St. Luke:5:1-11
Topic: Leaving the shallow waters behind, and launching out into the deep
As we embark into the new year of 2009, we must learn to leave the shallow waters behind. That is, we must learn to leave the shallow waters of our past, and be willing to launch out into the deep waters of our future. If we stand to be blessed in the year of 2009, we must be willing to leave the shallow waters of our comfort zone, leave shallow waters of our traditions, leave shallow waters of doing the same old things, and launch out into the deep waters where God has some bountiful blessings in waiting in store for us.
Now in these passages of scriptures of St. Luke 11:1-11, we see Jesus being crowded and pressed upon by a large crowd of people as he is teaching the word of God by a lake called Lake Gennesaret. As he was teaching the crowd by the lake, Jesus sees empty ships nearby the lake that were left empty by some fishermen as they were mending and washing their nets after they had fished all night the night before. And seeing one of the ships that was empty, Jesus steps into one of the boats that belonged to Simon Peter, and He asked him to thrust or sail him out a little further from the land so the large crowd that he was teaching the Word of God to will be able to see and hear Jesus teach from the ship. And the scripture says that once Peter had sailed the boat a little further from the land, it was then that Jesus sat down, and taught the people from the ship
Now notice something here. Notice Jesus tells Peter to thrust or sail him a little further from the land so Jesus Christ could teach the people from the ship without being crowded by a large group of people. Now on the surface, it looks like when Peter had sailed Jesus a little further from the land, it was for the benefit of the people so they could see and hear Jesus Christ teach the word of God from the ship. But when you look deeper into this text, when Peter had sailed Jesus a little further from the land so he could teach the people from the ship, it was for Peter’s benefit because after Jesus had finished teaching the people, Peter received a bountiful blessing like no other before. And that is a lesson for us to learn. When we trust and obey the Lord Jesus Christ, it is not for the Lord’s benefits, but it is for ours. When we worship and praise God, it is not for the Lord’s benefit, but it is for ours. When we serve the Lord, it is not for the Lord’s benefit, but for ours. When we pay our tithes and offering, it is not for the Lord’s benefit, but for ours because He did say in Malachi 3:10 that if you pay your tithes and offering, that He will open up the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that you wont have room enough to receive it.
So when you worship the Lord, when you serve the Lord, it is not for the Lord’s benefit, but it is for your benefit because Jesus could have gotten on the ship and sailed it by himself from the land, but he called Peter to thrust him out little further from the land because, yes, it was for the benefit of the people who was hearing Jesus teach from the ship, but most importantly, Peter was being set up for a bountiful blessing. But notice this. For Peter to receive his bountiful blessing, he had to leave the shallow waters behind, and go out into the deep.
Now, notice if you will, that after Jesus had finished teaching the people, in St. Luke 5:4, “Jesus tells Simon (Peter) to “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught.” Now notice something here. Notice that first Jesus tells Peter to just sailed a little further from the land so he can teach the the large crowd of people from the ship. Then he tells Peter to sail out into the deepper waters and let down his nets for large catch of fish. Now there is a lesson we can learn right here. And the lesson is, sometimes, God will command us to leave a familiar place and go to a place where your blessings is in waiting in store for you because the blessing that awaited Peter was not in the shallow waters, but it was in the deep. Now during that day and time, especially during the morning or the daytime, most fishermen would have fished at the shallow water during that specific day and time. But we see and hear Jesus commandeding Peter to go out into the deep. Sometimes in order for God to bless you, you have to sometimes go against the status quo, go against the opinions of people, go against the traditions of men, and do exactly what God tells you to do in His Word despite what majority is doing and how the circumstance may look like.
And notice Peter’s response when Jesus tells him to launch out into the deep and let down his nets. In St. Luke 5:5. Peter says, “Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing.” No doubt Peter was tired, disgusted, irritated, frustrated, and discouraged because he had fished all night long and caught nothing. And likewise some of us are like Peter; we had been fishing all through the year in 2008 for a blessing, and we caught nothing. And the reason why you caught nothing in the year 2008 because you may have been fishing for a blessing in all the wrong places such as in the clubs, at the bars, in the stock market, in the casinos, economy, in drugs, in alcohol, in some man, in some woman. And if you have been fishing for a blessing and you caught nothing from the place where you have been fishing, that is a sign that you may need to go to a new place to fish.
Or you may need to try a new bait to use because the one that you have been using is not helping you to catch the fish because it does not make sense to be using the same bait over and over again if the fish aren’t biting. Likewise, it doesn’t make sense to be doing the same thing over and over again if there is no real progress been made in your life. Sometimes you have to be willing to try something new if you want to see some real changes and progress to be made in your life.
But thank God that Peter knew who Jesus Christ was, for he had heard Jesus Christ preached and teach. And he had seen Jesus performed a few miracles such as turning water into wine, and seeing Him heal the nobleman’s son. And because Peter knew who Christ was, he had no problem saying, “nevertheless, at thy word, I will let my nets down” when the Lord commanded him to do so. You know sometimes after you have tried everything else and you have come up short, you need to try Jesus Christ at his Word.
