Let's open our Bibles to the book of Luke, the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 5. I don't know how many feel that God is about to do something big in our lives and in New England. Amen. And that this includes you, that the Lord is not going to forget you, that while he does something great in New England, he also has to do something great in you. Do you believe it? Amen.
And you know? And I'm not sorry if any of those amens were a little lukewarm because I don't know about you, and I've had this conversation with many, and I know how someone can feel when knowing that the greatest adventure of their life is approaching, the greatest thing that God has to do, the most special days of your life are approaching, at the same time one realizes that this adventure and those times do not come without a cost, that perhaps the greatest blessing of your entire life, the most special experience of your entire life will also be accompanied with a cost that comes to us, that kind of blessing does not come for free, that it will cost us.
And this morning, brothers, I affirm yes to both, to both intuitions, to both feelings. Yes, a great blessing is coming for your life, yes God has great plans for your life. He wants to do great things through you and his life, and brothers, it will not cost him much, it will cost us everything. And there is a name for that experience, it is called discipleship. This is the adventure of following Christ.
And brothers, I invite you to the Gospel according to Saint Luke Chapter 5, and brothers, I don't know about you, but maybe you have a Reina Valera Bible as we have a lot and as we have here represented by the Internet, and the editors of the Reina Valera Bible marked this text with a title that you can still see from there and what does it say there that happened in Luke, Chapter 5 from verse 1 to 11? The miraculous catch.
Now, check out something interesting. If we were to see this same text in the New International Version the title changes, the editors of the New International Version and if you're following along in English and you apeen to have an NIV Bible and a bilingual Bible like me, it's the only way I would catch it, side by side you have these two titles, and those editors title this biblical portion how? Calling of the first disciples.
Pastor, what's going on here? What is happening here? Is this the miraculous catch or the calling of the first disciples? What's going on here? And, brothers, by the way, what is happening here is that the evangelist Luke, did not write either of these two titles, neither of these two titles appears in the Greek. And this is fine, this is to help you. Someone made a decision that in order to help him look up the biblical texts, an editor said, well, he made a decision to state, this is the most important thing that's going on in this text. And one editor said, well, the most important thing that's happening in Luke Chapter 5 1-11 is the miraculous catch. Another decided, no, no, no, the most important thing that is happening in this text is the calling of the first disciples. What do you say?
Let's go back to the Reina Valera. Thank you my brothers. Do you know what I think? I believe that the greatest miracle that the Lord does, that he has always done, that he continues to do is that an individual, a person decides to follow Jesus and be his disciple. I believe that even today is the greatest thing that the Lord can do. Do you know why? The Lord can force a demon to flee by the power of his word. The Lord by the power of his word makes the blind see, the paralyzed walk, the dead come out of their graves. The Lord can do great things even the Lord through the power of his word can cancel the laws of nature as he did here and as we will see in this miracle of miraculous fishing. But the Lord does not force anyone to follow him. The Lord does not force anyone to follow him, the Lord cannot or at least he has decided that no one follow him out of obligation.
The one who follows Christ, the one who makes the decision to leave, imagine, leaving everything you know, all your customs, the way you were raised, what gives you pleasure, the way you see the world, to follow the Lord, to perhaps mysterious and unknown places, imagine how big that is. And everyone, if you are here and have made that decision to follow Christ, you did it because you wanted to, because the Lord called you and you obeyed the voice of the Lord. and glory to God, brothers, if you are here and said yes, amen, Lord I follow you, because you know? For many, I would say for the vast majority of the world and we take it for granted because we are in a country where the word of God springs up like water from the rock and is available wherever and there is a majority especially in such a special place. like this church on a Sunday, of disciples of Christ. Look at Thailand where Julie is preaching to where 1% of the population have made that decision. Why is it so difficult there? Do you know why? And I would say even in the US, even in this country for many this leap to follow Jesus is too dangerous. It's just too much to ask. They are asking too much of you to follow Jesus. And they prefer being religious to being disciples of Christ.
The pastor was preaching a few Sundays ago about the difference between a religious life and a life in the spirit. Remember? That they are not the same. Life in the spirit and religious life are very different. And, brothers, for the purposes of this morning I can distinguish a religious life or a life of a disciple of Christ in this way, this is the way, I believe that this is the framework that defines a disciple of Christ from a religious person , and it is this: who follows whom.
One can live a life in which one places Jesus or the image one has made up of Jesus within the framework of one's religious life. But in reality, the one who is making all the decisions in your life, the one who is programming your life, the one who determines what you do, what you say, when you do it, and why is it you. you are living your life, you are sitting on the throne of your life as we see in the discipleship materials. You are calling the shot. You are the person who is directing your life and Christ, you expect Christ on your journey, on a journey that you yourself have programmed, expect Christ to follow you if you are religious. In other words, it is not so consistent for a religious person to say, I hope that God blesses this effort, or I hope that God is with us or that God blesses you or God is with you, because in reality that is what we do. When we are religious we are saying that Jesus accompanies us, we are waiting for him to follow us, accompany us, bless us on the journey of life that we ourselves have programmed.
