Sermon Archives

February 7, 2010
Pastor Judy Bangsund

"In Good Company"
Luke 5:1-11

Exactly 3 years ago, Pastor Jim and I preached here for the first time as we interviewed for positions as your associate pastors. Jim preached at two services and I preached at the other two. And Jim began by noting the “high holy day” which is celebrated today throughout America: Superbowl Sunday. Forgive me if I don’t quite see it the same way! I mean, I love the comradery, the fun, the food and all that goes with it. Even the football. But I have to confess that the term “high holy day” in regards to football never crossed my mind. I do, however, want you to know that I am aware what day it is, and am glad to see that you have chosen to begin this high holy day in church.

My sport of choice is actually swimming, and failing that, I work out at the Y. Every so often I run into one of you while I’m there. I always enjoy those run-ins – it's a different kind of connection when you see people in a different context. And if you've seen me there, you know that I'm usually plugged in, listening to downloads on my MP3. True confessions here: I’ve subscribed to a program called “In the Company of Preachers,” and so I'm doing some continuing education while exercising. So at the Y, I find myself in good company – I'm in the company of health-seekers; I'm in the company of some of you; and I'm in the company of preachers.

Today, as you and I read about Simon Peter by the lake and Isaiah in the Temple, we find ourselves also in a different kind of company. Both Peter and Isaiah found themselves – to their own amazement and chagrin – in God's company – and it scared them. Isaiah was just a priest, taking his turn in the temple offering sacrifices, when he found himself (through a vision) before the throne of the Holy God, in the midst of the heavenly court which included rather frightening creatures called the seraphim. They were praising the holiness of God in such a way that the very foundations of the temple shook and the place was filled with smoke. Peter, centuries later, found himself in the company of a regular guy (at least on the surface), a carpenter by the name of Jesus. But in the midst of the miracle sometimes called the “Great Catch,” he realized that this Jesus wasn’t just anybody; Jesus embodied power of God. Both Isaiah and Peter had the same reaction: fear and shame. Isaiah said, “Woe is me; I’m ruined!” Being in the presence of a holy and powerful God was not good news to him. Peter begged Jesus to go away! Whoever this Jesus was, he was definitely someone different; someone holy. And Peter knew that his life just didn’t measure up to this encounter.

Well, we are certainly in their company. For, we too, find ourselves falling short in the presence of the holy God. All of us here – we are all in the same boat, regardless of who we are or what we have done. Like Isaiah and Peter, we have missed the mark; we have failed the test. And I think that until we get that, until we also feel a distinct discomfort about the fact that we have come up short before God, we will not get the rest of the message.

In many churches you won’t hear the word sin anymore. Psychologist Karl Menninger noted this phenomenon some 35 years ago when he wrote the book, Whatever Became of Sin? You've all heard that I’m ok and you're ok. We talk about faults and mistakes, as if sin were just a matter of small discretions that are easily corrected. But sin is more than the sum of our faults and mistakes. Every Sunday we confess something much bigger: that we are in bondage to sin, as if we were addicted to it– and we cannot free ourselves. Sometimes sin is likened to an aggressive cancer, which is pervasive; whose cells quickly multiply and soon take over the whole body. Sin is the condition into which we were born, which affects our choices and our behavior. Isaiah understood that it was both personal and communal: "I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell among a people of unclean lips." Peter took personal responsibility saying, "I am a sinful man." They got it, and it was a terrifying moment.

It is said that an addict or an alcoholic cannot get turned around until they admit that, like Pogo of the old comic strip, "We have seen the enemy and it is us." Just now I'm leading a study on the Beatitudes on Wed. mornings, where we have found that the very first words out of Jesus' mouth in his public ministry were these words: "Blessed are the poor in spirit." What an odd thing to say. Happy are the broken, basically. Happy are those who have hit bottom, who cry out in their brokenness, "I can't! I can't do it right! I can't change myself! I can't fix it! But” – and this is key – “ but I want to. I want to change. I want to be right and do right. I want to stand as a person of integrity before God." Both of these realities: I cannot do the good but I want to – are part of that brokenness. That's what Jesus was talking about. “Blessed are the broken, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." When you know your sin, when you are faced with it and your inability to do anything about it, then – and only then – are you open to receive God's gifts of love and forgiveness. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Because now the word of forgiveness is like fresh air to a drowning man. It is sweet; gulp it in: it is life-giving. Dear friends, this is the essence of the Gospel which you can know only in Jesus.

You and I belong to the company of sinners. That's the bad news. The good news is that, in Christ, we are also in the company of the forgiven. Both Isaiah and Peter experienced this amazing grace, over and over in their lives. As do we. What Jesus did for us on the cross was a sacrifice made once – and for all. But like addicts, we are never cured of sin (not in this life); we stand in continual need of confession and forgiveness.

