We all have memories that are indelibly impressed upon our minds. Do you remember where you were when you first heard the news of Pearl Harbor, or the assassination of President Kennedy? Can you remember the scene of a certain wedding or a funeral, or any number of things?
For me, one of those memories is the day our 4th child, Joel, was born. It was memorable for many reasons. It was the first week of my first fall semester of seminary. Starting three years of a very demanding graduate school course with the birth of your 4th child could be pretty daunting. But we knew that was where God wanted us at the time, so we didn’t really worry all that much, and God took good care of us.
We did the delivery in a birthing center, a converted house on the grounds of Beverly Hospital, right next door to the actual hospital building, on Boston’s north shore. A midwife was in charge, but the doctors were right next door in the hospital, in fact one wandered through during the labor and waited in the hallway to do the first check-up after the birth was done. The room was a very normal looking bedroom except for the tile floor, very comfortable, very homey.
It was located on Herrick Street and very, very close to the spot where one of my Herrick ancestors had a farm in the 1600’s.
At one point, as the labor was heating up, the midwife told Kathy that it was becoming popular in France to deliver your baby underwater in the bathtub. She asked Kathy, “Would you like to deliver your baby underwater in the bathtub? Kathy was content to stick to what she had done before. She had that down real well.
And then, just as the baby was starting to crown, the midwife turned to me and asked, “Would you like to deliver your baby?” And I said, “No thanks, you go ahead.” Delivering any baby with all of about 60 seconds of notice and no preparation was a bit beyond my comfort zone.
This morning we look at Simon Peter, who was to become the leader among Jesus’ disciples. Before this morning’s text, Jesus had been stretching his comfort zone for some time.
We learn in John’s gospel that Peter had been a follower of John the Baptist, that John the Baptist had pointed his disciples to Jesus and Peter had spent some time previous to this as a pupil under Jesus, probably just soaking it all in as Jesus taught. Peter was able to take time off from work to learn about spiritual things.
In Luke’s gospel, we saw in the previous chapter that Jesus had preached in Peter’s home synagogue. And Peter had asked Jesus to come to his house and heal his sick mother in law. That might have been a stretch for Peter, bringing Jesus home to meet the family, but Peter could ask Jesus for help for someone else and bring him home.
Shortly after that they crossed paths again. Jesus came down to the seashore. The crowds pressed around him to hear him, see him, touch him, ask him for help. Jesus looked around, and there was Peter. He and his brother had been out fishing all night. Their boats were pulled up on the shore. They were cleaning the seaweed out of their nets. They were not happy. They had worked hard all night without catching anything.
But Jesus asked him for some very simple, practical help. Jesus asked if he could sit in Peter’s boat and pull out a bit from the shoreline to make it a bit more manageable for him to deal with the crowd. Peter was really good with boats, and I’ll bet he was happy to use his practical boat skills to help Jesus. So Jesus sat in Peter’s boat, teaching the crowd. Peter and his brother finished up cleaning their nets and they listened as Jesus taught. Maybe they were starting to feel a bit better about all their wasted work the night before. Peter was very comfortable around boats.
But then, when Jesus was done with the crowd, he turned to Peter and he completely destroyed Peter’s comfort zone. He stretched Peter just about as far as someone could be stretched, and Peter’s life took a huge turn that day. Let’s read the story together now. It’s printed in your bulletin. And as we look at it, let’s think about stretching that Jesus may be wanting to do in our lives.
Our text for this morning is Luke 5:1-11.
“Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, `Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.' Simon answered, `Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.' When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, `Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!' For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, `Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.' When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him"
The first big stretch of Peter’s comfort zone came when this landlubber, this carpenter, Jesus, meddled with his fishing. Peter knew fishing. He knew where the currents ran, where to find the deep holes and the shallows. He knew the various kinds of fish and their feeding habits. They had tried every spot they knew all night. If they hadn’t caught anything at night, they certainly wouldn’t catch anything during the day. The fish must have moved over to the far shore of the Sea or something. They just weren’t around. And they had just finished all the work of getting their nets ready for the next day. If they put their nets in the water again, they’d have to do it all over again. And they must have really been tired by now.
But Peter let himself be stretched some more. Even though all his professional instincts and his fisherman training told him it was a waste of time, he had seen Jesus do such amazing things that he agreed to try it, and even to take the time to go out into the deep water, far from shore.
Maybe some of us can identify with Peter. We have been working very hard. We are tired. And our jobs haven’t been going well. And somewhere in the backs of our minds we may sense Jesus saying to change the way we do our jobs, and we don’t understand how it can work, but something tells us we ought to try. Has that conversation ever happened in your mind?
Well, Peter obeyed. They sailed way out. They put their nets down. And they caught the biggest catch of fish of their lives. Maybe now they could afford to replace those old sails, or even add another boat to the fleet. Or maybe they should add a new room to their house so things would be so cramped since his mother-in-law moved in.
He called to his partners. They got under way as quick as they could, and they caught so many fish that the nets almost broke and they just piled the fish in the boats until they were close to sinking. It was the kind of outing that they dreamed of every time they went out, but knew would never really happen, a fisherman’s dream come true.
Well, they got the fish into their boats. They headed to shore, very slowly because they had such a load, very carefully because they were close to sinking.
And suddenly it hit Peter. This wasn’t just a lucky fishing trip. He had experienced the power of God moving in his life, in his life!
And suddenly he forgot about the fish. He looked at Jesus, maybe he looked at him for a while before he put the words together, and who can tell me what he said? Its in verse 8. He said, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Peter knew he didn’t deserve such a blessing. He was a hard-working man; not all that religious. He hadn’t had time to follow every little religious rule the Pharisees could come up with or to learn the scriptures well. It really scared him. I think it’s pretty unanimous that most every human who has experiences like this with God is scared, overwhelmed, way beyond their comfort zone.
But now the strangest thing of all happens. One minute Peter is asking Jesus to just stay away from him. And then, right when Peter is wanting to get away, Jesus stretches him even more, “Peter, don’t be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”
Peter knew fishing, but the face-to-face ministry of bringing people into the kingdom of God, that was another. And right here something happened. Tell me from the last verse, what happened when they got to shore? What did all of the fishermen do?
They left everything and they followed Jesus. The boats, the nets, all those fish, Mom and Dad, they left it all to follow Jesus.
I don’t know how it happened. Maybe words of hope and promise that he had heard from Jesus in the synagogue or back down when John the Baptist first introduced him to Jesus suddenly came to life in his soul. Maybe experiencing this one miracle of catching the fish made him hungry and hopeful for more. Maybe it was the word of acceptance from Jesus. If Jesus thought he could branch into a new life, maybe he could dare to dream it really could happen; maybe he could help people like Jesus did. Maybe the Spirit of God just touched his spirit in a very deep way, so that he knew in the depths of his heart that this would be good.
However it happened, Peter stepped way out of his comfort zone and he dared to leave the familiar behind and follow Jesus.
As we come forward in a minute to celebrate the Lord’s Supper together, listen deep in your soul. Is Jesus calling you to a new step of faith? Is he promising blessing when you follow?