Instead, the disciple follows Jesus. The disciple has made a decision to lay down his life in total surrender to follow Christ. Now how does one get to that extreme? How is it, and you realize, perhaps, especially in a country like this, the United States, that we treasure our rights, our time, our independence, we often come from places where perhaps here for the first time you can decide how to live and for the moment you are going to give up that right to decide how you live, to follow Christ. How does one arrive at that decision?
I love this text, do you know why? Because it is a portrait, it is a recording of this process. We can see a man convert and his partners become disciples of Christ before our eyes. And brother, all discipleship begins with an encounter with Jesus, all discipleship, each disciple begins with an encounter with Jesus and for Peter, the event that would transform his life happened on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, here in Luke Chapter 5:
“It came to pass that while Jesus was by the lake of Gennesaret, the crowd was pressing around him to hear the word of God and he saw two boats that were near the shore of the lake and the fishermen, and having descended from it they were washing their networks. And getting into one of those boats, which belonged to Simon, he begged him to put him a little offshore, and sitting down, he taught the crowd from the boat...."
Brothers, the first thing we want to emphasize is that one can know Jesus, in quotes, without having had an encounter with Jesus. One can even hear Jesus preach, hear the word of Jesus without having had an encounter with Jesus. One can still see the Lord do miraculous and powerful things even in his own home without having had a personal encounter with Jesus. And at least at this point in Pedro's life, that is precisely the case with Pedro.
If we look a little later in the verse, earlier in Chapter 4 of Luke, verse 38 something happens in the same house as Peter something happens there.
It says that “...then Jesus got up and left the synagogue and went into Simon's house. Simon's mother-in-law had a great fever and they begged him for her, and leaning towards her he rebuked the fever and the fever left him, and getting up she immediately served him....”
This happened? where? In the same house as Peter, and not only that,
“...at sunset all those who had sick with various diseases brought him, Jesus and he laying hands on each of them they healed them. Demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, you are the Son of God. But he rebuked them and did not let them speak because they knew that he was the Christ..."
Brothers, I don't know about you, but my impression is that Peter was here, Simon Peter was here for all this . He witnessed all these events. This is taking place at Pedro's house. Now, brothers, he also tells me this about Peter: the man was not a rich man but he was not a vagabond either. He was living the middle class dream. What do we know about him? If he had a mother-in-law, what did he have? He had a wife, he had a home, and we also know that he had a house, and not just any house, I think that for a reason this is happening in Pedro's house, this is at least a house big enough to accommodate several people. And on top of that he had his business, he was a fisherman who was the main trade in that region, and it seems that he did well because besides having his boats and his business, what else did he have? partners. What more did he want?
And brothers, that's the point. The Lord visits us many times in the moment, it is so difficult to see the power of God and appreciate it in the midst of our normal, ordinary, ordinary life. And Peter, I imagine that Peter had great respect for Jesus. He opened the house to Jesus. And brothers, that's good, that's a great start, one can open the house to Jesus without opening his heart. One can recognize, this is a great rabbi, without recognizing, this is the Son of God, the head of my life, my God and my King. One can say, this is a great miracle worker, without saying, he is my God.
And this is Peter's situation at this point. Jesus knew him, he knew Jesus, they had crossed paths, Jesus trusted him enough to borrow his boat and ask him for help, but I imagine, brothers, that if we take a portrait, if we freeze that point and ask him at that point, at the moment when Jesus got into the boat to use it as a speaker to preach to this crowd, and if one were to ask Peter at that moment, this rabbi that you have on your boat, this man that you are helping, who is he? Would you answer that is my God, that is my King, that is the one who determines the course of my life, that is the one who makes the decisions for me? You see, I think Peter was a great admirer of Jesus, I think he was even fond of him but he wasn't his disciple, he still didn't follow him.
And you know what it took to break this pattern and make that transition? A crisis. And we see this in the following verses. For you and me, this may not appear as a crisis, but we are not Pedro. How many say each life is a world? For you and me a day without fish is not a big deal, for Peter this is a catastrophe and follow this Scripture:
“... after the Lord had finished speaking, when he had finished speaking he said to Simon, put out into the deep and cast your nets for a catch...”
