As I told you last week my undergraduate degree is from the University of North Alabama, a small school located in Florence, which is in the northwestern corner of that state. The Tennessee River flows right by the edge of town and during the four years I was there I participated in one of the popular pastimes for that area: FISHING. I fished with fellow members of the Baptist Student Union on campus and with members of my church. Sometimes I went with cousins and uncles—and there were times I fished all by myself. It was during one of these solo fishing trips that I ALMOST caught the biggest fish I have ever seen. I’m not kidding.
I had gone to the southern side of the Tennessee River early one morning and was casting at the foot of Wilson Dam. I was fishing with a lure—the kind you cast and reel in—when all of a sudden this huge fish hit. It happened so suddenly it almost pulled the rod out of my hand and as I gripped it to keep that from happening—the fish began to actually pull me closer to the water.
That’s how big it was. Again—I’m not kidding. This is a fish story—but a true one! Well, then I saw it! The fish on the end of my line jumped out of the water and it must have been five or six feet long. It had a long saw-blade front—and just as I was getting over the shock that huge fish—a freshwater sawfish—broke my line. I guess it was inevitable because I was only using a 20lb line and it must have been a couple hundred pounds. To give you an idea of what I saw on the end of my line that day here’s what that fish looks like. Ugly fish wouldn’t you agree?! Anyway—all this—from the moment it hit and then jumped and then my line broke—all that only took a few seconds—but those seconds were filled with pure excitement. I had been about to pack up and head home when this happened but the hope of it happening again kept me fishing there at the base of Wilson Dam for a couple more hours.
And if you’ve ever had something like that happen to you on a fishing trip you know what I’m talking about. Fishing is usually hours of boredom followed by a few minutes of excitement—excitement that motivates you to go through several more hours of boredom in the hope of a few more minutes of excitement. The excitement I experienced that day on the Tennessee River came to mind this week because the next installment of our look at the life of Christ includes a VERY exciting fish story. But before I read our text, let me give you the SETTING.
Jesus left Nazareth after the rejection He received in His hometown in response to His first sermon there and went down through the Dove Valley to the town of Capernaum on northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee—which He made His headquarters for the next part of His ministry.
Now, the Sea of Galilee is not really a “sea” but rather a large freshwater LAKE thirteen miles long and eight miles wide. When we were in Israel last fall we spent three nights in Tiberius—and as you can see in this map it is just opposite Capernaum—almost directly south—on the Lake’s Western side. Our hotel in Tiberius had a balcony that looked out onto the Sea of Galilee and I never tired of the view. The first thing I did every morning was go and look out across those waters. Here’s the view we enjoyed. You can’t see it but Capernaum is in the distance. This huge sea-like-lake lies 700 feet below sea level so it’s a very tropical kind of climate. As you can see, these days the shorelines are fairly deserted but in Jesus’ day nine large heavily populated townships enjoyed beach front property on its shores.
Now, the disciples that I refer to as “The Big Four”—Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John—they had been with Jesus for several months now—on sort of a part-time basis. They were with Him during much of His “Galilean Springtime” and they went through that “Nazareth winter” Sabbath as well. They had been with Him the day He taught in the synagogue in Capernaum and then went to Simon’s house where He healed his mother-in-law. By the way—this is one of the reasons visiting the Holy Land is so inspiring. I remember the day we visited the ruins of Capernaum. As we stood amidst those ancient crumbling streets our guide read from Mark chapter one starting with verse 21 where it says: “They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.” Here’s a picture of the ruins of that synagogue. It was on our left. “The people were amazed at His teaching, because He taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. As soon as they left the synagogue,” (Here’s a pic of the ruins of the streets of Capernaum—the same streets Jesus would have walked through on that day.) “They went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew.” (Here’s a pic of Simon’s House. There is a glass-floored Catholic church built over it. You can look through those floors and see what’s left of the Big Fisherman’s home.) “Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. So He went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.” (Mark 1:21-22; 29-31) We stood there as he read those words looking at the place where it happened. I hope you got a little taste of how cool it felt to actually see where Scripture happened!
