INTRODUCTION
One of the many things that I love to do is to go fishing. I think that my love for fishing came from my father. My dad and I used to go fishing all the time when I was a kid and even as an adult. My brother and dad still go fishing all of the time.
I remember going fishing with my dad’s father when I was kid. My brother and my friends used to go fishing.
I will never forget the time when I was a kid that my grandfather’s friend Albert went fishing with us. Albert got a pretty good-sized bass up to the boat and they were yelling for a net, I grabbed the net and ever so skillfully managed to knock the fish off of Albert’s line. I thought Albert was going to use me for bait that day. Fishing gets in your blood.
Today as we get back on our journey with Jesus we are going to look at Luke 5:1-11. In this passage we find the call of the first disciples to go fishing for Jesus.
The first disciples that Jesus called were fishermen by profession. Fishing was a tough way to make a living back in Jesus day. The hours were long and the work was hard.
Peter, James and John had known Jesus for about a year at this point in Jesus ministry. If you remember in John 1:35-ff, we have the first recorded encounter of Jesus with Peter, James, John and a few others.
In John 1, Jesus called these men to follow Him and they did. Peter, James, John, Philip and probably Nathanael follow Jesus for 8-10 months as He ministered in mostly Judea. After Jesus crossed back into Galilee, the disciples went back home to their fishing business for about 2-4 months when they encounter Jesus again.
During the time these men were with Jesus, they saw Jesus turn water into wine, they saw the first cleansing of the temple by Jesus and they saw what happened after Jesus spoke with the woman at the well.
At the end of this section, Jesus is going to give an invitation to leave their business and work with Him (or follow Him).
In the parallel accounts of this scene, in Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20, Jesus invites these men to become fishers of men.
Jesus has extended that call to you and I. We are called to bring new people into the kingdom of God. The question for us is “do we want to be successful at this for Jesus, or do we just want to hope a few swim by and jump in the boat?”
If you do much fishing, you start to notice that all people are good at fishing while others are very good at it.
What is the difference between those who are good at it and those who are not? Is it all luck?
Catching fish (or people) for Jesus is the same. Some people are very good at it and most others are not. Today, I want to give you some keys that will help make you a successful fisherman for Jesus!
Let’s turn to Luke 5:1-11
SERMON
One key for being a successful fisherman for Jesus is: YOU MUST BE:
I. WILLING TO WORK 1-3 READ 1-3
Look at the scene, many people are gathering around Jesus to see Him perform some miracle and to listen to His teaching. Jesus is by the lakeside at the lake of Gennesaret.
Jesus sees two boats lying on the edge of the bank. One of them belonged to Peter.
During Jesus’ day, fishing was a very hard job. Fishermen did not have the big commercial boat that we have today, they had huge nets that they would drag behind their boats. They also had smaller nets that they would swing over their heads.
These men had quit fishing to clean their nets, later we find out that they had not caught anything. Most of the fishing would take place at night. The fishermen would take torches in the boat with them to try to attract the fish, and then they would toss or drag their nets into the fish.
After a night of fishing it was time to clean the nets, this would help make the nets last longer and it was a time to repair any tears in the nets
Part of being a successful fisherman is not just showing up at the lake, you have to do some work ahead of time. You need to put in some advance work so that you know the lake. You want to study the water, the depth of the water. You want to know the terrain of the bottom of the lake if you can get that information.
One year my dad and uncle and a few others went to Toledo Bend in Texas to fish. We hired a guide to take us fishing because without that guide we most likely would not have caught many fish since we did not know the layout of the lake. This guy put in a lot of work to know where the fish were and what kind of bait we needed in different areas of the lake.
We need to put in some effort to get to know the people we are trying to win to Jesus also. We do not just want to cast our lineout and sit and wait from something to happen.
We need to think of people we want to see won to Christ and we need to pray for them and look for ways that we can connect Christ to them. We need to look for ways to make Jesus real to them.
Also you notice in this passage that Jesus took the time to teach.
Part of the work that we need to put in is we need to know the word of God so that we can share it with people. Many times we do not share Jesus because we are afraid that people will ask questions of us.
I went with Tom Sturgeon to Lake San Krist. I was a bit in awe of Tom’s knowledge of the Lake. I think that I will have much better luck catching fish at San Krist because Tom has put in a lot of work to get to know the lake.
Have you put in the work to know what the lake you are fishing in is like? We are fishing in Auburn.
If you want to catch fish for Jesus it will take work. We have to get out of the mentality that all we have to do is caste some bait (a program) into the community and then sit in our lawn chairs (the pews) and clean all the fish that are caught.
We will catch some that way, but if we are going to succeed, we have to put in the work.
Another key for being a successful fisherman for Jesus is: YOU MUST BE:
II. WILLING TO BE OBEDIENT 4-7 READ
This part of the text tells us that after Jesus had finished teaching, He told Peter to go out to the deep water and put the nets back into the water because he was going to catch some fish.
This was really a test of the faith of Peter.
This is a passionate scene. 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. (Chronological Life of Christ: Volume one , From Galilee to Glory Mark E. Moore College Press Joplin Mo. Part Six)
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. (Chronological Life of Christ: Volume one , From Galilee to Glory Mark E. Moore College Press Joplin Mo. Part Six)
What Jesus told Peter to do did not make any sense to him, but he did it anyway. We have to be careful in the church that we do not get so business minded that we allow our business minds get in the way of our obedience to the call to bring people to Christ.
