God our Father whose word has come among us, may the light of faith kindled in our hearts shine in our words and deeds, through him, who is Christ the Lord, who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen
Fishing was both an important and common way of earning a living. Here we find Jesus as he is about to call Simon (Peter), Andrew, James and John from tending their nets and catching fish to becoming a disciple and then later an Apostle, into his service, they were to be fishers of men. Here we can see Jesus as he stands at the side of Lake Gennesaret or to use it’s other names the Sea of Galilee, Lake Kinnerett or Sea of Tiberius. It is a 13 miles long and 8 miles wide stretch of fresh water that has a 33 mile circumference and is situated 680 feet below sea level in a natural dip in the ground and is 141 feet at its deepest point. The way that it is situated gives it a tropical climate. When Jesus had last preached he was in the synagogue and now here he was at the lake side. People were beginning to know who Jesus was and the numbers of people following him had grown by the say because they had heard of his teachings and now that he was in the area they wanted to come and hear him first hand. You can imagine the picture there were hundreds of people getting closer and closer to him. They were crowding in on him, pushing and shoving. As we look a little way along the water’s edge there are boats hauled up onto the shore. A little further still we can see several men, who had dragged their nets up the beach and had spread them out to dry. They had been out fishing all night and were quite weary. On one side of the shore we have the hustle and bustle of a crowd yet just a little further away we see this pastoral scene.
Jesus asked Peter to put his boat out onto the water once more. This was to be his pulpit, a place where he could be seen by all of those who were crowding nearer and nearer to hear him. It made an ideal amphitheatre and his voice would carry across the water. The people were shouting to him, wanting to hear more about his teachings. There was an air of expectancy as this wonderful man, who they had heard so much about, was now right there in front of them about to speak, so close that they could touch him, and they were determined not to be disappointed, after all they had wanted to hear him for quite some time. The fishermen pushed the boat out onto the water and a little way from the shore Jesus began to speak to the people and to teach them. When he had finished sharing his words with the people on the shore he instructed the disciples to let down their nets into the water. The nets were bell shaped with lead weights around the edge. They threw the net into the water and the weights took it down into the deep where it caught the fish as it sank. When it had reached the bottom the fisherman drew in the cord, which tightened the net around the fish. But this catch was no ordinary catch, the nets were filled to breaking point they could hardly handle the fish they had caught. It was a great miracle and Peter recognised this. Peter was overwhelmed by the catch and realised that it was a miracle. It made him recognise his own inadequacies, his own faults and shortcomings. It also made him realise that he was a sinner in the sight of God and very much inferior. It is difficult to stand in the presence of God because we feel so imperfect and unworthy. But as we approach God I believe that there are three things we must always bear in mind.
We must recognise our own sinfulness.
To sin means to miss the mark it is mentioned in the bible hundreds of times. The mark, in this case, is the standard of perfection established by God and evidenced by Jesus. When we view it in that light, it is clear that we are all sinners. In Romans 3:23: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Sin began way back with Adam and Eve when they ate from the tree of knowledge. Temptation was put in their way and they were too weak to resist. So before we point out the speck in our brother’s eye we first have to remove the plank from our own. People seem to be very good at finding fault in others, yet failing to see their own faults and shortcomings. Every day we all fall short of what is expected of us as Christians. I do it and I am sure you do too. I can also tell you this that someone who is not a disciple of Christ will be very quick to point out the sins and failings of us who are his followers. Words like I thought you were a Christian – you are not meant to do that, all too ready to jump on those they perceive as true believers for the slightest transgression.
God wants us to recognize our sins. Even those who have not murdered or committed adultery will find themselves convicted of lying, or of worshipping false idols like wealth or power ahead of God. Tragically, sin in any amount, will distance us from God. In 1 John 1:8-10 it says "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives". But the good news in all of this is that, once we recognize ourselves as sinners, we need only to repent and embrace Jesus to be forgiven. Jesus can forgive us because he died and rose again three days later in victory over all sin and death and all of that was for you and me.
