A couple of guys named Ed and Fred had gone fishing for the very first time in their lives. They went out and bought themselves a couple of rods and reels, went down to the lake and rented a boat at the boat rental place and rowed out to a likely place and let down their anchor.
They’d read enough about fishing to know how to bait their hooks and how to cast their lines, and after a few practice casts they settled into catching fish.
And boy, did they catch fish. It seemed that just about every time their line hit the water, a fish hit the line. They caught so many fish that they were really getting excited. But eventually it started getting dark and they needed to get the boat back to the rental place and head home.
Fred went to the prow of the boat and began hauling in the anchor, when he turned around to see Ed pull out a jackknife and start carving an “X” in bottom of the boat.
Fred said “What do you think you’re doing?”
Ed looked up and replied “I’m marking this spot so we can find it again!”
"Oh, don’t be stupid, Ed!" his friend growled. "That won’t do any good. What if we get a different boat?"
How many of you like to fish?
(a large portion of the audience raised their hands).
Fishing can be a very fun and relaxing pastime.
But there are a lot of people who carry this pastime to a higher level.
I know of one man in this community that has spent several thousand dollars on his rods and reels, and who has competed in various competitions… and even been on one of the TV shows where sports fishermen like him go out and see who can catch the biggest catch and the largest fish.
Competitions like the one he competes in can offer over a million dollars in cash and prizes, and the folks who fish like this spend serious money on their equipment.
I looked on the internet and found
• One rod can cost up to $500 or more
• A good fishing reel can run anywhere from $500 to $3500
• And boats? I found this 2012 bass boat and trailer on the internet (showed a picture of one beautiful bass boat I’d found online). You can have this baby for a mere $49,000.
Now this kind of equipment is for sports fishermen. They compete for cash prizes in contests where the cash and prizes can often exceed over million dollars for just one event.
And they don’t even keep the fish!!!
They catch them and then release them.
APPLY: Back in the days of Peter, James and John - these guys weren’t sports fishermen. They didn’t “catch and release”.
They caught fish for a living.
This wasn’t a pastime for them.
This was their livelihood.
And they’d been fishing ALL DAY and not caught a thing. They were tired. They were frustrated. And they wanted to put their nets up for the day. There was no use going out to fish now. The day was too hot and the fish would seek deeper water where no net could reach.
So, Peter, James and John beached the boats, and begun wash and dry their nets. This was long tedious work, but it had to be done so they’d be ready to go out the next day.
Then… along came Jesus.
Jesus was preaching. He was so popular that a crowd soon gathered to hear Him and they were crowding around Him as He neared the lake.
Then we’re told He “saw” two boats at the edge of the water. He got into the one belonging to Simon Peter and asked him to go out into the waters so He could use the boat as a place to teach from.
Now, that may seem a bit presumptuous - Jesus just stepping into a strange fisherman’s boat. Why would He do that?
Well, Jesus wasn’t really a stranger to Peter or the others. In the gospel of John we’re told that Peter’s brother Andrew:
“…found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).” John 1:40-42 ESV
So, Peter KNEW Jesus.
He’d already been personally introduced.
From the day Peter first met Jesus I think he developed a liking for this new Rabbi. I suspect that would slip away (once in a while) to hear Christ preach. It was a pleasant diversion from the daily grind of his usual life… and he actually felt better after having listened to Jesus preach.
You might say Peter had become member of the “Jesus church.”
But that’s pretty much all Peter had been up to that point.
He was just a MEMBER.
He was a pew sitter.
He sang a few songs, prayed a few prayers, quietly listened to the sermon… then he’d go home.
Jesus was a pleasant diversion.
But Jesus was not the focus of Peter’s life – FISHING was!
But now – here’s Jesus.
And He’s preaching again.
And He seems to need Peter’s help.
So, Peter thinks “Well sure! I like you. I’d love to help.”
So Peter throws his nets into the boat, puts out from shore, and for the next hour or so Peter gets a front row seat to some of the finest preaching anybody’s ever heard.
Then, the sermon is over.
The crowd goes home - and Peter is ready to call it a day.
But then Jesus isn’t.
When (Jesus) had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
"Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Luke 5:4
Now Peter is a professional fisherman.
And Peter knows two things:
1) This is the wrong time of day to fish.
2) And this is the wrong part of the lake to do any fishing.
And you can just hear him thinking:
“I just got done cleaning these nets. If I throw them into the water, I’ll have to take them back to shore and do it all over again.
I like this guy Jesus – but He’s no fisherman.”
And so Peter tries to reason with Jesus.
And you can almost hear the frustration in his voice:
"Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.”
