Sermon: "Confronting Life as Usual"

3rd in the "The Healer at Work" series.
Delivered January 20, 2008 by Rev. John Schmidt.
Other sermons in this series - 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

The audio file of this sermon is available for download and listening in MP3 format.

Click to Download & Listen (3.8MB)

Let's pray: Lord as we come in to your word this morning we pray that you will open our eyes, open our hearts and help us to respond to you in whatever way you call us to. For we ask it in Jesus' name, Amen.

In May 1975 I went to Debbie's house to ask her father for her hand in marriage. When we got there MASH was on. At the time, it was prime time. It wasn't reruns yet. Do you remember when MASH wasn't reruns? There are a few of you I see, one or two, yeah. Some of you are thinking I wasn't born when MASH wasn't reruns. There was no way in the world that I was going to interrupt MASH for Deb's dad to bring this up. So Debbie and I with all of that nervousness sat in the living room and we could almost see her father's profile as he is watching this and sitting there for 30 minutes. People don't like to get interrupted and I wasn't going to interrupt under these circumstances.

Well one of the things that I noticed about Jesus is that Jesus had no hesitation about interrupting. He had a sense of urgency about what he was doing. He had a sense that what he was doing was so important that anyone who was around him he might interrupt them and invite them to join him in what he was doing. We are going to look in to a passage today where Jesus interrupts Simon three times. Now Simon is someone we know as Peter, but in this stage of his life he was still called Simon and I will use that name most of the time. He interrupts Simon three times; each time Jesus confronts life as usual for Simon. Each time Simon is challenged to respond. So I would like us to take a look now. We are going in to the Book of Luke, Chapter 5 and we are going to begin at Verse 1. Luke, Chapter 5:

"One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people 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. 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." When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him."

The day begins normally enough for Simon here. They go out and they go fishing. They pick the best places they know, use their best techniques, their nets are in good condition, they have energy, they have experience and its at the end of this long night of fishing; they had done all of this work, but they have caught nothing and so here they are at the end of the day, like a salesman that works on commission, you can work hard and come home with nothing to show for it. They worked hard. And you can't have a day like this too often if you are going to provide for your family you need to have most nights to be times that you bring something home. And so, Peter or Simon might have been a little depressed. He is in his regular routine and he is doing something he has done a thousand times; he is cleaning up getting ready to go home soon or maybe before he goes home he might go right over there and listen to Jesus, because Jesus had come down in to the very little inlet or cove where Peter was working on his nets; Jesus had come to the same place to teach.

And so, here is Simon working on the nets. Maybe when he is done he will go over and listen to Jesus a little more carefully. But before he can get up and go over to Jesus, Jesus comes over to him and Jesus interrupts. "Simon, I want to use you boat as a pulpit". He says this as he is actually stepping in to the boat. There is a big crowd gathering and this will be better. Now what Jesus is doing is actually a smart move, because the coastline on the Sea of Galilee, what Luke calls Lake Gennesaret, it's a better name because it is a lake and not a sea; the coastline is very zigzag in shape and there are a lot of little inlets and a lot of little coves where the ground gently goes up and forms a natural amphitheaters and you can actually move out in to the water and speak in a public speaking voice and be heard quite well for a good distance. Even tourists who go now to the Holy Land can go to the same places and experience the same thing in places where Jesus might have taught himself.

And so, Jesus wants to get out a little bit and it gives more room for the crowd, to get a little more control and they can hear him even better. So Jesus interrupts Simon's natural rhythm and asks for help and Simon is more than willing to help. This is his first response to Jesus in this text. He is going to help Jesus out. It might put him out a little bit, but it's a one time thing. Jesus is interesting so he gets to hear and it makes him feel good to help; helping Jesus out. That is sometimes our first response to Jesus in our journey with him. It might be where some of us right now. In other words, you go to church to check it out a little bit. Yeah, it's not so bad. Check out Jesus and learn more about him. Oh, interesting. We hear about maybe some kind of service project. Maybe its Habitat for Humanity, giving homes, building homes for people who need it. That feels good. I will write that in to my schedule once or twice this year. I will help Jesus out. Maybe it was Angel Tree at Christmas, serving those families of prisoners or maybe it was Operation Christmas child. Give some money or get together a little box and send it to a needy child overseas. It feels good. It's a little bit of an effort, but help Jesus out.

