In With the New part 4: A New Definition of Success

Introduction

Whats up friends! Welcome back to NXT High School. My name is Matt Velasco, if we have not met I want you to know that I am so glad that you are here and would love to meet you before you leave tonight! You’ll hear and see that we say something around these parts, we say that Wednesday night, tonight, is the best night of the week. And we firmly believe it. Not just because you get to hangout with friends and have free dinner and a ton of fun, but also because God has a funny way of showing up in special ways on Wednesday nights here at NXT.

So, if you’re new, thanks for being here! We hope you love it and I want to personally invite you to come back next week.

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Growing up my grandma lived and still lives on Lake Minnetonka, but my experience on the lake was a little different than most of the people I know who grew up on the lake. Most of them have memories of learning how to ski or wakeboard or wake surf, or even if you’re cooler than everyone else, wake skate. But my memories didn’t involve any of that. In fact, we rarely even tubed on the lake growing up. We didn’t have a ski boat until recently, and even still its not what we frequent the most. And yet, our dock has always had 3-4 boats attached to it.

Well then Matt, what did you do? We fished. And not just go on the dock and cast a bobber off fish, like legit fishing. 5am in the morning, get in the boat, go find some tall weeds, fishing. But, can I be candid with you? I never enjoyed it. To be honest I still don’t enjoy it and I probably won’t ever, but not without my trying. My little brother on the other hand is the opposite. In fact, my parents just moved last week to Lake Minnetonka and built a shed sort of room attached to their house where rods and such will be stored and we’re calling it “Jack’s room” like the dude loves fishing and hunting and all of the outdoors stuff. I just don’t.

But, nevertheless, every year on fathers day we would have a family fishing competition where the biggest fish caught during a certain window of time would net you (ha…) the trophy. Yes, a legit trophy with a big fish on the top. And you know what…even though I never liked fishing I still won it one year. I thought to myself, “maybe this is what I need to fall in love with the fish,” but I was wrong. Want to know why I never have liked fishing? I think its boring. It takes too much time for not enough reward. And I was never successful enough at catching fish.

Big Idea

Tonight we’re going to talk about a story where Jesus goes fishing with some of His friends, and how it changes the way we view success today. In fact, I’m going to give you 3 things that it takes to actually be successful in life. We’re gonna call them the 3 F’s to success. FAITH. FORSAKE. FOLLOW.

Text Address

If you have your Bibles, why don’t you open up to Luke 5:1-11,

Luke 5:1–11 ESV

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Content

Lets pray.

Peter (who was known as Simon, or Simon Peter), and his partners James and John were professional fisherman. Not professional in the sense that they were sponsored fishing athletes, but professional because its how they made their living. They would have lived and worked in a town much like this one in Ghana. The whole entire economy was built around fisherman and what they were able to catch each night. So them going out and having an unsuccessful night is much more significant than me or you failing to catch a fish off the dock.

They had spent the night fishing with what were known as dragnets. It was back breaking work because it involved laying out a great net in a semicircle, which would encompass over 100 feet, drawing it in hand-over-hand, then repeating the procedure again and again.. It was hard hard work. The group had sweat through the night without as much as a single fish. So, when the sun was rising they went back to shore and beached their boats. They ate breakfast under the warming sun and began to wrap up for the day by cleaning their nets, washing their boats, mending their equipment, and arranging those same nets for drying. Once they were finally dried they would fold them back up and place them near the boats for the coming night, and then head on home to sleep for the day.

But on this particular day something strange was happening around the boat. As the three were wrapping up their duties a crowd had formed around them with a man named Jesus at the center. Verse 1 tells us,

Luke 5:1 ESV

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret,

Jesus was preaching. It was a teaching that held authority and power that drew in a great crowd. A crowd so great that Jesus had to ask if He could use Simon Peter’s boat as a floating stage. Peter obliged, and after drifting his freshly cleaned boat back out the waters only a few yards Jesus began to teach once more. His voice would have carried across the waters to all gathered on the beach.