(PAUSE)
You can see him look hopefully to Jesus, expecting Jesus to say “Oh, that alright. I just thought it might worth a try. But really Peter, you know fishing better than I do. So if you don’t think it will work… don’t worry about it.”
But Jesus doesn’t say anything. He just looks at Peter with that look that says “I told you to put your nets into the water, so let’s get to it.”
Peter sighs. “Ok, because you say so, I will let down the nets." (Luke 5:5) And with a shrug of resignation Peter casts his net over the side and begins to draw it back in.
Then… suddenly… the water begins to boil.
As Peter draws the net closer, fish are being brought up in one large mass and it’s obvious this is a major catch. In fact “…they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.” Luke 5:6
The nets were so heavy that Peter had to call for the other boat to come out and help them bring the fish in.
This had never happened before.
They’d caught their share of fish in their day but this kind of catch was unheard of. And they’d caught the fish in a place and time they never should have gotten any at all.
Peter suddenly realizes this Jesus is no ordinary preacher.
He’d heard the crowds shout at Jesus: "You are the Son of God!"
But now… he’s begun to believe it.
And it scares him.
When Simon Peter saw (the nets filled and overflowing with fish), he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Luke 5:8 ESV
At this point Jesus said to Simon, "Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men." And Peter, James and John just left their boats and followed Him full time.
Now, what did I learned from this story?
Well, I learned something truly earth shattering. As I studied this passage I received a “revelation” that totally influenced my thinking.
Would you like to know what this earth shattering revelation was?
(Wait for a reply)
Well, that’s good, because I was going to tell you anyway.
It came in the form of a question.
And the question was this:
What is the primary objective of a fisherman? (Wait for a reply)
That’s right. The primary objective of a fisherman is to… catch fish!
The avid fisherman can have thousands of dollars wrapped up in his rods and reels. He can have the most beautiful boat on the lake. He can have the best lures and bait money can buy. And he can have sonar and radar and even heat seeking missiles.
But if he doesn’t catch fish he’s just spent a whole lot of money for nothing!!! The rods, reels, the lures and the bait, and the boat - they’re all just TOOLS. But if those tools don’t help the fishermen catch fish, they’re worthless.
Now, here’s the deal:
What is OUR primary objective as a church?
(Wait for a reply)
That’s right. Our primary objective is… to win souls for Jesus.
• We’ve been planning to add onto this building for years – and that’s a great dream. We have blueprints all drawn up and we’ve talked to architects and builders and contractors. But we must remember – the building is ONLY a TOOL.
Our objective as a church is NOT to build buildings.
Our objective is to use our building as a tool to win souls for Jesus.
If our building doesn’t help us accomplish that goal, it’s worthless to us.
• We have a great Sunday School program.
But it’s just a tool.
Our objective as a church is not to DO “Sunday School”
Our objective is to use our Sunday School to teach us God’s word so we can be prepared to teach people about Jesus and have answers to those who wonder about our faith.
• Our music teams do a great job of picking out songs and leading us in worship.
But the music is just a tool.
Our objective as a church is not to be a bunch of great singers.
Our objective is to be so involved in singing praises to Jesus that it creates an excitement inside of us and that excitement bleeds over into our daily lives and causes people to want the Jesus we sing about.
And I could go on and on and on.
The preaching, the communion, the offering, the youth programs, Special events… etc.
We don’t EXIST to do those things.
We exist to bring people to Jesus, and all those activities are TOOLS.
Jesus said “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Luke 19:10
And we have been given a great privilege - the privilege of fishing with Jesus. The privilege of making a difference for Him and with Him.
Jesus wants to go fishing with us.
So how does Jesus train us to fish?
Well, it seems to be a gradual process.
1st Jesus usually starts with people that wanted to be with Him.
Tell me, if you were going fishing, would you want to have people in that boat that liked you and wanted in the boat with you… or would you prefer to have people there who didn’t like you and didn’t want to be there.
Fishing in a small boat is a really bad place to be with people who don’t want to be with you.
Now Peter liked Jesus.
He liked being around Him.
He liked listening to Him.
And that’s why, when Jesus got into his boat and asked Peter to take Him out a from shore a little, Peter wasn’t offended. It a small favor to a good friend.
Now – here you are.
You’re here at church (I hope) because you like Jesus.
You like being around Him.
You like listening to stories about Him.
You are the people Jesus looks to be a fisher of men… because you like Him. You want to be with Him. Frankly, you are the kind of people Jesus wants to go fishing with!
So, Jesus usually starts with people who like being around Him.
Then He gives you an opportunity to SERVE Him.
