Taking a chance on Jesus

Luke 5:1-11

 5 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.

 Three pieces of information will help this passage make sense. First, Lake Gennesaret and the Sea of Galilee are the same body of water. Second, around the north end of the lake there were coves that served as natural amphitheaters so this description of people sitting on a hillside and Jesus in a boat just off-shore makes sense. And third, fishing was a night activity.

 With the crowd pressing in Jesus commandeered a boat and preached from it to the crowd. When Jesus was done preaching, he paid the fishers for their time and boat rental by helping them catch a huge haul of fish. But how irritating must it have been for Simon Peter, the professional fisher, who knew that catching fish was better at night, to do what Jesus suggested he do. We can hear it in vs. 5 “yet if you say so”. A grudging agreement – and then we he sees the catch the awareness that Jesus was far more than a teacher – this was someone from God. (I am not sure Simon Peter had yet figured out that Jesus was the Son of God, but certainly Jesus was from God.)

 How often do we feel the Holy Spirit nudging us to do something, or someone suggests something, and we say “I know that won’t work, but if you really think this is worth trying, okay”? And when the thing is tried it goes so much better than we ever imagined. The praise and glory go to God who works in unexpected ways. May we have the courage to take risks in following the nudges of the Holy Spirit. May we have the courage to leave behind the old ways to learn the new way, the Jesus way.  

 PRAYER:  

Send the Holy Spirit, O Lord, to nudge us in unexpected directions. Give us the courage to take the risks in following your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.