Anyway, Peter and the others had been with Jesus for a few months. They had heard Him teach and seen Him work His miracles. They respected Him enough for Simon to call Jesus, “Master.”
But they were not yet what we would call full-time, fully-devoted followers. They were still fisherman and in today’s text that’s what they were doing. They were fishing the waters of the Sea of Galilee because that was the way they made their living—and it was usually a great way to make a living because the waters swarmed with fish—especially near the shore. In his commentary William Barclay says there were lots of shallow shoals of fish—some that were as big as an acre. Take your Bibles now and turn to Luke chapter 5. We’ll be reading verses 1-11.
1 – One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret the people were crowding around Him and listening to the Word of God.
2 – He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who 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 from shore. Then He sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 – When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
5 – 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.”
6 – When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began 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 full that they began to sink.
8 – When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”
9 – For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,
10 – 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 fish for people.”
11 – So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed Him.
On this particular morning Peter, his brother Andrew and his partners James and John had just spent the entire night fishing just outside Capernaum—fishing with huge dragnets. It was backbreaking work because it involved laying out a large cotton net in a semicircle, encompassing over 100 feet, then drawing it in hand-over-hand, then repeating the procedure again and again and again. It was hard work that only strong men could perform. These four men had sweat through that tropical night in this way without catching so much as a single fish. Then, as was their custom, at dawn they came ashore, beached their boats, ate breakfast, and as they sat under the warming sun, engaged in the tedious but necessary process of washing, mending, and arranging their nets for drying. Once dry, the nets would be folded and placed back in the boats so as to be ready for the next night’s fishing. It was important to care for their nets in this way because if they didn’t they would rot and break.
Well, apparently after Jesus had healed Simon Peter’s mother-in-law He spent the entire night teaching and healing. So, like the four fishermen, Jesus had worked the graveyard shift as well!
Then the next morning Jesus retreated to a secluded space on the shore away from town to rest but as so often happened He was found by the crowds and returned to minister near Capernaum, close to the place where Simon and the rest were working. Unfortunately the longer Jesus talked the larger the crowd grew—which by the way is not a problem I have ever had. For me it’s the opposite. The longer I talk—the smaller the crowd grows!
Anyway, the growing multitude began to hinder Jesus’ teaching. So, as He always did, our Lord used His surroundings to His advantage. He used the waters of Sea of Galilee and Simon’s boat to create an ad hoc amphitheater—which was a perfect way for the multitude to hear. Plus being in the boat kept the crowd back a bit. Anyway, water reflects sound—which of course the Creator would have known—so He asked Simon to push off a few feet from shore and Jesus taught from the bow of Simon’s boat. Hobbs says that “Christ used Peter’s boat as a pulpit whence to throw the net of the Gospel over His hearers.”
Well, when Jesus finished speaking from His floating lectern He turned to Simon and said, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon said, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything—but because YOU say so, I will let down my nets.” Now understand—this was a demanding request. Jesus was asking a man who had labored throughout the night without sleep—a man who had spent the night hauling in and then examining empty nets over and over and over again. They had just cleaned the nets and laid them out to dry. Jesus was asking that man to pull into shore, load a thousand pounds of wet nets, row out into DEEP water, and take the time to setting that huge circular net—all in the heat of the midday sun! Remember professional fishermen like Simon knew it was best to fish at NIGHT. During the tropical heat of the day the fish went too deep for his nets. He also knew the best place to fish was in the shallow shoals. Professional fishermen like Simon know that 100% of the fish are in 10% of the water and where those 10% hang out. Understand—fishing was Simon’s career. He was good at it and now Jesus, a carpenter—a land-lubber from Nazareth—was telling him how to fish. Think with me for a moment. How do you feel when someone you know is a rookie offers you advice on something that you have a lot of knowledge and experience in? For example, I get frustrated when people infer that you can write a sermon in an hour or so on Saturday night and ask, “Mark, what do you do Monday –Friday?” I imagine Peyton Manning has had a lot of inexperienced people come to him this past week to offer their “wise” counsel on how he should have quarterbacked the Super-bowl. Think how Bob Michael would feel if I were to give him advice on how to win a case or how Daniel would feel if I would tell him how to treat a child with Malaria. I’m saying we can definitely sympathize with Simon’s reticence to do what Jesus asked—and we can rejoice in his obedience in spite of his reticence. More about that later.
