Sermon Feb. 8, 1998 Lord, I'm A Sinner based on Luke 5:1-11

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

In our text today, Peter makes another confession. A few weeks ago we commemorated Peter's Confession of Jesus Christ, where he said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." In today's text, Peter makes another confession, this time of who he is. Peter confesses, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" Here he is telling who he is. He is identifying himself as a sinner. What brought Peter to this point?

It all happened because Jesus was there. He came to the shore of the Sea of Gennesaret, which is the same as the Sea of Galilee. The crowds were pushing on Him, and so He set out away from the shore in one of the boats to speak to the people. We don't know what Jesus taught at this time. Neither the words nor even the subject of Jesus' teaching is reported. He did follow this up with a demonstration of His power.

Jesus directed Peter and his fishing partners to an incredible catch of fish. Jesus was better than any fish finder you can buy today. He told them right where to go.

They had been fishing all night and had not caught a thing, so Peter was unbelieving that Jesus really knew what He was talking about. For Jesus finding or creating fish wasn't hard, however. Being God, the creator and preserver of all people, animals, and the world, it is not too hard to point out some fish. For the one who knows all things, it is not hard to know where the fish are in the lake.

Then Peter began hauling in the net with all these fish. The net began to tear because there were too many fish and they were too heavy. They got the other boat over and they worked together. Two boats were filled up with fish, and there were so many fish, the boats were starting to sink.

Have you ever had that trouble on a fishing trip? Too many fish that you can't get the boat back to shore. I would imagine that is not usually a problem when you go fishing.

It didn't take Peter long to come to his confession. As soon as the excitement of loading these fish into the boats was past, Peter realized that Jesus surely had known what He was talking about. Here he had proof that Jesus was right in what He spoke. His words have authority and He keeps His promises. When Jesus says there are fish in a certain location, you had better believe Him.

Peter had not believed Him. Peter had doubted the One who spoke with authority. Peter was uncertain of Jesus' power to keep His promises. And He did this in the very presence of the one who had this power and authority. This leads Peter see how sinful he is.

His response may be a little difficult to understand. "Go away from me, Lord;" says Peter. This type of statement is tied into Jewish ways of thinking and Old Testament theology. In the thought of the Old Testament, when God looked at you, He was going to judge you. He may judge you favorably or He may judge you unfavorably. If you are confident that God would judge you favorably, then you would seek His judgment and request Him to look upon you. If you know God as a graceful God, you would ask Him to look at you. This is what Isaiah does, in 64:9, where it is written, "Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray, for we are all your people."

On the other hand, you might ask God to look upon your enemy or someone who you are sure is evil, so that He might judge Him unfavorably. The Israelites, in their moment of distrust of Moses, seek God's face to look upon Moses. In Exodus 5:21 the people say, "May the LORD look upon you and judge you!"

So, according to this way of thinking, if you are sure God would judge you as a sinner, then you would not seek Him, and you would hope that He would not be near you. It would be better to be hidden from God, than to have Him see you sinful and unclean. This kind of thinking also came out in our Old Testament reading today from Isaiah 6. In this reading, Isaiah has a vision or dream of heaven; a vision which God gives Him. In that dream, he realizes he is in the presence of God and he is afraid of being judged. So Isaiah says, "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Isaiah knows he is a sinner and now he stands before God Almighty. He believes there is little hope for him.

In our text from Luke, Peter is also painfully aware of his sins. He has just doubted the words of one who demonstrated Himself to be God. Peter does not want this powerful Jesus to see him and judge his sins. Go away from me, Lord, says Peter.

Then Peter confesses his sins. "I am a sinful man!" It is a simple statement, but it covers the essentials. Peter does not just confess a single sin, but rather he confesses his very nature is sinful. He is a sinner.

We all ought to see ourselves as sinners. For not only do we have actual sins which we commit, laws that we break, mistakes we make; but we also have original sin which orients us away from God. Our very nature is corrupt. Without the grace of God, you are "dead in your transgressions and sins," says Ephesians 2. Yes, we are sinful people, just as Peter confessed himself to be a sinful man.