Peter was just washing his nets to get them ready for the next day and Jesus says “Would you help me?” All Peter had to do was row his boat a little off shore and drop anchor. It wasn’t a big job. But it had to be done. And like I said… it was a small favor to do for someone Peter liked.
Now, that’s the beauty of this church.
There’s all kinds of small jobs that need done.
Jobs where you can “get your feet wet”.
• Being a greeter
• Filling the communion trays
• Helping out with Junior Churches/ youth groups
• Work with the Food Pantry
• Help with Flag Football.
You don’t to have be particularly skilled to do these things.
You don’t have to have a Ph.D.
You just have to think to yourself: I’m doing this for Jesus.
But Jesus doesn’t stop there.
Once He knows you love Him enough to do small things for Him, then He takes you out a little deeper gives you an opportunity to see if you TRUST Him.
Notice what Jesus asks Peter to do:
"Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Luke 5:4
What’s Peter supposed to do? (Let down his nets)
Now that’s not hard.
But it doesn’t make any sense.
This shouldn’t work!
There shouldn’t be ANY fish in that water… at this time of the day.
Peter may even have been concerned that his friends on shore would have made fun of him. It would have been embarrassing to come back in and have to explain why he listened to non-professional fisherman and got his nets all wet for nothing.
In the same way, Jesus may be asking you to put out a little deeper in your faith. To put down you nets and talk to somebody about Jesus.
It wouldn’t be hard.
All you’d have to do is tell someone what Jesus means to you.
But somewhere – deep inside - you’ll be tempted to say:
This won’t work.
They won’t listen to me.
I’ve got nothing to say.
They’ll ask me something I don’t know the answer to.
And when you’re tempted to listen to that voice… you need to remember something.
When Peter let his nets down into the water, was it his skill that got those fish in the net? Was it his years of training and expertise that made the difference in what he caught?
No!
All Peter did was obey Jesus, and Jesus filled the net.
You see Jesus isn’t as concerned about how many souls you “catch” as He is with fact that you just simply lowered your net and shared your faith to please Him.
Jesus isn’t looking for a huge catch. He’s looking for huge obedience.
ILLUS: The story’s told of a fisherman who caught a whole mess of perch and bluegill. But when he brought his boat back to the dock there was one of his friends with a huge fish he’d caught that was about four feet long.
The man looked at his friend and said “You only caught one?”
It may be that you’ll only “catch” one person for Jesus.
But for that one person you’ll have made the difference of eternity.
Andrew was one of Jesus’ 12 disciples. But we only know of one person he led to Jesus: Peter. In the same way, in the book of Acts, we read only just a few verses about a man named Ananias. He only shows up once in all the Bible. And yet Ananias led one man to Jesus – Saul (who later became Paul, and wrote half your New Testament).
Those men – as far as we know – lowered their nets and caught only one soul for Jesus. But those that they caught have made a great deal of difference in our faith.
CLOSE: I want to close with this true story by Max Lucado:
“His hands are twisted and his feet are useless.
He can’t bathe himself. He can’t feed himself. He can’t brush his teeth, comb his hair, or put on his underwear. His shirts are held together by strips of Velcro®. His speech drags like a worn-out audio cassette.
Robert has cerebral palsy.
The disease keeps him from driving a car, riding a bike, and going for a walk.
But it didn’t keep him from graduating from high school or attending Abilene Christian University, from which he graduated with a degree in Latin. Having cerebral palsy didn’t keep him from teaching at a St. Louis junior college or from venturing overseas on five mission trips.
And Robert’s disease didn’t prevent him from becoming a missionary in Portugal. He moved to Lisbon, alone, in 1972. There he rented a hotel room and began studying Portuguese. He found a restaurant owner who would feed him after the rush hour and a tutor who would instruct him in the language.
Then he stationed himself daily in a park, where he distributed brochures about Christ. Within six years he led seventy people to the Lord, one of whom became his wife, Rosa.”
(Max Lucado in “Peace That Defies Pain”)
Now, my point in sharing this story with you is not to embarrass you and intimidate you. My point is simply that Robert Reed was so driven to share his love for Jesus that he used the tools he could in order to witness. He couldn’t speak well, but he could pass out tracts.
If you want tracts, we’ve got tracts.
And we’ve got an excellent teaching DVD that all you have to do is plug and play. You don’t even have to know very much… except how to turn on a TV and DVD player.
Or you could simply invite someone to church.
Just let down your nets.
Go fishing with Jesus, because you know that’s what matters most to Him.
And it’s because we believe so strongly in this, we offer an invitation at the end of every service…