Okay, what is Jesus saying here? Brothers, imagine that you are an electrician and let's say your uncle accompanies you who knows nothing about electricity and advises you how to pull the cable in a house. Or imagine that you are a mechanic and you are changing a transmission in a car and I appear to you, that sometimes I get confused where to put the gasoline, and I advise you perhaps this slack, this screw. You say, thank you Samuel, thank you. Stay in the car, you help me much better there. imagine.
Pedro was supposed to be the fishing expert, right? And here, brothers, we have a fight and the fight is called the master of the lake. who is the master of the lake here? Now, Pedro being a commercial fisherman is supposed to know this lake like the back of his hand. How many of you know that? Maybe you and I, some of us who have fished for recreation, we don't care where we fish, if it's a river, if it's high seas, wherever we think there are fish, we throw it there, like if we have fish that day or not, what do we care But a commercial fisherman, mind you, it's rare for him to move from the same body of water. All their lives they have been fishing in the same place, it may be that Pedro's father still fished in this lake. We know, for example, that the father of Juan and Jacobo fished in this lake because he was with them on this day. It may be that these boats were an inheritance that Pedro's grandfather passed on to his father, the father to Pedro and the lake itself, they fished in this lake all their lives. Like the fishermen we know here in New England who go to Gloucester and Gloucester for them is, we see water and a landscape, they see their life. and the thing is this, the art of fishing is very precise, and for them they have to program the wind, the tide, the currents, the seasons of the moon, all of this they take into account when deciding where to cast the nets. And still they fail, still they have days like Pedro.
It says here, "...Peter answered him and said, Master, we have been working all night and we have caught nothing, but at your word I will cast the net..."
And brothers, you know what? Maybe you are here on the line between I love the Lord but I know that he is calling me to something deeper. I don't know but I know that something else awaits me, I feel the spirit of God mysteriously pulling me to know this Jesus more and abandon myself more to his will. But something binds me, and you know what? Crossing that line is easier than you think.
It's the easiest thing you can do and the most powerful thing you can do. In this case it was so. Jesus says to Peter, you know what? You have been fishing all night, you have used your best intentions, you have used all your experience, you have done everything you can and what have you accomplished? Nothing. Now listen to me. Although what I am telling you does not make sense, although it is not consistent with everything you know, with all your experience, with everything you have lived, this does not make sense, obey me. test me
And guess what? Pedro had to realize something. At this time for more experience than he had he was not the king of the lake, he did not control the lake. Pedro's life, his well-being depended on the whims of the fish and the rhythm of this lake. If the lake decided he ate and his family ate, if the lake decided, if his experience proved it, his partners received their salary for that day.
Brothers, each of us without Christ is exposed to powers that control your life. In other words, brothers, the fact that you control your life, that I control my life, is an illusion. Nobody here has control, lately we have no control. In the end the Lord shows us that our lives are somewhat fragile. We have bodies that get sick, loved ones that die, we have businesses that in a few months if it changes now we are talking about changes in the economy, and daily if you are a businessman you care about the health of the economy, you is following the stock market, why? You have no control over those things, but they do have control over you.
You're in control, brothers, our marriages are fragile things. Our relationships are fragile things and from time to time the Lord allows a crisis. And brothers, I am not celebrating the crisis in your life, quite the contrary, I am saying this: that we realize that we have no control, that we realize that there is something that has happened in our lives that perhaps we are not We have asked for it, or we have tried to avoid it with everything we know, with all our experience, with our best intentions, and even so, our life has been twisted by something that for the moment has taken control of your reality and for a moment your you are willing to listen to Jesus and perhaps obey the crazy things that the Lord asks of you. Now trust me.
Now give me your life. Now allow me to intervene in your life. And that is what God wants with you. And Peter, with nothing to lose, tells him, Lord, you know, this is contrary to everything I know, everything I know, all my experience, I know this lake intimately, but if you say so. Maybe he did it to please Jesus. Maybe he did it with his doubts, but he did it, he did it.
And brothers, after all, that is faith. All faith is like that. taking the Lord, his word and obeying him even when it doesn't make sense, obeying him even when it's crazy, when one confronts the word of God he measures it against his life and says, this does not agree with this in the name of Jesus I will cast the net, in the name of Jesus I will prove it. And then,
“.... and having done this they locked up a lot of fish and what happened, my brothers? His network was breaking. Then they signaled to their companions who were in the other boat to come help them and they say that they had many to help him with the fishing and seeing this, Simon Peter fell on his knees before Jesus saying, get away from me Lord, no longer Master, look, Lord , because I am a sinful man, because because of the fishing that he had done, fear had seized him and all those who were with him...”
What is happening here? Peter had seen Jesus heal the sick, and this did not bring him to his knees. Peter had seen Jesus perhaps make paralytics stand up, this did not bring him to his knees. Peter had heard Jesus preach, this did not bring him to his knees. Peter had witnessed Jesus casting out demons, in his own home, healing his own mother-in-law, he had not yet fallen to his knees. After this fishing Pedro falls on his knees and says, you are my Lord. Do you know why? The Lord knows the crisis it will cause that can finally bring them to their knees, and that's good, that's good.
