Trinity 5 2009

THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

12 July Anno + Domini 2009

"The Lord's Way”

Luke 5:1-11 (1 Ki. 19:11-21; 1 Cor. 1:18-25)

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

"I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts.  For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 

With utter anguish does the prophet Elijah address the Lord.  He has been faithful.  He has proclaimed the Word of the Lord just as he was called and ordained to do.  He has called the people to repentance, exhorting them to turn from their sinful ways, to stop bending their knees to Baal, and to return to their Lord, Yahweh, the only True God.  He has even been used by God in a powerfully miraculous way, defeating 450 prophets of Baal at once on Mount Carmel.  But, it is not enough to turn the hearts of the Israelites, and Elijah knows it.  He's exhausted.  He's beaten down.  He's sick and tired of being ignored.  "What's the use?” he wonders, "for no one seems to care; no one seems to be listening.”

So, Elijah, the great prophet, pleads with the Lord.  "Put a fork in me, Lord, I'm done!  I'm the only one left, anyway.  Take me home to be with you now, for my ministry among this faithless people is pointless.”

As a Lutheran pastor in 21^st century America, I can certainly relate to Elijah's frustrations.  There are many times I find myself wondering, "What's the use?  No one seems to care; no one seems to be listening.”  And, even though I know there are those who care and those who listen, the Old Adam in me is always intent to focus upon those who don't care and don't listen.  And, when my focus is there; when my focus is on those who, for whatever reasons, stay away from the Church or refuse to support the mission and ministry of the Lord among us, I often feel all alone and helpless.  That feeling is multiplied exponentially when I try to reach out to these people to talk with them and they refuse to meet with me. 

But, these feelings of doom and gloom are surely not exclusive to the pastoral, or prophetic, office.  Many of you often feel the same way, don't you?  You try to reach out to family and friends with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, inviting them to come to Church with you to receive the blessings you receive, and they blow you off.  They ignore you.  They don't want to talk about it.  They're just fine without the Church, thank you very much.  If you want to buy into that stuff, fine, but leave them out of it.  And so, you, too, begin to wonder, "What's the use?  No one seems to care; no one seems to be listening.” 

So it is that the Lord's reminder to the prophet Elijah is still applicable in our day and age.  Essentially, He reminds Elijah that He sees things from a completely different perspective.  He knows what's going on.  He know's the score; He's the only who Who does.  It is not for Elijah, or for me, or for you, to decide when enough is enough.  That is in the Lord's hands.  And, besides, whether or not we realize it, our work is not in vain.  The Lord's Word never returns to Him empty.  It accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish, even though we can't often see any results.  Elijah thought he was all alone, the only faithful one left on the face of the earth.  The Lord informs him differently, telling him that He has preserved 7,000 faithful ones in Israel.  The Lord always preserves His remnant.  He always has and always will until He returns in great glory on the Last Day. 

Our problem is that we want to see results - now!  We want to see with our own eyes the work the Lord is doing through us.  We're not content with simply going about our work and letting the Lord sort things out in His way and in His time.  And, it is exactly this kind of thinking that has always gotten the people of God in hot water throughout history.  It's what Elijah was facing in his day, and it's still what we're facing today.  People want results.  They want to see their churches growing and flourishing.  And, when they don't see that, they are prone to abandon the Lord's way of doing things and come up with their own way of doing things.  Make no mistake, the sin of the Israelites in Elijah's day is the same sin we see manifesting itself in the Church in our day and age.  For the Israelites were not content to stick with what the Lord gave them, but went looking for more effective ways to get the results they wanted.  They assimilated to their surrounding culture.  They took things from the pagan religions and from the sinful world and merged them with the things of God, and when they saw more and more people enjoying their new-fangled pagan religion and way of life, they concluded that their actions were justified. 

So, too, does the Church in our day and age sadly fall into this Satanic deception.  All around, and even among, us are Christians who think that if the Church would just break free from its old-fashioned boundaries and embrace other religions and our surrounding culture, it would experience remarkable growth and vigor.  There are books - countless books - written to show us how to do these very things.  And, it would be hard to fathom were it not happening right there before our very eyes.  I mean, how insane have things become when Christians spend far more time worrying about what people want rather than about what the Lord has ordained in His Word?  How utterly detestable are things when the Church is so hell-bent on packing pews that it will accommodate fully to the culture, removing the altar to make room for "praise bands,” replacing the historic liturgy which has been handed down from generation to generation with a man-made, people-pleasing "style” of worship focused on entertaining those in attendance?  How ridiculously absurd have things become when so-called Christian leaders and mainstream denominations flat-out deny some of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith, such as the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Deity of Christ?  How insanely un-Christian are things when so-called Christians embrace and promote societal atrocities such as homosexuality and abortion? 

