Scripture Lesson: Luke 5:1-11
June 28, 2018
"So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him." ~ Luke 5:11
Most human beings are nice people and go out of their way to avoid difficult situations, especially if someone’s feelings might be hurt. An example of the niceness of people occurs when someone wants you to do something you believe is a waste of time. Often you will do it to humor the person because you don’t want to hurt their feelings. Therefore, you might try a recipe that your girlfriend assures you even picky children will eat. Or you might take a short cut home that your neighbor tells you he uses all the time. Or you might try a popular diet that promises you will lose 10 lbs in a month without giving up your favorite food or exercising.
People apply this same behavior to their faith life. So, if what you believe Jesus asks of you doesn’t make sense to strangers, that’s okay, because you don’t care, what strangers think. If what you believe Jesus asks of you doesn’t make sense to acquaintances, it’s okay, because their opinions matter little to you. If it doesn’t make sense to people you know well, it still is okay, because you believe your relationship with them is strong enough to weather the storm of disagreement. Even when it doesn’t make sense to persons you love, persons whose opinions matter to you, you start to doubt whether you are doing the right thing. But still you continue on because you reason the love and respect you share is strong enough to withstand this test.
However, when you can’t make sense of what you believe Jesus asks of you, it is then that you begin to falter. You falter because you are leaning on yourself – your own strength and your own understanding – rather than leaning on Christ. You say, “But I’m a good Christian who believes in Jesus.” That’s great but you are also a human being who has come to depend on your ability to think logically, and to reason your way through all difficult situations and all your problems.
There are some among you for whom your ability to think logically, and to reason your way through things, is a source of pride. But there is a limit to your ability to think logically and to reason your way through difficult situations. Maybe Simon Peter knew this and that is why he was able to do as Jesus instructed him, even though he obviously had doubts that doing so was worth his time.
Sometimes the blessings don’t come when you want them. Sometimes you must toil all night the way Simon Peter and his fishing partners, James and John, had. Yes, it may seem as though you are wasting your time but you must trust God to lead you. Proverbs 3: 5 & 6, KJV, puts it this way, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding; In all thine ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths.” It is not easy to lean on the Lord this much. It is not easy to trust the Lord this much. But you must lean, and trust, nonetheless if you are going to ever achieve “the peace that passes all understanding” talked about in Phil. 4:7.
And it is this peace that makes life’s ups and downs, and life’s uncertainties, bearable.
Consider three truths in this scripture lesson. Jesus could have taught the crowd from the shore, truth #1. A real teacher can teach anywhere under any circumstance. Jesus wasn’t just any teacher but Jesus was the Master Teacher, teaching lessons where others saw no lesson. By getting in the boat, truth #2, Jesus proved that his power was mobile and was not limited by human conventions. Jesus was Jesus, the Son of God, with the authority and power of God’s Son, whether on land or water. And the 3rd truth occurred when Simon Peter went out from the shore, when that occurred Jesus was able to demonstrate the mystery, and majesty, of His power.
The fact that the fishermen had worked hard all night, and hadn’t caught anything, was a necessary pre-condition for demonstrating that Jesus was no ordinary man, that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.
Jesus still asks you to let down your nets. Some of you are called to do so at home among family and friends. Jesus asks some of you to go into new lands to spread the good news of Christ, in whatever ways are presented to you. It might be formally as missionaries, or informally as witnesses to the power of Christ in your own lives. Some of you are asked to let down your nets among colleagues and peers. And still others of you are called to do so among strangers because you have that ability. Each of you must ask yourselves, where has Jesus called me to let down my net? Wherever that is, you will probably have to work hard for a while, maybe even a long while, before you see the results you’re looking for. You may encounter the stranger who thinks you are wasting your time. You may encounter the acquaintance who thinks you are wasting your time. You may have the experience of persons you know well telling you that you are wasting your time. You may even have the experience of persons you love, persons whose opinion you value, telling you that you are wasting your time. But always remember, whatever the experience or situation, regardless of who has what to say about it, if Jesus is within you and if Jesus is directing you, it is the right place, at the right time, to do as Jesus directs.
Know that there are abundant blessings waiting on all persons who go wherever, and do whatever, Jesus directs. Commit yourself to being one of those persons.
Pastor Woods-Barrant