Gone Fishing

Good morning, church family! It’s good to be back. I’ve been away for a few weeks. I took some leave and went to Japan for rest, rejuvenation and a bit of adrenaline on the snowboard.

It was a quick turnaround after that, because straight away some of our youth and I went to Converge, a gathering of young people from across Australia. Ethan, Bella, Ben, Dane, Jordan and Viki came along. We had a great time connecting and being inspired by the speaker, Loy Cobble, who grew up with Jared in Port Macquarie. It was a powerful time of encouragement in discipleship and mission, especially bringing mission into everyday life. On the drive home we were bouncing around ideas for how to put it into practice here.

So it’s been a good three weeks, and I’m excited to be back in the rhythm. Today I want to talk about the call of discipleship, because discipleship is what God has called each of us to. It’s the essence of following Jesus, and I can’t think of a better text to capture it than Luke 5. I’m reading from the NIV.

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were 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.

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 signalled 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.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 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.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

— Luke 5:1–11

Jesus, thank you that you call every one of us to be your disciple. As we start this year, remind us what that call is about. Thank you that you call us as we are, whatever we’ve done and whoever we are, and you lift us up. Speak through me now, imperfect as I am. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Stuck on the green run

The main reason we went to Japan was snowboarding. It’s one of my favourite things, and there’s nowhere better for powder than Japan. It’s dry and soft, like floating on a pillow.

There were a few couples on the trip who were, let’s say, unequally yoked. I don’t mean in faith. I mean in snow ability. Snow can make or break a couple. It really tests your patience. I was grateful to be on my own, so on a powder day I could say, “See you later, I’m doing my own thing.”

But in some couples, one partner was experienced and the other was a beginner. So the experienced one would be on a green run on a perfect powder day, going down slowly with their partner, showing them the technique and waiting patiently: “Come on, the only way down is to just do it.” I’d watch from the chairlift thinking, “That must be so hard.”

But that’s a picture of discipleship. Jesus comes alongside us. He doesn’t call us and expect us to have everything sorted. He works at our pace and is patient with us. He doesn’t race ahead. He’s right there on the journey, teaching us the technique of life and the practices that make us more like him.

Discipleship isn’t just a cognitive exercise of learning information. Jesus gets alongside us and teaches us gently and patiently, because that’s his heart. It’s a process, a journey. You don’t master it in a day. It’s a lifetime of practice and learning.

Faith and convenience never go together

Peter’s call doesn’t come with instant certainty. There’s some reluctance. He’s disheartened. He’s an experienced fisherman who has been casting his nets all night and caught nothing. (Technically he’s still Simon at this point, but I’ll probably call him Peter because that’s what comes out of my mouth.)

Then Jesus asks him to go out again and let down his nets. That’s inconvenient. Peter is washing his nets. He’s finished for the day. He’s tried everything and given up. Jesus says, “Go out again.”

Here’s what I notice: faith and convenience never go together.

We love convenience. In Japan I finally understood why they’re called convenience stores. You can get anything there. The egg sandwiches are so good, and you can get full meals. In our society, if I’m hungry, I pull out my phone and Uber Eats sends me food. Life is very convenient.

But the call of a disciple is often a call to inconvenience: to step outside our comfort zone and lean into it. Often we find faith in the inconvenience. If you want to move forward in faith, you have to embrace the inconvenient.

I think many of us only follow Jesus when it’s convenient. We won’t push through moments of reluctance and doubt.

Peter had doubts, and it’s okay to have doubts. People sometimes say, “Just don’t doubt. Have faith.” But Peter has questions. “Master, we’ve worked hard all night.” He’s making excuses. The issue isn’t whether you have doubts. It’s what you do with them. Do they make you retreat, or press in? Doubt can be the way you find Jesus more deeply.

Peter leans in: “Because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Jesus is greater than our excuses and greater than our doubts.

A better fisherman

Jesus often asks us to do something radical, even absurd. Peter must have been thinking, “Is Jesus saying he’s a better fisherman than me?”

