South City Baptist Church: Tauranga 21.06.15
Prayer &Self Denial No. 3 Spreading the Nets
Big Idea: Jesus calls and sends us out to be a sign and witness to the Gospel message through the empowering of His Holy Spirit.
Introduction
Fishing is one of those hobbies that you either love or hate. Where some people seem to have all the luck and others, no matter how much they try, can’t seem to catch a thing. That’s probably the most frustrating aspect of fishing. A catch is never guaranteed. Then there’s all the fishing gear you need. Rod, bait, hooks, sinkers, reel, line, knife, cutting board, sun glasses, food, drinks, sun block, a hat, a boat or kayak, and so on. Just getting ready to go fishing can be a chore in itself and as any fisherman knows it can be hard work.
Our Scripture today is about a fisherman and his experience fishing with Jesus.
Read: - Luke 5:1-11
5One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee,great crowds pressed in on Him to listen to the word of God.2He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.3Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon,its owner, to push it out into the water. So He sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.
4When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon,“Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”
5“Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.”6And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear!7A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.
8When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.”9For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him.10His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.
Jesus replied to Simon,“Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!”11And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.
While our focus this morning will be around the event of Peter casting his net into the water, it’s necessary for us to see the whole picture of what was taking place.
This year’s Prayer and Self Denial has been based around the theme “till the nets are full” and the fishing metaphor used is an appropriate picture about the nature and characteristics of mission into the world.
So let’s have a look at what taking place here and as I mentioned it will be focusing around vs5-7.
1. “Master”
This word sets us up for what happens through the entirety of this section. Peter would have heard about Jesus to some extent and he would have seen other teachers and preachers come through the area. But here we see something exceptional take place. Peter refers to Jesus as “master” and Jesus sees the potential Peter has.
Why you say? What’s so important about Peter calling Jesus master?
Andrew Murray said, “Humility is nothing but the disappearance of self in the vision that God is all.”
Peter’s response to Jesus is a response of humbleness that is a necessary quality to be part of Jesus’ mission team. We see this humbleness playing a bigger part later on in this story.
2. “We worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing.”
Isn’t that fishing, yet Peter’s lack of fish isn’t because he laxed back into his boat and dreamed the night away. No! Peter was a fully commitment fisherman, he worked hard and like any hard worker after a day or in this case a nights work he was tired. He was a fisherman and his life and finances depended on catching fish.
As Jean Paul Sartire said, “commitment is an act, not a word.”
Along with humbleness, commitment is another quality that is necessary to be a part of Jesus’ mission team.
3. “But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.”
Here again we return to the humbleness of Peter as he obeys Jesus’ request. Ironically the twist here is that the person asking Peter to let his nets down is Jesus a carpenter’s son and a preacher, not a fisherman was telling him how to fish. Peter knew that the conditions weren’t right, it was daylight (they only fished at night), they were tired from fishing all night. Their nets were only designed for night time fishing. ‘This isn’t going to work’. I could imagine Peter thinking; “well this is going to be a waste of time and energy”.
Peter could have turned to Jesus and said, sorry but you aren’t a fisherman, you have no idea, it’s not going to happen. Yet Peter’s words and actions reflect a man who had nothing to lose in doing so and so he did as Jesus requested. As Ed Townsend said, “Teachability and trust always leads to total obedience.”
Although Peter didn’t think the conditions were suitable are he obeyed Jesus’ request. This is another important aspect of being on Jesus’ mission team, being humble to listen and act as Jesus leads.
4. “And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear.”
This is where a revelation took place, where Peter world view began to change. No ordinary person could have done such a miracle – only God could have. God was no longer a story character but a real person. See Peter thought and felt unworthy and unusable to God. Peter believed that God only used people who were religious, people who were priests or prophets or teachers or preachers, and he was an ordinary person a fisherman. Yet again Jesus sees potential, as Peter responds in vs. 8 “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.”
Peter’s confession becomes his qualification to his service, which is responded to by Jesus vs. 10 “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” Peter instead of catching fish that would be filleted and devoured, would catch people and save them from the dangers of this world. But while he caught the fish, he would need other to help him bring them in.
Peter needed to be dependent on others; he couldn’t do this all on his own. If Peter was to be successful at catching men he would have to put God first. The rest of the story of Jesus’ earthly life was interacting with others - you need a Saviour and teaching His disciples to be imitators of Him. That’s why Peter left has former life and followed Jesus.
Peter’s willingness to leave and follow Jesus’ lead is a necessary quality to be part of Jesus’ mission team.
Conclusion
Peters call and ministry by Jesus is a call and ministry that we are called to as well. We may not all be called to be pastors, overseas missionaries. We may be called to serve God in our homes, schools, sports teams, social clubs, retirement villages, communities that we belong to, etc. And while not all of us are called to be pastors or overseas missionaries, Jesus maybe calling you to start up a new home group with your neighbours, get involved in a ministry already in the church or community, to start a new ministry.
Whatever it maybe, we need 3 qualities that Peter had and that Jesus is looking for:
1. He was willing to go where Jesus was leading him.
2. Peter was a humble person
3. Peter was fully committed to the job.
4.
Remember Jesus is the one who calls us to mission, and enables us to participate. It is His Word, His Spirit and ultimately His kingdom that we build. When we are sensitive to His leading, even when what He asks of us seems to make no sense, He will be the One glorified in the results.
Let’s Pray:
Pray for the missionaries and issues they face.