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Jesus, The Master, Calls Us To Serve

            The fortieth biennial convention of our Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod held in New Ulm, Minnesota, in 1969, was assembled under the theme “Called to Serve.”  For whom do you think those words were intended?  For the synod’s president and vice-presidents?  For the pastors and teachers who were there?  For the congregation members who had been selected as delegates?  Yes – for all of them and many more.  In one way or another we are all called by God to serve him.  The people who planned our synod’s 1969 convention apparently wanted all who were there at that steamy August convention and all the members of our synod’s congregations to think about that truth and to live it.

            On a frosty weekend in Milwaukee almost forty years later we do well to consider again that truth from God’s Word.  The gospel account for this day, from Luke’s gospel chapter five, sets the tone and vividly reminds us that Jesus, the Master, Calls Us to Serve.

Hear the Master’s words

            Early in his ministry Jesus had established headquarters in Capernaum, a busy commercial center on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (about the size of Lake Winnebago).  As he was walking on the shoreline, a large crowd pressed in around him.  People in back couldn’t see him, and he was going to get his sandals wet.  So Jesus solved the problem.  He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.  He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore.  Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.  With Jesus preaching from the boat everyone assembled along the bank could easily see him and hear his words.

            His sermon is not recorded by Luke, but you can well imagine what Jesus was saying.  Just two verses back into the previous chapter, Luke does record these words from the Savior, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God” (Luke 4:43).  He was proclaiming good news, not good news about lower taxes, not good news about justice in the courts, not good news about free food for poor people, but real good news, “Your sins are forgiven!”  To people who had been burdened with loads of guilt brought on by all kinds of rules and regulations from pompous, do-as-we-say-not-as-we-do preachers, to people who had been left empty and confused, stripped of spiritual care by corrupt clergymen, to people who had wandered away from God like sheep with a shepherd, Jesus, the Master, proclaimed good news!  “The Lord God of heaven still loves you and surrounds you with his magnificent mercy every day!”

            No wonder Peter agreed when Jesus said, “Put your boat out a little from shore so I can speak to the people.”  No wonder Peter obliged when Jesus later said, “Put your boat out into the deep water, and let down the nets for a catch”.  Peter complied not only because he recognized Jesus’ authority but because he had heard the Master’s words.  He had been swept off his feet on the wings of Jesus’ great love.  Jesus Christ himself looked into Peter’s eyes and said, “I know what you’re really like” – and that must have made Peter shiver more than the morning breeze off the Sea of Galilee – “but I forgive you anyway.  I am your Savior.”  The Savior’s words of love and mercy energized Peter to serve.

            The same words of love and mercy that came to Peter and the people along the Sea of Galilee are the words that inspired faithful German Lutheran Christians to plant a church on this corner nearly one hundred fifty-eight years ago.  Those same words of love and mercy have been poured out to countless thousands within the walls of this worship facility for over one hundred five years.

            Those same words of love and mercy come to us today.  In fact, every time you hear the message of Scripture from this pulpit or in the classrooms downstairs or in the Grace Center next door within a few weeks, every time you read God’s good news, remember it, think about it, or study it, every time you hear the Master’s words, Jesus is looking into your eyes and saying, “I know what you are really like” – and that makes me shiver more than a cold blast of sub-zero, wind-chilled air – “but I forgive you anyway.  I am your Savior.”  When he calls us to serve, we agree, but not only because he is the Master of the universe.  We say, “Yes, Lord!” because his words of love and mercy refresh our souls, like taking a warm bath on a cold winter evening.  The Master’s words energize us to serve.  His words assure us that our weak spots, foibles, idiosyncrasies, errors, goofs, mistakes, and sins do not keep us out of the kingdom of God.  Jesus has paid for all that mess and all that rot.  That’s good news!

Rely on the Master’s blessing

            You probably realize that Jesus’ command, “Put out into deep water, and let down your nets for a catch,” was unusual and odd.  Even if you never heard this account before, you only need to know a little about fishing to realize that this command was ridiculous.  I’m told that fish won’t bite in the heat of the day.  They bite at dusk or dawn.  Fish won’t swim up from the bottom of a deep lake to jump into a net.  You have to catch them at the drop-off where the water goes from shallow to deep.  Peter and his partners were expert fishermen.  They had been out all night, pulling their nets through the usual hot spots, and hadn’t caught a thing.  Why go out again?  Besides, all the people standing on shore heard Jesus’ command.  What a chuckle they would get if Peter actually listened to this carpenter from Nazareth trying to teach him how to fish!

            But Peter replied, “Because you say so, I will let down the nets”.  The rest is history.  When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.  So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.  What a miracle!  The Lord God who controls all of nature filled the nets.  In his own time, in his own way, to highlight his power, he blessed their efforts beyond measure.  What a lesson for Peter and his partners!  Jesus, the Master, was going to call them to serve.  They could be sure that even when the odds were against them they could rely on the Master’s blessing.

