Practical princpals for a prosperous perspective, Luke 5:1-11
Eric A. Snyder, Minister; Farwell Church of Christ
November 25, 2001
A man was watching the news one night when it was reported that a car was going the wrong direction on the freeway. The man knew his wife was on that freeway and became very concerned so called her on her cell phone. She answered and he said, "Dear, there’s one car going in the wrong direction on the freeway." She exclaimed, "One car! There’s hundreds of them!"
Swimming upstream
5:1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men." So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Prayer
Many years ago, a professor from Harvard University was speaking to a class on Columbus Day. He said that there were three profound things about Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America:
First, when he left Spain he didn’t know where he was going.
Second, when he arrived in the New World he didn’t know where he was.
Third, when he returned to Spain he didn’t know where he had been.
1. Listening to Jesus produces results
After a preacher died and went to heaven, he noticed that a New York cabdriver had been given a higher place than he had. "I don’t understand," he complained to St. Peter. "I devoted my entire life to my congregation."
"Our policy is to reward results," explained St. Peter. "Now what happened , Reverend, whenever you gave a sermon?"
The minister admitted that some in the congregation fell asleep. "Exactly, " said St. Peter. "And when people rode in this man’s taxi, they not only stayed awake, they prayed."
Jesus likes results but he measures results differently than you or I do he measures results by your life. Are you growing, are you getting closer, do you trust him more each day. Following Jesus is expensive.
It seems there was a barber in a small local town who had been the only barber in town for years. Everyone went to this barber to get their hair cut. Then, one day a big hair salon franchise came to town and opened up shop. They advertised,
“All Haircuts for $3.00”
Slowly, the barber’s business began to dwindle. He just couldn’t compete. In a last ditch effort to save his business, he hired a business consultant. The consultant spent a day pouring over the barber’s books asking many questions. At the end of the day the barber asked the consultant, “So what do you think ? Should I close up shop ?” The consultant said, “Not yet. I’ll be back tomorrow.” The next day the consultant showed up with a huge banner that he hung in front of the barber shop that said, “We Fix $3.00 Haircuts!”
Some of you have been looking for results in your life and you have gotten a 3 dollar haircut. If you want it done right, give it to Jesus.
Jesus costs a lot more, but you can be certain that he is the only right answer.
Hudson Taylor said, "The real secret of an unsatisfied life lies too often in an unsurrendered will." Halfhearted obedience satisfies neither us, nor God.
A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. "If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, ’Let my brother have the first pancake; I can wait."
Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan, you be Jesus!"
A man walked up to a vending machine, put in a coin, pressed the buttons labeled, “coffee, double cream, sugar.” No cup appeared, but the nozzles went into action sending forth coffee, cream and sugar. After the proper amounts had gone down the drain, the machine turned off. “Now that’s real automation,” said the man. “This thing even drinks it for you.” That is just how some people want their faith. They want to make a deposit, put in some money and let the rest be taken care of automatically. But, there is no such thing as automated prayers, devotion, worship in song or service. A relationship with Jesus requires personal discipline.
William Barclay writes:
It’s possible to be a follower of Jesus without being a disciple; to be a camp-follower without being a soldier of the king; to be a hanger-on in some great work without pulling one’s weight.
What is it about Jesus that brought real results for the disciples.
What is the result in listening to Jesus in this text?
You think it was a huge catch of fish. I don’t think that’s the result.
I think that was a tool Jesus used.
Well then what was the result? The result was a life changed.
The result was lives that were worthwhile. The result was that friendly followers became devoted disciples.
Now ask yourself which camp am I in?
Are you a friendly follower or a devoted disciple?
Is Jesus just a nice guy who takes away sin, or is he a living Lord?
Will you casually accommodate Jesus or will you completely accept Him?
Do you listen to his voice thinking you know better or do you listen for his voice because he knows better?
Can you see the difference? Friendly followers bail out when Jesus asks for commitment. Devoted disciples take on new challenges.
Friendly followers reach for their resume to produce results
Devoted disciples know that results come from Jesus.
2. The call is ours but the catch belongs to Jesus
What does it take to become a disciple?
It means sacrifice even when you think you know better.
It takes obedience even when your results have no results
I would suggest to you that is one of the added benefits of following Jesus.
If you follow Jesus you don’t have to worry about results. They belong to Jesus.
