Luke 5:1-11 ~ 20130616 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
06/16/2013 Making Disciples; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20130616_making-disciples.mp3
Luke 5:1 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
Matthew and Mark record an abbreviated form of Jesus' call to discipleship. Jesus is proclaiming good news from God and commanding that people turn and believe that good news. He said 'follow me, and I will make you fishers of men'. 'Follow me' – that is the call of discipleship. Disciples are followers of Jesus. That is what followers of Jesus do; they follow Jesus. I don't think that's too hard to understand. It is hard to live out, but it is not hard to understand. Many people claim to be followers of Jesus, but if Jesus says 'follow me' and I am going off in a different direction, I can't really say I am following Jesus. Followers of Jesus follow Jesus. The good news Jesus proclaimed was 'the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel' (Mk.1:15). The kingdom of God is at hand because the King has come down! The King is here! The King must be obeyed. When the King says 'follow me', immediately, you drop everything and follow the King. This is what a disciples is. Absolute submission to the King. Immediate obedience to King Jesus.
Let Down Your Nets
In Luke's account, Jesus borrowed Peter's boat as a platform to teach from. When he was done teaching, he instructed Peter to do some fishing. Peter was obviously a bit put out by this. He was happy to let the Rabbi teach from his boat, because that's what teachers do. He probably would have been fine if Jesus gave him some pointers on building something, because Peter knew that Jesus had been trained as a carpenter. But now the Carpenter is telling the fisherman how to fish. Peter lets him know that they spent all night working hard doing what fishermen best knew how to do and caught nothing. But with that protest, he obeys. What happens next is nothing short of supernatural. Contrary to all his years of fishing wisdom and experience, they do everything wrong as far as fishing is concerned, and their nets were incapable of holding the multitude of fish that came into their nets. This is grounds for celebration. I would expect shouting and hoots and hollering, a party atmosphere, 'Jesus, you're my new best friend and permanent fishing buddy'. But Peter's reaction is telling. This is no party. He is on his face before Jesus acknowledging his own sinfulness. Peter has realized who got into his boat. This is no ordinary rabbi, no mere carpenter, this is the Lord of land and sea, the God of the universe, the one who spoke all creation into existence, to whom every fish in the sea obeys his command. In the presence of Jesus, Peter is painfully aware of how far he falls short.
I Am A Sinful Man
Why does Peter ask Jesus to depart from him? I think he realizes that as a sinner in the presence of the all-holy God, he is in trouble. Because God is holy, it is his character to judge sin. Peter as a sinner, acutely aware of his own sinfulness, is rightly afraid. That is the right response to God's presence. God is good, God is righteous, God is holy, and God is just to judge sin. We all have rebelled against him, we have rejected his authority in our lives, we have failed to give thanks to him, we refuse to honor him as God. All that sinners should ever expect from a holy God is judgment. What I have earned by my God dishonoring sin is death. When God shows up in my boat, it means he is coming to pay me what I deserve. Peter is pleading for mercy. 'God be merciful to me, a sinner'. 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord'.
Do Not Be Afraid
Jesus' response to Peter breathes life and hope. 'Do not be afraid'. Peter understands his own situation and has every good reason to be terrified to the core of his being, and Jesus says 'do not be afraid'. Jesus says 'I did not come to judge the world but to save the world' (Jn.12:47); I am not here to punish your sins, I am here to pay for your sins. Turn and believe the good news. This is good news indeed! For the sovereign Judge to say to a sinner 'do not be afraid' is the best news.
Catching Men
But it does not stop there. Jesus calls us into a relationship with himself. 'From now on you will be catching men'. 'Follow me and I will make you fishers of men'. Jesus calls us to a higher purpose. No longer fish but people. We are called to follow King Jesus, and we are commissioned to invite others to follow Jesus. We are to be disciples and we are to make disciples. Every follower of Jesus is to be a disciple-making disciple. This becomes explicitly clear when we come to the end of the gospels and hear Jesus' final instructions.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus instructs his disciples to make disciples and to teach those disciples to obey everything he has commanded them, which would at least include this command to make disciples. Jesus' promise confirms this, 'I am with you always, to the end of the age'. As long as this present age lasts, Jesus promises to be with us, his followers as we obey him in the disciple making task. Not only has King Jesus, Lord of the universe, come not in judgment but with mercy, but he has commissioned us to be the bearers of this good news to the nations.