Who here would call yourself a fisherman? Put your hand up. We’ve got a few. I’ve been fishing once in my life, and I have a 100% success rate. I caught a fish. I haven’t fished since, and I plan to keep that record intact.

I used to think fishing was all luck, but fishermen will tell you it takes a lot of skill and knowledge. Last night I was talking to my friend Jonas, who is a very experienced fisherman. He does fly fishing, regular fishing (whatever that’s called) and spearfishing. He explained that in spearfishing it’s all about your body language in the water, so the fish come to you. There’s a whole process and skill to it.

Peter had tried with all his skill, and now Jesus is basically saying, “Let me show you.” That’s like me telling Julianne how to be a doctor. She wouldn’t take my advice on treating a patient. Jesus is asking Peter to do something in Peter’s own trade, the thing he had mastered.

Faith comes from hearing

So where did Peter’s faith to take Jesus at his word come from?

Notice that Jesus stepped into Peter’s boat. Scholars suggest that teaching from a boat amplified the speaker’s voice, a bit like a microphone, so the crowds on shore could hear.

If someone’s in my boat, I’m going to be hanging around, checking out what’s going on. I believe Peter was listening, sitting in the presence of Jesus as the word of God was spoken.

Our faith grows when we hear the word of God. “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (Romans 10:17). The word that gathered fish from the sea is the same word that builds faith in us to respond to Jesus.

We sometimes forget how powerful God’s word is. If I told you, “Wake up at 5 a.m. tomorrow, start praying, and you’ll hear God’s audible voice and maybe see angels,” many of you would be all over it. But Scripture is God-breathed: “All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). We go looking for special revelation while neglecting the written revelation we already have. If we want our faith to grow, we need to immerse ourselves in God’s word. That’s what gives us faith to respond and obey.

Christian by label or disciple by practice?

Until this moment Peter had heard of Jesus, probably heard him teach, and seen him perform miracles. But he hadn’t become a disciple.

Many of us are like Peter before his call. We’ll listen. We’ll watch what Jesus does. We’ll show up to worship each Saturday and consume. But we won’t commit to the life of a disciple. We’re good observers, not followers. We’ll attend religious things and consume spiritual food but keep our lives the way we want them.

There’s a difference between being a Christian by label and a disciple by practice.

How many times does the word “Christian” appear in the Bible? Three. And it seems to have started as a mocking name for Jesus’ early followers. How many times does “disciple” appear in the New Testament? Around 269.

A disciple is a learner. I like the word apprentice: someone who walks alongside Jesus to be with Jesus, become like Jesus and do as Jesus did.

I don’t think Jesus cares much whether you call yourself a Christian, put a cross in your Instagram bio or post a Bible verse on Facebook. What he cares about is whether you’ve given your whole life to being his disciple, a life of sacrifice, love and service.

Following for the fish, or for Jesus?

Peter realised that embracing the call meant surrender and sacrifice. Fishing was his livelihood, a big part of his identity, everything he knew. In an instant he dropped his nets and followed Jesus. That’s radical.

Some of us will only follow Jesus as long as he keeps providing the fish: “Jesus, I’ll keep following as long as the blessings keep coming.” But this text shows that being a disciple means following Jesus whatever happens, blessings or no blessings.

We need to reach the point where we follow Jesus not because it’s convenient or beneficial, but because the reward is Jesus himself: his presence and the sheer joy of friendship with him. Relationship with Jesus is good enough.

A rabbi who comes to you

Peter was called on the spot. He didn’t need a degree. While he was still in awe and trying to make sense of it all, he was called into mission.

These were uneducated men. Simon and Andrew being fishermen tells us something. Every Jewish child went through rabbinic schooling, and every Jewish parent hoped their child would become a rabbi. If you didn’t make the cut, you went back to your father’s trade. For Peter, James and John, that was fishing. In a sense they were dropouts. They hadn’t made it.

