When the call comes

Part three of nine

Luke 1:26–56; 11:27–28

What happened that day when Simon’s life changed forever?

Simon Peter must have been exhausted and exhilarated when he retired that evening. He’d worked all night, then spent the day having his whole life turned on its head. Come to think of it: I wonder where he retired that night. Every night (or day, if he’d been working the night shift) until this one, he’d slept in his comfortable bed in Capernaum.

Suddenly he found himself a follower of the man who said foxes had holes and birds had nests, but He had no place to lay His head. How had it ever come to this?

It had all started quite ordinarily. Simon was on the night shift. The fishing was better at night – usually. Not this night. This night they seem to have hit a “not spot – a spot where the fish are not!” (I borrowed this line from a wonderful video, Fish Eyes, by comedy team Ted Swartz and Lee Eshleman. If you ever have a chance to watch it, do.)

All night, nothing. Simon and his companions were about to trudge home, frustrated and tired. Suddenly their attention was drawn to the famous teacher and His ever-present entourage of curious crowds.

What’s this? Jesus wants to borrow my boat? For a pulpit? OK, I guess so. (At least the boat would be good for something.) And so Simon becomes a captive audience. He hears Jesus talk about the kingdom, and about God’s new plan to break down all those walls dividing people into powerful and powerless, righteous and not-so-righteous, high status and low status. Simon is mesmerized (only dozes off a couple of times!)

Fishing advice

The teaching ends. Now Jesus, the non-fisherman, is handing out instructions. “There are fish out there, Simon! Lots of them. Way out there in the deep water. Let’s go get them!”

“With all due respect, Master, we know about fishing. We tried all night.” But, almost before he knows what he’s saying, Simon adds: “On the other hand, maybe you know something I don’t. All right, let’s go!”

And suddenly the not spot became a hot spot! There must have been hundreds of fish. It took two boats to haul them in. Then Simon knew.

He knew this Jesus was more than an eloquent teacher; He spoke the very words of God. He knew Jesus had used his boat with ulterior motives – to recruit him. He knew that the catch of fish had been a miracle – a big, unmistakable miracle. And he knew he was out of place so near to the presence of God. He stammered: “Depart from me, Lord! I am a sinful man.” (One almost wonders whether Simon has been reading Isaiah 6 for his devotions.)

“No, Simon, I’m not leaving you. I’m never leaving you. In fact, I’m taking you along. I want to re-train you. You will be catching people from now on. I’ve just showed you how it’s done. You obey God’s instructions and trust God for the miracle. The world is teeming with people waiting to be caught by the gospel net. Come learn to fish for people. You coming?” (Simon Peter could not have imagined the day would come when he’d haul in 3,000 “fish” in one cast of the gospel net! Cf. Acts 2:41).

This was the point

Luke’s narrative ends with its real punch line. “So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him” (5:11). They left their nets, their boats, their miraculous catch of fish, their village, their social relationships, their families. Everything would be different from now on.

That is where this whole narrative was heading right from the start.

When we:

• realize the futility of working only for earthly gain, only in human strength;
• meet Jesus at close range;
• hear Jesus’ words of eternal life;
• discover Jesus knows more about everything we thought we were experts in;
• take small steps of obedience and discover it always pays to follow Jesus’ instructions;
• know for sure that God has intervened and done for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves;
• know we’re in God’s presence and realize we’re sinners, deserving nothing;

that is when Jesus also says to us, “I’ll never leave you! In fact I want you to come with me, stay with me, learn from me. Consider yourself recruited. You’re coming, aren’t you?”

It doesn’t happen the same way for everyone. Some will know more about Jesus than Simon did, and some will know less. Some will have experienced more miracles; some none at all. Some will be thoroughly familiar with Jesus’ teachings; others will be unaware of them.

But however it happens, we hear the words of the gospel, we risk following Jesus’ instructions, we experience the grace of God, we recognize our unworthiness, and then we hear Jesus say, “Won’t you join me on this great adventure? Come, be one of my disciples!”

And when the call comes, the appropriate response is always the same – an unconditional Yes. Yes, to discipleship. Yes, to the ministry call. Yes, to the new community gathered around Jesus. Yes, to the adventure of following Jesus, wherever He leads.

For reflection:

• What elements of Peter’s call were present in my call to follow Jesus?
• How has my life been changed by saying “Yes” to Jesus?

Tim Geddert teaches New Testament at MB Biblical Seminary, Fresno, Cal.

The series continues in the next issue. The series began in the Sept. 24 issue.