Make Disciples of All Nations
Why are we commissioned to make disciples of all nations? Why does Jesus place an emphasis on making disciples of different people groups? This helps us get at the end goal of the gospel.
Psalm 22:27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
Psalm 86:9 All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.
Psalms 117:1 Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!
The goal of the gospel is worship. God deserves to be worshiped. He deserves to be worshiped from all his creation. We see this unfolding in Revelation:
Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
Revelation 7:9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Jesus tells us to go and make disciples of all nations. We are not done yet. According to the global research department of the international mission board May 2013 data, they categorize 11,301 people groups in the world. They define a people group as 'the largest group through which the gospel can flow without encountering significant barriers of understanding and acceptance'. Of these 11,301 people groups, 6,941 are considered unreached, that is, less than 2% of the total population are Evangelical Christians. Of these 6,941 unreached people groups, 3,041 are considered unengaged, where there is no known Evangelical church planting underway. We have some work left to do. For the glory of Christ, we must engage every tribe with the good news.
What Does It Take?
What does it take to engage people with the gospel? Romans gives us the missionary outline of gospel advancement to the unreached nations.
Romans 10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Anyone from any ethnic background who calls out to Jesus will be saved. In order to call out to him for salvation, they must believe in him. In order to believe in Jesus, they must have heard of him. There are people in the world today who have never heard of Jesus. For anyone to hear about Jesus, someone needs to go and preach to them. So some of us need to go. Some of us need to follow Jesus to the ends of the earth. Some of us need to learn new languages so that we can communicate the truth about Jesus to people who have never heard. Some of us need to let go of the comforts and conveniences that we enjoy, say goodbye to friends and relatives and go. Some of us need to let go of the illusion of safety and security and take some risks, even lay down our lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus. 'How are they to hear without someone preaching?'
But there is another step behind gospel advancement. 'How are they to preach unless they are sent?' Some of us need to give. Without sending, gospel advancement doesn't happen and unreached peoples stay unreached. A very practical part of sending is financial. If we are serious about the glory of God, some of us need to change our lifestyles and sacrifice deeply and give generously so that others can go. Paul points to the grace of God demonstrated among the Macedonian believers:
2 Corinthians 8:1 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—
What an interesting recipe for abundant generosity. Most of us think that if we could only win the lottery or make a lot more money, then we could really be generous. But the Macedonians were experiencing a severe test of affliction. Their extreme poverty combined with their abundant joy to overflow in a wealth of generosity.
But sending is more than financial. Paul on several occasions asked for prayer and thanked the churches for their prayers and their encouragement. Even the apostle Paul needed prayer and encouragement. Paul described the relationship between the senders and the goers as a partnership in the gospel (Phil.1:5).
This is a historic moment for this local church. We are a church plant in a difficult mission field. Today, we have the great privilege of sending out workers into the nations to make disciples for the glory of Christ.
I want to end with some gospel encouragement. 6,941 unreached people groups, over 3,000 unengaged people groups may sound overwhelming. And remember, Jesus said 'apart from me you can do nothing' (Jn.15:5). I want to encourage us with a few of the 'I will' statements in the bible. Peter told Jesus 'Master, we toiled all night and took nothing'. But the one who is sovereign over the fish of the sea and over the hearts of men said 'I will make you fishers of men'. We might be saying 'I can't do this; depart from me, for I am a sinful man O Lord' But it is not our job to become expert evangelists. Jesus says 'I will make you fishers of men'. The one who can cause fish to swim into a net can also give faith to those who are vehemently opposed to him. The Carpenter from Nazareth said 'I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it' (Mt.16:18). Our job is not to build the church; our job is to follow Jesus, and to invite others to follow Jesus. God says:
Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
Psalm 86:9 All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.
This mission cannot fail. We as individuals can fail, we can fail to follow Jesus, but Jesus' promises will not fail. The followers of Jesus will succeed in making disciples of all nations because Jesus is with us to the end of the age, He purchased with his blood people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, he will build his church and he will be worshiped by the nations.