Untitled Sermon (25)

Intro

Being a sinner does not disqualify you, it’s a prerequisite. The only people Jesus invited to follow him were sinners. Often they were the worst of the worst. In fact, people who thought they were good or people who thought they had religion and God figured out, they struggled to follow Jesus because he kept inviting the most unlikely people to follow him.

Being an unbeliever doesn’t disqualify you from following Jesus. This is huge. No one who followed Jesus in the first century thought he was the son of God. None of them really believed he was who he was claiming to be. They just thought he was a nice guy who said good things and did miracles had good teachings. And so they followed him. And as we looked at last week, for many of the disciples, it wasn’t until two years into following Jesus that they really began to believe. But his invitation was the same: follow me. You can start without believing.

The other thing we discovered was Jesus’ invitation to follow was not a religious invitation at all. And here’s why: the religion of his day, and the religion that I think a lot of us get caught up in said “change and you can join us.” The Pharisees had all of these rules and regulations that they followed and forced others to follow so that they could be a part of their group. DO this, do this, and do this, then you can join us, then you can know God. Like I said last week, I grew up with this belief of I just have work harder at doing what Jesus says. Then he’ll love me, then I can follow him. I eventually realized that that approach is impossible to stick with. And that’s the message of religion: Change and you can join. But Jesus came along and he turns this whole thing upside down, and his message was very disturbing to religious people. He consistently said “Join me, and you will change.” Get close to me, follow me, listen, take some notes, and over time you’ll look at yourself and realize you’re different than you were before. You’ll change not because of discipline, not because you decided to change, you will change because people who follow Jesus, people who are in a relationship with Jesus, change. It’s not something we do by our own will, it’s not something we just wake up one morning and decide to do. I’ve had thousands of morning like that. I’ll be laying in bed and I’ll be like “Today’s the day!” Today’s the day I get my life together and I change! And it never happens. True change is a gradual, and often very slow process, that is the result of a relationship with a savior. It’s the result of experiencing the kindness of God.

And so, the question we started asking last week, and the question we’re going to keep asking over the next few weeks is this: Am I following? Not how far have I gotten, not how much we go to church, not how many verses we have memorized, not how much I read the bible, not am i in front of anybody or behind any body, but am I following? This is the question that Jesus follows in some way shape or form ask. Am I following? Am I currently and intentionally following?

So, this week we’re going to look at another narrative in the life of Jesus where this follow thing gets kind of teased out. And we see in this story every stage and every aspect of what it means to follow Jesus. But, the interesting thing if you’ve read the New Testament is we have four accounts of the life of Jesus. Matthew, who was an eyewitness, Mark, who spent time with Peter and got most of his info from him, Luke, investigated and interviewed a bunch of people, and then John who was another eyewitness. So we have four accounts of the life of Jesus. But, some of these stories are told from different angles or from different perspectives and with a different purpose depending on the writer. So, the story we’re looking at today, Matthew tells and and Luke tells it. Matthew was Jewish and so was writing to a Jewish audience, so he just gives a brief synopsis of what happens. But, it leaves you with kind of an unrealistic picture of what it means to follow Jesus. So, I want to read that one real quick, and this is the version that I heard all the time growing up at youth retreats, summer camps, revivals, and it kind of freaks me out and leaves me thinking “There’s no way I can do this.” So, I’ll read it really quick and then we’ll go to Luke’s story and look at more of the details.

Matthew 4:18–22 NIV

18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Matthew

And at once they left their nets and followed him.

Wait, what? A guy walks up, you’re working “Stop working and follow me,” and they just stop working and walk off? It gets even better.

Going on from there

Going on from there, he saw two brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. This is great, they were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing the nets. Jesus called them, “hey” they’re in a boat Jesus is on the shore, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. End of story. I read this, and like honestly, this doesn’t seem spiritual to me, it seems irresponsible. “Hey dad, the dude in sandals on the beach is yelling at us, we’re gonna go with him, good luck with the family business, tell mom we said bye!” It’s like what?? And I grew up and someone would preach a sermon about following Jesus and say, If you love Jesus you have to give up everything and follow Jesus no matter what and if he’s not Lord of all he’s not Lord at all. And you know, imagine 13 year old me hearing this for the first time. I’m like ohhh I gotta give up everything. But wait, what does that even mean? I’m a kid. Do I give up finishing highschool? Oh yea, I’m down with that! But really, what does this even mean? It’s always so extreme and it seems to be too much and even impossible. But thankfully this isn’t the whole story. I mean, it’s what happened it’s not all that happened.