St. Paul was surely speaking the truth when he said that "the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing.”  The cross of Jesus Christ, dear friends, is the reason for the scandal already among the Israelites in Elijah's day and remains the reason for the scandal we see all around us in our own day and age.  For the cross is foolishness to most people.  A Jewish Man killed on a Hill outside the city walls of Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago is simply not enough for most people.  They want more.  Jews want signs and Greeks want wisdom; Americans want to be entertained.  How can such a seemingly insignificant event do them much good today, anyway?  Surely there is more to Christianity than Jesus Christ and His cross.  Surely there is more to the Christian life than repentance and faith.  We need to move beyond the whole Law and Gospel, sin and grace, phase and find and teach those things that truly make people feel better about themselves and motivate them to attend Churches that they like and support ministries they like.

And so, the beat goes on.  The frustration mounts.  We all have our Elijah experiences, wondering how the Lord is blessing our efforts when all indications seem otherwise.  To point us to the faithful way, our Lord gives us an object lesson in the Gospel this morning.  Peter and the boys are fishermen.  They know their business.  And, having spent the whole night fishing away, morning comes and they're cleaning up and putting their nets away.  It's been a rather unproductive night.  That's how it goes with fishing sometimes.  Sometimes the fish just aren't biting - I can attest to that.  So, they're wrapping things up and looking forward to getting a little shut-eye.  They're tired; you can put a fork in these boys, they're done. 

But, then comes Jesus.  "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”  You can just imagine what the boys are thinking about that little request.  Probably along the lines of, "Are you nuts, or something?  We're just now cleaning up and putting things away.  We've spent all night fishing and took nothing!  Let us get some rest, for Pete's sake.”  Nevertheless, it is the Lord speaking to them, and, as Peter says, "At your Word I will let down the nets.” 

And so they get their nets back out, tired as they are, drag them back to the boats and set out to let them down into the water again.  I'm sure they're thinking this is all a big waste of time.  This is a horrible time to fish in these waters.  They never catch fish at this time of day. 

But, dear friends, look what happens.  They let down their nets and catch more fish than the two boats can hold.  They catch a miraculous amount of fish, not because of their efforts or skill or wisdom, but why?  Because, at the bidding of the Lord, those nets are filled. 

Dear friends in Christ, that is our object lesson today and always.  While we remain here, in this vale of tears this side of heaven, our object lesson is that the Lord is in charge, and that His Word and His Word alone, His ways and His ways alone, are what accomplishes His will in His Church. 

Elijah eventually listened to the Lord.  He went back out and did what the Lord commanded him to do.  He appointed the kings he was called to appoint; he gave the commission to be prophet to Elisha, and then, when the Lord was all done with him, when the Lord had accomplished all that he wanted to accomplish through him, then, and only then, did the Lord bring him home.  Not at Elijah's request, but at the Lord's bidding. 

So, too, is the same true of us.  When things get frustrating, when times are tough, when it doesn't seem like the Lord is listening to us and it doesn't seem like He's doing anything good through us; when those with whom we share the Gospel will not respond, we continue to cling in faith to His Word, knowing that in His way and in His time, He will accomplish His will. 

No gimmicks, no fads, no pretending to be like the world, no doing whatever it is that people want to do in the Church, no making worship as fun and appealing as people want it to be, will ever accomplish anything for the Kingdom of the Lord.  For the Church is His ark of salvation, His boat, and He fishes in His way, only through His Holy Word and His Holy Sacraments, and He catches those fish when He wills and when He wants.  That, dear friends, is our commission, to always keep in mind that it is the Lord who works in and through us through His Word to do His will. 

And here, in His Holy House, in this nave, in this ark of salvation, where you have been brought in, you have been caught in the net of the Gospel by the Lord through His Word - brought in to receive the salvation of your souls, brought in to hear over and over again the Good News that Jesus Christ lived and died for you.  Here in this Church is where you are strengthened and preserved to go out there and continue to share the Gospel with others, letting the Lord, through His Holy Spirit, do the work He wills to do.  May that be our lot in life, may that be our calling, and may we, to the best of our ability and with God's help, accomplish it.  In Jesus' Holy and Precious Name.  Amen.   

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting.  Amen.