Can Jesus Share Your Boat?

The Sermon Study Guide is here.

Luke 5:1-11; Isaiah 6:1-8

March 10, 2013 • Portage First UMC

VIDEO INTRO

Last summer, when we arrived in Israel, we went through security and customs, got our bags, and loaded onto the bus for the two-hour ride from Tel Aviv to Tiberias, a city which sits on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Our tour guide, Mike, was very good at helping us get acclimated to the country, sharing history and interesting tidbits, including how Starbucks coffee wasn’t strong enough for the Israeli taste. Then, as we came into Tiberias, he warned us that something was about to happen to us. We were going to experience the “Below Sea Level Effect,” which he said makes everyone happy and smiling. As we passed the sign that said, “Sea Level,” he asked, “Is everyone happy?” Well, we were. Now, it could have been simply slap-happiness, being exhausted from the long plane ride and subsequent bus ride, but we were also glad to be nearing this place that we’d read about and heard about so much. By the time we reached the shore, we were 700 feet below the level of the Mediterranean Sea. We were at the lowest fresh body of water on Earth. Perhaps it was the “Below Sea Level Effect” that was the reason Jesus centered much of his ministry around this Sea, the Sea of Galilee.

VIDEO - SEA OF GALILEE The Sea has several names in the Bible, which sometimes gets confusing. It’s often named after one of the towns along the shore. For instance, in the book of Numbers, it’s called the Sea of Chinnereth. Sometimes it’s call the Sea of Tiberias. Here in Luke, it’s called the Lake of Gennesaret, and if Luke is the same Luke who traveled with Paul on the Mediterranean Sea, we can understand why he wouldn’t call it a sea. This is a little lake. Luke’s seen much bigger seas than this. In modern Israel, it’s known as Lake Kinneret, but to those who read the Bible, it’s always known as the Sea of Galilee. It’s a freshwater lake, much like our Great Lakes, except much, much smaller. The Sea of Galilee is thirteen miles long by seven miles wide. By contrast, our own Lake Michigan is 307 miles long by 118 miles wide. The Sea of Galilee is perhaps 150 feet deep at its deepest point, while Lake Michigan is 925 feet at its deepest. So the Sea of Galilee is very small, compared to what we know, but it has great importance in the life and ministry of Jesus. It’s the place where Jesus called his first disciples to follow him (Card, Luke: The Gospel of Amazement, pg. 75; Hamilton, The Way, pg. 95; Knight, The Holy Land, pg. 248; EO, Holy Land Study Guide, pg. 11).

We’re continuing our Lenten journey along The Way this morning, and so far we’ve walked with Jesus to his baptism in the Jordan River and his temptation in the wilderness. We’ve watched as he healed in his “own town” of Capernaum, and last week we went with him to the mountains as we listened to his vision for life. Today, though, we gather with the crowds as they listen to him teach along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The crowds were getting rather large by now, and Luke tells us Jesus decided it would be easier to teach if he got in a boat and put it out into the water a ways. Luckily, there were two boats there, and the fishermen who owned them were nearby. Luke says they were cleaning their nets. Fishing, in those days as now, took place at night. Some fishermen say they fish at night because the fish can see the nets during the day (Hamilton 98), but others say it’s because the fish go deep during the warm daytime and come up near the surface in the cool evening. Now, fishing was vital to the economy of the Galilee, especially in Jesus’ day. Fish is still a hefty part of the diet in that part of the world, and the fish that is best known in Galilee is called St. Peter’s fish, a tilapia. It’s usually grilled, and as we discovered one day at lunch, served with the head and tail still attached. No filet-of-fish here. You get the whole fish. It was quite good, actually, and made me feel a bit like I was back there with Simon, James and John, along the shore.