            Who among the first families of German Lutherans to gather and form this congregation would have guessed that this congregation would still be flourishing today, one of the thirty largest congregations in our entire synod?  Who would have guessed at the time of a 1955 decision to keep this congregation going, when the neighborhood looked like skid row and the factories around this block were closed and crumbling, that the neighborhood would be experiencing the kind of revival we see today?  Who would have guessed that a rejection of plans to tear down this building in 1968 for a new, narrow, tunnel-like church where our little parish center now stands would result in a recommitment to maintain this facility for generations to come?  [Who would have guessed that seventeen years ago, as members of our Planning Committee were rebuffed by city officials in our attempt to buy land that we would be eagerly anticipating use of the Grace Center?]  But Jesus, the Master, called those people to serve.  They heard the Master’s words and relied on his blessing.

            Even today the Lord says to church leaders, “Convince people that it is possible to offer to the Lord way more than three cents of every dollar earned.  Speak to straying lambs and sheep and lead them back to the fold.  Train all members to use every opportunity to tell others about Jesus.  Provide quality spiritual growth opportunities for children, for teens, and for adults.  Find a way to help people overcome their worries about parking a block or two away.”  Those tasks may seem as difficult and unlikely as fishing in deep water in the middle of the day.  Yet church leaders and members who hear the Master’s words can rely on his blessing.  That’s his promise.  In his own time, in his own way, to highlight his power Jesus, the Master, will bless our efforts to lift high the cross at Grace Church.

Follow the Master’s call

            Did you notice Peter’s reaction to the miracle?  When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”  For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken.  Peter and his buddies were stunned.  “This Jesus has divine power.  He must be none other than the holy Lord God in human flesh.  But wait!  The holy God threatens to blast sinners off the face of the earth if they don’t live up to his perfect standards.  How can we possibly serve him and follow him?  How can we even stand in his presence?”

            Listen to the assurance in the Master’s call, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch people”.  He was giving them the privilege of working as his partners in a new kind of fishing business, casting out the net of the good news of God’s love to bring in people for eternal life.

            The response to the Master’s call is recorded in one simple verse.  So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.  Notice that Peter did not ask Jesus, “What kind of pension plan do you offer?  What sort of health benefits can I expect?  How many weeks vacation will I earn after the first year?  What kind of recognition and status will I get in the community?”  No!  He had heard the Master’s words.  He relied on the Master’s blessing.  Now he just followed the Master’s call.  A few years later Peter put it this way, “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).

            Did you know that the honeybee has one of the most highly developed social structures in the animal kingdom?  At the heart of the hive, which may house as many as eighty thousand bees, is the queen bee.  Without her, the colony has no future.  But the eighty thousand don’t just sit around watching the queen.  Each bee has a specialized duty to fulfill.  Some are forager bees who encounter the perils of the outside world in order to collect food.  Some are guard bees to protect the hive entrance from intruders.  Some serve as undertakers.  Other bees are water collectors who bring in moisture to regulate humidity in the hive.  Some are plasterers who repair the hive.  Some are fanners who fan a scent outward to signal the location of the colony to lost bees.  The variety and specialization of the worker bees seems endless.

            Jesus, the Master, has called us to serve.  Sometimes that term takes on a technical sense, referring to those times when a group of Christians “calls” people to serve in their name and on their behalf.  But that term can have a more general meaning.  Every Christian is called to serve.  God calls some to serve as mothers, some as fathers, some as students, some as church leaders, some as friendly phone callers to visitors, some as Grace Center coffee shop volunteers, some as hosts for special events, some as Sunday worship greeters, some as Sunday school teachers, some as newsletter mailers, some as open house organizers.  In the same way that worker bees all have different roles, the Lord has given special gifts to all the people of his church.  No one has been called merely to sit and watch.  Christianity is not a spectator sport.  Every Christian has a vital role to play in the kingdom of God.  The Lord designed his church to be a workshop, not a country club where you get waited on hand and foot.  In whatever sphere of service the Lord has called you, follow the Master’s call!

            Don’t expect big headlines in the paper: “Dateline!  Husband Prepares Supper and Loves His Wife!”  “College Student Hands in Report on Time!”  “Staffing Task Force Meets for an Extra Hour Interviewing Support Staff Candidates!”  “Church Volunteer Prepares Bulk Mailing!”  None of that will happen.  You may not even get mentioned in your church’s newsletter.  Yet, we are all called to serve.  You don’t have to be a convention delegate or synodical official to serve.  Be a believer in Jesus Christ.  Hear the Master’s words.  Rely on his blessing.  And follow the Master’s call.                                      Amen.

Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (http://www.gracedowntown.org/) on February 4, 2007

Services

Sundays 7:45, 9:00 & 10:30 am

Mondays 6:30 pm

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church | 1209 North Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202 | (414) 271-3006

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