Heeding the Call

(Luke5:1-11)

At the beginning of the fifth century a controversy arose that sent theologians scrambling to define the doctrine of election. A British monk by the name of Pelagius came up with a teaching that flew in the face of conventional Christianity. He said that man was not born with a sinful nature and that by human effort and merit, man could achieve salvation outside of divine grace. St. Augustine and others came to the defense of scripture and at the Council of Carthage in 418, Pelagius’ teachings were anathematized.

Fast forward 1200 years to the beginning of the 17th century where a professor by the name of Jacobus Arminius made a name for himself by teaching that God chose us because he knew we were going to chose Him. He asserted that election was "conditional on man’s response, dependant on God’s foreknowledge of his faith and perseverance."(New Dictionary of Theology) At the Synod of Dort in 1618/19, Arminius’ teachings were condemned and the leaders of the Remonstrant movement were removed from their pulpits.

Unfortunately that is not the end of the story. Most Protestant churches today are infected by the teachings of Arminius and can be defined as Semi-Pelagian in there soteriology (study of salvation). Some churches have removed the doctrine of election all together.

This brings us back to where we should always start, in God’s word, and today we will look at the question that has been argued over for 1600 years, "How is the Christian called and how should they respond?"

As we continue to study through the gospel of Luke, today we will look at Luke 5:1-11 and the calling of the first Disciples.

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Have you ever thought about how practical our Lord is? On that day he was being pushed around by a crowd that wanted to hear him teach. The people had heard about his wisdom and his miracles and wanted to experience it for themselves. So, what did he do? Hopped into a boat and asked the owner, who just happened to be Simon, to push it out a ways. Two problems were solved, first, the crowd couldn’t push him around anymore and second, the acoustics were much better so that everyone could hear.

After Jesus finished teaching he turned his attention to Simon and his fishing partners. Now we know that Simon knew Jesus and that he had witnessed many healings, including his own mother-in-law, but what was a carpenter doing telling an experienced fisherman how to catch fish? It was the wrong time of the day, in the wrong part of the lake. Simon had to make a decision, was he going to follow his professional expertise and stay on shore? Or was he going to follow his conscience and obey Jesus?

His faith in Jesus won out over his doubts about success, but not without some reservations. And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets."

Simon’s faith brings to mind a Proverb that we should all live by, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

Simon didn’t know that it was the Son of God that was addressing him that day, but he did know that there was something very special about Jesus and he obeyed Him. The results were astonishing. There were so many fish in the nets that they were starting to break. They called out to the other boat to come and help and both were filled.

Liberal theologians may not see any kind of a miracle here but Simon sure did. Whether Jesus placed the fish there or knew that they would be there, what happened was not the norm. Simon recognized the hand of God on the situation and immediately fell down before Jesus, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

This brings us to the heart of our lesson today. The first act, if you will, that we perform as believers, is to acknowledge our sins and then confess them to God. This is done in different ways in different denominations but the premise is the same. So how do we recognize our sin unless we are confronted with the truth? The truth being Jesus Christ. Simon recognized himself as a sinner only after he realized whose presence he was in. This is contrary to the teaching that Christ responds to the sinner only after they have exhibited faith in Him.

When this same fisherman addressed the people in Jerusalem after our Lords ascension, and confronted them with the truth about whom they had crucified, the scripture said they were "cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" And Peter said to them, "repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins….’"

They were not "cut to the heart" by a knife, they were "cut to the heart" by the Holy Spirit. Peter preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people that day and the Holy Spirit worked in their hearts to reveal the truth. It was at that point that they cried out "Brothers, what shall we do?" It was at this point that the grace of God was thrust upon them. It was at this point that the miracle of conversion took place. "and there were added that day about three thousand souls."

The idea that we can have faith first and then ask Jesus into our hearts is absurd. Conversion can happen at any time, and we don’t always know or remember when it took place, but believe me, if it happened it was initiated by God and not by you.

Charles Spurgeon once preached "In all true conversions there are points of essential agreement. There must be in all a penitent confession of sin and a looking to Jesus for the forgiveness of it. And there must also be a real change of heart such as shall affect the entire life. And where these essential points are not to be found, there is no genuine conversion."

That Simon’s conversion was genuine, there is no doubt, but as usual, we can learn from his mistakes. When his true self was revealed to him, the first thing he wanted to do was separate himself from Christ. "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" That is the last thing God wants us to do. Every week I read the words of our Lord from St. Matthews gospel, "Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Jesus wants us to draw near to him, not to retreat from him. The assurance of his nearness is one of the greatest comforts in a Christian’s life.

After telling Peter not to be afraid, Jesus made a profound statement to him, "from now on you will be catching men." Jesus didn’t ask Peter if he wanted to catch men, but instead pronounces that he will be catching them. And although the statement was directed at Peter, he was joined by James, John and, according to St. Matthews’s gospel, Andrew also.

What would make these guys leave all that they had to follow this carpenter from Nazareth? Catch Men! Fishing hadn’t been all that great up till today but fish still had to be easier to catch than men. Who in there right mind would do this? Something had to have changed to make them realize that they had to follow Jesus. Is it odd, or is it God, I wonder?

 

Darrell Bock wrote, "[disciples] have one thing in common: they do not come because they deserve God’s gift; they come because they know that they need his grace."

How do they know they need God’s grace? How did you know you needed God’s grace? There is only one answer, the Holy Spirit has convicted us of our sin and we recognized Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. When this happens, there is only one thin we can do, follow Him.

Anna and Fred are putting a new website together for Trinity and I was asked to do a short article welcoming visitors to the site. As I was writing it, I started thinking about everything God has done in mine and Kathy’s life since we started following Him. How, when we were first converted, He blessed us with Christian couples as examples of how we should live our lives. How He provided for our needs when Kathy was the only one who could work. How He made sure I got the education I needed to serve Him properly. How He provided a way for us to move to this area when we didn’t know how we would do it.

When God chooses us to follow him, we are to take the responsibility seriously.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:11-14

We are not in the business of saving souls, God is. But for some reason he uses us to deliver the message that he does save souls. He turns us from sinners into servants and uses us to help save the lost. What a privilege He has bestowed upon us. As Christians the calling in our lives is clear, heed the call, follow the Master and reap the rewards of eternal life. Amen