A Fisherman Following Jesus
Simon was among Jesus’ first followers but he like the crowds didn’t really make a commitment until Jesus called him as his disciples. As the story of this fisherman unfolds we see what Jesus does for us and to us when we choose to follow Him.
Jesus’ First Followers
Luke 5:1-11 (NCV)
5 One day while Jesus was standing beside Lake Galilee, many people were pressing all around him to hear the word of God. 2 Jesus saw two boats at the shore of the lake. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 Jesus got into one of the boats, the one that belonged to Simon, a and asked him to push off a little from the land. Then Jesus sat down and continued to teach the people from the boat.
4 When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Take the boat into deep water, and put your nets in the water to catch some fish.”
5 Simon answered, “Master, we worked hard all night trying to catch fish, and we caught nothing. But you say to put the nets in the water, so I will.” 6 When the fishermen did as Jesus told them, they caught so many fish that the nets began to break. 7 They called to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats so full that they were almost sinking.
8 When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he bowed down before Jesus and said, “Go away from me, Lord. I am a sinful man!” 9 He and the other fishermen were amazed at the many fish they caught, as were 10 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will fish for people.” 11 When the men brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.
There is something about Jesus…
There always seems to be a crowd following him. There were always people looking to him for help and understanding. Maybe it was his love for the people that showed through. Maybe it was his ability to connect with them in such an authentic way. He was real and he understood their lives. But more than anything I think it was the way he taught. There was a comprehension of the truth and ability to lay it out both clearly and powerfully. His teaching was like no one else’s – ever!
It was the hearing of this truth that was – and is the beginning of faith. It was then – for a fisherman named Simon – and it is now for a twenty-first century people.
Faith begins with hearing
Simon listened to Jesus that morning…
Simon (Peter) and his fishermen friends had spent the entire night fishing but had not been successful. In those times a fisherman would go out into this freshwater sea (which was really a big lake) at night and in the shallows where the fish would come to feed they would drop their nets and then gather them in to bring in the catch. This they had done all night without netting one fish.
Now they were on the beach drying his nets so they wouldn’t rot away when this new prophet-preacher came along with a lot of noisy people pushing and shoving to gain advantage behind him.
I can see them watching with both amusement and annoyance as the crowd – with Jesus in front came down the beach and stopped by their boats.
Then Jesus climbed into Simon’s boat and asked him to push off a bit. He sat down in the boat while Simon stood in the back and kept it from getting too far out. And while Jesus taught – Simon listened.
Not much risk here – just listening to Jesus – but this is the beginning of faith
Would you like to have faith?
I mean it! Would you like to have confidence about your future? Would you like to know an inner peace and comfort that comes from knowing – by faith – that no matter what happens around you that it will be ok?
Well I have a simple suggestion – It’s low risk. Just listen to Jesus.
As easy as that is my experience is that most people have to be ready to listen before they do listen.
I was talking with a friend the other day about an experience he had with a doctor who came in before the surgery to talk with his family about what was going to happen. He told the doctor some important information about how dealt with anesthesia and when the doctor left he turned to his wife and said, “ He didn’t hear a thing I said did he.”
Now we have a number of medical students here today as well as a few physicians and I’m sure they are not like this doctor who apparently thought he had all the answers and didn’t need to listen.
Sometimes we have to have the stuffin’s knocked out of us by life before we are ready to listen – and then, unfortunately, we’ll listen to most anyone!
Look, when you are tired and a little beaten down by life and you are in the honest and intimate quiet desperation of pain – listen – to Jesus. It doesn’t cost much and it just might help… There isn’t a lot of risk but there is the potential of a real faith that will sustain you through anything.
I will warn you…
Faith asks for a decision
When the teaching was done Jesus told Simon to “Go Fish”
When he was done he called on Simon to take the boat into deep water and put down the nets to catch some fish.
Now there were a lot of good sound reasons to refuse.
They were tired after being up all night without a catch.
They had just washed the nets and were putting them out to dry when Jesus came along and inconvenienced them at then end of their long and fruitless night.
They were professional fishermen – Jesus was the son of a carpenter – what did he know about fishing?
Everyone knows you fish at night in shallow water in the Sea of Galilee. (The fish don’t see you coming at night and they feed in the shallows.)
Jesus request was just plain foolish from any sensible point of view
The amazing thing in this “Jesus Story” is that Simon went fishing.
Normally, Simon would have blown Jesus off and said, (I’m paraphrasing here) “Hey, you want to fish get your own boat. I’m going home and going to bed.”
