Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
“When Jesus Says Hello!”
August 8, 2004 Luke 5:1-5:11
What is this Amazing Grace we sing about? Does anybody know anything about that? Let me tell
you that Grace is what happens when Jesus shows up and says hello.
In the fifth chapter of Luke we see this grace happening in a man named Simon’s life. You see,
Jesus just happens to show up on the shore one day and decides he is going to preach to a
crowd that had gathered. He sees two boats by the water's edge. The fishermen who owned
them were washing their nets. Jesus went over to the boats and asked one of the fishermen to
take him out on the boat a little ways from the shore.
And the fisherman, named Simon, did just that. Jesus sat down in the boat and continued to
teach the people from there.
Now Jesus could have simply stood on the shore and preached. Scholars like to point out that
Jesus went in the boat so he could reach the crowd more effectively since they could all see him
now further away from them and his voice would be able to project to more them since he was
facing all of them and the shore functioned better acoustically like an amphitheater.
But I believe there was another reason why Jesus wanted to speak from the boat. He wanted to
talk to the owner of the boat, a man named Simon.
You see, Jesus was and is not only interested in saving the world, He is interested in saving
people like you and me. One of the speakers out in Colorado said it so succinctly. He said, “God
sets us up for these divine encounters.”
You see it wasn’t an accident that Jesus popped in to say hello to Simon Peter on that day. It
was part of the plan.
Jesus was reaching out. He was going to call some disciples to work side by side with him.
And Peter was one of the first. Jesus just happened by and chose to teach from his boat. The
truth is that Jesus does that with all of us in different ways at different times.
If you are here today and you know all about Jesus, but you have never met him personally,
never made a commitment to have a personal relationship with him…. Then you better get ready
because he is going to drop in on you someday soon.
Ask Kristina Howe about that. She went out to Colorado because it sounded like it was going to
be fun. Chillin’ with some friends… White water rafting, horseback riding, up in the
mountains… cool. But while she was out there something happened. Jesus showed up and
wanted to get in her boat.
Ask Daryl Alves about it and he’ll tell you that he was having a good time, listening to the music,
hanging with his buds, checking out ( I know I shouldn’t say this but.) checking out the ladies
and suddenly one night he is asked to pray for some kids who had passed out. And then God
showed up. He was touched.
That is what Jesus does. He isn’t just out there somewhere doing good deeds. He is looking for
you and for me so that he can share his love with us and set us up to walk with him.
That leads to the second reason why Jesus meets with us. You see Jesus not only wants to get
to know us better, he wants to take us from shallower faith to deeper faith.
That is what happened to Simon. Look at the story. He had been washing the nets while keeping
one ear listening to Jesus. He had other responsibilities and duties to do. He had to fish to make a
living. His family relied on him to bring in a good catch to eat and to sell. Simon was working
hard at his job, like many of you are, in making a living for your family.
So he thought he couldn't give up what he was doing and just spend the whole day with Jesus.
But Jesus was going to do something special in his life.
Notice that when Jesus asked Simon to sit in his boat, he asked Simon to put out a little from the
shore. Then after he had finished teaching the people, he told Simon to put out into the deep
water to go for a catch of fish.
This movement from shallow water into deeper water I take as an analogy of what Jesus was
going to do in Simon's faith life. Jesus was going to take Simon from his superficial, half-hearted
and casual attention to him and turn that into a deeper, more personal and real commitment to
Jesus.
Simon protested mildly, saying, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught
anything…. But because you say so, I will let down the nets" (vs. 5). In other words, "I've
already been there and nothing happened. But, oh well, since it is you, I will give it one more try."
And how does Jesus take us from where we are to where he wants us to be? By pushing us,
that's how. Jesus pushes us, ever gently, sometimes with words, sometimes with actions, away
from one level of stability, as symbolized by the shallow water near the shore, to a place where
we are more dependent on God, as symbolized by the deeper water.
Ask Jackie Vanase about that. She knew all there was about Jesus. She had heard her father
preach a hundred sermons. She had watched her parents and come to church. She knew Jesus
but then one day a couple of weeks ago Jesus came and challenged her to go a little deeper.
Ask Kristen Deptulski about it. She has her life in order. She has a job, a roof over her head, but
Jesus is pushing her to go deeper. To make a commitment to follow him and she’s going
forward.
It is scary to go into the deep water. It is more unstable, at least more unfamiliar. But if you are a
fisherman that is where the fish are. If you are a fisherman, that is what you live for. If you are
a child of God, the deep water helps you grow in your faith. The journey to the deeper water is
always to help us to know God better. I think all of our kids who went on the trip grew in their
faith. Hey, the truth is that all of the adults did too.
You see, when God stops in to say hello, when he challenges us to go a little deeper, we become
more like him. You know they say married couples begin to look alike the longer they are
married. Have you ever noticed that? Of course they say that about dogs and their owners
too… But that’s another story.
When we go deeper with Jesus, we begin to become more like him. And that is a good thing.
Before long his concerns become our concerns and we are ready to start dealing with the
spiritual things.
So, thank God for the deep waters. Jesus wants to spend some time with you. Amen.
