Yet, If You Say So, I Will - Sermon for the Third Sunday after Epiphany - Narrative Lectionary 3

Yet, If You Say So, I Will

Epiphany 3 – NL 3

January 26, 2025

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Luke 5.1-11

Homiletics is the study of how to develop and deliver religious information. In other words, it’s about preaching. All ELCA pastors must take at least one preaching class and deliver prepared sermons, though it may not always look like it. When I learned preaching 30+ years ago, the joke was that the prior generation learned that a sermon was “three points and a prayer,” or, in the 70s, “three points and a poem.” I also learned somewhere along the way about communication theory, which advised preachers to “tell them what you are going to tell them, then tell them, and finally tell them what you just told them.” But I’m grateful that the preaching instruction I received was far more creative than these dictums.

So, harkening back to that earlier time, here’s a sermon throwback, with modifications. Today’s “homily” will be three parts and an application with a bit of introduction and a conclusion. We’ll explore what it might mean to follow Jesus into the deep of life; discern how we might reSimon Peterond like Peter, “Yet, if you say so, I will;” and wonder how to trust in God’s abundance.

Before we dive into those, a little background: since last week’s sermon in his hometown, Jesus has done some teaching, preaching, and healing, including Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. (This may explain why Simon Peter agrees to the use of his boat.) He is followed by crowds who are eager to hear him. To be heard better, he asks Simon Peter to take out a little way on the lake. We don’t know the content of the teaching, but my guess it is consistent with what we heard last week in his sermon based on the text from Isaiah. He came to preach good news to the poor, release to captives, and to let the oppressed go free.” This would be good news to the Jewish people under Roman occupation. But it was his message about everyone being God’s beloved that infuriated his hometown crowd that will foreshadow his death.

After preaching, Jesus tells Simon Peter to go out into deeper waters, but I want to linger here for a bit before we get to the net. The sea (or lake) was a fearful place for middle eastern folk, a place of chaos and darkness. To be a fisherman meant conquering that fear on a daily basis, especially at night. Jesus invites Simon Peter to go deeper into a relationship with him in a place that is frightening. And Jesus does this when Simon Peter is exhausted, despairing, and not in a receptive mood.

That is prelude to Jesus’ order to “let down your nets” for a catch, which Simon Peter understandably resists. Again, he’s been fishing all night, the time of optimal fishing, and thinks Jesus is crazy. Yet, for some reason, Simon Peter trusts Jesus enough to do as he says, “Yet, if you say  so, I will.” Perhaps it’s because he’s at the end of his net and has done everything he knows how to do that Simon Peter lets go, obeys Jesus, and does something counterintuitive to what he knows.

Lo and behold, Simon Peter experiences an abundance far beyond his wildest dreams or expectations. He is so overwhelmed by this enormous catch that he realizes he is in the presence of the holy and divine. It’s helpful to realize that Jesus didn’t fabricate fish; these fish were already there. Still, Jesus will be the One who we will come to know as through whom the universe was created, who can still the storms, and who provides for us in ways that we cannot conceive or anticipate.

I think Jesus often invites us into a deeper but scary relationship with him and asks us to do something we resist, something that makes no human sense. My experience of being called to seminary, to go into the frightening deep, to say, “Yet, if you say so, I will,” and leave everything behind is one example. Entering intentional interim ministry with no guarantee of work is another. You probably have your own experiences.

Following our worship service today will be our annual meeting and Pr. Drew reminded me this past week of the boat as being an ancient symbol for the Church. So, in addition to celebrating where we’ve seen God working in, with, and through Our Savior’s this past year will be an approval of the Ministry Spending Plan (budget). I’m not telling you to pass this, that’s your decision. I am saying it’s some deep waters that invite you to consider responding, “Yet, if you say so I will.”

This is not mechanistic: it’s not “if we do this then God will bless us.” Remember, we are not the heroes of these stories, it is the God who rules creation and who says, “I will make you fish for people” who is the hero, who equips us for the work. It is when we go deeper into our relationship with Jesus and are invited to respond to that invitation that God provides for us. For this the God who sent his Son with a message that all are beloved, who so offended people with that message that he died for it, but rose from the dead so that we would have new life. May you know God’s abundant love as you go deeper in that love and respond to it. Amen.

My sermons don't always preach as they are written. For video of the sermon with the entire service, click here.

