Welcome… Thanksgiving/Black Friday… Make some joke here.
When we started here we started with a series called Timeless where we looked at the ways we can grow our faith. And we asked this question what you our life look like if we were rooted into Jesus. Now over a year later i think we can say we’ve grown.. Don’t you? As a church we have and I hope individually we have too.
One of the reasons we have grown in this season as a church so much is because we aren’t in a comfortable spot. And as we get closer to being back in our building my fear is we will be content with that. We will get comfortable…
And that applies for our personal lives too… Because we’ve all been there right? We settle for comfort more than growth. That’s why one of the things we value around here is that our calling > our comfort. As we as a church settle back into a building and as we personally get through the holidays and then back into a normal routine. We have to get our eyes on our calling and not our comfort. Because as things settle back it in it will be easy to drift towards comfort.
TENSION
And that’s not all bad. But it can be. It can be damaging to our faith…
Comfort is not what Christians are called to… We called called to live a life that tells a good story… A story that points others to Jesus.
A few minutes ago you all shared your favorite movies. What are some of them?
The writers/directions knew what makes a good story. They know what it would take to create a story that people wanted to hear.
You know what the one thing that every good movie has? Conflict. Every good movie has conflict that the main character has to overcome. Sometimes its self inflicted sometimes it’s circumstance. But every good story has to have conflict.
You know what doesn’t have conflict? Comfort. When our lives revolve around comfort we can’t live a good story. Those two things are at odds with each other.
I was in college when I picked up this book called A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. In this book he talks about what makes a movie good. What makes a story worth telling.
Here’s what Donald Miller Says about these stories we tell with our lives…
“If you watched a movie about a guy who wanted a Volvo and worked for years to get it, you wouldn’t cry at the end when he drove off the lot, testing the windshield wipers. You wouldn’t tell your friends you saw a beautiful movie or go home and put a record on to think about the story you’d seen. The truth is, you wouldn't remember that movie a week later, except you’d feel robbed and want your money back. Nobody cries at the end of a movie about a guy who wants a Volvo.
But we spend years actually living those stories, and expect our lives to be meaningful. The truth is, if what we choose to do with our lives won't make a story meaningful, it won’t make a life meaningful either” Donald Miller
Here’s the reality… You and I. We often settle for terrible stories. We settle for comfort at the expense or our calling. And the tragedy is God has an incredible story he wants to tell with our lives. But we are too afraid of the conflict we might face, so we settle.
Around the time I read this book i was interning at a church. One day they let me sit in our funeral planning meeting with a family. They didn’t go the church just lived close by. And the pastor started asking questions about his life so that he could get an idea what to say. The only thing that the family could come up with was that he REALLY liked the Broncos. The pastor kept asking what he did, how he treated others, hobbies, anything… And his kids just kept saying he really liked the broncos… What a sad sad story.
From that point forward I wanted to live a good story. I wanted to live a story worth telling. I wanted to live in such a way that when people saw my life they would see God orchestrating an incredible story.
So that’s what I set out to do. Not perfectly, I’ve made plenty of mistakes. But my goal has been to live a good story. To not shy away from conflict.
Then I met my wife and I told her. And while we were dating I said… Are you onboard? Because I want to live a good story. And that is probably going to mean some really high highs and some really low lows. That’s going to mean we are going to have to rely on God a lot. And that means other people probably won’t get it. You onboard? And she said yes.
So that’s been our life. We want to live a good story. A story that points others to God.
So that’s what we’ve done. That decision has lead us to structure our lives differently. It’s that decision that eventually led us here. We felt God calling us somewhere… But didn’t know where. We felt him calling us to leave our jobs and he would open doors for us in his time… So we did that. We quit our jobs, sold our house, put everything in storage, and just traveled the country for a few months. Some people told me that wasn’t wise, others you could tell they wanted to say that but didn’t. But our goal was to live a good story to respond fully to God’s call on our lives.
And after a 4-5 months I found Real Life. So we decided to move away from all our family and friends from CO to VA… Not because it was easy, but because that’s a better story. That’s where we felt God was leading. Just over a year in a tornado destroyed the building… And I thought… Oh great God… You bring us all the way out here for what? And I’ll admit for a while I didn’t know what to do. Do I keep trusting God or do I clean up my resume and bounce?
But soon after that thought I reminded myself I living a good story… I living for my calling and I just don’t think God would bring us all the way out here and end it just like that… And man am I so glad I trusted God and stayed. Because what a cool story God is telling through this church. And I’m so glad I get to be a small part of it.