But, Simon did what Jesus asked. He rowed out in the deep and put out the net in that huge semi-circle. Then as Jesus sat in the boat watching him labor, Simon began to pull in those same nets—just as he had done over and over and over again all night long. Perhaps when he first began to pull the nets in Simon had sort of a preliminary “I told you so look” on his face as he said, “You are about to see what I mean Jesus—I know what I’m talking about—You’ll see. These nets are going to be empty…” But then Simon realized the nets were not coming in as easily as they had all night. They were heavy. It was taking all his considerable strength to reel them in. And in a moment he saw why. The nets were full of fish—so many fish that he quickly signaled James and John to bring their boat and help. In the end both boats were so full—so deep in the water—that the Sea of Galilee was threatening to spill over the sides and sink them. Their catch was worth more than a month’s income! It was a raw outpouring of power on Jesus’ part—a massive nature miracle. Simon and the other onlookers that day saw that the fish of the sea were as obedient to Jesus’ will as the frogs and flies and locusts were to Yahweh in Egypt centuries earlier. And it was a VERY EXCITING time for these fishermen! In all their years of working these waters they had never seen anything like this. This haul was more than their wildest dreams. You could say, “All their FISHES came true!” All kidding aside, this was a definite CHANGING POINT in their lives. No longer would they follow Jesus on a part-time basis. No—from now on they were ALL IN. Jesus would be the center of their lives—every moment of every day. Look at verses 9-11 again: “[Simon] and 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 fish for people.’ So they pulled their boats up on shore, LEFT EVERYTHING and followed Him.”
Their lives would never be the same. Their lives were about to take on an eternal caliber of joy and abundance. God would use them to literally turn the world upside down!
Now—in the time we have left I want to borrow and idea from Bill Hybels and focus on answering this question: What is involved in our making a similar commitment to Jesus? What does it take to for someone like you or me to become a fully-committed follower of Jesus? This is a good text to use to find the answer to these questions because in it there are THREE TESTS that Simon “passes”—tests we must pass as well if we are to become the kinds of disciples Jesus can and will do amazing things in and through…the kinds of things that make this life truly ABUNDANT.
(1) The first test we must pass is the “Will You Follow Direction? Test”
As I said a moment ago, Peter—a professional fisherman—had worked all night using all his skills—skills that came from years of fishing in this huge lake. Peter knew where all the best “fishing holes” were. He knew the behavior of the fish. He knew when to catch them and how to catch them. And this religious guy—this teacher—this Jesus who’s only REAL work experience is as a carpenter—now He came along and told him to break all the rules of fishing in that area:
- Go out in the heat of the DAY
- Fish in the DEEP water, etc.
- Do so after an entire night without catching a single fish…
…UNTHINKABLE stuff for a professional fisherman like Simon. So Simon says, “Master, we’ve worked all NIGHT—worked hard—fished in the SHALLOW SHOALS of this body of water that I know like the palm of my hand…and caught nothing…” And then there is a VERY important word. Simon says, “BUT…BUT…because YOU say so, I will.” Underline that little three-letter-word in your Bible because this is a powerful little word in Simon’s life—a life-changing word. If Simon had not said it, I don’t think we would know his name today. We know him as Peter—the ROCK—the guy who first expressed the kind of foundational faith on which the church itself is built—but if he hadn’t said, “But—okay—because YOU say so I’ll do it…”If he hadn’t been willing to follow Jesus’ directions that day, I think he would have stayed a fisherman and we would have never heard of him.
