Go Deeper

Imagine yourself a part of the scene-- picture a lake surrounded by hills, You are on the lakeshore-a crowd of people on the gentle hill rising from the water’s edge, listening to Jesus…feel the crowds pressing around you, hear birds calling as the soar over the water, see fishing boats at the shore-good sized boats, with the fisherman nearby taking care of their nets. Imagine you are standing there, listening to Jesus, watching this story play out…Hear the Word of the Lord.
NRSV Luke 5
1 Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." 5 Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" 9 For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

I wonder what Simon Peter and the others thought? They probably could hear Jesus even before he got into the boat. Washing their nets, perhaps listening, maybe wondering what all these people saw in this guy! The carpenter’s son from Nazareth.

Sea of Galilee is in a bowl shape, acoustics would have been excellent with Jesus ‘a bit out from shore’
Jesus came to them. Got into Simon’s boat and Asked a favor, ‘put out from shore a bit. So he did.

So Jesus taught from the boat…taking advantage of the natural acoustics afforded by water and sloping land. Then he said to Simon, head out to the Deep water, and let down your nets.

Simon Peter and others had worked all night without success. so Simon and his brother and partners were probably tired and frustrated. This was their LIVING after all. They had no catch of fish to sell, and they may have not had anything to take home besides. 

And being tired, they may not have wanted to take that boat out into deep water again! These were boats that could hold 12-15 men. About a 30 foot boat!

And it would be a bit strange for Jesus to tell these men how to fish! after all, Jesus was a carpenter! A carpenter from land-locked Nazareth! And a carpenter telling professional fishermen how to manage their trade is like me telling you all how to do the plumbing in your new bathroom!

It struck me reading this story, these men were down. Tired and frustrated, from a hard nights work that was fruitless. And this is when Jesus came to them. -- When they were down.  And He didn’t tell them they messed up or were no good. No, he just said “go out to the deep water”

When we are down, frustrated, when things just don’t seem to be going right, we tend to shut ourselves off from others. We may even step back in our faith life when we are stressed. It is easy to miss church once or twice, or do less devotional and bible reading time. but Jesus told Simon Peter to “put out into the Deep”. “go deeper”

It is hard to go deeper when you are down. The old saying “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade” sounds nice but it is tough to do when you are down in the dumps. When we have things in our lives that challenge us and challenge our faith, we may tend to step back, to slide a bit.

Jesus came to him when Simon was down in the dumps and Jesus said “you need to get out of your routine!-You can trust me!’

When we trust, we are allowing ourselves to be vulnerable. That is why we tend to close off a bit of ourselves when times get tough. We are scared of being vulnerable and being hurt again. But trust is a part of our faith. A big part!
You see, the word “faith” is not used in this verse, but the words for faith in Greek, that are used throughout the New Testament, all mean “faith”, “belief”, “to be sure” of, “to be persuaded of”, and Trustworthy, or having Trust. Trust is a huge component of faith.

So Simon Peter did trust Jesus, and the results were astounding!
More fish than they could manage! They had to flag down the Zebedee boys to bring their boat and help, and both boats nearly sank from the weight of all those fish! Both of the 30 foot boats!

When we trust enough to go to that deep water, we may find that we are suddenly aware of our failings—as Simon Peter did. Suddenly he was very aware of the presence of God, right in front of him. the catch of fish was so miraculous that Simon Peter suddenly was terrified, on his knees in front of Jesus. Realizing that he was not worthy to be in His presence! “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man” –I do not deserve You in my life!  When we realize the power of Christ in our lives, we may well find ourselves struck by how unworthy we are! The realization of how puny we are in comparison to the incredible grace of Jesus Christ is as astonishing as any miracle. 

But what is Jesus’ reply? “Fear not-from now on, you will fish for people….you will work for the Kingdom”

And that is what can happen to us. When we trust Jesus Christ, when we allow him to guide us to the deep water, we are changed.  He becomes part of us!

Try going deeper with Jesus. Spend more time with the Word of God. and remember to pray for God to help your understanding when you read scripture.

With Lent coming up, this is a great time to do a bit more reading. Reading books or devotional materials by Christian authors. There are several great authors, Philip Yancey, Max Lucado, Brennan Manning come to mind.

Talk to a faith-full friend. Pray together. Pray with your loved ones. And remember that in prayer, just as in any loving relationship, you can be comfortable in silence, you can prayerfully rest in God’s presence. Feel the warmth of His love envelop you.

As you are intentional about going more deeply into your faith walk, the Light of Christ will shine through you, through us, through our actions and words. And that light will help bring people to Jesus. We become Fishers of People!

Let us pray:
 
Dearest Lord Jesus, thank you for coming to us when life is hard, and guiding us to the deep water. Help us to trust you and to let down our nets, so that we may too become fishers of people. In Jesus' name, Amen.