Luke comes along and Luke is writing to people like us. Gentiles, or non-Jewish people. And he gives us way more detail. In fact, in the beginning of Luke’s gospel he tells us that he’s thoroughly researched all of this. And this story takes place on the sea of Galilee. This is where Jesus walked on water, And so many of Jesus’ stories and so much of his ministry takes place on or around the Sea of Galilee.

Luke 5:1–11 NIV

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.

And so, here’s Luke’s version of what takes place: One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret (sea of Galilee)the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. Okay, so there’s more going on. Jesus is preaching down by the edge of the sea of Galilee. And this is important. Following Jesus always begins with information. It always begin with listening. It doesn’t begin with leave your world or leave your lifestyle cold and just start following. It begins with information. And this is important. It’s okay to ask questions, it’s okay to have doubts, it’s okay to wrestle with the uncertainty, but real faith and real Christianity is built on truth and teaching and learning. Not just blind faith. Jesus always built people’s faith around information and teaching, listening and learning. And so, Jesus is standing on the shore of this lake, his feet are wet, the waves are crashing behind him, and people are crowded around him and he’s teaching.

And then it says: He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. Now, let me explain this. What would happen is the guys would fish all night, they’d pull up their nets, take out the fish if there were any fish, then they’d stretch their nets out on wooden posts, and then they’d dry the nets, and go around and pull out all the junk and rocks and trash and stuff that got caught in their over night, then they’d roll them up take them home and store them during the day. So there’s these guys, working on their nets pulling all the stuff off and at they’re listening to Jesus. And he saw that their boats were sitting there.

And He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon (that’s Peter), he gets into Peter’s boat and he asked him to put out a little from shore. This is important: Hey, Peter! I see you’re in the middle of cleaning off your net, and you’ve been up all night trying to catch fish, but can I inconvenience you for just a minute? Now, Peter’s working, and he’s been listening, and Peter and Jesus have already met each other. In the passage before this, Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law, and so he’s like “yeah Jesus, I can do that for you, I kind of owe you one anyway.” Then he sat down and he taught the people from the boat. Because faith comes by hearing. Following begins with listening. Faith is built around content and information. So Simon (or Peter), James, Andrew and John have been listening, and 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, and he could have said anything here. Yo Peter, what did you think of that Sermon? Oh, it was Good Jesus, well then! Leave your family and follow me! But he doesn’t do that. It says when he had finished speaking he said to Simon Peter, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

Jesus is asking Peter to do something he’s done thousands of times. But he asks him to do it in a way he’s never done it before. Now, there’s two problems with this. 1. Jesus, we’ve already cleaned and dried our nets. Not a casual process. We’ve just finished doing what you do after you finish what you’ve just asked me to do. But Jesus is like “Hey, Peter, let’s go fishing.” And now, Peter is respectful, and Jesus is a rabbi, and so Peter responds and you can kinda tell he’ not really up for fishing so he says: “Master, we’ve worked hard all night, in other words, we’ve been fishing all night, and we haven’t caught anything. Now this is important. Fisherman back then would fish at night. The sea of Galilee was extremely deep, and at night the waters would cool down and the fish would come to the surface. And nets couldn’t go very far down, so they’d wait to fish at night when the waters were cool and the fish were close to the surface. And so, they had been fishing all night, when you’re supposed to fish, and they’ve caught nothing. So they’ve cleaned and dried their nets, they’re about to go home, and Jesus says hey peter, lets go fishing when you’re not supposed to go fishing. In other words, I want you to do something that you’ve done a thousand times, but I want you to do it differently. I want you to do it my way. I’m not asking you to leave your family and leave your family business. I’m just asking you to do something, one time, differently than you’ve ever done it before.

“Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

And we don’t know what Peter was thinking. Maybe something like, “Clearly, Jesus, you’re a carpenter. You know nothing about fishing. That was a great sermon, but fishing probably isn’t your thing Jesus. And Jesus, you’ve gathered a crowd. If they see me fishing right now, they’re going to think I’m crazy.” But you know what was at stake? What was at stake was whether or not Peter thought he could trust Jesus or not. And that’s why this next part is so cool.

It says “But because you say so, (not because I think it’s gonna work out, not because I think we’re gonna catch anything, not because I think this is a good use of my time, but because I’ve listened and because I’ve lent you my boat, and because I have just enough respect for you, I mean you healed my mother in law) but because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

Now. Imagine what hung in the balance of Peter’s decision to take Jesus fishing. The reason we even know who Peter is is because in that moment he decided: Okay, I’m gonna trust this guy with this one opportunity to do something I’ve done a thousand times in a different way. And for some of us, this is exactly where we are today. There’s this internal nudge, this conscience, that thing, where God is just nudging and like Peter you have no idea what hangs in the balance. But imagine if Jesus had dropped the screen and showed Peter everything that would come from this one decision. Jesus later on calls Peter the rock or the foundation of which he’ll build his church on. And today in Vatican City you can visit Saint Peter’s Bascilica, this huge tomb where Peter may or may not be buried. But, Peter’s decision changed everything for him and for the church. BUt Peter, just like you and just like me had no idea what hung in the balance of a single decision to do something he had done a thousand times but to do it in a way he had never done it before simply because Jesus said will you do it.

Then it says “When they had done so… not because they had believed so, or thought so, or prayed so, because doing is what makes the difference. 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. And when Simon Peter saw this, what do you think he did? The natural tendency is to get all excited about all the fish. Look! Dad look, we don’t have to work for weeks now. We’ve got such an abundance. But Peter doesn’t respond that way.

When Simon Peter saw this he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, and this is amazing because in this moment it’s no longer about fish or about fishing, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said “Go away from me, Lord. Not master, but Lord. For I am a sinful man.” In this moment, Peter for the first time recognized who Jesus was and recognized who he was and this was the beginning of Peter’s relationship with Jesus. He had been crammed into the boat with Jesus, the savior of the world while he taught, but it wasn’t until he took this practical step of faith that suddenly his eyes and heart were opened and he experienced something he never imagined experieincing and he was like omg im in the presence of my Lord I don’t deserve to be here, I shouldn’t be here. And Jesus was getting ready to say “Peter, I want you to follow me.”

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, and this is important. From now on, in other words, I have a future for you. ANd I couldn’t tell you what it was until you were willing to do something that you’ve done a thousand times the way I wanted you to do it, and in doing so, you’re little tiny faith and trust in me intersected with my faithfulness, and now you know who I am, and now you know who you are, and now you can trust me when I say you have a future for you. But it all hung in the balance wiht a single decision to trust Christ with something they had done many times before.

From now on you will fish for people.” And these guys are probably like, wait, what did he say? Idk, but yes. Whatever Jesus, we’ll do whatever. 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

And I think all of us would have followed him. Not because he said “leave everything and follow me.” But because they listened and then they inconvienced themselves, and then they took a single step to allow God’s faithfulness to intermingle itself with their act of obedience, and then they were able and ready to leave their nets and follow him.

Application

Now, in this story I think there are four phases of what it means to follow Jesus, and I think most of us find ourselves in one of these four phases.

For some of us we’re in the sit and listen phase. If you’re here today, you’ve taken a step to follow Jesus because following Jesus always begins with taking in information and content. It’s not blind faith. So, for some of us just being here and listening puts us within this first step of following Jesus. And so, get information and ask questions, because this is where following Jesus begins. Everyone who followed him in the first century followed him after receiving information.

