The story in Matthew chaper 4 of how Jesus called his disciples sounds unbelievable. Jesus sees James and John, fishing with their father Zebedee. They are not fishing for fun; this is their occupation. They see Jesus and immediately drop their fishing nets and leave their father in the boat to follow Jesus!
That doesn’t sound right. It sounds spiritually irresponsible, that both sons leave Dad abruptly to follow some stranger!
Luke tells the same story a little differently in Luke chapter 5. It begins with Jesus preaching by the Sea of Galilee.
Luke 5:1 says “One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God.” There was no crowd control, maybe there was pushing, maybe people in the back couldn’t hear well.
2 “Jesus saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.” They’re done fishing, they clean the seaweed and the plastic grocery bags or whatever off the nets, so they can dry the nets and put them away until tomorrow.
3 “He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore.” The idea is if Jesus sits in a boat out on the water, people can see him and hear him better. So, he asks Simon, who has been cleaning his nets while listening to Jesus and watching Jesus and the crowd, wondering why everyone wants to be near him. Simon is probably curious to hear what Jesus has to say, and he sees he can help. So, he says, “Ok.” And he takes Jesus out on the water and sits and listens in the boat. Jesus taught the crowd from the boat.
“4 When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’” This is a bigger request. Fishermen would go out at night to fish, because the surface water cooled and the fish would swim closer to the surface at night. But now night was over, their fishing was done and it was quitting time.
“5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.’” Simon is a fisherman, he knows what he is doing. Simon thinks, Jesus is very inspiring as he talks about God. But he doesn’t understand fishing. There are no fish today.
Still, Jesus has asked, and well, for Jesus, he’ll do it. Peter says, “But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Jesus has asked a big ask. They are looking forward to going home to their comfy recliner. But they take the nets and the boat back out on the sea and let the nets down.
“6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began 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 full that they began to sink.” So Jesus did know what he was talking about!
8 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.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Now that story makes a little more sense! The disciples don’t drop everything to follow a complete stranger. It’s a process of growing closer to Jesus.
That story tells us, when Jesus calls us to follow, it’s not like he is saying, “Drop everything and follow me now.” Instead, it’s Jesus saying, “Will you trust me?” Will you trust me enough to take me for a short ride in your boat. Then it’s, trust me in a bigger way, trust me and try letting your nets down again. And finally it’s trust me with all your life: follow me.
In our walk with God, the question for all of us is not: how far along are you in following Jesus? It’s simply: are you following Jesus? We never arrive, we’re never “done” following Jesus. Whether we’re on our first step following or we’re a missionary in Africa, the question is, “Are you following Jesus?”
For all of us followers of Jesus, God will come to us with a “Will you trust me?” moment. Maybe it was the first time we go to Sunday school, will you trust me to go, to listen to the stories, to meet your teacher, to make new friends? For our youth here today, it was, “Will you trust me and go to the confirmation program?” They said, “Ok.” Will you trust me and claim your faith? That’s the step the confirmation class is taking today. Maybe next it’s, will you trust me and help teach Sunday school?
There’s more thatJesus asks: Will you trust me with your relationships? Will you trust me with your job? Will you trust me with an opportunity to serve? Will you trust me and be generous? Will you trust me with a mission trip?
And the more you trust, the more life changing things happen. The more you look back and say, “Wow, what if I hadn’t trusted? What if I hadn’t done that? What if I hadn’t talked to that person God nudged me to speak to?”
If you take the next step God is nudging you toward, you’ll never regret it. But if you don’t take that next step, you’ll never know what God might have done in your life and through your life.
So that’s my homework for you this week, ask yourself, “Am I following Jesus?” “Am I trusting?
Wherever God is challenging you in your life, that’s where God wants to work in your life, one step at a time. Whatever your next step is, take, and you’ll never regret it. Amen.
October 4, 2020
Maureen Duffy-Guy's blog 