A farmer took a piece of bad earth and made things flourish thereon. Proud of his accomplishments, he asked his minister to come by and see what he had done. The minister was impressed. "That’s the tallest corn I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen anything as big as those melons. Praise the Lord!" He went on that way about every crop, praising the Lord for it all. Finally the farmer couldn’t take it anymore. "Reverend," he said, "I wish you could have seen this place when the Lord was doing it by himself."
There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go, if he doesn’t care who gets the credit. (Interestingly enough that is an unknown quote.)
A local sportscaster, doing radio coverage of an Indiana high-school football game from the stands, used a chart listing the names, numbers, and positions of the players to help him describe the action. Then it began to rain; the ink on the chart ran, and the numbers on the backs of the players were covered with mud. Identifying the home-team players was easy, but the only familiar name on the lineup of the visiting Chicago team was that of Blansky, a linebacker who was up for all-state. As local listeners didn’t know the Chicago players, and his station wasn’t powerful enough to reach Chicago, the sportscaster made up the names of every Chicago player but Blansky. And since Blansky was the only legitimate name, he did his play-by-play with Blansky making most of the tackles. The next day, the Chicago coach called him to say he had done a really nice job of covering the game--except for one thing. Blansky had broken his leg in the first half and spent the second half in the hospital, listening to himself playing one heck of a game.
The Bible goes one step beyond that. The Bible says that if you are willing to give everything to Jesus, the credit, the decisions your life he will make it worthwhile.
For with God all things are possible.
2 key elements for a devoted disciple are praise and prayer.
Because in those times, we are able to freely express how good God is. In those times we can express how much God had done and in those times we can give Him the credit for what he deserves.
Read through the bible and look at the great historical figures of faith. Watch when they declare the wonders of his majesty. If this church accomplishes awesome things in this community it will be because God is working here.
When we hire a youth minister it will be successful because God will set it up to glorify Him.
It’s our Job to get in a position for God to work. He will handle the results. He will bring us families with children. He will expand the ministry here. But unless we hear his voice and let down the nets he won’t supply the fish.
It is rare that fish just jump into the boat and so in order to better reach this community for Jesus we are going to have to put something out that will attract people in the community.
And even though you have been fishing for 25 years an overwhelming majority of you are saying “Lord yes we want to hear your call”
3. Following Jesus makes us realize what is important
Get the right perspective. When Goliath came against the Israelites, the soldiers all thought, "He’s so big we can never kill him." David looked at the same giant and though, "He’s so big I can’t miss."
It gives us a realistic perspective
Thomas Wheeler, CEO of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, tells on himself.
He and his wife were driving along an interstate highway when he noticed that their car was low on gas. Wheeler got off the highway at the next exit and soon found a rundown gas station with just one gas pump. He asked the lone attendant to fill the tank and check the oil, then went for a little walk around the station to stretch his legs.
As he was returning to the car, he noticed that the attendant and his wife were engaged in an animated conversation. The conversation stopped as he paid the attendant. But as he was getting back into the car, he saw the attendant wave and heard him say, "It was great talking to you."
As they drove out of the station, Wheeler asked his wife if she knew the man. She readily admitted she did. They had gone to high school together and had dated steadily for about a year.
"Boy, were you lucky that I came along," bragged Wheeler.
"If you had married him, you’d be the wife of a gas station attendant instead of the wife of a chief executive officer."
"My dear," replied his wife, "if I had married him, he’d be
the chief executive officer and you’d be the gas station attendant."
Earl Weaver, former manager of the Baltimore Orioles. Sports fans will enjoy how he handled star Reggie Jackson.
Weaver had a rule that no one could steal a base unless given the steal sign. This upset Jackson because he felt he knew the pitchers and catchers well enough to judge who he could and could not steal off of. So one game he decided to steal without a sign.
He got a good jump off the pitcher and easily beat the throw to second base. As he shook the dirt off his uniform, Jackson smiled with delight, feeling he had vindicated his judgment to his manager.
Later Weaver took Jackson aside and explained why he hadn’t given the steal sign. First, the next batter was Lee May, his best power hitter other than Jackson. When Jackson stole second, first base was left open, so the other team walked May intentionally, taking the bat out of his hands.
Second, the following batter hadn’t been strong against that pitcher, so Weaver felt he had to send up a pinch hitter to try to drive in the men on base. That left Weaver without bench strength later in the game when he needed it.
The problem was, Jackson saw only his relationship to the pitcher and catcher. Weaver was watching the whole game. We, too, see only so far, but God sees the bigger picture. When he sends us a signal, it’s wise to obey, no matter what we may think WE know.
