsuccessful nightlong fishing excursion, and successful outing in the middle of the day?  In one case, Jesus is not in the boat, speaking His Word.  In the other case, He is.  That is the secret to the successful fishing of men. 

            Now, we wish success in the Church was always as visible as it was in Peter’s boat with the fish.  But we have no promise that we will always see the miracle.  That doesn’t mean that the miracle isn’t happening.  The Word is preached.  The net is cast.  Faith knows that, with Jesus in the boat, and at His Word, the Gospel is hauling them in.  Through the water.  Into the boat with Jesus.  Every Baptism.  Every conversion.  Every case of every one of us repenting and believing.  The miracle is happening.  The Word is proclaimed to the world from the boat.  Where Jesus is, with His people.

            The Word of God’s love for all people.  The Word of the cross, the death and resurrection of Jesus for the life of the world.  The Word of our King.  Jesus reigns.  And He is coming again to judge the living and the dead.  Evangelism is as simple as the Apostles’ Creed, the distillation of the Apostolic Word.  That Word goes out, and things happen.  Liberty to captives.  Sight for the blind.  Sins forgiven.  Demons cast out.  Creation made new. 

            This Good News, spoken from the boat, is for the whole crowd.  But don’t miss the unshakable truth that this Good News is also for you.  Second person singular.  You.  Jesus wants you.  Jesus died for you.  Jesus lives for you.  And Jesus loves you.  He has a place for you, right here with Him in the boat.  He is looking you in the eye, right now, speaking His Word to you.  He is present here with you.  And He will never depart.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.                            

The Purification of Mary & The Presentation of Our Lord

The Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Our Lord

February 2, 2025

Text: Luke 2:22-40

            Old Simeon lays eyes on the Child and he knows.  He sees His salvation.  This is the One who will redeem Israel, indeed, the world.  This is the One who will save His people from their sins.  He takes the Child from the arms of Mary, His mother, and he prays… to the Child!  “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace” (Luke 2:29; ESV).  “I can die now, without fear, with joy, having beheld the fulfillment of Your Promise.  Messiah has come.  I hold His little body right here in my arms.  He is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, for a sign that is opposed.  Oh, and Mary, a sword will pierce your own soul, also.  That is, this Child is destined for the cross.”  And that is the great scandal that will separate those who are God’s from those who are not, believers and unbelievers, the saved and the damned, the fall of all who reject Him, the raising of all who receive Him… this great offense that God saves the world by this flesh and blood Baby, this flesh and blood Man, who gives His flesh and blood into death for the life of the world.  That is the great sign that is spoken against, the sign of the holy cross.  That is the sword that pierces Mary’s soul as she stands by her precious Boy at His execution, and can do nothing to alleviate His suffering.  That is the sign that reveals the thoughts of many hearts.  What do you think of the Crucified?  Is He an object of scorn?  Do you pass by Him unheeding?  Are you scandalized, offended by Him and His Words?  Or do you cling to Him, to His Words and His blood and His death, for your very life as your only Savior from sin and condemnation?

            History repeats itself, here and now, today.  For you are old Simeon, and your ears lay upon the Child, and your eyes behold the bread and the wine, and you know.  Your ears have heard and your eyes have seen your salvation.  This is the One who died, and who is risen from the dead, who lives and reigns, who comes to you now in His flesh and blood, by Words and water, bread and wine.  But just as assuredly as Simeon held God in his arms when he held the little Lord Jesus, so you hear His voice in the Scriptures and the preaching, and you hold Him within you as you eat Him and drink Him in the Holy Supper.  And so, having held Him on your tongue, you pray to Him, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace.”  The Nunc Dimittis.  I can die now in peace, without fear, with joy even, having received the fulfillment of Your Promise under bread and wine.

            Now, that may seem like a strange thing to pray (“I can die now”).  But you know, unless the Lord returns first, you will have to die.  Ignoring that fact, or pretending that isn’t the case, doesn’t change the truth of it.  So you can die without Christ and have no hope or assurance or comfort heading into the darkness.  Or you can die in Christ, with Christ Himself in your ears and on your tongue, knowing all your sins are forgiven, and when you close your eyes in death here, you open them to behold Him in heaven there.  And you have the absolute certainty that, baptized into the risen Christ who died for you, Christ now having entered into you with His crucified and risen body and blood and becoming one with you, He will raise you from the dead.  Bodily.  On that Great Day. 

            See, that is what Simeon knew as he held the Child in his arms.  I can die now because this Child has pulled the very teeth out of death.  He is my life.  He is your life.  When He comes to you, as He came to Simeon… when the Spirit lifts your eyes of faith to Him, as He lifted Simeon’s aged eyes to the Baby… when He is placed into your ears and mouth as Simeon received Him into his arms… death can’t harm you anymore.  This Child is the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Jesus, even though he dies, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in Jesus will never die (John 11:25-26).

