All or Nothing Faith
Luke 5:1-11
[Please contact me at kerry.n.haynes@gmail.com for sermon outline in Word.]
We have this artificial divide in our world between “sacred” and “secular,” between things that are of God and everything else. And so often we fall into the trap of holding God aloof from most of our life. He can have the Sunday morning church service, and perhaps a few words before a meal, and even a short devotional reading, and an occasional Bible study or TV preacher thrown in for good measure. The rest of my time? It’s mine! Whether reading a good book, or doing some household chores, maybe playing pool, forwarding internet jokes, taking a walk, or watching a TV show: we consider all these things more of the secular part of life. There’s nothing wrong with them. They’re just not “sacred.”
But what if we’re wrong? What if everything is sacred? If God created all that is created (and he did), then doesn’t that make everything holy? And if the Holy Spirit lives inside each believer, doesn’t that mean that God goes with us wherever we go?
The false dichotomy of sacred and secular breaks down in today’s story. Here’s the setting: Jesus is hanging out with Peter and his brother Andrew, along with brothers James and John, fellow partners in a fishing business. Jesus asks Peter to position his boat in such a way that Jesus can use it as a podium. Then Jesus sits—the usual posture of a rabbi who is going to start teaching—and speaks to the people gathered on the shore. The boat keeps them from pressing against him.
Now Peter might feel a little embarrassed here. It’s like, “Take your rabbi to work day.” Or maybe he is proud to know a man of such spiritual caliber as Jesus. We don’t really know, as the two of them are just getting to know each other.
What really pushes Peter’s professional limits is when Jesus gives him some fishing advice! Jesus says, in verse 4, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” You can almost hear the irritation in Simon Peter’s voice, in verse 5 when he replies, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.” I imagine him thinking, “Deep water is for night fishing; shallow water is for day fishing. Any good fisherman knows this. So why is Jesus doubting me? And why in the world is he giving me advice on my own profession anyway? Why doesn’t he just concentrate on the teaching and leave the fishing to me?” Yes, probably something like that. And that leads me to the first of three questions you ought to ask yourself every now and then. Peter asked himself these three. The first is,
1. Can I believe that Jesus knows more about my _________ than I do?
The blank is for you to fill in. For Peter, it was fishing. “Can I believe that Jesus knows more about fishing than I do?” It might be your work life. But for this crowd, probably not. It might be your home life, it might be your hobby, or your girlfriend or boyfriend, or husband or wife. Does God know more about my marriage than I do? Does Jesus understand my retirement plan more than I do? Does Jesus know more about my health than I do? It could be anything. In Peter’s case, it was his profession.
To Peter’s credit, he doesn’t shrug Jesus off. Maybe he sees a look on Jesus’ face, a look that says, “Why don’t you try trusting me here? Maybe I know what I’m talking about. Maybe I’ll surprise you.” And Peter does what Jesus suggests, which leads us to the second question we can ask ourselves:
2. Will I take Jesus at his word?
The NIV, which I use most of the time, quotes Peter beautifully in the last part of verse 5, “BUT BECAUSE YOU SAY SO, I will let down the nets.” “But because you say so.” That little word “but” says I’m going to put aside all that I know about my profession, all that I’ve studied under my mentors, all that I’ve practiced through the years, and I’m going to proceed only because you say so, Jesus. The King James and other translations capture the nuance of Peter’s words here. The more literal translation is, “But at your word I’ll let down the nets...” Peter decides to take Jesus “at his word.”
And the question becomes, will we? Will we take Jesus at his word? Will we obey him just because he said it, even though we may not always understand it? Will we take him at his word, because he said so? That’s a rich question, isn’t it? This Jesus, who should be relegated to teaching and preaching, is now giving me fishing advice. And I, as a fisherman challenged in my own profession—which hasn’t been going very well lately, by the way—will I lay aside my pride and consider that the Lord of my soul is also the Lord of my store? Will I realize that the One who brings me eternal life also brings me life to the full every day, not just someday?
For you, where do you need to take Jesus at his word? Maybe it’s in the area of anxiety, where his word says, in 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” Or maybe it’s about worry, and you consider what Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life” (Matthew 6:25). Will you take him at his word and do what he says?
In today’s story, Jesus does a miracle. It’s not a healing miracle; it’s a business miracle. All of a sudden Peter’s business goes from in the red to off the charts! Peter goes from no fish to two boatloads of fish, so much in fact that the boats almost sink! I can just see Father God laughing down from heaven at such a sight! When God comes through, he does so in a way that everyone knows it’s God.
When that happens, our response needs to be like Peter’s. And that brings us to question #3,
3. When Jesus comes through, will I be appropriately humbled?
Peter is so humbled, he tells Jesus to get away from him. Listen to verse 8: “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’” Is he being rude? No, he’s being real. When God shows up, we’re suddenly very much aware of our sin. We realize, “God is here...and I’m not God!” It is a very humbling experience to be in the presence of the Mighty One. Remember the prophet Isaiah? When he realized he was in the presence of God Almighty, he shouted out, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5). That is Peter’s response as well. And it’s a good response. It’s an appropriate response. It gives the glory to God, where the glory belongs. Darrell Bock, in the IVP New Testament Commentary on Luke, writes, “Simon Peter represents all disciples. His humility and awareness of his sin do not disqualify him from service; they are the prerequisite for service” (p. 100). And so, Peter would serve. Out of humility, he would become a fisher of people.
I just finished reading a book called, “The Shack.” I read it about ten years ago, and something made me read it again, and I’m so glad I did. I commend it to you as a book that captures the very essence of a God who wants nothing more than to have a loving relationship with you. What an incredible message in a very powerful and at times gut-wrenching story.
Do you know how the book came together? Paul Young wrote it based largely on 11 years of his own life struggle. His wife had been on him for a while to write down his unconventional views about God for their six children, so he finally did, in the form of a story. He shared it with a friend, who shared it with a few other friends. They believed it would make a powerful movie, but thought it should become a book first. 26 publishers turned it down! The Christian ones thought it too far out there, and the secular ones thought it talked about Jesus too much. (Remember the false dichotomy between sacred and secular?) So finally, he and three friends started their own publishing agency, and “The Shack” became their first book. With only about $300 of publicity, people pre-ordered and kept ordering more copies for their friends, and the book ended up hitting #1 on the New York Times fiction list. In interviews, Paul says the book and movie is clearly a miracle. What was intended for his kids, God got ahold of and drew uncountable numbers closer to him in relationship.
Paul Young saw God show up and he, like Peter, like Isaiah, was sufficiently humbled to give God the glory. That same God wants to show up in your life, and not necessarily in your church life. Don’t be surprised if God shows up in your card game, or a Super Bowl party, or in the pool hall, or on that next trip, or at dinner. You never know what part of your life he will invade. Because, if we’re honest, God doesn’t just own part of our lives. He owns it all!
And that brings us to Communion: At the cross, Jesus died for not part of our sin, but for all of our sin. He died so that we might have life. And when he rose victorious over sin and death forever, he made it possible for us to have a full relationship with the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We can know God and be known by God. All because of Calvary.
So today we remember. We remember with thanksgiving that God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. We remember Jesus died for us so we could live. And we remember he is coming again. Let us pray:
Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you took what should have been our place on that cross. Thank you, Father, that you purposed this from the very beginning, to satisfy your rightful anger toward our sin forever, as your son took our punishment upon himself. Thank you, Holy Spirit, that you are always with us, strengthening us, convicting us, speaking truth to us, so that we might follow Jesus. Help us to be ready to see you show up anytime anywhere any place, and to be ready to give you glory, amen!