The first test any growing disciple must pass is this willingness to obey God—to follow His directions—even when doing so doesn’t make all that much sense from our perspective. You know, many believers don’t pass muster because they tend to think God knows about spiritual things—but not about LIFE things. They think God knows about prayer and hymns and choruses and steeples and sermons and Sunday School…but when it comes to REAL “rubber-meets the road” kind of life things—things like marriage and money and career and relationships—when it comes to these real life kind of things they think God is pretty clueless, so in essence they compartmentalize their faith. They come to church. They sing in worship with vigor—but they don’t follow God’s instructions when it comes to the day to day things we all deal with in life—things like sexual behavior and marital challenges and parenting and work and how to spend our money, etc. Don’t raise your hands but have you ever felt that way with Jesus?
Have you ever said, “Jesus—stick with what You know. You don’t know how much it costs to live these days in Montgomery County so don’t ask me to tithe. You don’t know how hard it is to get along with my husband so don’t ask me to keep my marital vows. You don’t know how selfish my wife can be so don’t ask me to die to self in order to make our marriage a success. You don’t know the challenges of working at my office so don’t ask me to be honest and above board. Don’t ask me to be ethical. Ethical guys finish last in this city.” Listen—I know it’s hard—but in any of these kinds of life dilemmas you will never regret saying, “Obeying You here doesn’t make any sense—BUT—because YOU say so God. I will follow directions. I’ll do it the way YOU say. I’ll obey. I’ll cast my nets in DEEP water.”
I know I’ve used this before—but do you remember that famous phrase from the movie, The Princess Bride? If you’ve forgotten or never seen the film here’s a reminder. Wesley is the farm boy who falls in love with Buttercup, the Princess Bride. But he never tells her that he loves her. What does he always say instead? Right! “As you wish.” That day on the Sea of Galilee Simon learned that the key to abundance in life is continually saying to God, “Master, AS YOU WISH.” It’s no longer “Simon says” – it’s JESUS SAYS!
This week I came across something Ann Lamott said in one of her books. She said, “The Gulf Stream will flow through a straw provided the straw is aligned to the Gulf Stream.” She said this to illustrate the fact that God can do anything through anybody who is willing to align themselves with His will and His wisdom and His power—anyone who will humble themselves and say, “As you wish God…because YOU say so.” Are you willing to say that to God? Is there an area in your life where you have refused to follow His directions? Listen—you won’t experience abundance—big freshwater sawfish catching excitement—until you say, “AS YOU WISH God. It doesn’t make sense to me…BUT because YOU say so…I will obey.”
Jesus can use anyone who will align themselves to His will—even a fisherman like Simon—to do AMAZING things! You know, in the 1st century in Israel Jewish kids like Simon when he was little would go to Hebrew school and study the Torah…the first five books of the OT. In this school they would have to actually commit those five books to memory. Paper was expensive so you had to in essence memorize the textbook. Can you imagine how hard that would be? Well, they did it. This is why Jesus was always saying, “You have heard.” or “It is written.” People knew what was written because they had it in their hearts. Well as kids got to the end of this school—I guess high school age—they would seek the favor of a particular rabbi. They would ask to follow him around in hopes that they would be chosen to be a part of his “taladim” —his disciples. Mike Breaux says that if a rabbi didn’t think a student had what it took he would sent the kid home—kind of like Simon Cowell did on American Idol but hopefully gentler. The rabbi would say, “Listen, you’re a great kid but you don’t have what it takes to be one of my ‘taladim’ — you aren’t smart enough to be one of my disciples. Instead you should try fishing or farming or carpentry as a career.”
So—there’s a good chance Simon and the others had been rejected by a rabbi. They didn’t make the cut, so they became fishermen. Yet, Jesus chose these rabbinical rejects to be a part of His “taladim.” They made it on the “traveling team” so to speak. That’s encouraging to me because it reminds me that if we pass this test—if we simply have enough faith to say to God, “AS YOU WISH” God can and will use you. That’s all it takes to make His cut—all it takes is obedience—a willingness to follow HIS directions.
