GET ONBOARD
Text: Luke 5:1-11
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, (2) he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. (3) 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. (4) When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." (5) Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." (6) When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. (7) 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. (8) But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" (9) For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; (10) 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." (11) When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him (NRSV).
There is the story of a Protestant young man who was engaged to a Catholic young lady. She accepted his marriage proposal. However, her parents gave him their consent so long as he would agree to become Catholic. The one day she came home crying and upset. Her parents asked what was wrong. The daughter responded by saying that “there was not going to be a wedding”. Her parents asked “Doesn’t he love you anymore?” The daughter responded “it isn’t that. We’ve overdone it. Mother. Paul wants to become a priest”. The point of the story is that we never know how the impact of God’s call on our lives will change us. David N. Mosser. ed. The Abingdon Preaching Annual 2010 Edition. Andrew D. Kinsey . “Got Religion?”. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009, p. 42). It's too bad Paul didn’t remain a protestant.
Today’s text illustrates how God calls us to serve Him. Can you imagine how the conversation was with Peter’s wife when she asked, “How was your day?” How has God’s call impacted your life? How has God’s call on our lives changed the way that we live?
In this story, we see excuses, and an invitation that brought forth an alt[a]ration.
EXCUSES
Do excuses make us exempt from the call? Peter, Isaiah, Jonah and Moses thought it might work.
1)Peter: Imagine that you are Peter in this story and you encountered Jesus in such a way that it shocked you as it shocked Peter. Peter did not think he was fit for the call. Peter’s evaluation of himself was a “sinful man” (Luke 5:8).
2) Isaiah: Like Peter, Isaiah had a similar experience in Isaiah 6 where he did not feel he was fit for the call because he was a man of “unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5).
3) Moses: Moses wanted God to send someone else because he did not think he was an eloquent speaker (Exodus 4:10-13).
4) Jonah: Jonah made the excuse that he was too mad and stubborn and ran in the opposite direction of his call (Jonah 1:3). “Whoever wants to be judge of human nature should study people’s excuses”. - Hebbel: Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press. Have you ever tried to create an excuse that would get you off the hook?
5) Our excuses: What excuses have we made? Too old? Not good enough? Too busy? Can’t leave our comfort zone?
The commanding officer was furious when nine GIs who had been out on passes failed to show up for morning roll call. Not until 7 p.m. did the first man straggle in. “I’m sorry, sir,” the soldier explained, “but I had a date and lost track of time, and I missed the bus back. Being determined to get in on time, I hired a cab. Halfway here, the cab broke down. I went to a farmhouse and persuaded the farmer to sell me a horse. I was riding to camp when the animal fell over dead. I walked the last ten miles, and just got here.”
Though skeptical, the colonel let the young man off with a reprimand. However, after him, seven other stragglers in a row came in with the same story—had a date, missed the bus, hired a cab, bought a horse, etc. By the time the ninth man reported in, the colonel had grown weary of it. “Okay,” he growled, “now what happened to you?”
“Sir, I had this date and missed the bus back, so I hired a cab .”
“Wait!” the colonel screeched at him. “don’t tell me the cab broke down.”
“No, sir,” replied the soldier. “The cab didn’t break down. It was just that there were so many dead horses in the road, we had trouble getting through. Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press.”[Contributed by John F. King ]. Have you ever tried to use an exaggerated excuse as an alibi?
Are the words “No” and “Lord” compatible in the same sentence? There was a girl who came up to Dwight L. Moody after one of his evangelistic meetings and said “I felt that God was calling me to go to the mission field tonight. Moody asked how she replied to that and she said, “No Lord”. Those two words are incompatible because we cannot say “Lord” without being completely submissive to Him! (Herb Miller. Actions Speak Louder than Verbs. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1988, p. 33). Its all about submitting to God’s call!
Matthew 7:21 -2 3 drives this point home: Mat 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. (22) On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?' (23) Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers’ (NRSV).
Therefore, Jesus Christ must be Lord of all or He cannot be Lord at all!
INVITATION
Jesus issued an invitation for Peter to get onboard with God’s purpose for him. 1) Qualification?: Peter felt that he was inadequate and disqualified as he called himself an “evil man”. As it has been said, “God does not call the qualified but He does qualify those called!” Jesus did not see Peter as the person he was at that moment but He did see Peter for the person he would become.
2)Salvation: The call is not an invitation to a party. The call is an invitation to salvation. “The soil of the self was never intended to be the seed-bed of eternal values” (E. Stanley Jones. Growing Spiritually. Nahsville: Abingdon Press, 1953, p. 10). There is no other way to heaven except through Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).