You and I also stand in the company of believers. I hope everyone here is in that good company. I hope you have come here because you believe what God did in Christ is for you; you come because you want to hear God’s word; because we are your family and together we encourage one another in faith. Perhaps there are some here who are still hangin' at the edge of faith, not quite ready to jump in. But the fact that you are here is a good sign. I believe God has called you here! And we, as believers, encourage you: Jump in! Because the water is fine.

Being a believer in Jesus means something. It certainly meant something to Peter and the rest of the disciples. One of the most curious things about the people Jesus called to follow Him – is that they did just that. They literally left everything behind to walk with him, living with him for the next three years. The fishermen who had just made a big catch, such that their boats were sinking because of the weight of all the fish they hauled in – they walked away from it. Boats, nets, partners, income – they were so drawn to Jesus that they left the rest behind.

“Believing in Jesus”is more than the fact that you go to church, instead of a synagogue or a mosque. It's more than "being religious." Believing in Jesus makes you different. It means you see the world differently, because it was created by God for you. It means that you understand life differently, because now life revolves around relationships, beginning with your relationship to God as a forgiven sinner. It means that your life takes on new meaning and purpose, because God has a plan for you. It means that death – which for most people is the big question mark, the dark enemy, the final door beyond which nothing is known – death is no longer any of those things for you. Now you know that in Jesus, you will inherit eternal life. You march to the beat of a different drummer when you believe in Jesus, such that you live differently, as one who has abandoned fear because now you have someone to trust, and his name is Jesus.

"Believing in Jesus:" the early Christians knew that it meant something, not only to themselves, but to those who were watching. For many of them, the step of faith was risky; it could mean their lives. Rome, of course, declared Caesar to be a god. Anyone who professed faith in any other god was called an atheist and a traitor, punishable by death. So it was that Polycarp, an early Christian, was brought to judgement before Rome, accused of confessing Jesus as Lord. In the midst of an angry mob, a Roman proconsul took pity on this gentle old man and urged Polycarp to proclaim Caesar as Lord, saying, "Swear by the fortune of Cæsar; repent, and say, Away with the Atheists" (meaning Christians). Polycarp, looking out on the crowd of the heathen in the stadium, waved his hand towards them, and looked up to heaven, saying, "Away with the Atheists." The proconsul urged him again: "Swear, and I will set you free; revile Christ." And then Polycarp declared plainly, "Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?" Polycarp was burned at the stake in that stadium. Being a Christian made a difference, not only to him, but to all those who witnessed his gentleness, his loyalty and his faith in the One who had died for him.

We are in the company of believers. The baton is now passed to you and me. Yesterday your newly elected leadership was asked how they would tell someone who doesn't go to church why they do. Each one gave a witness: "I go because my life and faith are anchored there; I hear God's word; it balances my life and inspires me; it's my family; it keeps me connected; it's the center of all my relationships; I find renewal and purpose there; I learn more about my Savior; I find my grounding and my focus in Christ; it's given me the gift of faith and I hope to pass that on to someone else." Believing and witnessing are two sides to the same coin.

You are in the company of the confessed and forgiven. You are in the company of believers in Jesus. You are also in the company of the sent. Isaiah was sent by God on a mission of speaking God’s word. Peter and his friends were sent out to catch people instead of fish. You wonder what that meant to them. Because catching people is quite the opposite of catching fish, for fish are caught for the purpose of killing, cooking and eating them. Right? Whereas people are caught so as to save them from eternal death and to give them new life. With the statement “You will be catching people” Jesus turned the miracle into a metaphor for mission. Jesus calls you to follow him and then leads the way. When you are sent, you find yourself in the company of Jesus himself.

You are sent out in mission. Not everything we do is our mission, although sometimes the word is used in a generic way. Here at St Timothy's mission specifically means outreach to those who are unchurched, to those who have not yet heard the good news. That's really important. The Lutheran missiologist James Scherer put mission into focus when he defined it this way: "mission is... bearing witness to the gospel ... at the borderline between faith and unbelief.... making the gospel known where it would not be known without a special and costly act of boundary-crossing witness." That's mission: at the juncture of faith and unbelief. That's the cutting edge of our faith. Mission is where new life begins because someone, for the first time, hears and receives the message of the Gospel, the message of Jesus' saving love and forgiveness.

Today, my friends, you are in good company: confessed and forgiven, believing and sent, you are in the company of Jesus himself who walks with you and makes it all possible. It starts with an encounter with God, marked by his power and presence. Isaiah and Peter saw the sign of God’s presence in a vision and in a miracle. The sign of Jesus' presence for you and me, the sign of his power in our midst is His word, the bread and the wine. Come. You are in good company. Amen.