August 8, 2004 Luke 5:1-5:11
What is this Amazing Grace we sing about? Does anybody know anything about that? Let me tell
you that Grace is what happens when Jesus shows up and says hello.
In the fifth chapter of Luke we see this grace happening in a man named Simon’s life. You see,
Jesus just happens to show up on the shore one day and decides he is going to preach to a
crowd that had gathered. He sees two boats by the water's edge. The fishermen who owned
them were washing their nets. Jesus went over to the boats and asked one of the fishermen to
take him out on the boat a little ways from the shore.
And the fisherman, named Simon, did just that. Jesus sat down in the boat and continued to
teach the people from there.
Now Jesus could have simply stood on the shore and preached. Scholars like to point out that
Jesus went in the boat so he could reach the crowd more effectively since they could all see him
now further away from them and his voice would be able to project to more them since he was
facing all of them and the shore functioned better acoustically like an amphitheater.
But I believe there was another reason why Jesus wanted to speak from the boat. He wanted to
talk to the owner of the boat, a man named Simon.
You see, Jesus was and is not only interested in saving the world, He is interested in saving
people like you and me. One of the speakers out in Colorado said it so succinctly. He said, “God
sets us up for these divine encounters.”
You see it wasn’t an accident that Jesus popped in to say hello to Simon Peter on that day. It
was part of the plan.
Jesus was reaching out. He was going to call some disciples to work side by side with him.
And Peter was one of the first. Jesus just happened by and chose to teach from his boat. The
truth is that Jesus does that with all of us in different ways at different times.
If you are here today and you know all about Jesus, but you have never met him personally,
never made a commitment to have a personal relationship with him…. Then you better get ready
because he is going to drop in on you someday soon.
Ask Kristina Howe about that. She went out to Colorado because it sounded like it was going to
be fun. Chillin’ with some friends… White water rafting, horseback riding, up in the
mountains… cool. But while she was out there something happened. Jesus showed up and
wanted to get in her boat.
Ask Daryl Alves about it and he’ll tell you that he was having a good time, listening to the music,
hanging with his buds, checking out ( I know I shouldn’t say this but.) checking out the ladies
and suddenly one night he is asked to pray for some kids who had passed out. And then God
showed up. He was touched.
That is what Jesus does. He isn’t just out there somewhere doing good deeds. He is looking for
you and for me so that he can share his love with us and set us up to walk with him.
That leads to the second reason why Jesus meets with us. You see Jesus not only wants to get
to know us better, he wants to take us from shallower faith to deeper faith.
That is what happened to Simon. Look at the story. He had been washing the nets while keeping
one ear listening to Jesus. He had other responsibilities and duties to do. He had to fish to make a
living. His family relied on him to bring in a good catch to eat and to sell. Simon was working
hard at his job, like many of you are, in making a living for your family.
So he thought he couldn't give up what he was doing and just spend the whole day with Jesus.
But Jesus was going to do something special in his life.
Notice that when Jesus asked Simon to sit in his boat, he asked Simon to put out a little from the
shore. Then after he had finished teaching the people, he told Simon to put out into the deep
water to go for a catch of fish.
This movement from shallow water into deeper water I take as an analogy of what Jesus was
going to do in Simon's faith life. Jesus was going to take Simon from his superficial, half-hearted
and casual attention to him and turn that into a deeper, more personal and real commitment to
Jesus.
Simon protested mildly, saying, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught
anything…. But because you say so, I will let down the nets" (vs. 5). In other words, "I've
already been there and nothing happened. But, oh well, since it is you, I will give it one more try."
And how does Jesus take us from where we are to where he wants us to be? By pushing us,
that's how. Jesus pushes us, ever gently, sometimes with words, sometimes with actions, away
from one level of stability, as symbolized by the shallow water near the shore, to a place where
we are more dependent on God, as symbolized by the deeper water.
Ask Jackie Vanase about that. She knew all there was about Jesus. She had heard her father
preach a hundred sermons. She had watched her parents and come to church. She knew Jesus
but then one day a couple of weeks ago Jesus came and challenged her to go a little deeper.
Ask Kristen Deptulski about it. She has her life in order. She has a job, a roof over her head, but
Jesus is pushing her to go deeper. To make a commitment to follow him and she’s going
forward.
It is scary to go into the deep water. It is more unstable, at least more unfamiliar. But if you are a
fisherman that is where the fish are. If you are a fisherman, that is what you live for. If you are
a child of God, the deep water helps you grow in your faith. The journey to the deeper water is
always to help us to know God better. I think all of our kids who went on the trip grew in their
faith. Hey, the truth is that all of the adults did too.
You see, when God stops in to say hello, when he challenges us to go a little deeper, we become
more like him. You know they say married couples begin to look alike the longer they are
married. Have you ever noticed that? Of course they say that about dogs and their owners
too… But that’s another story.
When we go deeper with Jesus, we begin to become more like him. And that is a good thing.
Before long his concerns become our concerns and we are ready to start dealing with the
spiritual things.
So, thank God for the deep waters. Jesus wants to spend some time with you. Amen.
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