Peter apparently did not yet know the grace and forgiveness of God. He had perhaps only had one previous meeting with Jesus. We may assume that Jesus spoke of His grace when teaching the people from the boat. It wasn't as real for Peter, however. He still saw God as a angry God. Now, in his strong awareness of his sinful state, Peter did not want God around him, lest he be judged unfavorably.

How wonderful is the response which our Savior gives to Peter. How delightful it is that Jesus does not respond by judging Peter, but rather by comforting him. "Don't be afraid." What a wonderful blanket of grace is given to Peter. Christ does not limit it. He doesn't say, "Don't be afraid of this thing or that thing." He doesn't limit it in time by saying "Don't be afraid now." Instead, Jesus speaks wide-open, full, grace and gospel for Peter: "Don't be afraid." Don't ever be afraid. Don't be afraid of anything.

Next, Jesus promises to use Peter just as He promised to use Saul after his conversion. Remember, Saul was knocked down and blinded, and then God told him, "...go into the city and you will be told what you must do." God promised to use Saul and this showed Saul that God was graceful and forgiving. God was not going to judge him for his sins. As a gift, God would take his sins away. This is God's grace.

The same grace was shown to Peter. Peter confessed his sinfulness and immediately Jesus says, "Don't be afraid." Then He promises to make use of Peter. He says, literally, "you will be catching people." You will be used for the Lord's work. Peter would serve as the Lord's apostle, one sent to the lost people. He would proclaim God's grace to those who were lost, a drift, and sinking in their sins. Peter would be catching these people.

And the fact that the Lord would use Peter shows that He would not judge him a sinful man. Peter confessed his sinfulness to the Lord and the Lord took away that sinfulness. Rather than going away from him as Peter had requested, the Lord would be with him to the end, as Matthew 28 tells us.

Peter certainly reminds us of our sinful state. He reminds us of how we reject our Lord's direction for our lives. How we deny the authority of His Word and turn away from what is spoken to us in the Scriptures. Peter doubted what Jesus said and then realized later how he was a sinful man. He saw how he had fallen short of the obedience to God's word which God requires of us.

We too confess our sins before our heavenly Father. Then we hear our Savior's words, "Don't be afraid." Those words were spoken to Peter so long ago, but they were also written for us to read. They speak to us today. Don't you be afraid today.

Don't fear the Lord's punishment. Don't fear the Lord's anger. Don't fear death. Instead, know the Lord's promises: to forgive us, to save us from punishment and eternal condemnation, and to raise us to everlasting life.

For Isaiah, in our Old Testament reading today, the seraph, or angel, flew to him with a live burning coal from the altar before God and this seraph put the coal to Isaiah's lips. This then marked him as one whose guilt had been taken away and whose sin was atoned for. It could be that this burning coal was painful for Isaiah, but he doesn't report it.

However, the action which took away all of our sins was painful for one person. Jesus needed to suffer much more pain than a burning coal to the lips. He was beaten and then crucified. He died on the cross of Calvary for our sins. He atoned, that is made-up for, substituted for, our sins. He took our guilt away.

Jesus spoke His words, "Don't be afraid" to Peter--prior to His crucifixion. Peter was told to not be afraid, but the action to take away his sins was still coming. However, when God plans to do something, it is as good as done. When God promises something, we can speak in terms of it already being complete. It is as good as done, when it is God promising it.

This is why Isaiah could be told his guilt was taken away and his sin atoned for. Jesus would not yet die for 700 some years and it was Jesus' death that took away Isaiah's sins. Yet, God had planned to come in the person of the Son to die, and that was already as good as done. It is as good as done, when it is God promising it. The angel brings the coal to Isaiah as a sign of the future work of Christ. Christ's work took away all our sins, past, present, and future. The burning coal brought this benefit to Isaiah in the same way that Baptism brings the benefit to us today. Through our baptism, the forgiveness Christ earned on the cross is applied to us. Thus, Luther could write in the Small Catechism that Baptism, "...works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare."

Jesus' words to Peter assured him of God's grace to us. "Don't be afraid" And with this Peter, James and John pulled up on the shore and left everything and followed Jesus. They left behind the incredible catch of fish. So much more compelling was the one who told them they were forgiven sinners. Peter confessed, "I am a sinful man." Then he was assured of Christ's forgiveness. And he and his partners followed the One who told him: "Don't be afraid" Truly we "Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever." His love is shown to us, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.