Listen… This is what God is calling you too. He’s calling you to live a good story. And I think that’s what we all want isn’t it? That’s why we go see movies and read books. That’s why we get sucked into stories as we do. We want to live a meaningful and good story. And that’s what God is calling us to…
So if that’s what we all want, why do we settle? Because good stories don’t come cheap. They have a cost. Think about your favorite movie that you talked about earlier… My guess is that the main character in that movie had to overcome some kind of conflict. It probably cost them personally. To achieve that great story they had to personally suffer or give up something.
The same is true for us. If we want to live the good story that God is calling us too we are going to have to face some hardships. We are going to have to sacrifice. That’s what makes the story worth telling.
TRUTH
Jesus invites us into his story. Every one of his following has that invitation and has to decide how they are going to respond to the calling of Jesus. It’s been this way since Jesus called his first followers.
Let’s go back to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and look at the first people he called to step into a better story. As I read this story I want you to put yourself in Peter (Simon’s) shoes… At this point he’s been loosely following Jesus for about 9 months. But now he’s back at his families fishing business.
On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret (Ga nes ser it) 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
They were fishing on this lake. It is shaped like a pear, twelve miles from north to south and seven miles across at its widest. Oddly, it sits in a basin six hundred and eighty-two feet below sea level, surrounded by a perimeter of one-thousand-foot hills, and it is teeming with fish. Fishing was one of the great, and lucrative business in the day. And this was the place to do it.
So these guys were in a good business and at the right place. The way it worked is you would go fish and then bring your nets ashore and essentially clean them. Remove debris, repair tears and so on. It was tedious and took quite some time but you had to do it.
So when Jesus enters the picture they had been fishing all night, caught little and were just about done with cleaning their nets. And asks them to go out on the water so he can teach. The reason being is his voice will carry over the water and more people will be able to hear him. Basically it’s a make shift amphitheater.
More than likely these guys knew who Jesus was, had been following his teaching. it’s likely there was some kind of relationship, but they at least know of Jesus as he was gaining fame rather fast.
Picture this… You’ve been working all night, you’re tired. You haven’t met your quota for the day. And you are just trying to close up shop so you can go home. You’ve had days like this before…
Then Jesus comes along. You like the guy, he’s kinda famous and wants to use your boat. Of course you oblige. Than this happens…
4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”
Do you hear the frustration in his voice? He’s tired and hasn’t caught anything. Plus if he lowers the net into the water again that means he has to start the WHOLE process over. Peter is tired and frustrated. They have worked all night dropping and hoisting their nets and caught nothing. We must remember, this was not a fishing vacation with a little rod and reel. These are heavy boats, large nets, and their major means of support. Furthermore, Peter has just finished cleaning the nets. Now Jesus is asking him to dirty them up again. This landlubber does not even know that it is the wrong time to fish. In addition, the best fishing is usually near the shore, not in the deep of the lake.
Peter is a professional fisherman. He knows the sea, and he knows the odds of going out there and catching a fish. Nevertheless, he has seen Jesus in action before. More than a year ago, as he followed John the Baptist, he saw Jesus baptized. He watched Jesus cleanse the temple; he was there in Samaria after Jesus talked to the woman at the well. He witnessed the healings in Judea and the miraculous transformation of water into wine in Cana. After nearly nine months of following Jesus, Peter went back to his family fishing business at the lake while Jesus preached in his own hometown. Now they are reunited. Jesus makes this simple, although absurd, request. But because of Peter’s respect and trust in Jesus, he obeys.
6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
They were shut out the night before with nearly nine months of bills to catch up on since following Jesus. But today, in one beautiful moment, Jesus takes care of their electricity bill and even provides enough extra for a new dress for Peter’s wife.
8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10a and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.
At first this might seem like an odd response. You would think that Peter would kind of like having Jesus around. After all, he is good for business. After they got their boats steadied and their hearts stopped pounding, Peter falls to his knees on a slimy pile of fish. He had just seen Jesus, really seen him, for who he is. He says, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
Peter is responding correctly… Most of the crowds when they see Jesus’ miracles they want more. They are just in it for the show. Peter sees the power of God. He’s not after the cheap thrill. Peter, a professional fisherman knows the odds of what just happened. It was impossible. He knew it had to be God. And he knew he had no business with God, he was just a normal guy… ?
But Jesus isn’t done. He’s about to do something every crazier.
