February 6, 2010

Go Fishing With Jesus!

5th Sunday after Epiphany, 2/7/10
Luke 5:1-11


Go Fishing With Jesus!
I. Against your human reason
II. With the promise of a catch


Perhaps you’ve seen the bumper sticker that states, “A bad day of fishing beats a good day at work.” I often see them on the back of pickup trucks along with other bumper stickers about fishing and hunting. And if I get the chance to see who’s driving the vehicle, invariably the person looks like someone who enjoys fishing. You know—the outdoor type of guy. Put him inside a cubicle behind a desk with a computer terminal in front of him and he’s miserable. Put him out on a lake in a small boat with a fishing pole in his hand and he thinks he’s in heaven. If you ask a guy like that to go fishing with you, you can count on him saying, “Yes!” There’s nothing he likes doing more than fishing.

But how about you? If I were to ask you to go fishing with me, what would your reaction be? I know that some of you would jump at the chance. You would rearrange your schedule so that you could spend the day fishing with me. Others of you might not be so eager. You might agree to go but only if you don’t have something better or more important to do. And then there are those of you who would politely but quickly say, “No thanks.” Being in a boat on a lake with the sun beating down on you is not your idea of fun. You don’t want to handle fishing bait and you don’t want to have to remove a fish from a hook. And there’s no way you’re going to clean any fish. No, the closest you’ll get to fishing is ordering fish at a restaurant. I’m sure I’d get all of those reactions from you if I invited you to fish with me.

But what if the invitation came from Jesus? What if Jesus came up to you today and asked, “Would you like to go fishing with me today?” What would you tell him? Would you respond, “Let’s go!”? Or, would you let him down easy by saying something like, “You know, Jesus, I really don’t like fishing” or, “Not today, Jesus. I’ve got other things I need to do” or, “I’m not much good at it, but that guy over there loves to fish. Why don’t you ask him?” I understand your reluctance. That reluctance comes from knowing that Jesus isn’t speaking about fishing for fish in a physical sense; he’s speaking about fishing for people in a spiritual sense. And we’re all reluctant on some level to do that. So let’s encourage one another this morning. Go fishing with Jesus! May he fill us with the desire to do so as we ponder this portion of his word.

Part I.

Remember when telling your children, “Because I said so” was good enough? That works when they’re younger. That’s because the younger your children are the more likely they are to see you as an authority figure. But it doesn’t take long for that advantage to vanish. All too soon, “Because I said so” isn’t reason enough.

But “Because I said so” was reason enough for Peter. You know this story. Jesus used one of Peter’s boats as a pulpit to preach to a crowd on shore. The lake made the acoustics nearly perfect. And when he was finished preaching he told Peter, “Put out into deep water, and let down your nets for a catch.” Peter knew this made no fishing sense. He states that very thing to Jesus, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.” Peter was a professional fisherman. As such he knew that the best time for fishing that lake was at night, not during broad daylight. He also knew that the place to let down his nets was in the shallow water, not the deep water. His fishing experience and human reason told him that Jesus’ instructions were nonsense. But he did it anyway. He told Jesus, “Because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

Now why would Peter have thrown good common fishing sense to the wind simply because a carpenter-turned-preacher told him to do so? I can think of a couple reasons. First, Peter knew Jesus to be more than just a preacher. This wasn’t the first time Peter had met Jesus. Formerly Peter had been a disciple of John the Baptist and was there the day after Jesus’ baptism when John pointed to Jesus and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” From that day on Peter had begun to follow John less and less and Jesus more and more. As Peter spent more and more time with Jesus he had more and more opportunities to listen to the words that Jesus spoke and those words strengthened his faith in Jesus. Peter was ready to do just about anything that Jesus said, including this command to fish when and where it made no sense.

And secondly, by this time Peter had and the other disciples had already witnessed Jesus’ almighty power. They had been there at the wedding in Cana with him when he turned water into wine. If he could do that, then he could fill Peter’s nets with fish as well. In short, Peter had already learned the lesson that the word of Jesus had power—almighty power. And so at Jesus’ word, he let down his nets for a catch against his human reason.