I like to imagine Simon Peter wasn’t paying too much attention. He was probably spacing out because of the long night’s work and was sitting motionless in the warm sun while this stranger and soon to be savior was preaching next to him. But then something changed,

Luke 5:4–5 ESV

And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

1. Called to FAITH

This brings us to our first point for the night, we are called to faith.

In this moment Jesus starts to change the way that success is defined. Jesus’ request was demanding, “Hey, undo all of the work you just did and go do the very thing you failed at doing last night.” Its how I feel every time my brother asks me to fish… “Hey, I know you are bad this, you know you are bad at this, but come do it with me anyways.” But this time Jesus was asking a man who hadn’t slept all night to go back to the shore and load his boat with all of the equipment he had just cleaned and go back out into the waters to do the very thing he had just failed to do the night before.

I love how R.C. Sproul talks about this, he says,

A Walk with God: Luke In the Presence of the Holy (Luke 5:1–7)

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down you nets for a catch’ (5:1–4, NASB). If there is ever a time when Simon Peter, the rock of the church, exhibits impatience or annoyance at his Master, it is here. He says to him, ‘Master, we worked hard and caught nothing!’ It is almost as if Simon Peter is looking at Jesus and saying, ‘Jesus, when you speak to us about the things of God we hang on your every word. But give us a little bit of credit! Maybe we are not great rabbis, but we know about fishing. We’ve let down those nets a hundred times and we can’t even catch a minnow!’ But Peter reluctantly acquiesced to the command of Jesus, ‘But, at your bidding I will let down the nets.’ It is as though Simon Peter is humouring Jesus.

I don’t now how you respond at times like this, but when someone who’s seemingly not as knowledgeable as me tries to tell me something about something I know much about, I tend to get pretty annoyed and sometimes even frustrated. For instance, you may or may not know this about me, but I love golf. And there is a certain type of golfer that most people (if you golf) have played with. I like to call them The Instructor. They are, of course, not actually an instructor. But they think they are. They give you tips on how to swing the club and what club to use and everything that has to do with your game while showing no actual talent themselves.

I think this is how Peter felt about Jesus in this moment... but Jesus turned out to be the best fishing guide Peter will ever encounter. The catch was huge! Enough for Peter to think, “can I monetize this?! This Jesus dude could make me some MONEY!” but the business is never built, and the boat is left behind. Peter’s success was not in the fish he caught, but the fishing guide who he would follow. And it started with Peter simply humoring Jesus.

How often do you humor Jesus? And I don’t mean that in an offensive way towards our God. I mean that in its practical sense. When was the last time you you stepped out on a limb and did something not because you thought it would be successful, but because you felt like Jesus was telling you to? Or, maybe even more direct, you knew Jesus was telling you to?

Peter had no interest in going fishing again because he knew, or at least he thought he knew that there were no fish to be caught. I wonder what the equivalent in your life is? Where might Jesus be asking you to drop down your nets, and even though it may not make sense to you, you humor him anyways?

I tried hard while preparing this message to think of an example that you might be going through, but I decided not to have any. Because frankly, you know what it is. You know what Jesus is asking you to humor Him and do. And you know what? Maybe there’s nothing. Thats okay. But for many, there’s probably something. And so if we are called to faith, and if acting in faith means to just humor Jesus then the second key to being successful is to know that you are called to forsake.

2. Called to FORSAKE

For many of us part of stepping out in faith and humoring Jesus, like Peter did, requires us to forsake something.

Luke 5:6–10 ESV

And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

What I love about this story is Peter’s response after he did what Jesus told him to do. Yes, he caught the catch of a lifetime and like I said earlier this meant that Peter would have made bank on the fish that now sunk along with the boats because of just how much there was. And you’d think, and lets be honest most of us, would react someway like this:

“THANK YOU JESUS! I can finally buy that car or I can finally buy those clothes or I can finally buy that Playstation or Xbox or I can finally buy that bag or that perfume! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!” But instead Peter falls at Jesus’ feet and asks Jesus to leave. Why? Because Peter began to realize who Jesus was. For the first time, despite the teaching Peter had maybe just slept through, Peter’s eyes were opened. And so you might ask- why should I humor Jesus? to which I’d answer…because you may not know who Jesus is if you don’t.

