I haven’t been able to watch a lot of the Olympics this past week, but what I have been able to see has been amazing. The other night I was watching the men’s snowboarding half pipe event and was amazed at what Shaun White is able to do. When snowboarding first became an Olympic event I questioned why is this a sport, but after watching these athletes jump and twist and flip in the air while hanging on to a little board and then landing and moving forward on the snow into another trick, I began to understand just how athletic an event it really is. Whether it is learning to do a double McTwist 1260 in snowboarding, or a triple axle triple toe loop combination in ice skating or just keeping your balance in speed skating, the Olympics remind us just how far we can go with hard work, disciple and practice.
What all of these athletes have in common and one of the things that sets them apart from many others is that at some point in their lives they went out on to the ice or snow not for the first time, but for the second time. Anyone can try something once, but it’s going out there again and again that sets these athletes apart. As many of you know, I enjoy running and yes I did receive my first ever medal in a 5k race. I came in second in my age group and to answer the one question that everyone keeps asking – yes there were more than 2 people in my age group. There weren’t a lot, but there were more than two people in my age group!
The reason I am running today isn’t because I went out there that first day and ran, it’s because I went back out the second day. I didn’t feel much better the second day, but I kept going out day after day and running that one mile over and over again until I could run it without stopping. And then I ran a little more than a mile, and then a little more and very slowly I was able to run 2 miles, then 3. Olympic athletes are all made the same way, by men and women stepping out to try something once and then going back out there again and again and again. And every race is won the same way, one step at a time, and every journey of faith is lived out the same way, one step at a time
My hope is that during this season of Lent it will be our desire to grow stronger in our faith. My hope is that we will want to know more of God’s love and grace, experience more of God’s power and understand more of God’s will for our lives. Now this doesn’t happen overnight and faith development doesn’t take place in one giant step – our faith grows step by step as we hear and respond to the call of God. The truth is that God is calling each and every one of us in some way today. You are here right now because in some way God has called you to be here. Maybe you are here for the first time because you heard or sensed God calling you to come closer to him; maybe you are here because for years God has been calling you to go deeper and every week you take that next step of faith. It doesn’t matter who we are or how long we have been walking with God, every one of us here is being called to go deeper with Jesus, it is up to us how will we respond.
God calling us to go deeper in our faith today is exactly what we see happening in the encounter that Jesus has with Simon on the shores of Lake Genneserat. Jesus is on the lakeshore teaching and such a large crowd has gathered that people aren’t able to see or hear him anymore, so as Jesus looks around, he sees that Simon’s fishing boat is not being used at the moment and so he asks Simon if will take him out onto the water a little bit so that he can preach to the people from this floating stage. Since Simon is not doing much at the moment other than washing his nets, he agrees. Now taking Jesus into the shallow water doesn’t require much of Simon. There is no great risk involved here and there is no real investment other than a little of his time, so Simon agrees and takes Jesus out in his boat.
We might look at this story and assume that this is the first step of faith for Simon, but it is not. If we look back in Luke 4 we wee that Jesus had been to Simon’s house and while he was there Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law. So Simon not only knew about Jesus, he had heard his teaching about the kingdom of God and he had seen and experienced for himself Jesus’ power. So Jesus calling Simon to work with him by taking him out on the water didn’t come out of nowhere – they were not strangers. Jesus had already established a relationship with Simon before he called him, and I think this the way God wants to work with us.