But Simon didn’t say that. No, Simon offered a brief objection – just to put it on the record – but then he said, “You say to put the nets in the water, so I will”
He did what Jesus asked – this is the next step of faith – obedience, when it doesn’t make sense.
This is not unusual in the faith growing business that God is in. He has a rather interesting habit of asking those who listen to do something that doesn’t make sense.
Noah was told to build an ark to hold all the different animal species in the world because it was going to flood the earth. Up to this point it had never even rained before – That’s not really sensible is it?
Joshua was told by God to march around the walls of Jericho for six days in silence and on the seventh day to march around the wall seven times in silence and then to blow the trumpets – No way you can call this a sensible approach to taking a walled city by siege.
Namaan, was leperous, and Elisha told him to dip himself seven times in the Jordon River to be healed. The Jordon isn’t much more than a muddy creek. Not even close to being sensible…
God is in the business of growing faith
He wants to move you – like Simon – out of the shallow risk-free faith into the faith of the deep. So he asks us to make a decision. To be obedience when it doesn’t make sense. To take action when you can’t predict the results. To take step when it’s too dark to see the path.
For Simon it was a matter of taking the boat deep and letting down the nets. For you today isn’t much different. Jesus asks you to go with him. He asks you to give him – you. And when you do…
Faith fills the boat…
Simon put down the nets and then drew them in with so many fish that the boat began to sink.
Think of it. This is no small thing. Think of the reward!!! So many fish that it began to sink. Fish are not inexpensive. They are valuable commodities. In the movie called the “Perfect Storm” we learned that a boatload of fish was worth hundred’s of thousands of dollars. Now this isn’t the same but we’re talking about real money here!!!!
It is important to remember that when you throw in with Jesus you are following the one who sits at the right hand of the Almighty God.
It’s not about fish…
It’s about whom you are with.
And when you understand who it is that you are with – it changes everything… including the fact that…
Faith changes the way you see things
It changes you from seeing the negative and worst to seeing the possibilities and the best. Our God is a God of boatloads of fish.
Part of the issue is goes back to the question of obedience and doing what Jesus asks. You see when we do what he asks our faith grows and when our faith grows our…
Faith turns what concerns us into what concerns Him
Simon
Saw himself as a weak and sinful man with a strong and loving savior and it changed him.
Jesus said, “I want to make you a fisher of men”.
When you are with Jesus you are changed. It changes what is important in your life. For Simon it was no longer fish – it was people.
Fred Craddock: Every now and then, someone does respond in a radical and unexpected way.
Dr. Fred Craddock tells the story of a medical student who heard the call and made a radical response. A young woman came to him after hearing his sermon on today’s text. She had decided to leave medical school and go to work among migrant workers in the Rio Grande Valley. Dr. Craddock did not manipulate her unexpected response. Instead, they talked for a long time about the meaning of her decision. Her parents were, understandably, furious with the new direction her life had taken. Like those fishermen, however, she heard the call and she stayed with it.
And there have been others. People in the western tradition have long known about Francis of Assisi. He turned from a life of luxury to one of voluntary poverty with the intention of sharing his possessions with the poor. He became an ex-ample to his fellow townspeople of the biblical assurance that God can provide.
Likewise, Elizabeth Gurney Fry (1780-1845) exemplified an emphasis on living by Jesus’ example. In addition to raising a large family, this wife of a wealthy London merchant single-handedly initiated, and caused the implementation of, efforts to reform the prison system in England. These reforms spread throughout the continent even during her lifetime.
Similarly, in the United States, Dorothea Lynde Dix (1802-1887) spearheaded the movement for the establishment of hospitals for the mentally ill, who were, at the time, being held in prisons. These people have admonished us to see Christ in our neighbors and to serve all who are in need. In these people and in many others, we see an example of people "leaving their nets" to follow.
Where does this leave us? If others have heard the call and have responded in a radical way, then shouldn’t we all do the same? I cannot answer that question for you. It has to be answered by each of us as we experience God’s call in our lives. How one hears the call and responds to it is a matter of personal decision.
You and me
Lot’s of people start coming to church for their children, their parents, their spouse, or because they have some special need in their life… That’s ok!
Just listen But eventually Jesus will not only fill your boat with fish – he’ll ask you to do something else – like filling his church with people!
Simon was told that he would be a fisher of men
Don’t be afraid when God is taking you from one place to another
He has a purpose. And we don’t need to be afraid
Three commitments
1. Listen to Jesus this week
2. Do what he says to fill the boat
3. Don’t be afraid when he changes you
