Sermon Tone Analysis

I. Introduction

How you ever felt like you missed an important opportunity that could have changed your life forever?

You could have had that great new job, but fear kept you from telling your boss that you wanted it.

Maybe you are single and remember how your heart skipped a beat when you saw that beautiful girl across the room, yet you never had the courage to ask her name.

Do you wonder where your life would be today had you had the courage to or strength to do things differently?

Getting right down to it, how different would your life be today had you not heard the call of Jesus?

What if you had never felt or responded to the love of God in your life?

Where would you be now?

Would you still be married to the same person?

Would you still be in the same job?

When you trusted Jesus with your life, you set in motion a series of events, decisions, and moments that radically changed your life forever.

But what are the things that keep you from following Jesus today?

Is he asking you to do something that seems unreasonable?

Sell you house and go to the missions field?

Is he telling you to stop climbing that corporate ladder and start spending more time with your wife, your husband or your kids?

Maybe you need to stop investing in your retirement future and start investing in the future of God's Kingdom.

I don't know all the specifics of what God might want for you, but I do know that through the life of Jesus and through the lives of those who followed after him we can learn some amazing lessons that have the potential to transform the way we live.

If you don’t want to live your life with regrets, then look with me today at the story of Peter and his call to follow Jesus.

As we examine this story, we will see how Peter learned to lay aside his trust in self and follow Jesus call to fish for live-Men.

And just like Peter, God wants us all to lay aside our own pride and become fishers of live-Men.

Just as Peter learned to trust and obey, when we lay aside our own trust in self, we too will learn to follow Jesus’ call and share the love of God with the lost.

We are all familiar with the many New Testament stories that show the adoring crowds following after Jesus.

Our story today will open with this same scene; a gathering crowd pressing in to hear Jesus.

But before we dig into this Scripture, let’s step back for one minute and get the bigger picture of how Jesus became so popular among the people.

II.

Jesus message drew large crowds because He trusted in His Father’s mission and made a radical life change.

Before anyone had ever heard the name of Jesus or seen a miracle, He was tempted by Satan to abandon His mission.

Satan told Jesus that His future was uncertain, but that if Jesus would simply give up on His mission, he would fulfill all Jesus’ earthly desires for wealth, power, and physical satisfaction.

Jesus overcomes this temptation, sticks with the mission given Him by the Father and returns home full of power and with the praises of his people.

Yet upon his return, He found rejection from those who knew Him best; his family, the spiritual leaders of His home town and eventually rejection from some of His own disciples.

Even Jesus’ own mother, the one person who knew best that Jesus was more than just a carpenter, attempted to keep Jesus from His mission so He would stay close by her side.

As we look at today’s story in the context of the other Gospel accounts, it is fair to conclude that Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John had all met Jesus at least a year before our story begins.

These men had all followed Jesus for a short time, and then they left Jesus and returned to their nets.

But amidst the sense of rejection and isolation, Jesus pushed forward to fulfill His mission.

Jesus knew His calling meant that He must leave all that He knew of family and home and go about the business of His heavenly Father.

And when He chose to follow after his calling, the power of His message became a strong force in drawing the people after Him.

That is where today’s story finds Jesus.

Turn with me to the New Testament book of Luke, chapter five.

III.

The story finds Jesus preaching to the crowds beside the lake of Gennesaret.

(1-3)

Please read along with me starting in verse one of chapter five as we enter into this story.

Luke 5:1-3 (NIV) One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.

He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore.

Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

The crowds were desperate to be near Jesus, to hear His powerful message, and to experience His miracles.

They were so excited that they barely gave Jesus enough room to breathe.

Jesus observes two empty boats and the fishermen who have quit for the day.

Why do you suppose Jesus takes note of these men over the crowds that are hanging on every word?

Because these are not just any old fishermen.

As I mentioned before, a quick survey of all four Gospels lets us know that these are men Jesus has eaten with, men He has called to follow after Him, men who have seen miracles, and men who have turned away from it all and gone back to the security of what they knew best--fishing.

Jesus sees an opportunity to finish teaching the crowds without getting crushed and a way to capture the attention of His wayward disciples: Simon Peter and the others.

As Jesus hops into the boat, I wonder, was He sad knowing that these men had left him for their old jobs?

Did Satan use this opportunity to temp Him once again to doubt His mission?

Maybe He was tempted to doubt His own judgment in choosing these men who obviously had a greater interest in cleaning their nets over listening to His message.

No matter, Jesus puts aside all concern all doubt and simply hops into Simon’s boat and tells him put out from shore so that He can finish preaching to the crowds.

Jesus had a plan; a way to connect Peter’s love for fishing with the eternal purpose for which God had made him.

I wonder also, what must Simon be thinking or feeling as he pushes out from shore?

Does he feel some guilt for leaving Jesus?

Maybe he had hoped Jesus would not notice him as he quickly cleaned his nets trying to get done and away from Jesus before having to face an awkward reunion.

No matter, he can not avoid the Master now and out of respect for their past relationship, or maybe out of simple guilt, he will obey Jesus command, and Peter pushes out from shore.

IV.

After Jesus finishes speaking, He tells Simon to put out into the deep water to fish.

(4-7)

Read with me now as the story continues.

Luke 5:4-7 (NIV) When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.

But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

Jesus tells Simon and the others to let down their nets into the deep water.

“What is Jesus thinking,” Peter mutters to himself, “is it not enough that I let Jesus preach from my boat, but now He wants me to go fishing… in the deep water… in the middle of the day!”

You see, fishing in the deep waters was contrary to everything Simon’s experience and training had taught him.

Everyone knew that fish were caught at night in the shallows, not during the day in the deep waters.

In a moment’s time, a million thoughts flood Peter’s mind.

“I am tired.

My men are tired.

We spent all night fishing and got nothing for all our hard work.

We were just about done cleaning our nets and now Jesus wants me to fish again.

More time wasted.

I will have to clean these nets all over again.

I mean, I respect Jesus as a great teacher and a great man of God.

I have seen lots of great miracles, but Jesus does not know fishing.

I know fishing but this is just plain out of Jesus understanding.”

Many more thoughts and feelings run through Peter’s mind, but all he can bring himself to say is, “Rabbi, we worked hard all night long and caught nothing.

But, at your word I will let down the nets.”

Mumbling and grumbling all the way, Peter does what Jesus asks, but his heart is not in it.

Have you ever felt like Peter?

Sure, Jesus knows all about spiritual things like church, prayer, and heaven, but He does not really understand me and my life.

What does Jesus know about the demands from my boss?

What does He know about stress in the workplace?

What does He know about the struggles of being a single mom?

Or being a daughter without a dad?

What does Jesus know about dating in the 21st century?

Then, wakened from his daydream and thoughts of how annoying all this really is, Peter’s arm is almost yanked from the socket, the boat almost flips and suddenly the nets are filled and begin to break with the largest catch of fish Peter has ever seen.

Using every bit of skill and knowledge they have just to keep afloat, the men frantically gesture their partners who are still at the shore in the other boat to come and help bring in this huge load of fish.

The other boat arrives, but soon it too is filled to capacity and both boats begin to flounder under the weight of these fish.

But is this huge catch of fish really a miracle?

The fish were already there in the water.

The nets were designed to catch fish.

Where is the miracle?

I wonder if the miracle is not really that Jesus was able to move these men beyond their pride and use a very ordinary day, an ordinary boat, ordinary fish and ordinary nets to make a miracle in their hearts.