Sermon - 2019-02-10

Today our gospel is what every pastor would love to have as their problem.  So many people coming and wanting to hear them speak. That their message and work would move people to the point where they would take time from their day to go and listen to this message.  Now keep in mind too that they were not simply coming to a luxurious place to sit and be entertained, no they were coming out to the lakeshore. It was probably a sunny day and there was not a lot of place for shade.  Not only that but that they would invite friends, family and anyone else to come and see who or what this is all about.

Now please note in the gospel, what did Jesus teach to the crowds of so many people?  We have no idea! Luke does not write down what the sermon or message was all about. However, what Luke does want us to realize is perhaps even more profound.  The way in which Jesus calls the disciples.

While Jesus is doing his work, he encounters these men doing their jobs.  However, in perhaps a truly surprising twist, Jesus tells the fishermen to go out and fish again.  Keep in mind, these men were tired from fishing all night. They had already been out to the exact places where Jesus was telling them to go.  The place where they had spent hours and caught nothing. Now if you had already spent hours doing something to no success and someone told you to go and do the same thing. How would you respond?  “Well that’s silly.” Instead after hearing the message of Jesus, Simon, one of the men goes out and casts his net. What did he have to lose? He had already worked and earned nothing.

Simon goes out, casts his nets and to his amazement, he catches fish!!!

Now this goes against all his logic.  Fish do not feed at this time of day. This is when fish are going to the bottom where they will be cool and happy.  How did this man know to go out and fish at this time? When all the other fishermen had come in and were done for the day.  Simon catches so many fish that he has to call on his friends to help him and both boats are filled with fish. This is like winning the lottery.  Their ship had come in, literally.

Yet Simon’s response to Jesus speaks volumes.  “Go away from me, for I am a sinful man.” Now who had told him that he was sinful?  By what standard or law was Simon judged as sinful and thus unworthy of being near a Godly man, let alone being one himself?  

This brings us to one of the greatest misunderstood lesson of all time.  The use of the LAW and the gift of the Gospel. For the Law was given to people so that they may know that they need God.  Even to remind us or point out to us the way we are perfect. Yet the Gospel is then lived out. God asks us to live with Him.  Join Him in the work that He is calling us to do even when we do not feel qualified.

Simon, James and John, all follow Jesus and leave behind everything that they were.  They abandoned their past, the bad and the good. They left behind their sinful ways but they also left behind their means of earning a living.  But now, they were on a journey to discover and understand what living is truly all about.

Today, I hope that you become aware of the ways that you are in need of God.   The ways you are not perfect. However, do not let those excuses to hold yourself back and keep you away from God.  No, it is my hope that you experience God and even more, answer His Call to understand what living is all about. Amen.