Sunday, January 23, 2011

Discipleship


Luke 5

Jesus Calls His First Disciples
 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. 2He 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.
 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.”
 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.
 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.


Out rector JY3 is doing a fantastic sermon series about what it looks like to be a Christian. Today he talked about being a disciple of Christ. The sermon was crafted around Luke 5 and Peter's later journey as a disciple of Christ. In the scripture above, Jesus understands that Peter has been fishing all night, without much luck. They know of each other. Peter has followed Jesus around a bit, and has seen Jesus perform miracles of healing and teaching inside the temple. But he hasn't fully signed on to be a disciple at this point. Jesus turns to Peter and invites him to  “Go out into the deep water,” he says, “and there let down your nets.” I can imagine Peter's lack of initial interest. He was probably tired and frustrated. But Peter becomes a model for discipleship. It happened as soon as Peter, responds by saying, “but, if you say so.” Then off he goes, out into the deep water, and there he finds reward like he has never imagined.
I want to be like Peter. I want to be bold like a lion in following Jesus. I want to shirk the fear of safety and fly to Texas to heed the call that I know Christ put in my heart. I may never become a priest, or turn out to be the rock that Peter became. But as JY3 said in his sermon...as strong as Peter was...on his own he couldn't accomplish a whole lot. At the end he denied Jesus three times and abandoned him. It was only after the resurrection and the gift of the Holy SPirit did Peter acquire the courage to stand up to the Pharisees. Tonight I pray for boldness and courage.
I want to trust Christ so much, that like Peter, I am willing to leave the safety of my comfort zone, and explore the deep dark waters to which Jesus directs me. I want to push myself to the limits of what I imagined was possible, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, stand up and be brave for Christ. God, grant me a heart for Jesus.