Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Luke 5:4 “And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ 5 And Simon answered and said, ‘Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at Your bidding I will let down the nets.’ 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish; and their nets began to break; 7 nd they signaled to their partners in the other boat, for them to come and help them. And they came, and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’ 9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.’ 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.” (NASB)
Isaiah 6:3 “And one called out to another and said, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of armies. The whole earth is full of His glory.’ 4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. 5 Then I said, ‘Woe to me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of armies.’ 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; and your guilt is taken away and atonement is made for your sin.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” (NASB)
Consider the list of the following heroes and other personages used by God in the salvation history in the Bible:
Noah who got really drunk after de-boarding the ark.
Abraham out of fear for his own life lied about his wife being his wife.
Tamar dressed like a prostitute, seduced her father-in-law Judah, got pregnant, and had twins.
Jacob deceived his father in order to steal a birthright that belonged to his brother.
Moses murdered an Egyptian.
Rahab was a harlot.
Samson had problems with lust and anger.
David was an adulterer and a murder.
The wife of Uriah, also named Bathsheeba cooperated with David the in the same.
Ruth was a foreigner from the hated land of Moab. The Jews traced the land of Moab back to an incestuous relationship between Lot and his eldest daughter.
Peter assaulted a man with a knife and denied Christ three times.
Paul persecuted the church.
So much for the perception that the people of the Old and New Testaments are men and women of great virtue who were selected by God because of their moral character. The truth of the matter is, God works in and through sinners. This morning we consider the calling of two such sinner preachers. The Old Testament preacher/prophet is Isaiah and the New Testament preacher/apostle is Peter.
Now to be a prophet in the Old Testament is to be a preacher who received a direct call from the Lord God to preach, teach, and write the Law and the Gospel in advance of the birth of the person and work of Jesus Christ. To be a preacher and an apostle in the New Testament is to be a preacher who received a direct call from Christ to preach and write the Law and Gospel after the ascension of Jesus Christ.
First up, Isaiah. Before he was made a prophet, Isaiah was a priest in the temple. Imagine his surprise when Isaiah entered the temple to offer the daily sacrifice for sin. He enters and sees the Lord of heaven and earth and angels flying about and worshiping the Lord God “… 4 and the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.” The voice was calling out, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord of armies.”
Isaiah was more than surprised. He was terrified. He suddenly became very self aware. Standing in the presence of the Almighty Holy One Isaiah became aware of just how unholy he was. For all the problems associated with the modern worship service and contemporary Christian spirituality, perhaps the greatest problem created by the happy, clappy, rock and roll get together some call church is the lack of self awareness. The failure of the members of the congregation to take a serious look at themselves and their lives in light of the Word of God. The modern worship service today doesn’t hold up the mirror of the law in such a way that the attendees get a good look at themselves and the depth of their sin.
When Isaiah realized that he stood in the presence of the Holy of holies, the Lord God Almighty Isaiah’s first thought and words were, “Woe to me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of armies.”
Standing there in the temple, in the presence of the Lord God Almighty Isaiah became painfully aware of his sin. He understood that he was unworthy to be a priest in the house of God and there was nothing Isaiah could do about his personal history and his present condition. Isaiah understood that he isn’t any better than the sinful lot that were his neighbors. He like they were people of unclean lips.
At the same time Isaiah understood that something had to change and it wasn’t God. Isaiah said, “I am ruined.” The sentence could also be translated, “I am lost,” or “I am undone”—in effect, “I’m a dead man.”
Now consider Peter. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were fishermen by trade. They knew their craft and were relatively successful at it. Boats were very expensive in the day and it is thought that the between the four of them, they owned two boats. Boat ownership was only possible for the wealthy and commercial fisherman.
On the morning recorded in Luke 5 though, the four fishermen had returned from an unsuccessful night of fishing. Now that the sun was up, it was highly unlikely they’d have any better luck. It was time to get the boats back to the beach and clean the nets.
While the fishermen went about the business pulling in the nets, Jesus had spent the morning teaching a crowd that had followed Him to the shore. As they listened to the Word of God, the crowd pressed in and was pushing Jesus into the water. Jesus saw the boats coming to shore and when Peter and Andrew got out, Jesus got in. After finishing the lesson, Jesus told Peter to “put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Peter’s reply, “Master…we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if you tell me to, I will let down the nets.”
Jesus wasn’t a complete stranger to the four. He had been in area for some time. They had heard Jesus preach. They had interaction with Him. They knew about the claims that Jesus was the Christ. Jesus wasn’y a complete stranger ordering them about.
