Don't Listen To My Sermon- Listen To Your Own

Churches, and their people, are not perfect. If anyone tells you otherwise, they are lying.

I have now had 37 years of pulpit ministry as the pastor of local churches. I’ve loved it. I’ve seen a lot.

I’ve preached a lot of sermons, and one thing I’ve learned is that you are either holding your listener’s attention or holding your listener’s hostage- and though I’ve done both, I’d much prefer to hold their attention. Admittedly, I’ve done both, unfortunately.

If you are a 15 year old whose parents tell you that you MUST go to church on Sunday, well, chances are you feel like you are being held captive.

At the same time, if you are a hungry follower of Jesus and you are seeking to learn from a sermon that is preached well- likely the worship experience will hold your attention.

In the scripture this morning, there are actually both types of listeners in the audience. There are those who are being held captive by Jesus’ message- and at least one who is a captive audience of Jesus by circumstance- that Jesus put him into.... let’s dive in together.

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 is standing by the Sea of Galilee.

Luke 5:2 ESV

and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

Fishermen naturally have the right stuff for serving Jesus.

Courage. Patience. Determination. Faith.

Fishermen must work together… and they need to help each other. They need to be quick and efficient.

Most of us, if we had fished all night and caught nothing would not be cleaning their nets to go out that night- we’d be selling them. True fishermen don’t quit.

Peter took the nets back out with Jesus, and likely worked while Jesus preached.. . but he was listening. But Peter was a captive audience.

Peter is a fisherman listening to a carpenter who knows nothing about fishing and is doing nothing that makes sense. In the seas of Galilee, you catch fish at night in shallow water.... not in the daytime in deep water. But peter listened by faith (Luke 5.5)

Luke 5:3 ESV

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.

Captive audience.

My son, Nate, called this week and asked Janice if we could take Emma a few hours yesterday. Janice took the call, and looked at me and I nodded. My nod was go ahead- I learned Friday night that the look was actually the question, “Can we go there?” I had no intention of going there as I had plenty to do at home. So, I told her Friday night that she could go withiout me and I’d stay home. Saturday, she told me that she thought Emma would come to our house.

I am now a captive audience. I must listen to baby shark for a full day. I must videotape and photograph endless photos… I must.

And then Nate calls, and asks if it would be okay if they went to dinner before they came to get her. I told Janice, they want to use us for another 2-3 hours.

You are a captive audience.

Luke 5:4 ESV

And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

In a short time Peter had to exercise faith… Jesus first said, “Thrust out a little”… but then he said, “Launch out into the deep.” If Peter had not obeyed the first seemingly insignificant command (verse 3), he would have never participated in the miracle.

Luke 5:5 ESV

And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

What experience did Peter have with “Jesus word” to motivate him to let down the net in the wrong place at the wrong time.?

Remember. It’s time to not fish. It was daytime, not night time.

Remember. It’s the deep water. Not the shallows.

But at your word.

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between blind faith and blind hope?

We usually all have a taste of blind hope. It’s what we want. It’s what we hope for. We want the best. It’s things like I hope the stock market doesn’t crash or I hope I don’t slip on the ice. You always want- or hope- for the best. No one says, Gee, I hope I get cancer. You hope you never do.

But there is no basis for that. You just blindly hope, as we all do- that it works out that way.

Blind faith, on the other hand, is a little (not different) but the same. Blind faith also has no basis- it has no history. It simply believes.

Remember Doubting Thomas? In John 20 he wouldn’t believe except he saw Jesus written. And Jesus appears to him. ?

A single verse reveals the difference between blind hope and blind faith. Look at John 20.29

John 20:29 ESV

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Thomas believed because he saw Jesus alive. That’s not blind hope or blind faith.

But Jesus speaks of another group. Blessed are those who have never seen and yet have believed. Blind faith. They believe but have absolutely no experience with Jesus whatsoever.

We will come back to this.

Peter was neither blind hope or blind faith. Peter had experience with Jesus- the capernaum miracles. The earlier ministry of Jesus in Capernaum where Peter watched Jesus cast out an unclean spirit, healed Peter’s own mother in law in Peter’s house, and he healed tens if not hundreds of people.

We often read our bibles with the belief that if Jesus is healing and the disciples are present, well, they were believers. Hold that thought. Because it is not right. Jesus was using these moments and healings and miracles to lay the groundwork for Peter’s faith. Peter was not yet a full, faithful follower of Jesus Christ.

You see Peter had experience with Jesus in Capernaum. If Jesus had healed his mother in law and done all of those other miracles, if he says to put out a little further and drop the nets (getting clean nets dirty and effectively re-starting the work day instead of ending it)

He had a basis for at least listrning to Jesus.

