True Life, True Liberty, True Happiness

The Fifth Sunday after Trinity (H)

Upon the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence

St. Luke 5.1-11

Preached on 05 July 2026

Trinity Lutheran Church, Vallonia, Indiana

+ In the Name of Jesus +

Every July 4^th, but especially as we have come to the 250^th Anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, our nation pauses to celebrate, with everything from parades to cookouts to fireworks displays, the foundational promise of the Declaration: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The right to Life is that each child made in the image of God is a human being worthy of life and worth the cost of protecting that life. The right to liberty is freedom from tyranny, from slavery, from indentured servitude where all men, subjects of only God on high, are by right subject to no man but are free citizens equal to one another under the Law. The pursuit of happiness is the freedom to practice virtue, cultivate good character, and seek lifelong self-improvement, the word “pursuit” in the 1700’s meant “practice” or “daily vocation” – and “happiness” did not mean one’s mood or hedonistic pleasure, but came from Aristotle to our founding fathers who defined it as a state of human flourishing achieved by living a good, moral, and purposeful life.

The text for today’s sermon is the Gospel reading from Luke 5, where Jesus gives to Peter, to the other disciples, and to all of us baptized believing children of God true life, true freedom, and the true pursuit or practice of happiness and joy.

Simon Peter and his partners definitely had life, and were pursuing their fishing vocation with zeal. The evidence was that they were washing their empty nets on the shores of Gennesaret after a night casting and trolling their nets only to come up totally empty. This serves for us as a picture of our striving after life, liberty, and happiness without Jesus and His Word. Our efforts without Christ and His Holy Spirit leave us spiritually bankrupt, to find that our striving and our efforts never quite completely fulfill our sinful and corrupt desires, with nothing to show for it in our nets.

Into this exhaustion and empty striving steps Jesus Christ, who does not offer a political manifesto or a self-help strategy, but an external, life-giving Word that shatters our human limitations. True life is not earned by our frantic labor, but given freely from the depths of His grace; true liberty is not the license to do as we please, but Christ’s liberating absolution. Finally, our pursuit of happiness is radically transformed into a holy calling, as Jesus casts us into the world not to chase temporal success, but to serve our neighbors as instruments of His mercy. Where our independent pursuits fail, the Gospel of Christ fills our empty nets, anchoring our joy not in the fleeting achievements of this world, but in the eternal certainty of His spoken promise.

1. True Life: Given by the Word in the Midst of Death (Luke 5:4–6)

⁴ And when [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

“Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!” reveals that without a creative life-giving Word from Christ, there is nothing but death and lack of life. They cast their nets that night thoroughly through those waters near that shore and found nothing – no fish came up alive out of the water by their own efforts, using their own wisdom and reason.

Likewise, you and I cast our nets through the waters of our world pursuing the life that seems so easy and wonderful – endlessly trolling the internet and television for our entertainment, endlessly trolling our earthly vocations to squeeze just one more catch of money, wealth, success, worldly status and fame out of this life.

“Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” … ⁶ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.

Jesus speaks. The Word says, “Let there be… life…” and it comes into being. Jesus speaks life into what once was dead. “Jairus’ daughter, young man at Nain, I say unto you, arise.” “Lazarus, come forth!” Jesus speaks, the Spirit rushes forth, the dead, dry bones turn into an abundance of life.

Perhaps the real miracle is not the catch of fish. The real miracle is that the Holy Spirit through Jesus moved Peter to set aside his own earthly wisdom, and submit to the external Word, not his internal feelings “Nevertheless, [Peter said] at your word I will let down the nets”.

“See how beautifully Christ rewards those who hear His Word... He gives them not only spiritual goods, but also temporal ones, so that they may see that He cares for them even in this life... For where the Word of God is, there follows a blessing.” (Luther)

The bursting nets demonstrate that Christ is the Lord of Creation who gives life where there was only emptiness. True life is found solely in receiving from Him His word of Life.

2. True Liberty: Freedom from Sin and Death (Luke 5:8–9)

⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken…

Confronted by the divine holiness of Christ, Peter experiences the crushing weight and sting of the Law. There is only One who has the ability to bring life out of the dead water of this creation. Peter realizes his spiritual captivity and unworthiness (“Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord”). It would be better to not gaze upon the face of God as a sinner, Peter says.

Jesus does not depart. Instead, He speaks the liberating words of the Gospel: “Do not be afraid.” Jesus is not a tyrannical, moody, hard to please pagan god who acts randomly. He came in love for us all, just as He first promised to Adam and Eve and throughout all the history of this world. He came to set us free from our captivity to sin, death, and the power of the devil. He did so with His holy, precious blood, shed in His innocent suffering and death, that we might be His own subjects and co-heirs with Him of His heavenly kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. Jesus came to bring us from dead slavery to the devil into free citizenship of heaven, first given you as a gift in the waters of your Baptism day, when you were declared independent of the devil and all his wicked works and ways.

“When Peter sees the miracle, he does not think of the fish, but of his sins, and falls at Jesus’ feet... But Christ comforts him and says: ‘Fear not.’ This is the true office of the Gospel: to comfort terrified consciences, to take away fear, and to pronounce the forgiveness of sins.” (Luther)

True liberty is not the license to do what we want. It is freedom from the fear of God’s judgment, delivered through the forgiveness of sins given in the means of grace.

3. The True Pursuit of Happiness: Caught by Grace for a Holy Calling (Luke 5:9–11)

⁹ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” ¹¹ And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Jesus does not just forgive and release you from the bondage of sin. He also gives you a new pursuit. To learn and put to use the sanctified life. At Jesus’ word, Peter, James, and John no longer pursue fish to eat or sell or earthly security. They are redefined by a new vocation: “From now on you will be catching men (alive)”.

There is going to be cross-bearing in this new sanctified life. They left everything behind, and followed Jesus. They would leave behind family and home, follow Him to the misery and shame of His cross and the joy of Easter Day, and eventually, to give and lose their own sacred lives and liberty for Jesus’ sake and name. True happiness (blessedness) is found in leaving everything of this world behind to follow Christ. It is a joy that exists despite worldly loss, anchored entirely in the certainty of Christ’s call.

So Jesus calls you to pick up your cross and follow Him, which means in ways great and small we must leave behind the old pursuits, those old nets of worldly wisdom, pride, and ambition, and instead take up the Gospel net that catches dying men out of the turbulent waters of sin and death and brings them into the safety of Christ’s kingdom. This means we practice our Christian faith in our daily vocations God gives us, which includes taking the risk of sharing God’s Word of life and forgiveness with those God sends our way in our families, our congregation, our community, our nation.

“To catch men is to preach the Gospel, by which men are delivered from the power of the devil, sin, and death, and are brought into the kingdom of God... This is the highest joy and happiness on earth, that we should be instruments of God to save souls.” (Luther)

There is no higher joy then pursuing the eternal happiness and joy of others knowing and believing in Christ. The angels rejoice in heaven over one sinner who repents! So must we!

Our independent pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness on our terms using our own efforts ends in empty nets and spiritual death. Christ meets us in our emptiness, drowns our sin in the waters of our baptism, and raises us up by His comforting voice to a new pursuit of the happiness and joy of a sanctified life, fed and nourished by His body and blood. In His Word, we have a real declaration of dependence on the Triune God, who gives you true life that will never end, a true liberty that cannot be taken away, and a true, lasting holy joy and happiness that resounds with unimaginable sight and sound in heaven above.

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit +