Mark your calendars for…
“Let the Praises Ring”! St. Mark’s 3rd Annual Praise Band Concert!
If you were unable to attend last year, here’s your chance to get in on a night of great music and heartfelt worship as musicians from the St. Mark praise band share their gifts with you.
September 9, 2007
THE GOSPEL JOURNEY
We all start out at white belt level.
Luke 5:1-11
This is my obi, the Japanese word for a belt worn by a martial artist. This is a black belt which denotes a master’s level in the art. One thing you notice when you instruct people in the martial arts is their impatience and frustration. Many people will ask you, “How long until I am a black belt?” I always reply, “I don’t know. Everyone moves at a different pace. It’s a process. Don’t worry about the people around you in the class. Just be willing to move from where you are to the next step, one step at a time. It’s a process.”
It could be today that impatience and frustration is your take on Christianity in general and Christian growth specifically. You look around at these people and some have their Bible and they are flipping back and forth and they say Christian words and you don’t know what they are talking about. And you say, “I’m just not there.” And then you know some Christians once (theme from the Twilight Zone) and you said, “I’m not sure I want to be one of those. They are speaking Christianese all the time.” You think to yourself, “I just can’t be that,” because the implication is when it comes to the Christian walk: white belt to black belt in one week. You sit here and think, ‘I’m interested. I’m curious but . . . I just am not ready for that.”
I’ve got some great news. That’s not really the paradigm. That is not what is taught in the New Testament. Turn with me in Matthew 4:18-22. At first that doesn’t look spiritual but irresponsible. “See you Dad! Tell Mom we love her. We got to go! Hope you can get the boat in yourself and clean the nets without us.” And the old guy is over there staggering in wonderment. They just left their father with the family business that he probably saved for them.
This was how their family made a living. Suddenly they just go marching off with some guy in a robe because he walked by and said “Follow me.”Some of you feel that way about the Christian walk. You think, “Could you just slow down.
Could I just do this a little bit at a time?” Absolutely. You see once Christ has brought you to fatih, following Jesus is a process of moving from wherever you are to just the next place. For many of us it is a simple baby step. What God wants for you is not for you to come in here today and learn how to spell Jesus properly and then surrender your whole life to him. That’s not realistic. That’s not the normal way God works in people’s lives. What God wants for you as a follower is for you to take the next incremental step as he grows you in your relationship with him. The fancy term for that is sanctification.
Fortunately for us, Matthew who wrote what we just read was writing to Jews who understood if you ever ran into the Messiah, you drop everything and followed him. Luke tells us the same story but he is writing to people like us who weren’t Jewish looking for a Messiah, who would never in a million years drop everything and follow a guy who said, “Follow me.”
Luke gives us more detail about what happened on this afternoon. This account sets up for us an incredible context for what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
Turn with me to Luke 5. The story actually starts with teaching. Read Luke 5:1. The people would fish at night and then in the morning they would clean their nets. They would then stretch their nets out and let them dry. When they were dry they would roll them up and store them and then go home and sleep half the day because they had been up all night. These guys had finished their nets and they are listening to Jesus teach. Who knows how long Jesus taught? The people were pressing against him so Jesus says to Simon, “Would you mind if I used your boat as a floating pulpit?” Simon Peter says, “Okay.” So they get into the boat and push off a few yards and Jesus continues to teach and Peter continues to listen.
Read Luke 5:4. You see this story didn’t begin with a stranger saying, “Leave all you have and follow me.” Jesus now tells Peter, “Let’s go fishing.” Peter says, “Jesus, you might be a really smart carpenter but apparently you don’t know anything about fishing. You don’t fish during the day. No offense Jesus but we’ve been fishing when you are supposed to go fishing and we didn’t catch anything. What’s the point of going fishing when you are not suppose to go fishing? Besides we have already cleaned out nets. Beside there is a crowd. If these people seeing me fishing in the middle of the day they will think I’m nuts. This doesn’t make any sense.”
This next verse is great because this is where many of us are – read Luke 5:5b. The implication is, “I wouldn’t do this for everybody. I wouldn’t even do this for my fishing buddies James and John. But, Jesus, I’ve been sitting here and listening to you. There is something about you. There is something about your teaching. In light of what I sense and hope about youI’ll do this.” Here’s the rest of the story – read Luke 5:6-10a. The word “then” should be bolded. Then after they sat and listened to him teach. Then after they let him borrow the boat. Then after they took a chance and took him fishing. Then after they saw what he was able to do. Then when he proved himself who they hoped he would be – read Luke 10b-11. Who wouldn’t follow a guy like that? What father wouldn’t say, “Boys, I’ll take care of the family business. You need to follow a Teacher like that. He’s the One we have been waiting for.”
The reason I love this story is because it is about us. It’s about different people with different backgrounds and different faith levels and different places in their spiritual journey with Jesus. The invitation to follow Jesus is just the invitation to take the next step, whatever the next step is. It begins at the white belt level with sitting and learning. Do you know why the story begins there? Because this is how the Holy Spirit draws us and puts us on the path with Jesus. Read Romans 10:17. Christianity is not some dark hole with a voice at the bottom yelling, “Jump, I’ll catch you.” You don’t reply, “I’m a Christian. I don’t know who is down there but here I go!”
