“Who Is a Disciple?”
Luke 5:1-11 (5:10) – February 10, 2019
When did God become real to you? Were you sitting in Sunday school, when you felt deep within that God was real, and you felt wonder? Or, were you at a camp or retreat, around a campfire, when something let you know God was the real thing, and you felt nothing but awe? Or, perhaps, were you praying next to a loved one’s bed in the hospital, and you powerfully understood that God is real, and you felt deep comfort? Have you had a God-encounter?
The situation here today is where God becomes real for these people. Eileen just read the Gospel lesson from Luke 5 to us, and we heard about Jesus calling the first disciples. But, we need to back up in this reading, before the Rabbi Jesus calls anyone to be a disciple.
We break into the action quite early in the public ministry of Jesus. So early, in fact, that He has not even called anyone to follow Him, to be His disciples. We see Jesus, alone, teaching, preaching, healing, and beginning His ministry. Luke starts off with the phrase “One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.” I think Luke meant this to say that this was a typical day in the life of Jesus. Teaching, preaching, doing miracles. All in a day’s activities, for Jesus.
But, this is early on. The crowds who have gathered to hear Jesus teach and preach—and watch the miracles!—I suspect are filled with wonder, curiosity, and questions. Who is this rabbi with such clarity in teaching the word of God? Who is this rabbi with such power and authority? Yes, we see the people crowding around Jesus so much that He got in a boat by the seashore, put out a little way, and then preached to the crowd.
(Did you know—little known fact—that Jesus was using the natural amplification of the water to make His voice heard better? When someone is out in the water a little distance from shore, their voice can be heard as naturally amplified because of the sound waves bouncing off or echoing off of the surface of the water and traveling on towards the shore.)
Back to Jesus. The boat Jesus used to preach was Simon Peter’s boat. He and Simon Peter must have been acquainted a little, as we can see from their interaction. “When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.”
Have you ever worked hard all night, with nothing to show for it? How about all week, or all month? Or, even, all year, with nothing concrete to show for it? Like, in the fisherman Simon Peter’s case, no fish at all?
There are some professions where there are fewer concrete markers to show how much a worker has done. At least Simon Peter had a definite marker to show “success” in his profession: the number of fish caught. However, he also must have had periods of time when he caught no fish, or very little fish.
Do you think Simon Peter got depressed, or frustrated, or anxious, or just plain angry? How did he deal with failure? He was a professional fisherman, after all. He had fished in those waters for many years, so I suspect he knew the territory, was familiar with the places the fish liked to hang out, and understood when was the best time of day to go fishing. Which leads us to the next comment by Simon Peter, made to the Rabbi Jesus: “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
Remember, “Peter, a fisherman, might have known that Jesus was a carpenter. He might have thought that a carpenter did not know anything about fishing. But he surrendered his prejudice and let down the nets. Peter was the one who sat on the boat with Jesus while he was preaching and heard the good news of Jesus.” [1] “But because you say so.” Against his better judgment, Simon Peter agrees to traipse out to the deep water to go fishing, even though they have worked hard all night, because Jesus requested that he and his co-workers go out and try fishing again.
We know what happened. Hardly had the nets gone into the water, but the fish came swimming into the nets. The nets were filled to bursting! It was a miracle. Simon Peter and his co-workers experienced it—were eye witnesses.
What was the surprising response? Continuing from Luke 5: “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.”
Yes, we can see that Simon Peter confessed he was a sinful person. But, I want to lift up another deep feeling within Simon Peter. God became tangibly real to him, at that moment. Too real, because he was filled with feelings of sin and inadequacy,
We already know some feelings going through Peter’s head. He felt ashamed and guilty of falling short of God’s mark. He came to Jesus in sorrow—probably with frustration, fear and sadness. He suspected that Jesus would indeed be able to forgive him his sins.
What happened? Simon Peter had a God-encounter, there in the boat. God became real to him. Simon Peter deeply experienced God as very real to his life, but couldn’t handle it.
What is Jesus’s unexpected response? Jesus tells Simon Peter and his co-workers, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” Jesus calls them into a God-encounter.
I ask again: do you remember when God became real to you? When did you encounter God? This is just the first of many occasions that God became real to Simon Peter. Can you remember a situation where God showed up in power, or in encouragement, or comfort? For you, or for a loved one?
For Simon Peter and his co-workers, his friends, this was decision-time. They decided to drop their nets on the shore, leave their boats where they were, and follow Jesus. There were many, many people in the crowd who also had the opportunity to follow Jesus, but they did not. At least, not at this time. They only stayed for the good preaching and the miracles, not the following-Jesus-part.
How about you? Has Jesus struck you to the heart and soul, like Peter? Has God become real to you, through this Scripture reading today? If you have never taken the step of following Jesus, I encourage you to follow Him today. Thank Him for forgiving your shortcomings and sins. Thank Jesus for inviting you to come with Him for the journey.
What can we do with this newfound, exciting relationship with God? Become a disciple. Go out and talk about how God became real in your life. Talk about God’s Good News, today, to anyone you meet. God will be wonderfully praised by all who tell how God has become very real to them, and changed their hearts and lives.
How has God become real to you? Become a disciple. Go and tell.
[1] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship/season-after-epiphany-2019-part-2-worship-planning-series/february-10-fifth-sunday-after-the-epiphany-year-c/fifth-sunday-after-the-epiphany-2019-year-c-preaching-notes
(Many thanks to the Rev. Dr. Kwangki David Kim and http://www.umcdiscipleship.org for ideas and assistance for this series on discipleship.)
(Suggestion: visit me at my regular blog for 2019: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and my other blog, A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!
Pastor, Preacher, Pray-er 