Launch Out To Deep Water

“Launch Out Into the Deep”

Luke 5:1-7

From 1980 to 1988 we lived in Florida and I traveled the State of Florida working with our Free Methodist churches. When not traveling we attended the St. Petersburg FMC. One gentleman in the church gave me a standing invitation. Anytime I wanted to go deep Sea fishing and pay for the gas he would take me fishing.

On one fishing trip we traveled out 25 miles until we came over an old Mexican ship that had been buried in the Gulf of Mexico. We had to travel out 25 miles to get to water that was 90 to 100 feet deep. On the fish finder we could see the outline of the ship and objects moving down near the bottom of the Gulf. To find big fish you have to go to deep water.

We put bait on our hooks and lowered out lines to the bottom and then raised the line about a foot above the bottom. It wasn’t long until I caught a 8-9 lb Grouper. Later I hooked a Cobia game fish that was about 25 – 30 pounds.

A little later I was pulling in a fish and I felt a jerk on the line. When I pulled out the 5 lb Amber Jack it was bitten in half. I used the other half of the Amber Jack fish for bait and put on a long steel leader. After about five minutes my line took a jolt and I hooked a good size fish. After about 30 minutes I pulled in a large fish – five feet long – a Barracuda with jagged teeth.

To catch fish in the Gulf we had to travel out to deep water.

Luke 5:1-7 Luke describes Jesus teaching by the Sea of Galilee and with a growing crowd of people pressing close he walked down to the seashore and noticed two empty boats. The fishermen were washing their nets after fishing all night. Jesus stepped into the boat and asked Simon the owner of the boat to push out a little way from shore so Jesus could continue speaking to the crowd of people. The empty boats were empty and better for preaching than for fishing that morning.

When Jesus finished speaking he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets, and you will catch many fish.” Luke 5:4 Jesus noticed the boats and nets were empty. Jesus, a carpenter, is telling Simon Peter, a fisherman by trade, how to fish.

Simon protested, “Master, we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, we’ll try again.”

From Simon Peter’s perspective trying to catch fish that day was a hopeless situation. Anyway the best fishing is at night and not during the heat of the day.

Many of us can echo the same words: “We have fished all night and caught nothing.” From a human viewpoint continuing to fish is hopeless.

I. Life From a Human Perspective Is Hopeless

Simon Peter believed that the fishermen had given they best. They knew all the tricks of fishing, where the best fishing places are and how to maximize their fishing efforts.

Have you found yourself in situations where you have given your best and it wasn’t good enough?

A week ago on Monday Carollyn and I took our daughter Janette and Joseph our grandson to tour the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, CA. In the factory you see multi-million dollar equipment that makes jellybeans from scratch. You name the flavor and they can make a jellybean taste like popcorn, licorice, cherries, banana cream pie or whatever. Must of the process is accomplished by robots and computers.

Yet with all the multi-million equipment there are tens of thousands of belly flops. Odd shaped candy that you can buy two large packages and get one free.

In spite of our best human efforts we from time to time experience our own belly flops. Does the Jelly Belly Factory stop making jellybeans because a certain percentage isn’t perfect? No! They keep producing more jellybeans.

From a purely human perspective we look at the world condition and the future seems hopeless. There are many dooms day speakers who teach that life purely from a human perspective.

Several years ago I received a note from a retired minister from Ohio. He concluded his note by saying: “Keep close to Jesus, saved, sanctified, wholly in his hands, I am looking for catastrophic events soon maybe as much as 150 million people wiped out at once, we may be in that number.”

When I was living in Florida over 20 years ago Scientists were predicting the possibility of a warming trend that would melt so much of the ice cap that oceans would rise and create a new shore line in America. Water would completely cover the state of Florida.