They’re off to the side, cleaning their nets. After a hard night’s work, they would come in, sell their fish, perhaps cook a few for themselves, and clean their nets. Since they likely caught more in their nets than just fish, every morning, before they could go home and sleep, this was a routine they had to do (Card 75). Simon and his co-workers are probably counting the minutes until they can go get some rest, and then suddenly, this teacher asks to borrow his boat. I doubt if Simon was all that excited about allowing it, but remember, according to Luke’s account, Jesus has already healed Simon’s mother-in-law (cf. 4:38-39). Perhaps he felt like he “owed Jesus one.” And you’ve got to wonder if, as Jesus taught from the boat, Peter sort of dozed off and on. Some evenings, when I’m tired, I’ll doze off in the middle of a television show we’re watching. I inevitably miss the end of some mystery. And when Cathy wakes me up, I’ll say something like, “I wasn’t sleeping. I’m not tired!” My mom will tell you I’ve done that as long as anyone can remember. I don’t know why. What’s the harm in admitting that I’ve fallen asleep? But I sort of picture Peter like that—just about half asleep, worn out, when Jesus says, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch” (5:4).

You can hear a bit of the weariness, or maybe crankiness, in Simon’s words back to Jesus: “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything” (5:5). I sort of picture him stopping there, and waiting for Jesus to say something, to let him off the hook, to say, “Okay, Simon, I’ll get someone else. It’s all right.” But he doesn’t. Jesus just stands there, and something in his eyes tells Simon he needs to do what Jesus says. “But because you say so, I will let down the nets” (5:5). Notice Jesus didn’t say they would go out and see IF they could catch something. He says, “Put down your nets for a catch. This is a sure thing, Simon.”

And they do. They put down the nets, and they catch a huge amount of fish, so many that Luke says these seasoned fishermen, these career Galilean sailors, are “astonished” (5:9). The word literally means, “to be made immovable.” They’re shocked, probably through a mixture of fear and amazement. I mean it’s one thing for Jesus to heal Simon’s mother-in-law, but this is something Simon is an expert in. He knows how to fish. He knows where the good fishing spots are. He’s worked all night, he’s worked hard, and caught nothing. Jesus simply points out toward the lake and says, “Go make a catch,” and it happens. If you want to get the attention of a fisherman, a tremendous catch is the way to do it (cf. Card 76). I don’t think this is a story about Jesus knowing where to fish. I think this is a story about Jesus getting the attention of simple fishermen—men whom, he knew, could go on to change the world.

There are two other stories we want to look at briefly this morning, where Jesus grabbed the attention of his followers on the Sea of Galilee. The first one, in Mark 4, we looked at in detail on Ash Wednesday. It’s the story of a raging storm that catches the disciples unawares in the middle of the night. They’re sailing from one place to another, and suddenly they are in the middle of a storm while Jesus sleeps in the back of the boat. They rudely wake Jesus up, and he calms the sea, an action that cause the disciples to wonder, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (4:41). And I suggested to you that evening that Jesus can still calm the storms in our lives. He is lord over the physical storms, but he is also lord over all the emotional and spiritual storms that threaten our boat. He is in the “boat” with us, just as he was with those disciples on that storm-tossed sea. Sometimes it seems, from our vantage point, that he is asleep, or doesn’t care, but he does. Perhaps he’s waiting for us to come to the end of our own resources so that we actually turn to him.

The other story is found in Matthew 14, and it also involves a storm on the Sea, except this time, the disciples are out there alone in probably a similar fishing boat as they were in before. In the mid-1980’s, a first-century fishing boat was found in the mud of the Galilean Sea, and after years of preservation, you can see what the boat Jesus and his disciples sailed in might have looked like. It would have been a small boat, maybe having room for 12 to 15 people, and that would have been crowded. This night, though, Jesus has sent them ahead in the boat while he goes up to the mountains to pray (14:23), and most likely, as he’s praying, he can see the little boat being shook by the waves and the wind. What’s interesting is Matthew doesn’t say Jesus went right away. Jesus continues to pray and “shortly before dawn,” likely after they’ve fought the storm for a while, he heads out to help the disciples. Except he doesn’t get in a boat. Matthew says, “Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake” (14:25). It was not frozen, but this is the one who is lord over the wind and the waves, so why does it surprise them and us that he can do this? It terrifies the disciples. “It’s a ghost,” they cry out, and Jesus says, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” (14:27).