Don’t get me wrong, we can know who Jesus is without having supernatural stories like this one in our lives. But Jesus has a funny way of showing us who He is when we step out in faith and do something that seems crazy. Whether its a missions trip. Going to a retreat or camp with us at NXT. Going to Church by yourself on a Sunday because no one else in your family wants to go. Or maybe its sitting at that table with the person everyone else is ignoring. Or talking to that person in the corner of the hall who is crying. In moments like these Jesus tends to show us who He is. And our response should be much like Peter’s…falling at Jesus’ feet in awe of who He is.

But Matt, what does any of this have to do with forsaking something? Well, forsaking something means leaving it behind. Jesus’ response to Peter after he falls at His feet is a little weird. He says, “Do not be afraid; from now you will be catching men.”

Peter’s definition of success his whole life and the definition of success for the rest of his life were both sitting in the same boat. And he had to choose. In his old life, to catch this many fish was the pinnacle of success. In his new life, following this man who was known as Jesus was the new pinnacle of success. But in order to do it, his lifestyle and his life needed to change. He would no longer catch fish, but he would catch men.

Weird phrasing, right? So what does it mean? To catch men, for Peter and for you, means to tell people about Jesus. To catch them with the net of the Gospel that the world may say is a restraint. They may say its just a set of religious rules but you know different. You know that the way to be set free is the Gospel. And those rules that they are so afraid of actually give them the life that they seek because when we obey God we see that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than ours. Jesus is the way to freedom, and He’s the way to success!

Success, according to Jesus, means to be called to FAITH, to be called to FORSAKE, and finally to be called to FOLLOW.

3. Called to FOLLOW.

The story ends with this,

Luke 5:11 ESV

And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

This included the boats…the nets…the fish…the business…their identity as fisherman....and the way they used to define success. I love how straightforward this is. It doesn’t tell us that they let the fish back out into the water, it doesn’t tell us they took the time to sell them to have a little bit of cash for the road. It just says they beached their boats, left everything behind, and hit the road with Jesus.

Jesus wants you to follow Him. But following Him will cost you.

When I was in High School I had aspirations of playing college hockey. And, to be honest, the opportunities were right in front of me. I was invited to camps, skated with the gophers, was on teams with some of the best players in the state who are in the NHL now. And I don’t say that to brag or communicate that I was some hot shot hockey player but simply just to say that what I always defined as success was right in front of me. It was mine to grab and mine to chase and mine to have. But one day, at Silver Cliff Ranch in Colorado, the same place we’re going to our summer camp this year. Jesus asked me to humor him… hang up the skates, leave behind those friends, and follow Him. So I got home, two weeks later quit the hockey team, decided to go to Bethel University to study the Bible, and my faith has been aflame ever since. But it costed me.

Truly, it did. Even still when I think of what could have been I get a little tinge in my gut. I think of the shape I’d be in today if I kept playing hockey. I think of the experiences I could have had. The places I could have gone. The people I could have met, and honestly, the opportunities I could have had.

But you know what? None of that would have ever compared to the Jesus that I have gotten to meet and follow because I gave up on what I used to define as success. All it took was faith, forsaking what was, and following Jesus.

Conclusion

I have no doubt that there’s at least one of you in this room that needs to change how you view success. You’ve been chasing after something that you think will give you life, but friend unless its following Jesus there will never be life on the other side. Sure, there might be a full bank account or a big closet with a lot of nice clothes, or that big house you’ve always wanted. But can I let you in on a secret? None of that matters. Don’t believe me? Lets hear what one of the most successful men of all time has to say about it-

**show Tom Brady clip**

Tom Brady doesn’t know what the answer is. He had no idea why after 3 super bowl rings at that time he still felt like there had to be more. But you know, and I know. Its because true success is found only in Jesus. I promise you, the poor person who is deeply in love with Jesus will always be more successful than the rich one who knows nothing of Him.

Jesus changes the way we view success, he shows us in this story that success takes 3 things. Faith, forsaking, and following.

Love you guys! Head to small group.