God doesn’t call us to follow him out of nowhere; God first works to establish a relationship with us and then calls us out of that relationship to take another step. God takes the time to get to know us, maybe calls us by name and assures of his love and grace before he calls us to follow him. Looking back on my own life, the call to be a local pastor didn’t come out of left field; God had been working in my life for years to establish a relationship with me. God spoke to me as a child in church and nurtured me through Sunday School and youth group. Later on in college God assured me of his love and he made to clear to me that I was forgiven and saved through Jesus Christ. All those things happened before there was any deeper call to follow him. I think that’s how God wants to work in all of our lives. Before God calls to follow him and serve him, God calls us by name and God offers us his love and grace. Maybe that is where you are today, maybe for the first time God is calling you by name and letting you know that he is present and active in your life. Maybe God is helping you see that in Jesus there is forgiveness and grace that can transform our lives and make us new. If that’s where you are today, what a wonderful place to be; there is nothing sweeter than understanding that God knows us by name and that we belong to him. Some of the most powerful words of scripture come to us from God through the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 43:1 says…
So our journey of faith begins with God calling us by name and redeeming us and letting us know that he is with us to help us, that’s the first step, but it’s not the last. Many times it is this first step that just gets us moving. One of Simon’s first steps of faith just got him out onto the water, but then Jesus calls him to go deeper, literally. Jesus calls Simon to go out into deeper water where he could put down his nest to catch some fish. While Simon’s first step of faith didn’t require much risk or investment, this step does. Not only was there greater risk in going out into deeper water, but there was also the risk of looking foolish because what Jesus as asking Simon to do made absolutely no sense and Simon knew this. While it made perfect sense for Jesus to use Simon’s boat as a stage from which to preach because sound carries so well over water and from the boat Jesus would be more visible to the people on the shore, it made no sense for Simon to go out during the day and drop his nets into the lake to catch fish.
There are several reasons why this call of Jesus made no sense:
First: Simon and his partners had fished all night and caught nothing. There were simply no fish in this part of the lake at the moment and Simon, a experienced fisherman, knew this.
Second: it was the wrong time of day to go fishing. You didn’t catch fish during the middle of the day when the sun sparkled off the water and scared the fish away. Again, Simon the experienced fisherman knew this.
Third: the kind of nets Simon and his partners were using were known as trammel nets and trammel nets were woven from a heavy linen which was visible to the fish in the daylight, so not only would the sun keep the fish away, but the nets would as well. Trammel nets were only successfully used to catch fish at night and Simon the experienced fisherman knew this.
So here we have Jesus, a man who grew up in a carpenter’s shop and was now a teacher and preacher, calling Simon, an experienced fisherman, to fish in waters were there were no fish and to fish at a time of day when no fish would be caught. Jesus is calling Simon to go deeper and take another step of faith but this step involved some risk. Following the call of God and going deeper in our faith always carries with it some risk. While the first steps of faith may seem somewhat easy for us, Jesus never stops at those first few steps. Jesus always calls us to go deeper.
When I was in college God called me to go deeper and join a Bible study. I had never been in a Bible study before, I had never prayed with people before and it was risky to get involved. I took that step of faith, and like Simon, I was rewarded – my faith and trust in God grew stronger. I began to experience more meaning and joy in life, and I began to explore God’s greater purpose for my life. When Simon heard the call of Jesus and went out into deeper water to let his nets down, his steps of faith were also rewarded. Simon caught so many fish that his nets began to break. He caught so many fish he needed a second boat to haul them all to shore. Simon’s steps of faith were rewarded and ours will be too. The rewards aren’t going to be financial; they are going to be spiritual and emotional. Following the call of God and walking with Jesus will bring a peace and purpose and power that is simply not found in the world around us. Stepping out in faith today to follow the call of God may require some risk – but with God the risk is always rewarded.
Now, you might think that these were the last steps for Simon, but they weren’t, God always calls us to go deeper. When Simon got to shore he takes another step of faith, this time a step down. Literally Simon falls before Jesus in confession and humility. The miracle Simon has just experienced showed him that he really was not in control of his life and that God was and that God wanted to be more in control and so Simon begins to give his life over to God which leads to the next step and the next call of God, (Luke 5:10-11)
When Jesus calls Simon to leave behind his boats and nets and the huge catch fish they just hauled in– Simon aggress. Now this is a huge step of faith for Simon. This is a decisive and radical step in his faith journey and we often look at this decision and wonder how it was possible for Simon to just leave it all behind. Simon was able to do this because Jesus had led him step by step to a place where it was possible. Jesus started by building a relationship with Simon, then called him into shallow water, then he called him into deeper water, then called Simon to take some risks and trust him and start fishing, and then he called Simon to take a bigger risk and leave fishing behind for something much greater – fishing for men and women.