It's life as usual and just add a little Jesus. It's life on our own terms though and it's Jesus on our own terms. I want to read to you something. A young woman named Allison writes this. "I was taught that Jesus was always with me. I took this lesson literally and Jesus became my imaginary friend. Unlike the Jesus in the Bible, who specialized in forgiving sins and performing splashy miracles, my Jesus was a shy, bumbling, somewhat lonely guy who needed my friendship, as much as I needed his. He was always showing up in my backyard, on the school bus, or at the end of the bed at night. I went for walks with Jesus. I played catch with him. Jesus was not a great ballplayer, but he was an excellent listener." I think it is wonderful that this young woman had any spiritual hunger at all and any concern at all to connect with Jesus. But when we read that about that stage of her life, we can tell that it's Jesus on her terms. She has defined who Jesus is; a shy, bumbling guy, a good listener. Maybe it reflects some of her own anxieties. But it's Jesus on her terms. That is where Allison was at that point in her life and that's maybe where Simon was at that moment. He was more than willing to help. Life as usual. Sure Jesus.

Now Jesus teaches. What's interesting here is that this passage doesn't mention at all what Jesus teaches about. That's because this story that has been preserved for us by Luke is not here to tell us so much about what Jesus teaches, but about this interaction with Simon that happens after he teaches. Because after Jesus teaches, Jesus starts to talk to Simon about fishing. Verse 4: "Put out in to deep water and let down the nets for a catch." Jesus is interrupting again. He is taking a long day and stretching it out and making it even longer. Remember this is the end of the work day for Simon. He has worked all night. He has caught nothing. Then Jesus invited him to stay while he preached so he could use his boat. We are not talking about a 20-minute sermon here folks, we are talking about hours. And then at the end of it, he tells Simon "Lets try some fishing." He is meddling here with something that Simon knows well. He is interrupting how Simon does things in his daily job. This is not the way to do it. He is thinking, "Now hold on Jesus, and come on. I know fishing. This is my job. It's been a bad night. I am not really in that great a mood. And daytime's are always worse for fishing. Do you see anyone else fishing? No. There is a reason for that. Let me teach you about fishing."

There a natural reticence that he has when Jesus enters the area of his own expertise. "Jesus, we were working all night and we caught nothing". Jesus is a great religious teacher, but he's not a fisherman and we are likely to feel that same sense of intrusion the moment that Jesus wants to get beyond just fitting our definition. Whenever he wants to get beyond just us helping him out on our terms, and he wants to speak in to our daily life; at that point we might feel a sense of intrusion. We are ready to hear the religious stuff. Cool. But what does Jesus know about a recession? What does Jesus know about supporting a wife and kids or being a single parent? What does Jesus know about a one-hour commute? It isn't religious life. It's real life and I know about my real life. So it's okay when Jesus wants some help. It's okay when Jesus wants to turn Peter's boat in to a pulpit, but the moment that boat returns to being a fishing boat, Simon feels some resistance.

Now to his credit Simon deals with this in only a moment's time, because immediately after giving Jesus some pushback, he says, "But because you say so, I will do it." This is a pretty big moment in Simon's life. This is a moment when Simon is crossing in to real faith, because at this point it's more than just liking Jesus. At this point, he begins to listen to Jesus and he is willing to step out and to do something outside his normal routine, something that might look stupid only because Jesus told him to; no other reason in the world. "Because you say so, I will do it."

This is more than just helping Jesus out. This is obeying Jesus. Doing what he says and when we start to do what Jesus says, it starts to challenge the very core of our lives, because its at this point when we realize there is no more secular and sacred. There is one Jesus who knows what he is doing in all of life. It's at this point that we open up our lives to Jesus where we live, we work and we play and take it out of the sanctuary. It's at this point of listening, at this point of obedience. And when we listen and we obey, it changes the way we have dinner with our family. It changes how we treat our neighbor next door. It informs how we vote. It let's us know that daily life is the domain of Lord Jesus. It reminds us that every day there is blessings that we need to be thankful for. We start seeing him in every part of life.

Now to his credit, Simon takes the risk. "Because you have said so, we will let down the nets." And he gets a huge catch. It's probably the best day in his life in terms of fishing. Doing it Jesus' way brings him incredible blessing even in the physical realm, even right in the realm of what Simon does very day as a job. All of a sudden blessings come flooding in. He is standing thigh deep in fish and instead of enjoying it, Simon is troubled. Because he realizes the spiritual reality behind it. He is not in control of his life. All night he labored and nothing happened. A word from Jesus, a crazy direction from Jesus, and now he is flooded with blessing.

He realizes that he is in a holy moment and a holy space. Jesus is not someone he can casually listen to. He is in the presence of someone who somehow controls creation itself. Someone who has power and authority above anything we imagine. He is in the presence of someone who can give blessing. And Simon is not ready to be that close. All the things about his inner life comes crashing in and he realizes that he is unclean. He is simple. He is not ready for this. This interruption is upping the stakes. God is too close for comfort. "Depart from me God, I am a sinful man".