Jesus wants us to go fishing with him as well. And his invitation is just as much against our human reason as it was to Peter’s. He doesn’t send us out with nets or fishing pole or bait. Instead, he sends us out with his words—words such as “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord” (Lk. 2:11). Words such as, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16). Words such as “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). Simple words, but what power behind them! That’s against human reason. He sends us out with the water splashed on an infant’s head in the saving name of the triune God. Simple water combined with the almighty word of God. That’s against human reason. With a tasteless wafer we receive his body and with barely a swallow of wine we receive his blood and it’s all because of his word. That’s against human reason. But he invites us to go fishing with him and that’s what he gives us to fish with. And not only do we struggle to do so against our human reason, but also our sinful nature. That sinful nature is lazy, careless and loveless. But that’s where the astounding love of the cross of Christ comes in. On that cross he won full forgiveness for us. And now the power of his resurrection goes with us as we go fishing with him. Go fishing with Jesus.

Part II.

If I invited you to fish with me at a local lake, would you accept? Maybe. If I guaranteed a catch, would you be more likely to accept? Probably.

Guaranteed catches. That’s not unheard of. In fact, in the charter fishing boat industry it’s the standard. Don’t pay for any fishing trip unless the owner guarantees a catch or a full refund.

When Jesus invited Peter and his fishing partners, James and John, to go fishing with him, he didn’t entice them with only the hope of making a catch. He guaranteed it. He said, “From now on you will catch men.” How could Jesus be so sure? After all, they were fishermen, not trained public speakers. How could he be sure that they would catch men when all they were fishing with was his word? Because all they were fishing with was his word. They had the word of the Son of God. Recall that this was the very same word that called everything into existence out of nothing during the six days of creation. Later this was the very same word that was used to call the dead Lazarus out of the tomb. About his word Jesus said, “It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). Jesus placed that word in the hearts and mouths of his disciples. He has placed it in your heart and mouth as well.

So, when we share his word with others, we always get results. I know that because Jesus said so. If we share that word with someone and that word works saving faith in the heart, then Jesus receives the glory because his word brought that person to faith. If, on the other hand, we share that word and the person doesn’t believe it, Jesus still receives the glory. That word still had the power to save. The Lord’s saving grace was there, but the person rejected it. Jesus is honored as the Savior who wanted them to believe, but they would not. Every time we go fishing with Jesus and share his word, we get those results and Jesus receives the glory.

Go fishing with Jesus with the promise of a catch.

Some people prefer to go out on a fishing boat but never put a line into the water. They don’t want to catch anything, they just want to enjoy a day on the lake floating in a boat. I guess there’s nothing wrong with that.

But there is something wrong with Christians who let their days float by and don’t have a line in the water, especially when they have the opportunity to do some serious fishing. Do you know what I’m talking about? The Lord places before us a soul that he has purchased with his sufferings and death. He sets up the perfect opportunity for us share briefly what we believe but we decide not to put a line in the water and so we say nothing. I’m guilty of it too. Or we convince ourselves that it isn’t worth it. Even if we do say something, they won’t believe us. Peter knew what that was like. He failed to stand up for Christ in one of his darkest hours. But Peter also was assured of his forgiveness from Christ. After Jesus had died for Peter’s sins and the sins of the world and after he had risen from the dead, Jesus assured Peter of his forgiveness. And the power of that love was what motivated Peter to be a bold apostle for the Lord, to fish for souls far and wide, eventually to die for fishing for souls.

Let’s realize and believe that we have the same forgiveness for our lazy fishing efforts. We have the same powerful word as Peter had. Let’s grab the fishing opportunities Jesus presents to us. In fact, let’s create a few on our own. Look for opportunities to talk with a friend about what you believe. Share with them a message of comfort or guidance from God’s word. Throw a line in the water.

Go fishing with Jesus. He promises you’ll catch souls for him. Amen.