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Luke 5:1-11 So what happens when Jesus gets a hold of you? What difference does it make? This is an important question that a lot of people ask at all different stages in the faith journey. New Christians are concerned about this because they are curious about how their life is going to change. Older Christians are also curious about this because their faith has been a part of their lives for so long, they sometimes wonder what it would be like without it or they are searching for new ways to energize it or renew it. What happens when Jesus shows up and gets a hold of you? At the Junior High Youth Quake last weekend in Chicago that 11 of us attended, the theme was “Rescue” and the main speaker had an interesting take on this question about what happens when Jesus shows up. We often think about Jesus in terms of a comforter, someone who takes care of us, and while this is true, something else happens as well. I’d like to show you some video footage from the Quake. I apologize for the shaky camera work and background noise, but through this video, I think you’ll be able to get a good feel for what went on at the Quake and what might actually happen when Jesus gets a hold of you. SHOW VIDEO The main speaker at the Quake was Jay Gamelin, a campus pastor at Ohio State University and I hope that you caught what he said about what we need to be rescued from. He said that we need to be rescued from safety. We need to be rescued from the things that we hide behind and take comfort from. I love Ben’s reaction there at the end of the video about what this Quake did for him. He said, “Its making me poor.” What happens when Jesus shows up and gets a hold of you? For starters, it changes everything. As we go through the gospel story today, I want you to see where you fit into it. Which character are you in this story and what might God be saying to you through this story? If you look at our gospel today, you’ll see Jesus being very active. This story happens very close to the beginning of his ministry and he been doing a little bit of traveling throughout the countryside, preaching, teaching, healing. And he’s becoming quite popular. So popular, in fact, that crowds are following him wherever he goes. There are so many people around that they are actually crowding him into the water. These people were hungering and thirsting to hear the Word of God. They longed to make some kind of connection and there were so many people that Jesus had to find a different approach to reach them. Maybe you see yourself in this crowd, longing to be with Jesus, hoping to get healed, wanting to experience a miracle. Maybe you are one of those that needs to hear words of comfort and healing. Your life is incredibly tough right now and you need to be close to the Lord. If this is you, I invite you to sit and listen as the crowds did. I invite you to hear the words of Scripture that we read and pay attention to the words of the songs that we sing. If you are looking for some peace and strength, let the words of our worship service dwell in you and soak it all in, even if it seems unfamiliar at first. Eat the bread of life that is the body of Christ. Remember that he poured out his blood and died on the cross just for you. If you’re just hoping for a glimpse of Jesus this morning, I invite you to experience his grace, love and forgiveness through this worship service. He is with us this morning as we listen and learn as a crowd gathered around to hear the word of God, and it is here where our lives will begin to be changed. As the gospel story continues, the crowd becomes so large that Jesus has to borrow a boat from Simon Peter so that he can go a little ways out and keep talking with the crowds. Just a few days before, Jesus had healed Peter’s mother-in-law, so Peter was somewhat familiar with Jesus and what he was capable of, but now Jesus had come to him and interrupted his plans. Peter had been fishing all night long, hadn’t caught much of anything, and was now trying to get his nets clean when Jesus walks up and says, “Peter can I borrow your boat?” What’s Peter supposed to say at this point, “Uh, look man, thanks for healing my mother-in-law, my wife’s pretty happy about it, but I don’t really have time for this right now.” Nah, not even Peter is that dense. Peter has already experienced the healing power of Jesus – his life has been changed for the better – and so now he gets a chance to say thank-you to the one who had done the healing. Peter gets a chance to serve, although it messes up the plans for himself. I know that there are a lot of people here this morning, who have found themselves in this same position – they’ve had a great experience with Jesus, they’ve been healed or comforted or been saved in some way – and now they are being given the opportunity to serve in some small, but significant ways. Of course, serving the Lord can and does mess up the plans you may have for yourself – no more sleeping in on Sunday mornings, maybe being asked to serve on a ministry team or volunteer for an event. But its all good because life hasn’t changed that much and it is still somewhat workable with your own plan. You can always go back to cleaning your nets when Jesus is finished with you. If this is where you find yourself this morning, I would encourage you to keep serving with an open heart and an open mind, because life could get very interesting for you if you keep serving the Lord. Now the next thing Jesus does is rather unexpected, especially if you’re Peter and you’ve been listening to Jesus preach for a long time using your boat. Its getting late, its time to go home, you weren’t really planning to make this big of a commitment, but hey, he healed your mother-in-law so its all good. But now that he’s done talking, this Jesus guy doesn’t want to go back to the shore. Instead, he tells Peter, “Let’s put the boat out into deeper water and let down your nets for a catch.” Here’s where Peter predictably starts to blow his top. “Master, look, we just got done cleaning the nets, we’ve been working all night long and haven’t caught anything!” Can’t you see the look on Jesus’ face, it’s like “Mother-in-law” and Peter backs down, “Alright, if you say so, but I warned you.” This little exchange is great because Jesus is not only inviting Peter into deeper waters, but he’s also inviting him into a deeper relationship – time away from the crowds, time away from preaching & lectures – to some small group time, alone with this amazing man. Peter’s plans are totally messed up now – his mother-in-law’s probably going to be mad that he’s late for dinner – but his frustration around his messed up plans gives way to amazement when the deeper waters reveal more fish than he ever thought possible. It was too many just for Peter’s boat to handle on their own, so they had to call over some buddies to help. They worked and worked and the blessings of the fish just kept coming and coming. See, this is what happens when Jesus gets a hold of you – crazy things, amazing things, more fish than you could ever handle. In fact there were so many fish that the boats started to sink! Peter’s amazement turns to
fear and this is where he finally loses it. Classic Peter. Lord get
away from me! I’m sinful and not worthy of this! Finally Peter had
been rescued from his safety. His life hadn’t been changed just a little
– it had been changed completely! He now realized that when Jesus gets
a hold of you, you are no longer in control and Peter’s response is the
same response that any of us have when we start to lose control also –
we get scared. We get scared because none of the things that we find
safety in – our money, our homes, our families, our jobs, our activities
– none of these become as important as following our Lord. It is only
after Peter is rescued from his safety can he truly leave everything
behind to follow Jesus and start fishing for people. And for all of us,
no matter where we are in our faith journey, it is only after we are
rescued from our safety, can we truly leave everything behind and follow
our Lord. When Jesus gets a hold of us, it changes everything. Like
Ben said in the video, it might make us poor, it might cost us a lot, it
might cause conflict or heartache or even death. But following Jesus
also might make us more blessed than we can ever imagine. |