But Jesus is a different kind of rabbi. Most rabbis wouldn’t risk rejection by approaching a student and asking them to follow. They waited for students to come to them. Jesus goes to his students where they are and says, “Come, follow me.”

The Desire of Ages says: “It is not the highest work of education to communicate knowledge merely, but to impart that vitalizing energy which is received through the contact of mind with mind, and soul with soul. It is only life that can beget life.”

The power of discipleship is in that personal relationship. Having Jesus as your rabbi means walking alongside him, walking in the dust of his feet.

We often treat church like a spiritual university where you collect more information. There are two main ways of learning in our society. One is university, and I did that. But I really admire the trade way of learning: the apprenticeship. You walk alongside someone who has mastered the trade and learn from them as you go. It’s practical.

That’s discipleship. It isn’t studying theory. It’s walking with Jesus and learning from him. You don’t need a theology degree. You just need to be an apprentice of Jesus. It’s not intellectual theory. It’s an embodied way of life. It’s not a one-time prayer and done. It’s living for his kingdom, denying yourself, every single day.

I’ve learned so much about discipleship from people like you, people with regular careers who go about your trade and are being discipled by Jesus every day. If that’s not you yet, this is the moment to commit to being a disciple, to embrace Peter’s call and become not just a Christian by label but a disciple by practice.

If Roger Federer asked

Why could Peter leave everything behind? Because Jesus was very, very special.

I’ve been getting into tennis lately, and I think Roger Federer is the greatest player of all time. The elegance and beauty of his game are unmatched. He’s got a one-handed backhand. I’ve got a one-handed backhand. Pretty much the same, you know?

Imagine I’d tried out for some tennis competitions, hoping to go pro, and failed. Then Roger Federer comes up and says, “Jeremy, come and learn from me. I’ll teach you the best one-handed backhand out there.” Would I say no? I’d say yes in an instant. That’s what it was like for Peter.

Of course, Federer asking me is very unrealistic. You can dream, but it’s not going to happen. Jesus, though, says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple…” (Luke 9:23). Every one of us has that opportunity. Whoever you are and whatever you’ve done, Jesus calls you to learn under him: the one who has mastered life, conquered death and shown us how to live abundantly.

Peter learned that life is far better with Jesus, because Jesus can do in an instant what we can’t do in a lifetime. Peter tried with all his skill and strength to catch fish, and Jesus, ironically, turned out to be the better fisherman. By laying down our lives and becoming his apprentices, we find who we were truly meant to be.

Calling is simpler than you think

We often think of calling as something mystical, a voice from heaven. It’s simpler than that. Career and calling are different. Whatever your career, all of us share the same calling: to be disciples of Jesus. It’s expressed in different ways through our work and lives, but the calling is to learn from Jesus, become like Jesus and do as Jesus did.

Maybe you’ve been an observer of Jesus for a while, sitting back and consuming, but you’ve never committed to being a disciple or to the higher standard he calls us to. Jesus is calling you into a lifelong journey of surrender and obedience, learning from him and walking with him into abundant life, in total friendship and communion with him. It takes a lifetime to learn, but it’s a life worth living.

So will you embrace the call Jesus has placed on your life? Will you lay down your nets and follow him? Let’s stand and sing.

Prayer

Jesus, we have decided to follow you. If there are people here who want to begin their discipleship journey, not as one baptism or one conversion experience but as a lifelong journey of surrender and sacrifice, of being with you, becoming like you and doing as you did, help them take the right steps. Maybe that’s reaching out to someone to read the Bible with, to pray with, to be accountable to.

You showed Peter, and you show us, that you can do in an instant what we can’t do in a lifetime, and that life is better with you. Thank you for Peter’s example: you used broken people who didn’t have much, who had doubts and questions, to do amazing ministry. Later in his life people looked at Peter and saw that he was unschooled and ordinary, but they took note that he had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). May people see that in us too. We may not have all the knowledge or intellect, but may they know we have been with Jesus. In Jesus’ name, amen.