Some of you might be in the let Jesus borrow the boat stage, Jesus said to Peter “can I borrow your boat?” And I think this is where Jesus starts to draw us into himself a little more. And this is a little bit of an inconvenience. You’ve got stuff going on. Peter was in the middle of cleaning his nets, he was tired, ready to go home, and Jesus says, Peter, let me borrow your boat. It’s inconvenient, but it’s your next step. For some of you it might be joining a small group or a bible study. A place where you can engage with God’s word and with other people and discuss and grow. For some of you, it might be downloading the bible on your phone and begin reading it for yourself. And yeah, it’s inconvenient. To wake up early or go to bed later to spend time in God’s word is inconvenient, bur you’ve been sitting and listening and it’s time to take that next step “Can I borrow your boat, Can I borrow a little bit of your time?”

And then, for some of you it’s the take him fishing stage. And this is where it gets a little wild, because your heavenly father wants you to do something that you’ve done a thousand times differently than you’ve ever done it before. It probably has something to do with your relationships, your academics, your profession, or your money more than likely. Maybe it’s doing something different at work, or something different at school, or different at home. And here’s how you know what it is: Every once in a while when you’re reading scripture, or every once in a while when you’re praying, or when you’re just thinking, there’s something on the inside of you and you begin to think “I really need to,” I really need to begin, I really need to stop, I really need to start, and you kind of in your own way know that in some way, it’s as if your conscience is tuned into something that it wasn’t tuned into before because that thing never bothered you before but it’s starting to bother you, and now you can’t get it out of your mind. There’s some kind of change you need to make, and it’s not change your whole life, it’s change this one thing, do this one thing differently, and it’s as if it might be the voice of God speaking to you and you have no idea what hangs in the balance of that decision to make that one change. But you’ve listened and you’ve learned enough that you know there might be something to this. This decision to change a relationship, this decision to approach business differently, this decision to be more generous is at the middle of your life and God is calling you to take him fishing and you have no Idea what hangs in the balance, but you’re scared, and Jesus says Follow ME. I’m not asking you to change everything, I just want to show up in your life because when your small, tiny, baby faith intersects with my faithfulness it’s not gonna be about all of the things you’re concerned about, it’s not gonna be about the thing I’m asking you to change, you’ll leave here in be in awe because God has spoken to you. You make that small change, whatever it is, and you see the difference it makes and you think Oh my Lord, you’ve spoken to me. It was really you knocking on my heart. You ACTUALLY spoke to me, you care about me. And your life will be different because you’ll have done what your heavenly father has invited you to do. And I don’t know what that is. But you do. And you’re scared, and you’ve been saying no, but this might be the next step for you to take in following Jesus.

Finally, some of you might be in this last step, You’ve sat and listened, you’ve loaned Jesus the boat, you’ve made that change or those changes, and now it’s time to leave the nets. Now it’s time to surrender your life to him. You’ve been messing around and saying God you can have, this, actually I want it back, but you can have this, but not this, and you go back and forth, but now it’s time to fully surrender all of it to him. It’s time to quit playing games and just say “heavenly father, my whole life is yours. Everything I own, my future, my relationship, God I wan your will in every single area in my life.

Now, the point with all of these is are you willing to take the next step? Identify the next step, and take it. All of us in here are on some kind of faith journey, and Jesus is inviting us to take that next step. He’s not going to force you, but he is calling you. And here’s the thing: You don’t know what hangs in the balance. It’s in the balance of your decision that determines how real God is to you, how alive your faith becomes. It is doing that makes the difference in terms of your experience with your heavenly father. So whatever the next step is, take it. You do not, I can promise you this, you do not want to spend the rest of your life wandering what God might have done if you had said yes. You don’t want to spend the next season of life wandering where God is, why you never experience him and then realize that the issue wasn’t God, the issue was your inability or unwillingness to take the next, tiny step, to do something a little bit differently than you have before. I have plenty of stories I could tell you where I didn’t take the step. There was a fork in the road and God was saying John trust me, and I just couldn’t do it, and then I’d spend months wandering why it seemed like God was absent. I look back and I’m like man, if i’d have done this differently, or this differently, or if I would have listened to God and taken that next step, how differently could that relationship have been, how different could that situation have played out, if I would have just listened to you, listened to that voice that feeling. Don’t make that mistake. You’ll never regret taking the next step. So take it. Keep listening and learning if that your next step, let him borrow the boat if that’s the next step, do that one thing differently, give him your life.