Father, Thank you for all you have given us, and we pray that you will show us how to be closer to you! Please forgive us our many sins as we learn how to forgive others. Amen!
Message: Fishing and Sharing, All Day Long!
Before I go too far into today’s message, I want to reassure everyone that this is not a glorified fishing documentary this morning. It’s not about; “The Fishin Musician”, an old John Candy comedy skit from Second City TV back in the 1970’s. Today’s message does not have much in common with the movie; “A River Runs Through It”, or Tom Sawyer on the Mississippi. No today, is all about the Lord and you. The two of you figuring out what it means to serve someone besides yourself, and learning how to really live in this beautiful thing we call life. And it starts with the basics…
With that being said, welcome to yet another Sunday of Epiphany, the understanding that God is with us in this world that we live in. This is a solemn time in the Christian calendar when we as the Church take time to reflect about how much we are loved by a God who wants to be in a real relationship with each and every one of us. Yes, your Deity, God, Creator, and Savior, loves us, in spite of us.
Remarkable, when we think just how warped life can get when we go it alone. I say that, because for so many of us, that “god” you have been feeding, that idol that keeps wanting more, that addiction that won’t go away by itself, all began with us, out on our own. Fantasizing of being adults only to fall prey to traps of the world and its modernity. By self-gratifying, inward looking, all-consuming selfishness, coupled with self-pity, self-loathing, and all of those fears of the dark, only to be managed with an assortment of self-medicating allurements. Many of us managed to create bedlam and hurt, anarchy and isolation, plus an existence that was void of the wholesomeness achievable with our Lord.
If you fall into this category, or you are just plain out struggling, you are not alone. When I am really down and out, you know feeling sorry for myself, thinking I’m all alone, one bible hero comes to the rescue time and again. David. Sheppard, king, and sinner, whose greatness is that he figured out that he was nothing when compared to God, and kept coming home to the Lord through sins, challenges, and missing the mark.
1 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
before the “gods” I will sing your praise.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your unfailing love and your faithfulness,
for you have so exalted your solemn decree
that it surpasses your fame.
Side Note: David will praise God before the god’s he created in his own heart through ego, selfishness and fear, because God’s love for him, and us. According to David, God has exalted His own name through His very being, and God’s word exceeds even His own fame.
3 When I called, you answered me;
you greatly emboldened me.
4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord,
when they hear what you have decreed.
5 May they sing of the ways of the Lord,
for the glory of the Lord is great.
6 Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;
though lofty, he sees them from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
with your right hand you save me.
8 The Lord will vindicate me;
your love, Lord, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.
All the other gods out there (what we call idols), want you to sacrifice for them. Unlike our Lord, they can’t offer anything back because they are not God. Unlike them, our God sacrificed all for us. Which is worth repeating each and every Sunday, and every day of the week.
Cuz none of those gods, idols, man made junk that has been clouding our minds and pulling us down into slavery, can give us a real life of grace. And once I begin to understand a little better who God is, and what I am not, I begin to get a better sense of who I was created to serve through eternity. Like David, I’m still a mess of a human being, but there now is hope in that maelstrom, turmoil, and mayhem we live in, called life.
Remembering from last week when we herd Paul say in 1 Corinthians 13; that without love we are nothing and we get nothing. Well, without our God we are only clanging and banging, nothing, and going nowhere, and like much of the society we live in, that only lives to chase itself into dross, dust, and loss. Now that I have that understanding, I am compelled to want to share the joy of a life free of all of those entanglements we were slaves to, with other people.
We know from scripture that the Lord has use of our legs, lungs, and heart. Reading from Matthew we see the need for you and I to be in this world is great, and if we are open to the spirit, the Lord’s words become even clearer. Reading from Matthew 9:35-38;
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Harassed like sheep without a shepherd, is an insight to how much of our world today two thousand years latter appear when we take a moment to step back and reflect on the world we are living in. Where we have wars, rummer of wars, hunger and famine, substance abuse (and the list goes on and on).
