Let’s Go Fishing.
(note: This sermon appears in different forms in my files. I believe I have not copied or stolen anything from anyone else. But, if I have please forgive me. I have either lost the contributor or failed to carry it into the next emended sermon.)
One warm summer day some years ago when my son Parker was 9 or 10 he and I went fishing. On summer days in Norfolk we kept the Chevy Astro Van ready for recreation. In the summer the floats, fishing poles, tackle boxes, and towels stayed in the van. We had a standing invitation to fish in the backyard of a friend. They lived on Lake Whitehurst. One afternoon Parker and I arrived carrying all that we needed for a great afternoon of fishing. He had fishing pole, bait, and tackle box. I had lawn chair, barbecue potato chips, IBC diet root beer, and John Stott’s “Cross of Christ.”
Mostly Parker got hung up in the structure along the shoreline. Often I applied another sinker, hook, and worm to the Costco fishing pole. No fish, just limbs, branches, and junk were caught. Still, it was a great day.
At dusk he was hung up again. Apologetically Parker said, “Dad, should I just yank on it?” “Yes Son, just yank on it,” I said. As I was approaching him to help, he yanked on the pole and out of the water came the biggest largemouth bass I’d ever seen. A leviathan levitating in mid-air, mouth agape, thrusting himself toward my son surely thinking he was the true bait. Parker screamed. I screamed. Parker fell backwards. Moby Dick fell short of his prey and plummeted to earth. I leapt upon him dragging and kicking him away from his lair.
His length was from my elbow to tip of my fingers. We laughed long and hard at our luck and good fortune. And…we had a fish story to tell. It is all true…all true.
Luke tells us another fish story. It is all true…all true.
Luke 5:1-11
1One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a]with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down[b] the nets for a catch."
5Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" 9For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." 11So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
1. Jesus tells us to fish
Luke 5:4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
I think we would all verbally agree that as a Church, well, really the vision of any church is to reach people for Jesus and to teach people about Jesus.
And, so this passage gives us a very appropriate metaphor for the “why” and the “how” of reaching and teaching. Jesus tells us to fish. The Church is a fishing boat. I think we can say that the Church is not just a fishing boat but a commercial fishing boat. Peter, James, and John were commercial fishermen. They did this for a living. If you have ever lived near the ocean you know that fishing commercially is very hard work.
Therefore I would like to suggest what the church is not.
This Church is not a cruise ship. I hear cruise ships are fun. From my investigation of those who have gone on a cruise ship I think what you do on a cruise ship is eat a lot. From the information that I have received from the media it seems that when you are on a cruise ship you spend a lot of time in the middle of the ocean without toilet facilities. But I hear it is fun. You are served by others. You recreate a lot. You see a lot of shows.
But we are not a cruise ship. I don’t think you can fish from a cruise ship. You would probably get in trouble if you did.
This Church is not a pontoon boat. My former place of ministry service was a lake community. And on this lake there were people who owned a pontoon boat. It was a lot of relaxed fun. You got on the boat with lots of good food and beverage. You meandered around the lake stopping to talk to your friends. You may even pull up to someone’s dock and chat with them and offer them some of your food and beverage. A pontoon boat is fun. You may fish off a pontoon boat, but it really isn’t for fishing. Mostly it is for relaxation.
But we are not a pontoon boat.
This Church is not a recreational fishing boat. I had a friend who had a wonderful bass boat. As you know it’s best not to own a boat; it’s best to have a friend who owns a boat. My experience with owning a boat is that it is mostly driveway decoration. Anyway, this friend and I would go fishing in his bass boat. It was fun, and we caught fish. But it wasn’t a commercial fishing vessel. Not really. Mostly it was for catching a few fish and throwing them back in.
This Church is not a recreational fishing boat. We are a commercial fishing vessel. Commercial fishing is about catching fish…lots of fish. It is hard work. It takes great strength. There are long hours in commercial fishing. I think sometimes we might think we are on a cruise ship or a pontoon boat or maybe even a bass boat.
I think also we should notice that Jesus tells us not only to fish, but fish in the deep water. (I am guessing that they had fished all night in the shoals, in the shallow areas and caught nothing.
If you are going to not only reach but also teach you have to go deep into people’s lives. I think this…for the most part people belong before they believe and they belong and believe before they behave. The Church, if they are going to reach and teach, must go deep into peoples’ lives. There is stuff that is seriously wrong with people. Change takes time so people have to belong…they have to feel and to know that they are accepted as one of the group, as one of the family and then change starts to happen, sometimes very slowly. They come to believe correctly and behave correctly but only after they belong.
Also, we might say that to reach you must go deep into the life of the community. Just like a person can do stuff that is seriously wrong, so also a community can do stuff that is seriously wrong. Collective sin can be endemic and insidious. The Church, if it is to obey Jesus, must work to remove the sin and replace it with Godliness. So, you must go deep.
2. There are times we may protest.
Luke 5:5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
They protested because...
They were weary. They were weary from fishing all night. Pastor, if you are reading this, I know you are weary. We all get weary. Sometimes we are on shore after a hard day’s work, washing the nets, ready for relaxation and recovery and the call or email or facebook or tweet comes in and we must get back in the boat. We do get weary. Galatians 6:9 reads, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” But sometimes I get pretty tired.
They fish only at night in the shallows. I would like to suggest that it seems from the passage itself that day-time fishing in the deep was not the traditional way of commercial fishing on the Sea of Galilee. You almost hear in Peter’s complaint the seven last words of the Church – (1) we’ve (2) never (3) done (4) it (5) that (6) way (7) before. “But Jesus, we only fish at night. We only fish in the shallow areas. We’ve never done it that way before.”
Maybe they fussed and fought too much. Let me suggest that in the boat there were two-too many Sons of Thunder and one-too many sharped-tongued Peters who just can say some very unkind things. (Fishing with the Sons of Thunder! No thank you!) In Church life, I’ve noted that when the fussing and fighting go up the fishing goes down. Some churches can spend their time fussing and fighting so much that they forget to fish at all.
III. More than one nets – There are netsssss
Jesus told them in verse 4 to, “Let down your nets for a catch.”
Also Luke 5:7 reads, “So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.”
We have lots of nets. We have nets just for children. We have nets just for teens. We have nets just for teaching others about Jesus. We have nets just for helping people recover from old hurts, hang-ups, and habits. We have lots of nets.
I’ve noticed something. If you want to see where God is leading your Church, notice the people (and their nets) God is bringing your way. Just recently we had someone join us and she brought a great net to help catch youth. We have someone who has just joined us who has a great net to catch college kids. All of our ministries were initiated because God called others to bring their nets so that we will reach and teach people about Jesus.
I have a friend who loves to fish. When I go fishing I catch a good amount of fish. When I go with my friend, however, I always catch lots more fish than when I go alone. The reason is my friend really knows how to fish. Recently we, my friend and I, took my young adult children fishing. My children are not good at fishing. They don’t practice the art of fishing. But they caught tons of fish. Why? Because my friend said to them, “This is the right pole to use. This is the right bait. This is the right line. This is the right sinker. This is the right place to throw the bait.” We caught so many fish because we listen to someone who was an expert about fishing.
If you want to be “fishers of men” you must listen to Jesus. “Let’s go fishing.”
