[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 9th of February, 2025. A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]
Did you ever think about some of Jesus’ travels? He and His disciples went almost everywhere by foot, with the few times they didn’t walk being by boat across the Sea of Galilee. He covered a lot of ground, as a child with His family, and then as an adult before He began His ministry.
Raised in Nazareth, He walked down to Jerusalem to be baptized in the River Jordan by John, a distance of around 90 miles. After being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He made the trip all the way up almost to Capernaum, on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, about 120 miles or so from Jerusalem. And as near as we know, He did it all on foot, on dusty, winding roads and pathways. I wonder how many sandals He wore out in the first six months…
So as Jesus is nearing Capernaum, in the area between that city and Magdala (the home town of Mary Magdelene), He is walking along the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee when a crowd of people gather around Him, wanting to hear Him teach the word of God. He spots two fishing boats, pushed up on shore.
Let’s let the Apostle Luke tell the rest of the story. Please listen and follow along as Luke relates to us the events of Jesus calling His very first disciples, in the first 11 verses of the 5th chapter of his Gospel account, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Version of our Holy Bible this morning…
1 While Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, many people pushed to get near Him. They wanted to hear the Word of God. 2 Jesus saw two boats on the shore. The fishermen were not there because they were washing their nets. 3 Jesus got into a boat which belonged to Simon. Jesus asked him to push it out a little way from land. Then He sat down and taught the people from the boat.4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Push out into the deep water. Let down your nets for some fish.” 5 Simon said to Him, “Teacher, we have worked all night and we have caught nothing. But because You told me to, I will let the net down.” 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish, their net started to break. 7 They called to their friends working in the other boat to come and help them. They came and both boats were so full of fish they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he got down at the feet of Jesus. He said, “Go away from me, Lord, because I am a sinful man.” 9 He and all those with him were surprised and wondered about the many fish. 10 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were surprised also. They were working together with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will fish for men.” 11 When they came to land with their boats, they left everything and followed Jesus.--Luke 5:1-11 (NLV)
Let us pray… Heavenly Father, You chose us to be followers of Your Christ. You gave us the faith to believe in Him. And when we exercise that faith, accepting Jesus as our Lord and Master, You give us everlasting life in Your paradise. Thank You, Father, for loving us this much. But Father, too often we seem to forget or fail to understand that we have been chosen and called to follow Jesus. And we don’t grasp what that really means. Too often we hesitate to share the Gospel and make disciples as Jesus commanded. Please forgive us these times, Father. Help us be better servants of You and Jesus, better disciples and apostles of our Lord.
Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day. Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, our worship, and our service. And please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times. This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.
And now may the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
Comedian Steven Wright once joked, "There's a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore like an idiot." I must admit I've spent a lot of time standing on the banks of a pond, lake, or river like an idiot. But surely there's more to catching fish than that.
A priest who had spent a fruitless day fishing picked out three fat fish in the market. "Before you wrap them," he said to the store manager," toss them to me, one by one. That way I'll be able to tell the monsignor I caught them and I'll be speaking the truth." Ok, so that's stretching the truth just a bit.
Some failed fishing trips are blamed on the fish. A gentleman by the name of Don Marquis once noted that, "Our idea of fishing is to put all the exertion up to the fish. If they are ambitious we will catch them. If they are not, let them go about their business."
But those of us who have ever spent much time fishing understand that it requires a lot of effort, time, and patience to be successful. First we have to go to where the fish are. Then we need to choose and use the right bait for the kind of fish we hope to catch. And if they don't bite at first, we can't just give up. We need to cast out, again and again, until we finally succeed. Whether we're trying to snatch up fish for supper, or people for our Lord, this is how to ensure a good catch.
One thing I want to point out in our scripture reading that confuses some folks is that the lake of Gennesaret Luke refers to is more commonly known as the Sea of Galilee. Gennesaret was a town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, between Capernaum and Magdala, in the area where Jesus did much of His teaching and healing and other miracles, including feeding the 5000, walking on water, and calming the storm. So Gennesaret was a significant location during Jesus’ ministry, especially in the earlier stages, such as calling His first disciples to follow Him. And that is where our scripture event takes place.
Jesus has come near to Capernaum and is walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. A crowd gathers, wanting to hear Him teach. Spotting a pair of boats pulled up to shore, with the fishermen off to the side washing their nets, He climbed aboard the boat that Simon just so happened to own. Coincidence? Nope – there is no such thing; everything is planned by God.
So Jesus asks Simon to push the boat out a little ways. His excuse was that He wanted the people to be able to hear Him better. And I say “excuse” because if you’ll think back to the story of Jesus feeding the 5000, He apparently had no trouble being heard by that multitude spread all across the field.