You might be asking yourself, why doesn’t God just fix this place. Well, He is because He has you and me. Our free choice in this life is all about being in a partnership in our Lord. Free choice that God gives us also means our taking the invitation to make this little corner of our world, our little piece of Ogden Utah, illuminated with our Lord’s Good News of life.
Each day we are called to a higher service, by a Lord that is excited about our participation in the partnership, and all of heaven rejoices when we renew our membership in the franchise of service each and every day. And when we do, it’s as if the boys up in the Galilei (Peter, James, John and company), are being called to fish for mankind all over again. Reading again today’s Message reading from the Gospel (Good News of, Luke 5:1-11
1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 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.
*Side Note; Perhaps for me at least an overlooked lesson right here is the fact that when I am listening, caring for, or just being with other people, I need to just let go and let the time be for those people instead of worrying about what I have to do next in the day. When we do, things fall into place because now everything is about the Lord and other people. Kind of like loving God with all you have and loving your neighbor as ourselves. Continuing now at verse 4;
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
5 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.”
**Side Note Again; Awesome and awesome some more. Peter has nailed it. Because the Lord says so, we do so. How many times would my life have gone so much smoother and in sync with God’s plan if I had only thought; Because the Lord says so, I will do so. If we do, then the opportunities to experience the limitless blessings in life expand beyond measure, as demonstrated in verse 6;
6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 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.
***Breaking in again; Immediately, our Partisans of the Realms of Fish and Beyond, become entrepreneurial by signaling the other boats. No time like the present to capitalize on what God is providing! And yes. another lesson for us to cash in on. When we jump at the promptings of the Holy Spirit of God, the Lord is showing us how to leverage His plans in our lives, and by so doing, to really live in and with Him! On now to verse 8;
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 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 fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Obviously, the Lord’s underlying lesson for the Partisans of the Realms of Fish and Beyond (our disciples), is if you are trying to succeed at fishing, go where the fish are, and they aint on dry land. But what about being fishers of men, when we fish for people? Well, fist we must remember that people are not fish. Nor are they targets, potential workers around the Church building, or people we get to boss around. And we are not using bait, so there is no bait and switch what-so-ever!
When we are fishing for people, we are actually prepared to feed them instead of them being fed upon like typical fish in the river. We not only will feed those we are fishing for, but we are ready to nurture, care for, and share; God’s Good News of how a real life can be like. Without being Co-Dependent (which is giving people material that is harmful to them), we stand ready to help equip people in their walk in the Lord. To liberate people from the toxic spools of fish, many have been living in, languishing in, and yes swimming with!
For more incite into how we might approach our calling for fishing or discipleship, we have the Lord’s words when He sent out our; Partisans of the Realms of Fish and Beyond (our disciples). Reading from Matthew 10:1, 39-40;
1 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
Cut to the chase, each and every one of you will be equipped for the task at hand, when the need arises. How? Why? Because each of us have been appointed to a ministry of care for others. Each of us are anointed to be in the Lord’s family of service, and God will provide us in our need if we will only let go of the world, and believe. Here are a couple of ideas that came to mind randomly that might be of use to you. Please feel free to build on my list as you build those everlasting relationships in your own beautiful lives;
- It all begins with prayer and being in a relationship with the Lord, and His family.
- I need someone to be there to tell me to;
- Shut up
- Get up and try again
- Stop feeling sorry for myself
- Reminding me that I’m not alone. Ever!
- I need someone to be there to tell me to;
- Keep in mind you don’t have to be perfect when fishing, sharing, and witnessing.
- The devil wants you to think that either you have to be perfect or give up, and then he wins!
- Sincerity with a goal of trying your best means everything, because its real.
- Don’t dive into Co-Dependency!
- Sometimes humbly telling the truth is the best gift of all, and sometime just keeping quiet is.
As we live our lives more and more in step with and in our Lord and each other, we will begin to grow spiritually, faithfully, and naturally into God’s divine plan for us.
It is my hope for each of you this week and you continue to build your beautiful live in our Lord, that you let the petty things of this world go in their own direction, as you focus on the important things which really centers around your salvation, given free from Him, and your desire to share that salvation with the people God places in your life.
Amen!