And notice the result of Peter’s obedience to Jesus command. In St. Luke 5:6-7, it says, ‘And when they had done this, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes, and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.” ( Now there is a lesson we can learn right here, and the lesson is when God has tremendously blessed you, you ought to share the blessings with others. )
Now notice this. If Peter would have been stubborn and not obeyed Jesus commandment to launch out into the deep and let down his nets, he would have not receive the blessing in netting all of those fish. Some of us has missed out on a blessing that God has for us because we refused to launch out into the deep because we may be fearful, discouraged about what happened in our past, or someone may have hurt us. We want stay in the shallow waters of our comfort zone because that is where we feel safe and comfortable and, it is a place where we are in control of things. We want to stay in the shallow waters because it is the place where you have been at for 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 years. But sometimes God has to withhold your blessings until you have no choice but to launch out into the deep waters in your life. You sometimes have to leave the familiarity and go into the unknown place to receive your blessing.
And notice Peter’s reaction after he caught all those fish. He falls down on his knees and says, “Depart from me”, for I am sinful man, O Lord.” Peter felt so unworthy of the Lord blessing that he asked the Lord to depart from him because he did not deserve the blessing that he just experienced with the Lord in the ship. Now the question is, how come Peter feels so unworthy of the blessings that Jesus helped him to receive? I believe that it was because Peter himself wasn’t suppose to be fishing in the first place. Now notice this. In John 1: 40-42, it was Peter’s brother Andrew that introduced him to Jesus. After being introduced to Jesus, Peter had followed Jesus and seen him performed great miracles such as turning water into wine, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, casting out demons and he heard him teach great that was pertaining the Kingdom of God.
Then in Matthew 4: 18-20, that as Jesus walks by the Sea of Galilee, He calls Peter and Andrew to follow him and he would make them fishers of men. And the scriptures says that they straightway left their nets and followed him.
But notice something here. Even though Jesus had told Peter to follow him and he would make him fishers of men, we see that Peter went back to fishing because when we see Peter fishing again, he is not fishing in the Sea of Galilee like he was in Matthew 4:18-20, but he is found in St. Luke 5 fishing at the Lake Gennessaret. In other words, Peter did not stick to his calling to follow Jesus and to become a fisher of men, that is, to win lost souls for Christ. And because Peter did not stick to his calling, when he went fishing, he caught nothing. And that is a lesson for us to learn here. If you fail to stick to your calling in following Jesus Christ, and to be a witness for him, you will always come up short every time and end up with nothing. And notice that because Peter did not stick to his calling to follow Christ, and to become a soul winner for Christ, his actions influenced others not to do the same. Notice in St. Luke 5:10 that James and John was fishing with Peter on Lake Gennessaret, and they too were called to follow Jesus Christ and become soul winners for Christ in Matthew 4:18-22, but yet we see them fishing all night long along with Peter at Lake Gennessaret catching nothing as well. And the lesson that we can learn from this is this: you not sticking to your calling can cause others to stumble. Obviously, Peter is the leader out of the three, because when they saw Peter go back to fishing, they followed along with him. And we who have been called to ministry must stick to it because if we don’t, not only do we mess ourselves up, we mess others up as well.
Notice something here. Notice that in verse 5, Peter address Jesus as “Master,” meaning he addressed Him as “a teacher”. But when Jesus blesses Peter to catch all those fish in the deep, he no longer address Jesus as a “Teacher”, but he now address Him as “Lord”. Jesus is more than a teacher, He is Lord. He is more than just a good man, Jesus is Lord. He is more than just a prophet, Jesus is Lord. Jesus is more than just a regular historical religious man, He is Lord.
And because Peter had a renewed perspective of who Christ is, Jesus tells Peter, James and John in St. Luke 5:10, “Fear not; from hence forth, thou shalt catch men.” And the scriptures says in St. Luke 5:11 that when they brought their ships to the land, they forsook all and followed him.”
Here we see Jesus issuing the second call to Peter, James and John to forsake their fishing business, and to follow Christ. And it is a blessing to know that no matter how bad you had falling from your calling, God is able to restore you back and use you for his service. But notice what Peter had to do. He had to launch out into the deep to receive his blessings, and to be restored back to his calling to be a soul winner for Christ. And there is a lesson we can learn from that. In order to receive what God has for us, in order for God to restore us, we need to leave the shallow waters of sin, and launch into the deep waters of salvation. We need to let down the nets of our hearts in Christ Jesus so he can transformed our lives.
Now notice this that Peter had been out in the deep the night before, and caught nothing. Why?
There was at least two reasons
Reason number one: Jesus was not on the boat with him. But when Jesus was in the boat, then Peter was able to catch a lot of fish. And Jesus did say this in John 15:5 that “without me, you can do nothing”. But I also heard the Apostle Paul say this in Phillipians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” But I also heard the Apostle Paul say this in Phillipians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”
Reason number two: Peter did not have the assurance of Jesus’ word. Notice it was Jesus that told Peter to “Launch out into the deep and let down his nets.” And it was Peter who complained to Jesus that he had fished all that night, and caught nothing, but nevertheless, at thy word, I will drop the nets. And because Peter had Jesus in the boat with him this time, and because Peter obeyed the word of the Lord, he netted the most fishes that he had ever caught in his life.
In conclusion, So as we go into the year of 2009 into the deep waters of our future, we need to have Jesus Christ in our boats(lives) as we sail out into the deep waters of our future to receive the blessings that God has for us. That means we need to launch into the deep with faith in Jesus Christ, launch into the deep with prayer, launch into the deep in God’s word, and last but not least, launch into the deep in obedience to God’s word. And if we do this……we will receive a blessing that we won’t have room enough to receive it.
