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Sermon for Sunday, February 28, 2010

 

“Deep Water Faith”

Luke 5:1-11

Did anyone tell you what was significant about February 8, 2010? Someone had to tell me. February 8, 2010 is the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of the Boy Scouts of America. Scouting has made a difference in the lives of thousands of boys. Two thirds of all astronauts have been Boy Scouts. Nine out of 100 members of the U.S. Senate are Eagle Scouts. I did scouting for a number of years. I made it half way to the Star rank. Scouts are about venturing out. When I was in Troop 225 we went camping at least four times a year and it was not in the comfortable and the familiar. Our leaders wanted to challenge us with a wide range of outdoor activities. We learn about trying to survive in the wilderness and to be honest I learned that I did not want to do my future vacations like that. But it was always amazing what one could discover when we ventured out.

In the gospel story for today Jesus is standing beside Lake Gennesaret. His message has attracted people so that Luke says they were pressing in on him to “hear the word of God.”  He sees two boats. They are empty because the fishermen have gone to wash their nets. It seems as if he knows which one belongs to Simon. He climbs into it and has Simon pull

away from the shore and he teaches from the boat.

When he finishes teaching he tells Simon to move out into the deep water and to put out their nets to catch some fish. Simon is tired. They are all tired. Going fishing again is the last thing they want to do. There is going to be more to his teaching than just a verbal sermon.

There is also a protest because they are tired.  They had not had much luck during the night. But Simon isn’t particularly stubborn about this. “We’re tired, we’ve worked all night, we’ve got nothing, but if you say so, we’ll do it.” A pivotal statement…but if you say so.”

The result? They begin to catch so many fish that the nets were starting to break. They call for help, fill other boats to the point that they were beginning to sink. It is an abundant and overwhelming catch, all because they were willing to venture out into the deep water.

Now comes the message for us today…to be willing to venture out beyond our comfort zones and put out into the deep water as effective Christian disciples. Too often we stay too near the shore where it is comfortable and safe as believers. It happens to most of us. We are reluctant to venture out into the work of faith. But it is when we venture out that we discover more about ourselves and our God.

I wonder what it is like when we choose to go into the deep water of faith? We venture out to the deep water when we share our faith with our neighbors. Jesus took the fishing opportunity and moved it to people. “Do not be afraid, from now on you will be catching people.” It is in the deep water that Jesus challenges us to reach out to our friends and neighbors with the gospel message. That is one of the reasons we do ALPHA in our church. It is a reaching out with the message of Jesus Christ and the difference He can make in one’s life.

Martha Grace Reese wrote a book titled “Unbinding the Gospel.” She writes, “our most important discovery is that a vivid relationship with God lies at the heart of real evangelism.” You and I have to ask the question, “has being Christian made any difference in my life?”

An internet article came across my computer last week. A survey was done and fewer than 17% said that sermons rarely changed the way they live. Two thirds of those questioned said they looked forward to the sermon, but just a small percentage is motivated to change the way they live. (Ethics Daily)  Any preacher wants their sermons to make a difference in how a person lives.

Sermons aside, I ask you again, “Has being a Christian made any difference in your life?” If it has then you are going to want to share that reality with other people. Quite simply evangelism is grounded in the realization that your life is better because of your relationship with God and this is a relationship that can benefit others as well.

Martha Reese says that evangelism is about relationships, not high pressure conversion programs --- relationships.

It is when we are in the deep water of faith that we welcome people from different races and nationalities into our fellowship. It is in the deep water that we go on mission trips to repair homes damaged by earthquakes and hurricanes. It is in the deep water that we seek to be a community of faith to the lonely, those like we are and those different from us. It is in the deep water that we live out our faith and trust God to be with us even when we feel like we will drown.

When Simon became willing to go to the deep water, it is then that he becomes a model for discipleship for us. It happened in the moment when Simon responds to Jesus’ call and says, “yet, if you say so..”  Then he goes, perhaps reluctantly, to the deep water and he finds an

abundance there like he had never found before. It was the kind of abundance that showed Simon how rich God’s grace and love was. Ultimately he was called into a deeper relationship with Jesus. Ultimately it is when we are willing to go deeper in relationship with God that we will be carried places we never thought we could go or simply staying home with the familiar and do our gospel work at home.

When working on sermons beginnings and endings are important and often in preparation the hardest part. A beginning can often catch a listener and hopefully they will follow the sermon to the ending, but there has to be an ending. It has been said of many preachers that they missed several good ending spots. There must be an ending. How do I end this word today?

Let me end by saying I believe that what Jesus really ask of us in this passage is to risk…risk something of ourselves for something good…for the good of the kingdom and for the good of God’s world. To risk making a difference in this world.

I don’t know what that means for you. It doesn’t always have to be something big. It may mean letting your life be such an example of faith that one cannot help but want to know what is special about your life and you can tell them about your relationship with Christ.

Maybe there is something bigger out there…so here’s the final word on this word today…risk something of ourselves for the good of the kingdom…after all we have a Lord who gave it all for us.

Contact Us

Address
First Baptist Church, Ashland
800 Thompson Street
Ashland, VA 23005

Phone
(804) 798-9014

Fax
(804) 798-9043

E-mail
fbcashland@verizon.net

Sunday Worship

  8:30 a.m. –  Worship Service
  9:45 a.m. –  Sunday School
11:00 a.m. –  Worship Service