            We see here the importance of the Lord’s Supper and why it is we often sing Simeon’s song after eating and drinking our Lord’s true body and blood.  This is where we receive Jesus into us, and where our eyes see our salvation.  This is the medicine of immortality.  This is the antidote to death.  Here our sins are forgiven.  Here we are enlivened with the risen body of Christ.  As one sainted teacher of the Church famously said, “We go to the Lord’s Supper as though going to our death, that we may go to our death as though going to the Lord’s Supper.”  He didn’t mean that we have to go to Communion frowning and sullen, but we go in repentance and hope and faith and joy, knowing that this marks us for resurrection and eternal life.  And so we can go to our death the same way, not frowning and sullen, but in repentance and hope and faith and joy, knowing that we will see Jesus just as we have received Him in the Sacrament.  This is just what we dying sinners need, Jesus Christ for us, under bread and wine, for forgiveness and life.  St. Ambrose said, “Because I always sin, I always need the medicine.” 

            And that is exactly what you need to know, that this Supper is medicine for sinners and life for the dead.  For otherwise you might say, “That’s great for a holy man like Simeon, whose whole life was dedicated to waiting for the coming of the Lord… He can hold Jesus in his arms and declare he can die in peace.  But if you really knew my sins, Pastor, you would know that these Promises are not for me.  I dare not hold Jesus or receive Him into my very mouth and body in the Supper.  He is too holy, and I am too sinful.  And so I must die alone and in terror.”

            Did you know that I already know that about you, that you are a poor miserable sinner?  That He is holy, and you are not?  And, in fact, I encourage you to just own up to that… come to me and confess it, so that you can hear just what God has to say about your sin in the Absolution, namely, “I forgive you all your sins in the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Depart in peace.  You are free!  You live!  God is for you and not against you.  He loves you and gave His own dear Son for you, to make you His very own.”  That is what you receive tangibly in the Supper.  So that you know without a doubt the Absolution is true, that the death and resurrection of Christ are for you.  Here it is, the very body crucified for you, the very blood shed for you, now risen from the dead and living, for you to eat and to drink.

            The great irony of it all is, it is only those who know their unworthiness who are worthy to receive the Supper.  For this meal is for sinners only.  Those who believe they are worthy by their good works or lack of sin or credentials as “Good Christian Folk” must stay away.  Now, of course, you must be instructed in the faith, and specifically regarding the Supper, before you come.  In other words, no one should receive the Supper until they’ve been catechized, taught the things of God.  Our children don’t commune until they are able to examine themselves, as St. Paul says (1 Cor. 11:28), and have been instructed.  And under no circumstances should an unbaptized person commune, for Baptism is your birth into the faith; the Supper is the food that sustains and nourishes your baptismal life.  Baptism comes first.  And because St. Paul tells us that those who eat and drink “without discerning the body,” eat and drink judgment on themselves (1 Cor. 11:29 ff.), only those who share our confession of doctrine, especially regarding the Supper, should commune.  Which is not to say we don’t recognize other Christians as Christians, as brothers and sisters in Christ, but it is to take the Lord’s Supper seriously as the great and powerful gift that it is.  And that is why, ordinarily, only members of Missouri Synod congregations commune with us.  When our Lord comes again, all those divisions will cease.  But until then, we strive to be faithful as we suffer under the cross. 

            And finally, unrepentant sinners should not receive the Sacrament.  The key word there is “unrepentant.”  Sinners should absolutely come.  The Supper is for sinners, and sinners only.  But unrepentant sinners are those who do not recognize and acknowledge their sins, who believe that they are righteous in and of themselves, and that what they are doing is righteous, even if it is counter to God’s commands.  Do you see this irony?  Sinners who know their unworthiness and look to Christ alone for worthiness and righteousness are precisely those who should come.  Those who believe they are worthy and need no repentance are unworthy nonetheless and should not come. 

            Simeon knew his sins.  And that is why he so eagerly took hold of his Savior.  And so you.  You know your sins.  You confessed them mere minutes ago.  Now, having been absolved, you come eagerly to the altar to take hold of Jesus Christ.

            Today is also known as Candlemas, the day Christians of old brought their candles to Church to be blessed, as well as to donate candles for the Church’s use.  We don’t do that.  We could.  But the point of that tradition is quite beautiful.  Jesus is precisely what old Simeon says He is: The Light that lightens the Gentiles, and the glory of His people Israel.  Here we are enlightened as we see our salvation in the flesh and blood of the Savior.  Just like Simeon.  And like Anna, who couldn’t help but spread that Light to all who would hear. 

            On this day, the Light came into the Temple, in the flesh of a little Baby Boy.  His mother gave the sacrifice of the poor for her purification, a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons.  The sacrifices themselves point to her Son and His death for our sins.  And this is the Presentation of Jesus as the Firstborn.  In the Old Testament, every firstborn of man and beast belonged to the LORD, the animals to be sacrificed, the humans to be redeemed by sacrifice.  Think of that.  Jesus gives the sacrifice, but in reality, He is the Sacrifice.  The Firstborn, not only of Mary, but of God, who redeems all the firstborn and all people from sin and death, and brings many brothers and sisters into the Father’s Kingdom.

            Come to the altar, beloved.  Eat and drink and behold your salvation.  Then depart in peace, sins forgiven, and go spread the Light to all who will listen, until your eyes see that Light for yourself in all His heavenly splendor.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.