Now after Jesus finished addressing the crowd, He climbed out of the boat and told Simon to go back out into the deeper water and cast out his nets for a catch. What we didn’t see in the full story before our reading started is that Simon and Andrew had been out fishing all night, along with James and John (the sons of Zebedee), and had caught nothing. Cast after cast, their nets came up empty. They were tired and discouraged, yet when Jesus told him to give it another try, something in His voice or demeanor convinced Simon to do just that. And they caught so many fish it almost sank both boats.
When they excitedly came back to shore, Jesus told a humbled Simon that he would now fish for men. Simon and Andrew and James and John would now become fishermen fishing for men to follow Jesus. And they left everything – the fish, their boats, Zebedee – and followed the Lord.
Jesus chose these four men to be His first disciples. Family, we too have been chosen to fish for men, and by that I mean all people, the generic “men”, male and female. We have been called and chosen to tell other people all about Jesus and all that God has done for us. The Apostle Peter reaffirms this calling in the 2nd chapter of his 1st letter to the scattered early church, in verses 9 and 10, when he writes…
9 But you are a chosen group of people. You are the King’s religious leaders. You are a holy nation. You belong to God. He has done this for you so you can tell others how God has called you out of darkness into His great light. 10 At one time you were a people of no use. Now you are the people of God. At one time you did not have loving-kindness. Now you have God’s loving-kindness.
--1 Peter 2:9-10 (NLV)
We are a chosen people, a holy nation, and we belong to God. We have been called out of the darkness of sin into the great Light that is Jesus, called to tell others the Good News of salvation through Jesus and of the mercy of God on those who follow Him.
Peter goes on to say that before God chose us, we were useless, now we are useful. We didn’t know loving-kindness, we had not experienced true, unconditional, sacrificial love, but now we have God’s loving-kindness, and there is no purer love.
We have been called, chosen as fishers of men. And we have been chosen to bring in fruit, even though the world will hate us for our faith and belief. We did not choose any of this for ourselves.
Listen to what Jesus told us as recorded by the Apostle John in his Gospel account, from chapter 15 verses 16 through 19…
16 “You have not chosen Me, I have chosen you. I have set you apart for the work of bringing in fruit. Your fruit should last. And whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you.17 “This is what I tell you to do: Love each other. 18 If the world hates you, you know it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. You do not belong to the world. I have chosen you out of the world and the world hates you.”
--John 15:16-19 (NLV)
Jesus chose us – you and I – to continue His work here on earth, to carry His message to the world, to cast light into the darkness. He chose us to bring in the fruit, to cast out our nets and haul in as big a catch as we can. He chose us and calls us to be fishers of men.
Go, He commanded, and spread the Good News. Go, and make disciples of all peoples. We can’t “go” if we’re sitting around waiting for the lost to come to us. It is right and righteous for us to come together in this beautiful house to worship our Father God and listen to His word and grow closer to His Son. But then we need to get up and GO to where the people are.
Now I’ll admit that some of us don’t know or normally associate with non-believers. But you can still share the Gospel by how you act in public, by displaying good Christian behavior in all things. If you go out to eat somewhere, pause, bow your head, and pray over your meal – someone will notice. If the opportunity presents itself, help someone in their time of need, and do so without any expectation of reward or recognition.
If we act like a Christian, like our Lord and His apostles tell us to act, people will take notice, and some may even ask what it’s all about. God will open doors for us, and His Holy Spirit will help us and guide us, but we have to be willing to walk through that door and follow those directions.
So let’s get out there into the deeper waters and cast out our nets. A big catch awaits. In the glorious name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of God, our Master and our Savior. Amen.
Let us pray… Almighty God, thank You for sending Your Son Jesus to save us and redeem us of our sin. And thank You for giving us the faith to believe in Him and accept Him as our Lord. Father, we admit that we don’t always think of ourselves as being Your chosen people. Or even if we do, we often hesitate to carry out the mission Your Son gave us. We fail to step out of our comfort zone; we fail to act like Christians should. Please forgive us these times, dear Father. Please help us better understand what it means to be chosen and called to Your service. Help us make good use of Your Spirit within us to reach out to others and show them Your love by giving of ourselves in their service, in Your service, just as Jesus did. And please help us share our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice. Help us pave the way for Your Spirit to do His work on them.
Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own. Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live. And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what comes our way.
Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…
Lord Jesus, You called four fishermen to be fishers of men, and You have called us to the same task. Our loving heavenly Father has given us the gift of faith that we might truly follow You, our Lord and Master. He created us, He chose us, and we belong to Him. But Jesus we don’t always jump head first into the task You gave us. We don’t always act like good Christians should. Please help us be better servants. Remind us that we are well equipped for our job through God’s Holy Spirit within us. You’ve shown us what to do and how to do it, now please help us get out into the deeper water to bring more followers to You.
Holy Spirit, please help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing God’s love through our love. Give us the words to say, show us the deeds to do to lead the lost to Jesus.
And Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises. Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares. Help us see though his temptations. Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer. This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior. Amen.
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