Sometimes I think we look at this call of Simon and worry about how and when Jesus might call us to leave it all behind and follow him. Well, here’s the thing, God will only call us to take this radical step of faith when we are ready. Simon wasn’t ready to become a fisher of men and women the first time he met Jesus. Simon wasn’t ready to leave everything behind and follow Jesus in the morning when Jesus was preaching on the lakeshore. Jesus had to prepare Simon step by step to hear this call of God, and God prepares us well, that’s what this encounter with Jesus teaches us. .
Simon’s encounter with Jesus shows us that God calls us to follow him, but the call comes step by step. Jesus doesn’t call people in take one giant step of faith, but a series of little steps that take us deeper into the heart and will of God. Looking back on my own life I realize God didn’t call me to be a minister in one big step at the very beginning, the call came step by step. The first call was to simply be involved in my home church. The call was to attended worship and Sunday school and get involved in my youth group. In college there was the call to go deeper and join a Bible Study and then lead the Bible study, and then go on a leadership retreat.
The next big call came to go to Seminary and like Simon going out into deep water to fish, that call didn’t make a lot of sense to me because I didn’t want to a pastor, I didn’t want to be the minister of a local church so why go to Seminary? I went because, like Simon, I heard God calling me to just take another step and let God work out the rest. While I was in seminary and working in a church I heard God call me to take that next big step and leave my will and my plans behind to become a local pastor. Now if I had heard that call in high school or college or even in my first year of seminary, I would have refused, but God didn’t call me to take a giants step at the very beginning, he called out of a relationship of love and trust to go deeper and step by step follow him.
God calls all of us out of a relationship of love and trust to simply take one step of faith at a time. God calls us to worship and then maybe sing in the choir because we like to sing, then we hear the call to join a small group or Bible study because we want to learn more about God our faith, and then we hear the call to go on a mission trip, or we take a step of faith and agree to lead a bible study, or provide leadership or prayer support for one of the church’s ministry. Step by step God leads us deeper into a relationship with him, and step by step God leads us to a place where he can use us to accomplish his will and purpose in the world.
So how is God calling you today? What step of faith is God calling you to take? Don’t think God isn’t calling you, He is. God is calling all of us, it may be a call to receive his love and grace, it may be a call to get out there and get involved, it maybe a call to go into deep waters and risk it all, for each of us the call is different, but the common reality for all of us is that God is calling us, what step of faith will we ? Olympic athletes are made one step at a time, the disciples of Jesus were formed one step at a time and God is calling us today to go deeper and simply take one more step of faith, so as we enter into this season of Lent let’s just step forward with Jesus.
What all of these athletes have in common and one of the things that sets them apart from many others is that at some point in their lives they went out on to the ice or snow not for the first time, but for the second time. Anyone can try something once, but it’s going out there again and again that sets these athletes apart. As many of you know, I enjoy running and yes I did receive my first ever medal in a 5k race. I came in second in my age group and to answer the one question that everyone keeps asking – yes there were more than 2 people in my age group. There weren’t a lot, but there were more than two people in my age group!
The reason I am running today isn’t because I went out there that first day and ran, it’s because I went back out the second day. I didn’t feel much better the second day, but I kept going out day after day and running that one mile over and over again until I could run it without stopping. And then I ran a little more than a mile, and then a little more and very slowly I was able to run 2 miles, then 3. Olympic athletes are all made the same way, by men and women stepping out to try something once and then going back out there again and again and again. And every race is won the same way, one step at a time, and every journey of faith is lived out the same way, one step at a time
My hope is that during this season of Lent it will be our desire to grow stronger in our faith. My hope is that we will want to know more of God’s love and grace, experience more of God’s power and understand more of God’s will for our lives. Now this doesn’t happen overnight and faith development doesn’t take place in one giant step – our faith grows step by step as we hear and respond to the call of God. The truth is that God is calling each and every one of us in some way today. You are here right now because in some way God has called you to be here. Maybe you are here for the first time because you heard or sensed God calling you to come closer to him; maybe you are here because for years God has been calling you to go deeper and every week you take that next step of faith. It doesn’t matter who we are or how long we have been walking with God, every one of us here is being called to go deeper with Jesus, it is up to us how will we respond.
