070204 Luke 5:1-11 God's Fishing Tournament

This message is given to protect the identity of the innocent and expose those guilty sinners like myself.
Luke 5:1-11 tells us God’s Fishing Tournament where true love is the lure and those who are caught, are caught for everlasting life and not death.
Disciples of Jesus Christ must first be caught so as to bring in others to the Master: We must be patient and wait on the Lord. We persevere with stick-to-it-iveness and never allow ourselves to get discouraged. We must pray for courage like the old Greek fisherman's prayer, "My boat is so small and the sea is so large." We must reflect Christ’s alluring love with a sense of timing, because a fisherman must know when to fish, and when to cut bait. Here at Dexter or out in our other places of work and rest we have to make sure that our witness is proportional to the needs of those we serve - the fisherman must fit the bait to the fish. And possibly the most difficult for me is the ability to keep himself out of sight. The UK Methodist Church (from which this checklist comes) tells of a church where a painting of Jesus hung behind the pulpit, a child was asked if she knew the minister. "Who is the minister?" she was asked. "I know, I know," she said. "He's that man that keeps us from seeing Jesus!"
The crowds of people on the shore of Lake Galilee who were pressing on Jesus were not patient, but Peter, James and John who were now repairing and cleaning their nets had been patient – they had persevered – they showed courage and a sense of timing. But the fish were too small and insignificant – so this was a perfect opportunity for Jesus to show how God fishes for us in spite of our failure.
Palestine has very few bodies of water except for a few rivers and streams, the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. So it was part of God’s plan that Jesus spent his adulthood in fishing village of Capernaum and Peter was from the nearby fishing village of Bethsaida, both on the shores of Lake Galilee. Jesus used events and experiences about fishing with people who understood fishing.
Thirteen miles by seven miles and only 150 feet deep “Kinneret” (the Hebrew name for this lake) is typically calm, but can quickly become transformed by a violent storm. Winds funnel through the east-west aligned Galilee hill country and quickly stir up this large lake. Still more violent come off the hills from the Golan Heights to the east. Trapped in the basin of the lake, the winds can be deadly to fishermen. A storm in March 1992 sent waves ten feet high crashing into downtown Tiberias and causing significant damage. But when Jesus saw two boats at the lakeshore with fishermen washing their nets, it must have been a calm evening near sunset.
Only 20 years ago archeologists discovered a boat (26 feet long by 7 feet wide) that closely resembles the boat Jesus preached from and then commandeered a miraculous example of how God saves lives in spite of our buried existence in the sand along the shore of the restless sea of Galilee. It was made of mostly cedar and oak with mortise and tenon joints. It could hold 15 fishermen who caught sardines like the "two small fish" that the boy brought to the feeding of the 5000. This and the barley loaves were the staple food of the local people. They also caught Barbels (named from the barbs at the corners of their mouths.) The third type of fish is called “musht” now popularly called "St. Peter's Fish,” which grows to 1.5 feet and weighs up to 3.3 lbs.
Jesus’ teaching moment here involves Peter cleaning fishnets, listening to a strange Master command him to push his boat away from shore. Peter suffers Jesus to sit down and teach the crowds from his boat, while the people sat on the lakeshore. Simon (later called Peter) very obediently allows “the Master” to use his boat as a podium and then obeys Jesus’ request to "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch" in deeper water.
Now let’s push aside the common catch and the smell of fish on this event. Let’s drink from God’s Ultimate Makeover:
Today’s lectionary reveals three men and their understanding of how God’s power transforms four key areas of their lives. I borrow these from the Methodist Church of England:
The life-sentence: Isaiah says, he is “ruined!” (Isaiah 6:5) Paul muses that he is “one abnormally born” (1 Corinthians15:8) and Peter tells Jesus that he is “a sinful man” (Luke 5: 8).
The life-style: Isaiah says, that he is a “man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5), Paul regrets that he was ”the least…because he persecuted the church of God’ (1 Corinthians 15: 9) and then Peter confesses to the Master, “Go away from me Lord” (Luke 5: 8)
The life-change: Isaiah said that his “eyes have seen the King” (Isaiah 6:5), Paul testifies that Christ “appeared to him also” (1 Corinthians15:8), and Peter finds reason to change through his relationship with Jesus, “because [He] says so [and Peter] will let down the nets’ (Luke 5:5).
The life-work: Isaiah responds, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8), Paul continues to confess “But by the of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10) and now Peter here receives the calling of all Christians “From now on you (my disciple) will catch men alive (and keep them that way forever)” (Luke 5:10).
Dear Heavenly Father sentence us to Your life, remake our life-style to Your way, change our lives to Your purpose, and give us direction to work for Your life of faith, a life of hope and Your steadfast enduring. In the Christ’s name, Amen.