Is that really gonna work?

Luke 5:1-5

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Surprising things about Jesus. Today were in Luke Chapter five, as Jesus calls his first disciples.

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. (Luke 5:1-3 NIV)

So nothing terribly surprising yet. Jesus is starting to gain more followers. There’s people crowding around him and we might think, Oh, wait a second, Jesus, you’re just going to go up to some fisherman in his boat and ask to use it? No, no. Not too surprising. He knew Simon Peter. He had just healed his mother in law in the previous chapter.

So he gets on the boat, he preaches. And already we’re seeing it kind of surprising, not for us, but what are people doing there? Listening to the word of God? Jesus is God and and he speaks God’s word.

So then something surprising happens. He finishes speaking the word of God. He finishes speaking to the people. Verse four

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.” (Luke 5:4-5 NIV)

Simon Peter had been working all night. He’s throwing out these casting nets, and he knows they’re not going to be as effective during the daytime. The fish are going to be able to spot them as they slowly go down before they cinch them up and pull them back. And he’s been working hard all night long in the best time for fishing. But if you say so. Because you say so Jesus, I’ll do this.

It doesn’t seem logical, it doesn’t seem practical, but the man who speaks God’s word is saying it to me. So I’ll give it a shot. Now you know what happens next. The nets begin to break. They’re so full of fish because Jesus used his all mighty power. He does a miracle.

Maybe you’ve been in Peter’s situation. Simon Peter’s situation before. Oh, is that really going to work? Well, if you say so, maybe. How about when you’re sharing God’s word with somebody else? Is it, is it really going to work this time that I will share words about Jesus and you can do miraculous things in somebody’s heart? Doesn’t it have to be a little bit more complicated than that? Or maybe you look at somebody and see that, think that they are just too far from God. I know how they act. I know how they live. I know what their strongly held spiritual or non spiritual beliefs are. And we start to reject how God works. So we want to come up with some other way. Or maybe we put too much pressure on ourselves as if we have to win people for the kingdom of God.

Maybe sometimes we even start to doubt if God and His Word are going to be effective in our lives. When we see our sin so clearly, when we feel our guilt in such a heavy way, and we think, Oh, I just… I just don’t know. Hear these words of Peter and see what Jesus did. Because you say so. I’ll do it. I’ll believe it.

And what does Jesus do? He does an incredible miracle and brings in this amazing catch of fish. And what is he going to do with his word through people like you and I? He’s going to do incredible, miraculous things. And all the pressure is on him, and none of it is on you, and none of it is on me. We simply join Jesus and follow Him and share his word and trust that it has the power that it does. The pressure is off. Jesus goes before you. He goes with you. Let’s follow him.