We cannot save our self. As humans we are very good at struggling along on our own trying to get through and making the best of things. We say to ourselves I know what I want to do with my life so I will follow this path I have chosen. I have mapped out my way in life so I’m going to get on with it. Well I need to tell you my friends that this is not the case God has a plan for you and also for me. What we have to do is take a leap of faith! '...faith is...the conviction of things not seen'(Hebrews 11:1 NAS). Glynnis Whitwer says, 'God calls us to obedience without showing us the end result. We have to trust in him. It is not a feeling we like when we step outside of the familiar. There are days when I don’t like getting called out of my comfort zone. I try to resist and to serve God from the safety of my own world that I have established. But that's not God's way. He doesn't want us limited by our desire for security and control. Something inside is revealed to us when we are pressured from outside. God shines light on the truth about our faith. To grow, faith must be stretched, and that's uncomfortable. Unlike some, I haven't learned to trust God the easy way. Some can do it by reading a book or listening to a sermon or hearing how our friends trust Him. I'm learning by stepping out into the adventure of obedience and discovering that He's trustworthy. This happened when my marriage broke down. I decided to rent a house. I was very hard up for money. I was paying a mortgage and did not think that I could also afford a rental too. But I needed somewhere of my own after I separated from my wife. I needed it so that my son could come and stay with me. After a lot of praying I took that house on and I did afford it. I just managed to pay the bills and I watched God meet my needs and more. God opened doors of opportunity. He is still opening them to me. I am walking by faith at this moment, as I prepare to test my calling to the ordained ministry. But when we walk by faith it glorifies God. It enriches us and we can be assured that we are in the exact place that God has chosen for us, and none of it would have been possible without our Lord and Saviour. When Jesus was surrounded by 5,000 hungry people, Jesus told his disciples, 'You give them something to eat.' It seemed impossible, but when they obeyed they witnessed a miracle. One writer says, 'Christ will lead you into seemingly impossible situations...don't avoid them. That's where you'll experience God. If you attempt only things you know are possible with the resources you possess, you'll receive the credit and God will have no part in it. Have you received a word that awaits your next step of faith? Proceed, no matter how incredible it seems. You'll experience the joy of seeing God perform a miracle, and so will those around you.' So I urge you to take a leap of faith today and put all your trust in God.
Get to know Christ because too many Christians know about Him but they do not know Him intimately
I have a question for you today. What is a miracle and do you believe in them? When I was researching this topic for today I thought it was important to tell you the definition of a miracle it is an event that violates the laws of nature. The first miracle that Jesus performed was at the wedding feast at Capernaum. Today in out reading we see another miracle taking place. Jesus gets into the boat and tells the disciples to caste their nets out and this resulted in a massive catch. We need to know that Jesus, through the power of God, is capable of doing anything. Things that seem to be impossible suddenly materialise, obstacles we never thought we could overcome are suddenly solved. We need to get to know Christ as well as we know ourselves. In this world there are not many people who do not know who God is. The fact is that most know who he is but there are not many who know him intimately. To get to know someone intimately you have to spend a lot of time in their company. You have to spend a lot of time getting to know them, talking to them and finding out their views and their take on things. As we read our bibles we learn what Jesus was like and from that learning we should try to replicate his teachings in our lives today. This is a way that we can become closer to our Lord.
But why is knowing Jesus important? The answer is because we cannot have faith in God until we know Jesus. When we believe Jesus as He says, "He that has seen Me has seen the Father," God becomes real to us, and faith has no boundaries. Once we ask Jesus into our hearts as our Savior and Lord, our life totally changes. Our goals are no longer self-realization. Our purposes, instead, is to know Jesus better. In everything! Jesus is The Light, the Light of the world. Without the Holy Spirit of Jesus our hearts experience darkness. It is the Light that makes you and me children of God. With The Light within us also comes the Power of God, the same Power that raised Jesus up from the dead, to shine His light on the entire world.
With the Holy Spirit, The Light of Christ, within me, my circumstances will never again be disorganized. Every situation is now a means of knowing Jesus better. I can recognize Jesus in every area of my life. As I know Jesus better, I no longer praise my work. Instead, I exalt Jesus in my work. In fact, no matter what I am doing, eating or playing or helping a neighbour. I must remember that Jesus Christ is right there with me. Getting to know Jesus helps us to abandon ourselves and find a new life through Him in God. It is not easy because it is not natural. Only a child is simple enough to do it. That is why Jesus said that unless you have a child like faith you will never see God. But we can learn from Jesus to approach every day, every circumstance with the simple faith of a child. And when we are simple enough, God gives us our life. Our life becomes His Life. He lives within us. And gradually within His time and in His Light, we begin to see through the darkness of this world and know that, if the Spirit of God lives within us, He will make our dying bodies live again after we die. We know this as we become a close and intimate friend with the Son of God. And we become the most surprised and delighted creatures on earth! Jesus already knows us. He wants us to know Him. He wants us to leave our past behind and to commit our future to him. Amen.