Now Jesus responds to that fear. "Don't be afraid." Wonderful words. That is exactly what Simon needed to hear. "Don't be afraid". But Jesus doesn't stop there. He doesn't step out the boat and walk on the lake, "Don't be afraid. See you later Simon." It doesn't happen that way. That is not the text. He says, "Do not be afraid. From now on you are going to catch men." Jesus interrupts a third time. What gall! All this fish on board; the best day of Simon's life and what up to then had been his calling and right there in the middle of the fish Jesus says, "Now come and leave it all and follow me." They get to the shoreline in boats that can barely stay above water. Simon probably talks to some friends and family to make arrangements for somebody else to take care of the fish. Not knowing where they are going he follows Jesus. Jesus is no longer interrupting how he does his job. Jesus is calling him to an entirely new center for his life. Simon is being called to live for Jesus for the rest of his life; to live for his kingdom, to live for his mission and everything else in his life is to serve that end. Simon pulled up the boat and followed Jesus. This is the moment when Simon becomes a disciple of Jesus. He follows. There is nothing casual about his relationship with Jesus and there will never be casual ever ever again.

Now this moment happens different ways in our lives. It won't happen just like it happened with Simon. For me, like Simon, I realized that my plans to be a musician or to be anything else for that matter, since I had had five majors in college, all of that was put aside, it didn't matter, because I realized at that moment that all my best energy for all the rest of my life had to be about the business of Jesus drawing people to himself. The rest of my life had to be about moving people toward Christ. I didn't know that, those words moving people towards Christ. I learned that from you. But that call was on my life in the 1970s. Everything else had to serve that end and for me that meant changing majors and going in to full time ministry. But it doesn't always happen that way. It's not a matter of our job; whether you are a pastor or not. It's not a matter of location; whether you are a missionary or not. It's a matter of heart. It's putting Jesus first no matter what else we are called to do. So I think of some other disciples who have experienced that call in a different way. I think of Chuck Barber a banker; a banker who turned down a promotion because God called him to serve as an elder in a particular church and that promotion meant he would have to move. He prayed about it with his wife and they decided no, the call of God to serve in that church was more important than more responsibility and more money.

I think of David K.; an engineer who moved in to the arts community of Baton Rouge so that when he went home at night, he could walk across his yard and reach out to people in the name of Christ in the least Christian part of Baton Rouge. And its only God that has this sort of sense of humor that would send an engineer to reach out to artistic people. It's great.

I think of Kevin R., a lawyer who has served his entire career making less money because he has served his whole career advocating for the rights of the mentally ill. I think of another lawyer, Alan W., a lawyer who had a regular practice, but the moment the workday is over he spends his time, his money and his effort working on dealing with the issues of homeless men. He puts phenomenal efforts to it and is a leader and a board member for all kinds of ministry.

I think of Valerie H., a woman who took an overseas appointment with PNG so that she would get more opportunities to reach out to people from non-Christian countries. And then I think of our own John Hankins, who passed away just a little while ago. John Hankins, a thoracic surgeon who had a heart for Moslem countries, particularly Iran and Afghanistan. John who maybe a second or third time overseas is operating in Afghanistan with Taliban bombs actually hitting the hospital where he was serving. The patients are being moved out so that they can get to a place of safety and John continues there in the operating room working on the person in front of him and taking on other patients. That night without a word from John several of the Moslem doctors became Christian, because of his courage, because what God had called him to do came first.

It looks different in different lives, but none of those lives are lives as usual. None of them. There is a call to discipleship that came in to Simon's life. It was Jesus interruption of his life and that interruption is going to look different for each of our lives. We each have our own special challenges, but at the core we are going to have to face the same issues that Simon faced, the call to refocus our life on Jesus Christ. Each time Jesus interrupted, he called for a response. Each time the stakes were higher. Each time Simon was drawn closer to Christ. Jesus still interrupts lives. It's what he does. Each time it will call for a response. Each time the stakes will be higher. But in these interruptions the living resurrected Jesus, he's calling us closer in a relationship with himself. We will get interrupted. May God give us grace to respond well.

Let's pray: God we ask for that grace right now knowing the battles that go on inside of us, knowing our struggles, knowing that we are all in different places in our journey, we pray that each time you interrupt, each time you speak a word of challenge to our life as usual, that like Simon we will hear, we will obey, we will follow. For we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

© 2008, Rev. John Schmidt
Central Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, MD 21204 410/823-6145
www.centralpc.org