When Jesus told them to put out to deeper water, the brothers did. 6 “And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish; and their nets began to break; 7 and they signaled to their partners in the other boat, for them to come and help them. And they came, and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.”
There was a lot of money in those boats. One would have expected Peter to be overcome with joy. “But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’”
That sounds pretty much like an Isaiah moment doesn’t it? Peter too becomes painfully self aware. Peter understands that he is in the presence of more than a rabbi, more than a man. Peter now believes that he is in the presence of the Messiah, the Son of God, the Holy One of Israel. Peter knows that he is a man of unclean lips, “a sinful man” and begged the Holy One to depart.
Peter didn’t need to see Seraphim, or a long brilliant robe, or feel the trembling ground to know that he was in the Presence of God. He had the Christ who looked like any other man standing right in front of him. What Peter had was a command that turned into a promise fulfilled. “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” The first part is a command, “put out into the deep, let down your nets. The second a promise, “for a catch.”
The Lord had appeared to Isaiah for a reason. Isaiah, though a sinner was being sent by the Lord God as His prophet to the people. Isaiah had been a priest. Now he was now being consecrated as an Old Testament apostle (“a sent one”), a prophet of Yahweh Elohim.
But something had to change for this man of unclean lips. Isaiah had spoken his confession of sin. So the Lord God sent one of the seraphim to purge Isaiah’s unclean lips. The angel takes a hot burning coal from the altar of incense and touches Isaiah’s lips. Rather than being burned, Isaiah’s lips are cleansed and the angel speaks absolution. “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your guilt is taken away and atonement is made for your sin” (v 7).
In Isaiah 6:13 the Lord God tells Isaiah that judgment is coming to the unfaithful, but the “Holy Seed” will come in time. Isaiah himself is declared righteous by the angel because of the Seed’s death on the cross. Having been forgiven and Isaiah is now fit for the next thing to come.
As I said, when Isaiah entered the temple he was but a priest. As a priest he interceded on behalf of the people to God. He offered sacrifices on behalf of the people for sin.
After Isaiah chapter 6, God has Isaiah work in the other direction. As a prophet Isaiah will speak from God to the people. He will call them to repentance and teach them about the One to come Who will be sacrificed once and for all for the sin of the world. That is the ministry of an Old Testament prophet.
The Lord asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”(v 8a). The Lord, the Triune God who is both one (“I”) and three (“us”). I God will send. Isaiah will go for Us, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Isaiah answers the question, not in terror, but willing and joyfully: “Here I am! Send me” (v 8b). A man of unclean lips, living among and with people of unclean lips, will now call all to repentance and absolve those who do.
Jesus knew all about Peter and his sins when He told him to go out to the deep water. Rather than leave the boat and the man with his sins, Jesus stays and takes away Peter’s sins.
That’s what Jesus does when Jesus says to Peter, “Do not be afraid.” Jesus would speak this sentence again and again throughout His earthly ministry, especially after His resurrection.
Just like Isaiah, Peter was brought into the presence of the Lord God. He, like Isaiah was forgiven, then put into service. “From now on you will catch men.”
Another great sinner Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 that “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the insignificant things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no human may boast before God.”
You have not been chosen and called into the office of ministry. Yet you have been forgiven all your sins in the water of Holy Baptism, in the hearing of the Word and the gift of faith, in confession and absolution, and in the Lord’s Supper, the body and blood of Jesus Christ. You have also been enlisted into the Christian service as forgiven people.
You have been called to serve families, neighbors, and country by way of your respective vocations. God is at work in and through you to serve Him in serving and giving to the church. Christ is at work in you, providing for and caring for your neighbors. Sinners all, yet washed clean in the waters of Holy Baptism and in the gift of the Gospel and faith. You have been forgiven and have been made fit for service.
Not all are called to preach and administer the sacraments, but all Christians are called to bear witness to the love of God in Jesus Christ and in the forgiveness you have received in the church. You have been called by the Gospel.
The fact that we are a people of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips does not relieve you of your responsibility to the Words of God to others when opportunity presents itself. The fact that you are sinner and saint in the same moment, doesn’t disqualify you from doing good to your neighbor. The fact that you are sinner and saint is the reason you come to this holy house to offer here your worship and praise.
Hebrews 13:5b “for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you,” As one who has been made holy through the Word and sacrament ministry, you, yourself have been made ready for this holy work because your sins have been forgiven you.
Amen.
May the peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.