10b And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. Luke 5:1-11
Think back to what they had… Lucrative business… They left everything…
Jesus calls them, not to a new doctrine but to a new direction. He calls them to a different story, a better story…
Now put yourself in their shoes. They are average people. They have a good, stable, job. Working in the family business. They got a future ahead of them. Maybe not the most exciting, but stable. It will pay the bills. It will provide a comfortable life. They are young, but on their way to the same life that most people were living. Safe, comfortable, normal.
?The picture you should be getting is their life is just like most of ours. Sure the setting is different because they lived 2000 years before us. But if we lived back then or they lived in our time we would probably look very similar. Just normal people, living normal lives, doing normal jobs.
But Jesus enters the picture. And these guys drop everything to follow him. They leave their old life behind for the unknown. Why?
?The short answer. They wanted a better story. They wanted a life of meaning. Not of comfort. They valued calling over comfort.
But think for a minute. What would happen if they refused. Take Peter for example. The guy that would go on to be the rock, the foundation of the church.
What if that day on the sea when Jesus said Peter come follow me… What if he said. You know what… You’re a really great teacher. And listen I’m still going to come to your little talks. I will still loosely follow you. But I got a good thing here Jesus. I got this family business that my dad is deepening on me. He’s going to eventually turn it over to me. He’s really counting on me. And I have this opportunity to take this business to the next level. I mean I appreciate the offer but I got a lot going on. My wife, my kids. You know I just want to make sure that I provide a good life for them. So I think I’m going to have to pass…
What would have happened to Peter? What would have happened to the church?
Peter had a choose in that moment. And more than he could have possible realized hinged on that decision. He could choose the path of comfort. He could continue with the family business. Make some money. Start a family. Retire on time. And died in peace. He could choose the path of least resistance. The life that had the least amount of conflict.
And you know what. If he had chosen that path. We probably wouldn’t even know his name. And we certainly wouldn’t be talking about him. Why? Because that would be a bad story. That’s not a story worth telling.
But Peter, and the other disciples, didn’t choose that path. They chose calling over comfort. They left everything, they risked everything, to follow Jesus.
That decision changed everything. Not just for them. But also for thousands and thousands of people. Ad new 2000 years later… Are still reaping the benefits of their decision. Think of all that hinged on that decision in that moment. way more than they could have imagined.
Here’s the reality for us… You have no idea what hangs in the balance of your decision embrace the story that god has put in front of. You have no idea the potential impact and lasting legacy you will leave. You have no idea the ramifications of if you choose calling over comfort.
For these normal, average fisherman. It was a lot. And my guess is for every single one of you… It’s a lot. Your decision on whether or not to leave your old life, your old story, behind and to embrace God’s effects a lot more than just you.
APPLICATION
Years ago when my wife and I decided we wanted to life a good story. When we decided we wanted to leave the comfort behind and go after the calling God had for us we had no idea what was instore. And I’m glad we didn’t. Had I known what was ahead, I’m not sure I would have wanted to go. But I would trade any of it.
Because in the conflict. In the difficult. I’ve found a better story than I would have found in a life of comfort. I’m found meaning, I’ve found purpose. Ultimately I’ve found where God wants me.
A few years into our marriage I was working as a student pastor and my wife was helping with the youth. And we loved it. It was tough, but we loved the teens we were working with. Our High School group met on Sunday night and at the time we had around 50 high schoolers show up. An hour or so before our HS service I would meet with my leaders and we would talk about the night.
One particular night one of my leaders informed us that a teen that went to the local school had committed suicide. Details were still fuzzy, but info was leaking out and the community was reeling.
In that moment we had a decision… What do we do? We decided it was best to scrap what we were going to do and just love on the teens.
What happened next was crazy… I don’t really know what happened. But somehow it got out that the church was a gathering place. And within the hour there were well over 300 crying high schoolers in our church.
Called restaurants, principle, and church.
Unfortunately that wasn’t the end. There would be 4 more student suicides, in the next year. Each time we opened our doors and just loved on the students.
I tell you that story because for me, for my wife, for the leaders in the youth group. We didn’t do anything. We were just open. We just choose to do the hard thing and not the comfortable thing.
?Listen I’ll be honest… There were times where I wanted to tap out. I was in no way qualified to handle that. And there were times where I wanted to say there’s someone better for this. I’m going home. There were conversations I had to have, questions I had to answer that made me just want to run the other way.
And each time I had to choose between my calling and my comfort. I had to remind myself that it wasn’t about me. It was what god was doing and for some reason he choose me.