God calling us to go deeper in our faith today is exactly what we see happening in the encounter that Jesus has with Simon on the shores of Lake Genneserat. Jesus is on the lakeshore teaching and such a large crowd has gathered that people aren’t able to see or hear him anymore, so as Jesus looks around, he sees that Simon’s fishing boat is not being used at the moment and so he asks Simon if will take him out onto the water a little bit so that he can preach to the people from this floating stage. Since Simon is not doing much at the moment other than washing his nets, he agrees. Now taking Jesus into the shallow water doesn’t require much of Simon. There is no great risk involved here and there is no real investment other than a little of his time, so Simon agrees and takes Jesus out in his boat.
We might look at this story and assume that this is the first step of faith for Simon, but it is not. If we look back in Luke 4 we wee that Jesus had been to Simon’s house and while he was there Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law. So Simon not only knew about Jesus, he had heard his teaching about the kingdom of God and he had seen and experienced for himself Jesus’ power. So Jesus calling Simon to work with him by taking him out on the water didn’t come out of nowhere – they were not strangers. Jesus had already established a relationship with Simon before he called him, and I think this the way God wants to work with us.
God doesn’t call us to follow him out of nowhere; God first works to establish a relationship with us and then calls us out of that relationship to take another step. God takes the time to get to know us, maybe calls us by name and assures of his love and grace before he calls us to follow him. Looking back on my own life, the call to be a local pastor didn’t come out of left field; God had been working in my life for years to establish a relationship with me. God spoke to me as a child in church and nurtured me through Sunday School and youth group. Later on in college God assured me of his love and he made to clear to me that I was forgiven and saved through Jesus Christ. All those things happened before there was any deeper call to follow him. I think that’s how God wants to work in all of our lives. Before God calls to follow him and serve him, God calls us by name and God offers us his love and grace. Maybe that is where you are today, maybe for the first time God is calling you by name and letting you know that he is present and active in your life. Maybe God is helping you see that in Jesus there is forgiveness and grace that can transform our lives and make us new. If that’s where you are today, what a wonderful place to be; there is nothing sweeter than understanding that God knows us by name and that we belong to him. Some of the most powerful words of scripture come to us from God through the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 43:1 says…
So our journey of faith begins with God calling us by name and redeeming us and letting us know that he is with us to help us, that’s the first step, but it’s not the last. Many times it is this first step that just gets us moving. One of Simon’s first steps of faith just got him out onto the water, but then Jesus calls him to go deeper, literally. Jesus calls Simon to go out into deeper water where he could put down his nest to catch some fish. While Simon’s first step of faith didn’t require much risk or investment, this step does. Not only was there greater risk in going out into deeper water, but there was also the risk of looking foolish because what Jesus as asking Simon to do made absolutely no sense and Simon knew this. While it made perfect sense for Jesus to use Simon’s boat as a stage from which to preach because sound carries so well over water and from the boat Jesus would be more visible to the people on the shore, it made no sense for Simon to go out during the day and drop his nets into the lake to catch fish.
There are several reasons why this call of Jesus made no sense:
First: Simon and his partners had fished all night and caught nothing. There were simply no fish in this part of the lake at the moment and Simon, a experienced fisherman, knew this.
Second: it was the wrong time of day to go fishing. You didn’t catch fish during the middle of the day when the sun sparkled off the water and scared the fish away. Again, Simon the experienced fisherman knew this.
Third: the kind of nets Simon and his partners were using were known as trammel nets and trammel nets were woven from a heavy linen which was visible to the fish in the daylight, so not only would the sun keep the fish away, but the nets would as well. Trammel nets were only successfully used to catch fish at night and Simon the experienced fisherman knew this.
So here we have Jesus, a man who grew up in a carpenter’s shop and was now a teacher and preacher, calling Simon, an experienced fisherman, to fish in waters were there were no fish and to fish at a time of day when no fish would be caught. Jesus is calling Simon to go deeper and take another step of faith but this step involved some risk. Following the call of God and going deeper in our faith always carries with it some risk. While the first steps of faith may seem somewhat easy for us, Jesus never stops at those first few steps. Jesus always calls us to go deeper.