That’s not the picture of Christianity. Christianity is an informed faith. All of our journeys with Jesus begin with us sitting down and listening for the first time about who Jesus really is and what he has done (expand). Listening and learning. And then at some point Jesus nudges us to take the next step. That’s what Jesus did with Peter when he asked him to go fishing. Just think about what hung in the balance that day for Peter. Everything in him said, “Bad idea. I’m going to ruin my reputation. It is going to cost me money.” In his little world there was a lot at stake. But he really had no idea what was at stake, right! He had no idea what God had planned for him. He had no idea who Jesus was. Jesus was Jesus the whole time. But it wasn’t until Peter agreed to take Jesus fishing that it gave Jesus the opportunity to reveal himself which caused Peter to fall on his knees and say, “I’m not worthy to be in your presence.” Hey, Peter you weren’t worthy to be in his presence before. What’s the difference? The difference is when Peter’s little faith intersected with Jesus’ faithfulness he suddenly discovered whom he was really dealing with. This is the stage of life some of us are in right now. Jesus says, “Hey, let’s take the next step.” And you might argue with God as if you are peers. Peter thought Jesus and he were peers. He was going to have this argument with Jesus about fishing. In his mind he is thinking,
“This could cost me some time and money. I’m not sure I can sacrifice this to take Jesus fishing.” Jesus must have been thinking, “You have no idea what is hanging in the balance, Peter. I’m going to have you write two books of the Bible and people will name their children after you. In two thousand years they will still be talking about you. And you are worried about a little bit of time and a little bit of money. Trust me.” He was just asking him to take a baby step. “We are already out here why not fish?”
Here’s where we are. We are all within the two ranks, white belt and black belt; between the two bookends. You are here today, you are new to the fiath, and you are not really a religious person or church person. In fact, in your world the fact that you get up on Sunday morning and fight the Packer traffic and come to church; that is as monumental as Peter saying to Jesus, “Let’s go fishing.” For some of us that’s just normal but for you it is a big step.
Congratulations! You’ve taken another baby step in this relationship Jesus has given you. You might say, “I’m not ready to change a lot yet.” That’s okay. You are here. You are listening. You are studying. You are right where God wants you. You just need to keep sitting and you just need to keep listening. You are where you are; don’t worry about where other people are. God is excited to see you moving down the path. But the day will come when he will nudge you and say, “I need your boat. We’re going to get a little more closely associated. It may be time to speak to one of the pastors and get some questions answered. Maybe its time for you to attend the CLASS seminars or get plugged into a small group.” God is going to want you to start reading this on your own. Some of you haven’t pick this up forever. In fact, the only Bible you have weighs forty pounds and sits on a table. Jesus wants you to pick this up and start reading it on your own. Learn more about this Savior who starred death in the face your you and death fled. Read it. It’s a baby step but it is an important part of the Gospel journey, it’s part of the process that Jesus carries you through.
For others of us, you have been reading for a long time and now for the first time in a very compelling way the Lord Jesus is saying, “Let’s go fishing.” He’s put his finger on one specific area of your life, not the whole deal, one specific area of your life and said, “I want you to trust me with that right there.” You say, “Oh, not that.” He’s not saying, “Die for me. Go into the ministry. Go over seas.” No. He is saying, “I want you to see me work in this one area of your life. I want you to trust me in this part of your life so your little faith and my faithfulness can intersect because when that happens I know you will be different. But you are going to have to trust me.”
And still some of you are like Peter and right now you are having arguments with God. “God, I’m 40 and if I narrow the people I date down to that point I there’s nobody to date. It’s over!” “Trust me,” God says. “If I start treating my wife like . . . If I start giving like that . . . If I start having a good attitude toward my parents I . . Lord, you want me to move out . . . .” God says, “Just try me. Trust me. Drop those nets. I know when you trust me you will be moved to know that the God of the Universe who is all over this book and sometimes seems so distance; the Savior who died for you showed up tangibly in your life with some spiritual or physical blessing. And when that happens, you will drop to your knees and say, ‘Lord, I’m not worthy. And yet you really care about me and we are like this (cross fingers) and Wow!’” And suddenly it not as difficult to trust him with other parts of your life; the next time it won’t be so hard to let down your nets, it’s easier to trust him with any and every part of your life. The Christian life is a journey closer and closer to the Son. At some point it moves from I’m learning to I’m asking to I’m doing. But here’s the good news. When it comes to the Christian life you don’t go from white belt to black belt in a week. It takes training. It is process. You mature in our faith gradually. And as you do, Peter would tell you, “Don’t be afraid to trust Jesus as he nudges you down the path. You don’t know what hangs in the balance – believe me!”
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Why No One Confuses Parlow with Luther":
Wow. I counted one sentence of gospel in that entire sermon. There's no way anyone could read that sermon and still think that Parlow is a Lutheran pastor.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Why No One Confuses Parlow with Luther":
How relevant. Nothing but the law. Just what we need.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Why No One Confuses Parlow (WELS) with Luther":
Interesting. The fastest growing WELS congregation is led by a Reformed preacher.