That’s a rather strange thing to shout over the wind and the waves, isn’t it? “It is I.” It’s an awkward phrase in English, but in the Greek it’s a powerful statement. Ego eimi. Literally, “I am.” Take courage, Jesus says, I am. Now, why would that bring peace to the disciples? Where have they heard that before? Way back in Exodus, when Moses wanted to know what name he should give to prove that God had really called him to lead the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt, God said, “I am. Tell them ‘I Am’ has sent you” (cf. Exodus 3:14). When Jesus is walking on the water, he’s answering the question they asked back in the first storm. Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey him? He’s answering the question that’s in their hearts now and they don’t have the ability or the guts to give voice to: who is this, that can walk on the water? He’s answering the question they asked way back at the shore when Jesus commandeered their boats: who is this, who can cause such a great catch of fish to appear out of nowhere? I am. Jesus is telling them, “I am God. I am the Lord of all.” And, more than that, Jesus is telling them, “I am worth following.” In fact, if Jesus isn’t worth following, then nobody is (cf. Wright, Luke for Everyone, pg. 54). On the Sea of Galilee, the disciples learn what it means to be called by Jesus.

Even in Luke 5, when they’re on the Sea of Galilee for the first time with Jesus, Simon Peter realizes something is happening. His response is as profound as it is rapid. He’s fully awake now, as he watches the fish pour into the boat, as he worries if the boat will sink before they get back to shore. When he realizes at least on a small scale what has happened, he falls down in front of Jesus, a gesture of submission, and says, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (5:8). Now, remember, by the time these Gospel are written, Peter is a leader of the church. Peter is known for his obedience to the Gospel, to the Jewish laws. And yet, here in the beginning, Peter takes his place among the sinners. He acknowledges who he is in regard to Jesus (cf. Liefeld, “Luke,” Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 8, pg. 877). He reminds me of Isaiah. Perhaps you know the story in Isaiah 6, when God calls a young man to preach to the people. Isaiah was in the Temple, grieving the loss of a good king, when he got a vision of the Most High God. He heard the angels singing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty,” and Isaiah fell down. “Woe to me!” he says. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5). Isaiah knew no one could see God and live (cf. Exodus 33:20), and he knew his life. He knew he wasn’t holy enough to be able to stand in God’s presence. He assumed he was dead at that moment. That’s the same sort of response Simon Peter has. “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. Whoever you are, I’m not worthy to stand in your presence.” And Jesus turns to him, I imagine with a smile on his face, and reaches out his hand. “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people” (5:11). You know, I wonder what would have happened if Simon Peter had known what that really meant: how it meant he would, in three years’ time, watch his master, Lord and best friend be crucified on a Roman cross, how it meant he would have his deepest beliefs and convictions challenged, how it meant he would preach about Jesus at the risk of his own life, and how it meant he would even die a painful death himself. Tradition says Peter was crucified, but he told those who were killing him he wasn’t worthy to die the same way Jesus did, so they crucified him upside down. I wonder if, had he known all of that, he would have repeated his request that Jesus leave him alone (cf. Wright 53). But he didn’t. And so he pulls up his boat on the shore, walks away from it and begins to follow Jesus. There, on the Sea of Galilee, he hears Jesus’ call and leaves everything to follow him, because if Jesus isn’t worth following, no one is. Maybe that’s the real “Below Sea Level” effect: answering Jesus’ call to follow.

What’s your “Sea of Galilee” experience? In what ways have you heard the call of Jesus to follow him? You know, technology has really corrupted our use of that word “follow.” Twitter, in particular, has corrupted what it means to “follow” someone, because, if you’re not familiar with Twitter, people put up thoughts, ideas, ramblings, anything they want in 140 characters or less, and then other people can choose to “follow” them. Therefore, when you “follow” someone you are blessed by anything that runs through their head that they feel the need to post online. It’s, in my opinion, worse than Facebook. But a lot of people are on Twitter, and they’re following—but in that setting, “following” simply means sitting there and checking out what someone else might be doing at any given time. That’s not what Jesus meant when he calls disciples to follow him. It’s not about just coming in here and sitting, or opening up his book once in a while and gathering a random thought or two. It’s not about just singing a nice song or having a Bible text printed on your t-shirt. As I said, for Simon Peter, and for the rest of the disciples, following meant giving your life. From that moment on, they were going to be fully engaged, not partly engaged—fully engaged in fishing for people. Following Jesus is not passive. You can’t sit by and watch it happen. Following Jesus is active. It’s messy. It’s dangerous. And it’s life-consuming.