How many of us know miracle recipients who remain unchanged?
1) Miracle recipient: The first miracle Peter experienced was Jesus healing his mother-in-law in the previous chapter (Luke 4:38 - 42). Peter probably thought that this was going to be just another fishing trip with little or no success when Jesus asked him to go way from the shore to fish. The second miracle Peter experienced was this miraculous catch of fish (Luke 5:6-7) catching so many fish that it started breaking the fishing nets and almost sank the boat so they had to call for the second boat to assist them. It has been said that “It was a well-known fact that, in the sea of Galilee, you caught fish at night in shallow water, not in the daytime in deep water” (Warren W. Wiersbe. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books 1989, p. 186). How was Peter ever going to be the same again after the fishing miracles he just experienced? How can someone be a miracle recipient and remain unchanged?
2) Ungrateful miracle recipients?: Is that possible? Yes, unfortunately it is possible. Remember the miracle of the ten lepers who were healed by Jesus, when only one came back to say thank you?” (Luke 17:11- 19). Do we resemble the ungrateful and unchanged nine healed lepers or do we resemble the one who was grateful? Jesus came to save us, heals us, deliver us and get us out of life’s rut. Jesus came to set us free from the rut of our slavery to sin. It is only when we accept that invitation that we can get out of the rut with the help of the Lord!
ALT[A]RATION
When we are called don’t we have to make a response? Isn’t the decision not to decide on the call---the invitation to salvation still a decision?
1) Sacrifice: Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said “When God calls a man, he bids him come and die”. Morgan, R. J. (2001). Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook (2002 Edition, p. 6). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. [— Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German Christian martyred by the Nazis.]. Unless we answer the call---the invitation to salvation, we are living only to die rather dying to live. Isn’t that what Jesus meant when He said, Mar 8:34-36 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (35) For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. (36) For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? (NRSV).
2) Call dodgers: Not responding to God’s call to salvation on one’s life can have dangerous, deadly and eternal consequences! How can anyone know how much time he or she has before his or her life comes to an end?
Have you alt[a]red your life to be a fisher of people for the sake of the gospel? What this passage of scripture means for us is that we, too, are called to “catch others for Jesus”. Our job is to catch them and let God clean them! When we altar our lives [give ourselves to Jesus], Jesus can change our lives [altar our lives].
I just recently heard an illustration that explains this at a Gideon’s Banquet. A Gideon spoke of a neighbor who was an atheist. He tried to witness to his neighbor, but to no avail. One day there was a guest, a former baseball star named Bobby Richardson who once played for the Yankees who was going to be a speaker at a Gideon function. The Gideon knew his neighbor’s grandson was a big baseball fan so he invited his atheist neighbor to bring his grandson for the event.
The devil seemed to be interfering because when it came time for the event, the neighbor was sick at home with the flu. Nevertheless, the Gideon got two baseballs autographed for his neighbor and his neighbor’s grandson. He put them in his neighbor’s mailbox along with a Gideon’s Bible and his testimony. Later, he asked his neighbor about the package he left in the mail box. The neighbor expressed great appreciation for the autographed baseballs but said nothing of the Bible and the Gideons’s testimony.
Later, the neighbor died. The preacher who was doing the funeral was new to that community. The new preacher was nervous and asked the Gideon to pray for him. He told this Gideon that his funeral sermon was about salvation and that the neighbor’s family were not Christians. The Gideon asked out of curiosity if the neighbor ever accepted Christ as his Savior. The young preacher replied “Yes, he accepted Jesus of a new Testament that a neighbor once left in his mailbox. He read it and asked Jesus to be His Savior”. God wants us to be open and willing. God used a Gideon to get through to an atheist. God used Peter to get through to countless people who accepted Jesus because he was a “fisher of men”. God wants us to be fishers of men also!
John Wesley once wrote a prayer that exemplifies the kind of viewpoint that we must have as “fishers of men”. I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for you or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low for you; let me be full, let me be empty; let me have all things, let me have nothing; freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are mine, and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven." (Frank Whaling. ed. "John and Charles Wesley:
Selected Writings And Hymns". New York: Paulist Press, 1981, p. 387).
Conclusion
At the beginning of the sermon, we mentioned a story about a fiancé who seemed to think that her family might have gone too far in persuading him to become Catholic. Later, he felt called to be a priest. What we should worry about is not going too far, but rather not far going far enough in being the “fishers of men” that we are called to be! The invitation is to go beyond our comfort zone to fish for people who hunger for salvation and do not know it; who hunger for salvation and get onboard with God’s purpose for their lives. Jesus calls us to get onboard and stay onboard!
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