And brothers, it is not that the Lord is sadistic and wants to afflict us, but do you know what the Lord wants to do? he wants to take us to the point where we say, Lord, I open myself to your grace. You are the Lord and I do not even deserve to be in front of your presence. Lord, I ask for your favor, I ask for your intervention, do something in my life. An open door. And the Lord, do you know what the Lord wants with you? Why is the Lord bringing us to this point? Why is it that the Lord leads us to have situations that we cannot solve without him? Why is it that the Lord allows chaos that we cannot confront without him? You know why? Because he has a plan for your life far beyond your crisis. God's agenda is powerful, the Lord approaches Peter and says:
“.. do not be afraid, from now on you will be a fisher of men and when they brought the boats to land, leaving everything they followed him. ..”
Brothers, you who are deciding, well, I have heard the word of God but I know that the moment I come to the Lord something is going to change. You know, it is not that you doubt the power of God, you know and recognize very well that God has the power to change your life and that is what perhaps you fear. You fear what God may do in your life. You fear that God is the boss of your life. You fear that the Lord will make decisions for you. You fear losing your independence. Perhaps you are afraid because you do not know what God is going to do with you, where God is going to take you, what you may have to give up, what you may have to sacrifice.
If that's you this morning, I can guarantee that something big, much bigger than just fishing on the seashore has God for you, something bigger than normal life has God for you, something bigger than the life you are used to has God for you. God wants to make you not just any fisherman, but a fisher of men. The same Peter, the same character, the man had to have a character to be head of the sons of Sebedeo, he had to have something, he had some leadership. Jesus saw all that in him and he said, you know, if you trust me I can take your life, your DNA, even your failures, even the things that maybe now you consider a tragedy or a failure, I can take those things and in the light of my power, magnify it a thousand times and do something glorious through your life. You are an electrician, the Lord wants to make you an electrician for Christ, where the wiring of the Lord goes through you and your power works through you.
You are a carpenter, the Lord wants to build temples and cities through you. You wash dishes, the Lord can use those same hands to clean and wash and change the lives of many. God wants to do that in your life this morning. We just ignore him.
Brothers, let us stand up. Maybe you have been thinking about this for a long time already and God has been working in your life for a long time. Perhaps you would not be here, perhaps you would not even be tuning in on the Internet if something big, some chaos, some crisis had been caused in your life and I have news for you, God can solve that in a moment because he is the one who has control of your life, not your situation. You know, I love that the Lord shows this to Pedro over and over again, not only through fishing but tells him, Pedro, don't forget I am the boss of this sea. In the middle of a storm he tells her, 'sea, shut up', and the sea shuts up. Who is the boss of the lake?
On another occasion the Lord takes a shortcut, the time he takes the boat he decides to walk on the lake. Pedro, do you want to try and see? Get out here, walk with me. Pedro, who is the boss of the sea? Who is the boss of the sea?
You know, this situation that looks like it's going to sink you, drown you, knock you down is merely the Lord showing you, I'm the boss of this. I am the boss of your health, I am the boss of your economy, I am the boss of your future, I am the boss of your academic dreams, I am the boss of your marriage, I am the boss of your wife, of your husband, I am the boss of your children. I'm the boss. I am the king over these things.
Now, you can decide, continue fearing the winds and the tide or completely abandon yourself to the one who has complete control of your life and say, Lord, I don't know how far this journey is going to take me, I don't I know how far we are going to go, but I know this, after you show me who you are, I can no longer continue living as I was living. I need to follow you anywhere. I am willing to leave my boats, I am willing to leave my way of thinking, I am willing to leave my experiences and follow you wherever you want.
Let's close our eyes for a moment. If that is you, if you are saying, I am today, I have loved Jesus, I have heard his voice and now I do not want there to be no doubt that I am his disciple and I am willing to follow him wherever he wants. And today I do that. Today I go out to sea, today I go where he decides. If this is you, I invite you to raise your hand.
Glory to God. Glory to God. Glory to God. Glory to God. If you are doing that for the first time, I invite you to something else, I invite you to come forward and say today I consider myself disciples of Christ. Don't worry, consider that going out to sea. In your seat you are leaving the boat, in your seat you are leaving your doubts, in your seat you are leaving your old way of thinking, in your seat you are leaving what is holding you back and is penetrating you with the maker of your miracles. If that's you, if you want I invite you to come in.
Glory to God. What awaits you is adventure, your whole life up to now has been mere practice, now the real story begins, now the real adventure begins. Now start.