(2) Here’s the second test growing disciples have to pass: “The Who Deserves The Credit? Test.”
You know, I believe most of the multitude that had gathered to hear Jesus was still there after Peter followed our Lord’s instructions and dropped his nets one more time. So they saw him get this HUGE haul of fish. They saw James and John hurry to help him. They saw the boats filled to over-flowing with fish. And, with that crowd of onlookers, there must have been the temptation on Simon’s part to start taking bows and do photo ops and say things like, “Hey did you see what WE did out there? Broad daylight—in the deep water—man are we good or what?!” I mean, that’s what fishermen do—they tell fish stories—stories that spotlight their skill. But Simon didn’t do that did he! No—the first thing he did once he got his sinking boats ashore was to fall on his knees and say something profoundly theological. Simon said, “Go away from me, Jesus—for I am a sinful man.” Don’t miss the theology of what Simon is saying here. He was saying, “Jesus, You are SO over me. You are SO different from me. You have SO much power, so much authority. You are the sovereign One and that helps me see who I am. I am a sinful man. You did this Jesus! You caught these fish. You worked a miracle! You should have nothing to do with me given Who You are and who I am.” In other words, Simon got on his knees and said, “Jesus, You get the credit for everything that just happened. Every fin, every gill—it’s ALL YOU!” Simon—this uneducated fisherman—realized that Jesus was not merely a powerful prophet or a supernaturally gifted healer. He realized that he was in the presence of God. It was the same for the prophet Isaiah. Remember? When Isaiah “saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted” his first thought was not adoration but fear. He felt such moral trauma in respect to his own sin that he cried, “Woe to me!” Simon felt the same way. Perhaps He remembered the words of Jesus’ sermon that day in Nazareth because Simon saw that he was spiritually bankrupt, imprisoned by his sin and guilt. The same thing would happen three years later after Jesus’ resurrection. The guys would be fishing these same waters waiting for Jesus to show up. They would toil all night and catch nothing. Jesus would shout guidance from the shore—guidance they would follow—not knowing it was Jesus giving it and they would catch another huge haul of fish. When this happened Peter would say, “It is the Lord!” I mean, Peter learned Who gets the credit for the good in life. He passed this second test.
And this is a test we get put through all the time. In a church, in a family, in a pulpit, wherever we are and something good comes our way; human nature is for us to figure out a way to claim the credit for ourselves. Something good happens at work—like you get a bonus or a promotion. Or—you have a relational problem and there’s a wonderful reconciliation. Or you preach and everyone says how good your message was. Or your daughter’s car breaks down and you pay one mechanic $400 bucks to fix it—but he can’t so he sends you to the dealer who finds out the trouble. You explain what happened to the first mechanic and he refunds the $400. This happened to me this week! Well, in times of success like this we are tempted to pridefully claim the credit. We assume it was our word-smithing that got us the car repair refund or got us the promotion or made that sermon so well-received or whatever. Well, fellow fishermen, we need to grow above that kind of immaturity. We need to move from self-confidence to God-confidence. I mean, to grow—to experience the closeness we yearn for as Jesus’ disciples, we need to humble ourselves like Simon did here and admit that God deserves ALL the credit for the good of life—that He is the Source of EVERY good and perfect gift—that it is HIM in us that is our hope of glory and as such He deserves ALL the praise.
(3) There’s one more test we must pass as growing followers and it is this: “The Grander Vision Test.”