Faith Grows Here - Sermon for the Second Sunday of Christmas - Narrative Lectionary 3

Faith Grows Here

Christmas 2 – NL 3

January 5, 2025

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Luke 2.41-52

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor. (Luke 2.52)

With today’s story, Gospel-writer Luke concludes what’s called the infancy narrative. Yes, the story is of Jesus as a 12 year old, but everything that precedes Jesus’ adult ministry is considered part of the infancy story. Just before Christmas, we heard the Annunciation of the angel to Mary announcing she will bear God’s Son along with her visit to Elizabeth and then Mary’s song known as the Magnificat. On Christmas Eve, we heard the birth story attendant with angels and shepherds. Then last week, it was Jesus’ circumcision with his Presentation in the temple where Simeon sings of God’s marvelous deeds and the prophetess Anna praises God. In today’s reading about Jesus as a pre-teen in the Temple, Luke again does two things that he has done through the infancy narrative. First, Luke stresses the family’s faithfulness to the Jewish customs and traditions. Second, and more importantly, Luke highlights Jesus’ identity as not just any special child, but The Special Child. 

This is the only story we have about Jesus’s childhood and only Luke gives us so much detail about his early life. (By the way, there were other stories written and collected about Jesus that didn’t make the cut into any of the four Gospels. You might want to read the Infancy Gospel of Thomas where, among other stories, Jesus makes birds out of clay and breathes them into life.) This story presents some familiar pre-teen and parent interactions. If you are a parent who has momentarily lost a child or been a lost child, you can relate. Similarly, if you have had a pre-teen or been one yourself, you know how challenging that situation can be. Even so, there are questions about how this came to be. How could Mary and Joseph not know Jesus wasn’t with them. Why did it take them so long to figure it out? And what was Jesus doing for those three days and nights?

I’ve often said how much I appreciate questions and I believe that it’s in the questions where the life of faith is lived. In part, I like questions because it’s the way I’m wired. I love to learn and to think about why things are the way they are. But I like questions because of my own faith journey. I’ve mentioned before that I left the church after Confirmation like many young people. That time was a period of light atheism or strong agnosticism that lasted through high school, college, and into young adulthood. In short, I returned to the church not only because I was invited by a coworker, but also because that’s where I instinctively knew the answers to my questions could be found. Along the way, I’ve also learned that while questions are good, some are better than others.

What strikes me about today’s reading is that Jesus is in the position of the student. He is sitting among the teachers, listening to them, asking questions, taking it all in. At the end of the reading, before we learn about the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, we hear that “… Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.” As an adult 20 years later, Jesus will become the teacher par excellence and he will threaten other religious leaders, challenging their interpretation of Scripture. This challenge, in part, results in the cross. For now, Jesus models learning as a disciple.

Some of you know that I have a very small side-gig helping to train interim pastors. It’s a way to keep my skills sharp and also a way to give back to the larger church what I have been given. One thing we try to encourage in the pastors is a sense of curiosity and wonder as they enter congregations. On my better days that’s what I try to do. For example, “Why do you do this certain thing? How did that practice develop? It’s not a criticism, merely a wondering. (By the way, this attitude of curiosity is helpful in conversations about difficult topics, such as politics, religion, and government. “Tell me how you came to this position?) I think that sense of curiosity and wonder could help us in the life of faith. 

One tool, Lectio Divina, provides a framework for reading Scripture. There are many forms of Lectio Divina, but one way of reading Scripture is by reading a biblical passage and first asking, “What do I notice? What jumps out at me? What questions do I have? Then you read the passage again, preferably in a different translation, and ask, “What is God saying to me in this passage?” Finally, you read the passage a third time and ask, “What is God asking me to do in this passage?

I think that same curiosity could be applied to all aspects of our life of faith.

The tagline, or motto, for Our Savior’s is “Faith Grows Here.” That motto is depicted in the beautiful tree logo that graces all our materials. In fact, the desire for growth was a theme that the Transition Team consistently found in its work. Growth not only meant finding ways for more people to engage in the life of the congregation, but also a deep desire for spiritual growth. Now, I am loath to make New Year’s resolutions except that my resolution is not to make any resolutions. (I know, that’s a logic problem.) Even so, I would invite you into a posture of curiosity and wonder in your life of faith, not as adding one more thing but rather seeking a deeper way into what you are already doing.

So, for example, as you gather for worship, ask yourself, what do I notice, where do I see God in the midst of this, and how might God be inviting me to grow? I think that you could do this for all the different ways you might encounter God. When you listen to music, when you behold a work of art, when you engage in service to others, or when you work for peace and justice. However you grow in faith this New Year, may you, like Jesus, increase “in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.” Amen.

My sermons don't always preach as they are written. For video of the sermon with the entire service, click here.