When I was in college God called me to go deeper and join a Bible study. I had never been in a Bible study before, I had never prayed with people before and it was risky to get involved. I took that step of faith, and like Simon, I was rewarded – my faith and trust in God grew stronger. I began to experience more meaning and joy in life, and I began to explore God’s greater purpose for my life. When Simon heard the call of Jesus and went out into deeper water to let his nets down, his steps of faith were also rewarded. Simon caught so many fish that his nets began to break. He caught so many fish he needed a second boat to haul them all to shore. Simon’s steps of faith were rewarded and ours will be too. The rewards aren’t going to be financial; they are going to be spiritual and emotional. Following the call of God and walking with Jesus will bring a peace and purpose and power that is simply not found in the world around us. Stepping out in faith today to follow the call of God may require some risk – but with God the risk is always rewarded.
Now, you might think that these were the last steps for Simon, but they weren’t, God always calls us to go deeper. When Simon got to shore he takes another step of faith, this time a step down. Literally Simon falls before Jesus in confession and humility. The miracle Simon has just experienced showed him that he really was not in control of his life and that God was and that God wanted to be more in control and so Simon begins to give his life over to God which leads to the next step and the next call of God, (Luke 5:10-11)
When Jesus calls Simon to leave behind his boats and nets and the huge catch fish they just hauled in– Simon aggress. Now this is a huge step of faith for Simon. This is a decisive and radical step in his faith journey and we often look at this decision and wonder how it was possible for Simon to just leave it all behind. Simon was able to do this because Jesus had led him step by step to a place where it was possible. Jesus started by building a relationship with Simon, then called him into shallow water, then he called him into deeper water, then called Simon to take some risks and trust him and start fishing, and then he called Simon to take a bigger risk and leave fishing behind for something much greater – fishing for men and women.
Sometimes I think we look at this call of Simon and worry about how and when Jesus might call us to leave it all behind and follow him. Well, here’s the thing, God will only call us to take this radical step of faith when we are ready. Simon wasn’t ready to become a fisher of men and women the first time he met Jesus. Simon wasn’t ready to leave everything behind and follow Jesus in the morning when Jesus was preaching on the lakeshore. Jesus had to prepare Simon step by step to hear this call of God, and God prepares us well, that’s what this encounter with Jesus teaches us. .
Simon’s encounter with Jesus shows us that God calls us to follow him, but the call comes step by step. Jesus doesn’t call people in take one giant step of faith, but a series of little steps that take us deeper into the heart and will of God. Looking back on my own life I realize God didn’t call me to be a minister in one big step at the very beginning, the call came step by step. The first call was to simply be involved in my home church. The call was to attended worship and Sunday school and get involved in my youth group. In college there was the call to go deeper and join a Bible Study and then lead the Bible study, and then go on a leadership retreat.
The next big call came to go to Seminary and like Simon going out into deep water to fish, that call didn’t make a lot of sense to me because I didn’t want to a pastor, I didn’t want to be the minister of a local church so why go to Seminary? I went because, like Simon, I heard God calling me to just take another step and let God work out the rest. While I was in seminary and working in a church I heard God call me to take that next big step and leave my will and my plans behind to become a local pastor. Now if I had heard that call in high school or college or even in my first year of seminary, I would have refused, but God didn’t call me to take a giants step at the very beginning, he called out of a relationship of love and trust to go deeper and step by step follow him.
God calls all of us out of a relationship of love and trust to simply take one step of faith at a time. God calls us to worship and then maybe sing in the choir because we like to sing, then we hear the call to join a small group or Bible study because we want to learn more about God our faith, and then we hear the call to go on a mission trip, or we take a step of faith and agree to lead a bible study, or provide leadership or prayer support for one of the church’s ministry. Step by step God leads us deeper into a relationship with him, and step by step God leads us to a place where he can use us to accomplish his will and purpose in the world.
So how is God calling you today? What step of faith is God calling you to take? Don’t think God isn’t calling you, He is. God is calling all of us, it may be a call to receive his love and grace, it may be a call to get out there and get involved, it maybe a call to go into deep waters and risk it all, for each of us the call is different, but the common reality for all of us is that God is calling us, what step of faith will we ? Olympic athletes are made one step at a time, the disciples of Jesus were formed one step at a time and God is calling us today to go deeper and simply take one more step of faith, so as we enter into this season of Lent let’s just step forward with Jesus.