And so, what I really want you to see is that Peter had some kind of hope- but it wasn’t blind hope. He had experience with Jesus. And if Jesus could cast out demons, and heal my mother in law, and heal a hundred other people- if he says put out in the deep in the daylight or into the dust in the desert- I might want to think about that.

And do it.

In the 1950’s a study was done at Harvard by a DR. Curt Richter. In essence, he took rats and placed them in a jar of water. They died within 2-3 minutes of being placed in the jar of water. Then he took rats, dropped them in the water- and took them out a few moments before they drowned. After a few minutes, he placed them in the water again. And they didn’t last moments, but hours and days.... swimming and trying to survive.

What was the difference? They had hope. They had experienced,, in the being pulled from the water before drowning, that the situation was not hopeless. So they swam.

Rats are different than people. but I have a point.

In 1784, Benjamin Franklin, who headed a commission in France to investigate the mysterious powers of Mesmerism, noted in the commission’s final report that, “Hope is an essential constituent of human life.”

Peter had “fished all night” with nothing. But because of the simple experience of the Capernaum ministry, if Jesus said to do it- he was going to do it.

Luke 5:6 ESV

And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.

Luke 5:7 ESV

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.

How people respond to success is one indication of their true character. Instead of claiming the valuable catch for themselves, Peter and Andrew called their partners to share it. We are not reservoirs, but channels of blessing, to share with others what God has graciously given to us.

Luke 5:8 ESV

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Having an experience of Christ’s power FOR YOURSElf will drive you to repentance.

Luke 5:9 ESV

For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken,

Luke 5:10 ESV

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.”

Luke 5:11 ESV

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

As you read this story it is so easy to believe that some life altering transformation is going to happen to that crowd on the shore. Can you imagine watching this all take place.

You have just listened to the greatest teacher preach one of the best sermons ever delivered. From a boat because the crowds are so incredibly large he had to go out to sea to avoid the crowds. And you listen to it all go down.

He had to go out there because the crowds would crush in on him.... he had to go out there to accomodate such a large group of people… he had to go out there to be heard. Right?

What if we are wrong? Or at least, misleading ourselves?

What if this wasn’t about the crowd at all? What if John wrote it down for us instead of them?

Because, i want you to know in all likelihood some people didn’t stop to listen. They had places to be and people to see. If that thought is different than what you expected this morning, well, good.

That crowd, some stopped some didn’t. Some stopped for five minutes and had to move on. Some stopped and listened. Some arrived half way through the message, some came late some came early and missed it.

I don’t think the crowd was everything we made them out to be… sitting on the edge of their seat because this was JESUS!!! Many of them didn’t even know who he was and if they gave him three minutes of their time it probably didn’t matter to them at all.

But Peter heard every word. Peter heard every syllable.

And Peter had background. Peter had the experience of Capernaum and all those miracles. He had experienced walking with Jesus for a few days. He had his mother in law.

But Peter had not yet committed.

In fact, Peter had the experience of not even knowing who Jesus was before he met him.

Peter had the experience of the mundane missing of Jesus- when he fished all night and had no idea Jesus was even in the house.

Are you getting the picture?

And yet, on this day at this time, Peter was held captive.

He was in his boat. I truly imagine he was fishing the whole time Jesus preached. I really believe that.

Peter was going on with his life, doing all he would have otherwise done- but he was a captive audience.

And as he listened, he learned. And as he lived, he learned. And as he learned, he experienced. And when he had his own experience, he repented.

Depart from me, I am a sinful man, Lord.

Be sure you catch what happened there.

He was astonished at what had happened, and at what Jesus did.

He acknowledges his own unworthiness- his sin.

But he calls Jesus, “Lord”.

And from that point forward Peter, and his partners, James and John, go with Jesus.

All because they were held captive- and God used the matters of their lives to bring them to Himself, to Christ.

Your Life Can Either Hold You Hostage Or Hold Your Attention

Peter, had a front row seat to Jesus. We do not. It does not mean that God is not working in us the same way that He worked in Peter’s life.

Peter’s failures as a fisherman, Peter’s personality as a person, Peter’s family and friends. Peter’s experience in Capernaum of Jesus’ miracles. All played into making Peter the person that set out from the shore that day.

It wasn’t in the boat that God had Peter’s Attention; it was in his life, Peter just didn’t know it.

And we are the same way. We may not have a front row seat, but we have a seat. And we have our own boat- our lives. And we have the choice of paying attention to what Jesus has done or ignoring it in these times.

What if God is writing a sermon based on our situation- who we are? what if God is doing something specifically to our situation, right now?