We usually picture being a “fisher of people” as a nice, simple, quiet thing you do on the side. We even used to sing about it in Sunday School [in those un-politically correct days]: “I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men. I will make you fishers of men if you follow me.” But, as with many things Jesus says, he’s actually quoting Scripture there. This is not the first time there has been a call for fishers of people. In Jeremiah, God says he will send for “many fishermen...and they will catch them” (Jeremiah 16:16). Who is the “them” they will catch? If you read the whole passage, it’s a statement of judgment. God is seeking to “catch” those who have sinned against him to judge them. But, remember, God’s judgment is always redemptive. It’s a promise made in the context of bringing people back to their land after they have paid for their sins. So being a fisher of people is about judgment, but even bigger than that, it’s is about calling people back to God. It’s not meant to be an easy task, no more than fishing for fish is. No, rather, this is serious business, and it requires everything these men have. That’s why they leave their boats and nets behind (Card 76). They know they can’t be part-time followers of Jesus. They have to give it all. “When Jesus calls, he certainly does demand everything, but only because he has already given everything himself” (Wright 55).

Answering Jesus’ call means we actively join him on The Way, engaging in the mission we’ve been talking about for the last couple of weeks: pushing back the darkness and strengthening the broken places in our world. It will look different for each person. For me, that call came in a dorm room at Ball State, although I would argue in many ways it came first in a church basement classroom during Vacation Bible School when I first said “yes” to Jesus and allowed him to live in my life. But I went to college with one career intent: to become a journalist. And yet, four years later, when I left Ball State, I was headed to seminary. During those years, through the encouragement of many people who saw gifts and abilities in me, I began to hear God’s call to full-time pastoral ministry. I always say God called me slowly because that’s the only way I could keep up. There was no dramatic catch of fish on the lake for me. Rather, God nudged me into ministry situations, places where I was given an opportunity to teach and preach and plan and lead—the very things I am doing now. But even then, I was planning to work with an interdenominational college campus ministry—until I asked Cathy to marry me. That messed that plan up! They wisely didn’t allow people to be in the first year of marriage at the same time as the first year of ministry. And so I decided (or God directed) to go to seminary for a year, to see what they knew, and in the midst of that planning and preparation, God very clearly laid a call on my heart for the local church, where I’ve been ever since, seeking to follow Jesus as best as I can in pushing back the darkness.

Now, that’s my experience. God calls all of us in different ways. Here’s the thing: the call to us is to be full-time followers, full-time disciples. Whatever field of work we are in, we are still called to be disciples, shining the light into the dark places. We don’t get to be followers just on Sunday. We’re called to be followers every day, every minute. I have told some of you that I’m often envious of those of you who work in various fields because you have a better chance of making a difference in your workplace for Christ than I do. There are, in our current culture, doors that slam shut once someone learns you are a pastor. Too many negative images out there of “religious professionals.” So if you’re a teacher, you may not be able to speak openly about your faith in Christ, but you’re still called to be a full-time follower of Jesus, shining your light in the ways you can, loving the kids, some of whom may never have had that kind of love poured out on them. And there are other avenues that sometimes present themselves. I have a friend who, several years ago, learned that, in public schools, you can teach the Bible. Indiana has a state curriculum for teaching the Bible as Literature, and since she is an English teacher, she saw that as a chance to talk about faith, knowing that God promises his word will not return empty (cf. Isaiah 55:11). So for several years, she taught about the Bible in the public school system, and not only did students sign up for that elective class, they were engaged in discussions that went beyond the printed page. I saw that one time when I was invited to come to the classroom and speak about the book of Revelation. She had an opportunity, and she chose to shine her light as a full-time disciple of Jesus.