Each one of us needs to be obedient to the command of Jesus to reach people for the kingdom.
We have to allow ourselves to let Jesus take us out in the deep water.
Look what happens when Peter obeyed Jesus, the catch was so big that he had to call the other boat over to help haul in the catch. The catch was so great that the boats almost sunk, they were going to have to build a bigger church to house all the fish.
When we are obedient to the call of Jesus, when we are open to do what Jesus tells us, we will reach many people for Jesus.
It is kind of like if Tom when Tom and I go fishing. If I try to tell him where to go and what to use, we may not catch a thing or we will catch one by accident.
If we do not make an effort to reach people, we will catch a few by accident, but we will miss out on the true blessing of winning many people to Christ.
Another key for being a successful fisherman for Jesus is: YOU MUST BE:
III. WILLING TO ASSESS HONESTLY ASSESS YOURSELF 8-10A READ
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.” A couple things ought to be observed. (1) Peter is thinking correctly. He, unlike the crowds, is not selfishly seeking a miracle. He is thinking about what it really meant to be in the presence of perfect purity. Jesus’ purity demands obedience and ushers in judgment. (2) Peter is responding out of fear of the presence of God himself.
It was a fearful miracle to him. The people on the banks are no doubt laughing and cheering and selling souvenir T-shirts, but they were not in the boats that almost sank.
They were not so personally touched by this miracle as Peter and Co. Besides, this is one professional fisherman who understands the power of the lake and majesty of this miracle. As Jesus saw through the waters to the fish, so he saw through Peter into the depths of his heart. . (Chronological Life of Christ: Volume one , From Galilee to Glory Mark E. Moore College Press Joplin Mo. Part Six)
Peter was willing to see himself for what he was compared to God. He was a sinner who needed to be caught and cleaned by God.
When we realize who we are and who God is, it will change who and what we are. It will change our goals in life and our focus in life. Remember Isaiah in Isaiah 6:5. Woe is me, a man of unclean lips. Then when the call of God came, his response is, “here I am, send me!”
When we have an over-inflated view of ourselves, it will cause us to de-value other people.
We also have to be willing to honest assess what we are doing in the church. If we are winning 5-10 people per year to Christ, are there some things that we can change to win more.
We NEVER have to change what we teach and the truth of the scriptures to reach people, but we do need to make sure what we are doing is relevant to the Auburn community in 2001. We cannot allow ourselves to be trapped in traditional patterns if those patterns are hurting our ability to reach the lost of Auburn in 2001.
I am the type of person who when I go bass fishing, I like to use a Berkleys Power Bait plastic worm, I prefer motor oil color. That is the only brand I will buy. Well, back in the farm ponds of Missouri for the last couple of years I was literally catching bass by the boat load while my friends who were using other stuff would not catch anything until I RELUCTANTLY gave them some of my prize worms. I also had a particular color combination of beetle spin I would use for crappie.
Those things worked well in Missouri, but I do not know if they will do well in Illinois.
AS I fish more, I have to be able to evaluate what I am using.
If I am not catching any fish, would it help me to blame the dumb Illinois fish for not knowing they should bite on my motor oil colored Berkley Power Bait plastic worm, or do I need to change my strategy?
When I was a kid, if I caught a fish on a particular bait, I would buy a bunch of that bait. I was hard pressed to change.
If my preaching style is not attractive to people, should I think they are dumb for not getting it or do I need to change my style? You get the point.
WE cannot be afraid of change as long as we do not change the message.
These guys were standing on awe of what had just happened. The town will stand in awe when they see Auburn Christian Church reaching many lost souls for Christ. People will stand in awe of the changed lives they will see as we impact the community for Christ!
The last key for being a successful fisherman for Jesus is: YOU MUST BE:
IV. WILLING TO SACRIFICE 10B-11 READ
When these men got back to shore, they left everything they had to follow Jesus.
This took faith on their part because they were leaving what they knew for the unknown. How were they going to eat, how were they going to pay the bills?
These men were willing to leave their comfort zone to follow Jesus and be fishers of men.
Their lives were going to be oriented around a new center. The discipline once devoted to fishing was devoted now to spiritual ends.
If we are going to follow Jesus it will take some personal sacrifice. If we are going to win people to the kingdom of God, it will take an all out effort.
2 Timothy 3:2 tells us that in the last days men will: be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, in verse 5 he says “holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.”
If you want to be religious (holding to a form of godliness), just put your faith in cruise control and you will receive your just reward at the end of life.
Are we willing to step out of the comfort zone for the sake of winning people to Christ as a church?
CONCLUSION
Jesus calls on us all to be fishers of men. We can just toss a bait out in the middle of the lake and hope something bites or we can put forth a spirited effort to win lost condemned people.
To succeed for Jesus, we must be willing to work, we must be willing to be obedient. We need to be able to honestly assess who we are and what we are doing. We must be willing to sacrifice for Jesus.
Jesus loves you and He loves the condemned of our community also. My question for you is, “Are you ready to Go fishing with Jesus today?”