And I gotta believe the disciples felt like that too. They left everything and soon they were facing demon possessed people, extremely sick people, and religious leaders that wanted them gone. Months prior Peter was just a fisherman. Now he’s standing toe to toe with the religious elite of the day. He was out of his element.
If you decide that you want to leave your comfort behind for the unknown of your calling. There will be moments like that. You will have moments that are hard, moments where you feel unqualified. And that’s what makes a good story isn’t it? It’s in those moments that we are reminded that we aren’t in our story… We are in God’s story. He’s the author, the director, he’s the one doing the work. We get to participate, but he orchestrates.
When we embrace our calling. When we leave our old life behind. We will be faced with difficult moments.
But listen… It’s so worth it. It’s not easy. It’s hard. Go back to the disciples. They faced some extremely hard times. They were beaten, mocked, put in awkward situations, imprisoned, had no idea how to handle situations. They had tough times! But the goal of their life was not comfort and to avoid conflict. They goal was the calling God gave them. So they endured.
That’s a story worth telling. That’s a story that still today is making an impact.
So let me ask you… What story do you want your life to tell? Do you want to play it safe? Go after comfort? Do you want a comfortable retirement, a nice home, a non conflict existence?
Not that those are all bad… But do you want your life’s chief goal to be attaining those things? Because I’ll be honest, if we were to examine most of our lives. Myself included. That’s were most of us are heading.
Or do we want to respond yes to Jesus’ calling on our lives and go all in?
And I think we all want that second option don’t we… I mean that’s why you are at this church. You are living this kind of story right? Many of you in this room were apart of this church when we still had our building, then a tornado destroyed and threw everything up in the air. And you didn’t bounce, you stuck it out. Not because it was easy but because it was a better story than having a comfortable church. Because you saw God was still moving here.
So of the past year and a half you’ve roughed it out. And God’s done some pretty amazing things hasn’t he? Look it hasn’t been easy. There’s been some really hard things. But the fact that you stuck it out shows me that you want to live a good story. Not the easy, comfortable way.
Others of you, you have joined post tornado… I think you too want a better story. Who joins a church that is in such an unknown and uncomfortable spot? I’ll tell you… People who see that God is on the move and want to respond to what he’s doing. People who value calling over comfort.
You see we are already living this way… And I could go on about individual stories of people in this church, but we just don't have time. The point is I think we all want to live a better story. I think we all want to respond like Peter did. To leave everything behind and follow Jesus.
But my guess is there is some part of your old life that you are still holding onto… There’s still some of that old story, that comfort, that whatever, that you just aren’t ready to let go off.
So where’s that part of your life where when Jesus says come follow me.. You say, I will BUT…
Whatever that is… Listen… You have NO idea what hangs in the balance of letting that go so that you can pursue the calling, the story that God has for you.
I know there will be challenges and struggles and conflict. But it’s worth it. Not just for you. But for those that come after you…
CONCLUSION
For me and my wife we try to live this way… But it’s not easy and we are far from perfect. There have been times where I have wanted to quit and take the easy way. But when I look back on where God has brought us, what he’s done through us… I wouldn’t trade it for anything. The story he’s telling through our lives has had it’s ups and downs. But it’s so worth it.
I don’t know where you are… Maybe you are living for God’s calling on your life, but you have that one thing you are still holding onto. Maybe you are living all for yourself, your comfort. Maybe you haven’t even respond to Jesus’ call on your life yet.
You have a decision to make… Are you going to respond like Peter did? Are you going to go all in? Or are you going to choose the path of comfort?
We live in a world full of bad stories. Boring stories. Uninspiring stories. And sometimes dangerous stories. Listen… We, as Christians, have the greatest story of all time. We serve a God that didn’t play it safe that didn’t choose comfort. But gave up everything so that he could pursue his lost and broken people and restore them. What a beautiful story… We should be living the best stories. The most exciting stories, the most inspiring stories. Because we know this is all temporary anyway. So why play it safe?
Are you going to live a good story? A story that means leaning in and listening to where/what God is telling you. It means working hard at your job and in your home. It means loving and laughing with your kids. It loving your spouse as they want to be loved. It means putting others needs above your own. It means engaging in conversation with those that no one else will. It means figuring out how you can use your skills and gifts and passions not for your own benefit but to bring good to someone else life. It means loving like Jesus everywhere you go, not just when it’s convenient.
So what story are you telling? What is your response to Jesus’ call on your life? Those are two questions you need to seriously examine. Because there’s a lot more than just you that hangs in the balances of your answer.