Even beyond that, there are countless ways we can push back the darkness and answer Jesus’ call in our workplaces, in our homes, in our neighborhoods when we begin to think full-time about what it means to be a follower. A lot of our kids get this. We have some great kids in this congregation, kids who are already trying to follow Jesus the best way they know how. One of our kids, Clara Harbart, takes part of her allowance and puts in the offering plate every week for Feed My Lambs. Another one put her allowance in the plate a few weeks ago along with this note: “I give this to the people that do not have money.” I have that note hanging in my office right by my desk. And, many of you got excited and helped with Emma and Claire Moerman’s birthday present. When they were asked what they wanted for their birthday, they said, “I think we have enough stuff. Can we collect food and donate it to the food bank for those who are hungry?” And word got out, and you all have helped them do that. You see, our age doesn’t matter. No matter how old or how young, we can follow Jesus in pushing back the darkness.

One of my favorite stories was told by Andrew Peterson, who is a Christian musician. In the early days of his career, his wife Jamie, would travel with him, but when they had kids, they decided she would stay home. Recently, though, they attended a retreat together in which the primary question was how each person there could shine light into the darkness. And Peterson says they were in a small group, each sharing their answers, and one author said, “Well, I’m writing a book that will help believers understand…” so on and so forth. A pastor in the group said he was preaching a sermon series to change the world. Andrew Peterson said he was trying to write beautiful music that would bring light to the darkness, and then he wondered what his wife would say. After all, she was at home with their children most days. But Jamie knew what she was doing and why. Her response was this: “I’m shedding light in the darkness by raising these three children in the Lord” (qtd. on Above These City Lights). What a perfect answer! Is there any higher calling than shining light into the lives of our children? Whether you’re a stay at home parent or a working parent, whether your grandkids are local or far away, we still have the highest privilege of shining Jesus’ light into their lives in whatever way we can, pushing back the darkness by guiding the next generation to follow along on The Way. That’s why we have people who unselfishly give up their Sunday afternoons week after week to lead our youth groups: SEGA for Senior High, PUSH for middle school and Mission Possible Kids for grades K-5. It’s not just to give our youth something more to do. It’s their way of answering the call to shine the light into the lives of the next generation.

Jesus says, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” The question for each of us is this: can Jesus share your boat? Can he use what you have, the gifts and skills and talents and resources you have, for the sake of his mission, so that the good news can go out wider and wider, reaching as many people as possible (cf. Wright 55)? Can Jesus share your boat? There are no bystanders in the kingdom of God. There is no passive following of Jesus. We’re called to use what we have for the sake of his kingdom. The boat for Peter represented so many things. First and foremost, it represented his livelihood, his financial success. In some ways, it represented his family—with the boat, he was able to provide for his family. It represented his security—a boat was necessary to be out on the water (unless you were Jesus) and it was at least minimal protection and security when the storms came up on the Sea. The boat was everything to Simon Peter. And yet, when Jesus called, he left it behind. He gave it all for the sake of a greater mission. Jesus calls us to fish for people—to invest what we have…our jobs, our skills, our financial resources, our desperate longing for security, our families…everything we have and everything we are for the sake of his work. That’s the call we hear standing on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. 

Usually, when you go to the Holy Land, the first thing you do on the first morning, after trying to recover from jet lag, is to take a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. I’ve been sailing on that Sea now three times, and every time has been soul-filling, but I still remember the first time I was in a boat out in the middle of the Sea. That was in 1995; Christopher wasn’t born yet. Bishop Woodie White was our group leader that year, and he preached a sermon as our boats crossed the Sea of Galilee, and I remember him talking about how all of the land is holy because, in many places, we don’t know exactly where Jesus was or if this is the correct location or not. And so every place, we should be saying, “This could be it. He might have walked here.” But when it comes to the Sea, we know for certain, this is the place. This Sea is where Jesus sailed and walked on water. This Sea is the place where he called disciples to follow him with all their heart. And, I don’t know, but maybe, just maybe, Jesus intentionally did that on the Sea of Galilee so that we would know, so that we would always remember his call to become fishers of people. For the disciples, for the rest of their lives, the Sea of Galilee would remind them that Jesus called them to give their lives for his sake, and I imagine that was especially powerful after he gave his life for their sake and for ours. Who is this man? He is the one who calls us to let him share our boat, to follow him along The Way. Can Jesus share your boat? How will you answer his call? In what ways will you allow Jesus to use whatever you have for the sake of his mission? Let’s pray.