Now—you might think that in response to this great catch of fish there would be a celebration—perhaps a fish fry for the multitude. Or maybe Simon would run to find the head of the local fish market—you know—find someone to buy his huge catch…and then he’d pocket the money and go take a much-needed nap. But before that can happen Jesus poses a third test. As they were counting their haul, our Lord looks at these four men and in essence He says, “It was exciting to catch all those fish wasn’t it?! Why there were so many it almost sank two boats! What a fish story you have to tell! What a great experience! But—think a grander thought with me for a moment. You just got a thrill from netting a bunch of slimy stinky fish. Think what it would be like to catch or redirect the lives and eternities of hundreds of thousands of people! Think about what it would be like to catch not fish—but MEN! Wouldn’t that be even more thrilling?! Nothing against fishing guys. Fishermen like you help feed the world. But compare the stakes. You bring the fish in and you take them to the market and you get some dollars. Nothing against dollars either. But just take a moment and compare the value of a dollar against the value of someone’s eternal destiny! Think about that. You can continue to just catch fish for dollars or you can accept My invitation to go after people’s destinies. What about it? Do you want to catch fish or do you want to catch people? Do you want dollars or destinies?”
Please understand. Jesus wasn’t shaming Simon and the others for their chosen career. This test was not like saying, “If you are a bad person you will keep doing this and if you are a better person you will do this.” No—it wasn’t about that. It was just a VISION TEST. Jesus was saying, “If you SEE IT as I’m describing it—if you GET IT as I’m explaining it—if you understand the value of a destiny versus the value of a dollar, you will want to orient more of your life around destinies instead of dollars.” Do YOU see what I’m getting at? Do you see how it applies to you and me? I mean, there is nothing wrong with doing your job—collecting your paycheck—providing for your family. But think how much more fulfilling if you had a GRANDER VISION for your life! Think how different it would be if you looked at your job as more than an opportunity to earn dollars—if you ALSO saw it as a chance to change a few destinies?! You see, the people you work with and commute with — they are your potential mission field. They are the men and women Jesus wants you to help “catch” for the kingdom. And, you stay at home moms and dads—and you students out there—your friends are more than friends—they are YOUR assignment. God wants to use YOU to tell them of His great love.
Think how much more fulfilling it would be to look at every person we encounter as a potential “catch.” And I don’t mean to make it sound like people are no more than a soul-winning statistic. I’m saying there is no greater JOY in life than helping someone come to faith in Jesus. By the way the word Jesus used here for “catching men” literally meant to “catch alive” or to “rescue.” That’s what we’re talking about here the grander vision of seeing all of life as opportunities to RESCUE people from sin and death. And, you know, I think God puts this grander-vision test in front of us every day. He convicts us of the need to look at life HIS way, because otherwise we tend toward sinful perspectives. I mean, we go to our jobs and we get completely engrossed in succeeding at it so that we tend to use people. We don’t really love people at work; we’re not looking at the bigger redemptive picture day by day. We’re looking at “little fish” and dollars all day long. Jesus invites us to look at life differently. He invites us into people-catching and destiny altering.
Well, Simon passed this test just as he had the other two. So did Andrew and James and John. Verse 11 says, “They pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed Him.” They left it all behind and followed Jesus FULL-TIME from then on.
When we were in Capernaum last fall our guide took us to a museum where they have a 1st century fishing boat on display. They call it “the Jesus boat” because it was used in the days of His earthly ministry. It was found in the mud a few years back and they have it in a museum. Now, I know this is a far shot—but I think it was Simon’s actual boat. I think he left it that day, turned his back on it and his career of fishing to follow Jesus. And when he did it sank into the muck to be found twenty centuries later. Makes sense to me—because Simon was able to see the GRANDER VISION of catching people. And, the New Testament tells us that God used Peter to fulfill that vision. At Pentecost Peter would join God in catching 3,000 people. By the time he faced the Sanhedrin that catch had almost doubled. Throughout his life the numbers grew and grew. God used Simon—PETER—to change his world—and in a domino effect—change our world.
Okay—how did you do on these tests? Would you say you have passed the “Can You Follow Directions? Test?” How about the “Who Gets the Credit Test? And the “Grander Vision test?” And—to be clear I’m not saying you should leave your job—leave your career—unless God calls you to do that. I’m saying have you opened your eyes and been able to see your career as your calling—your “pulpit” — your mission field? Well, if you would say you are flunking any of these tests—take heart—because God allows make-up tests. You can try again! It’s not too late for your life to take on a quality of ABUNDANCE!
LET US PRAY