Quest 9
Have you ever spent hours fishing without catching anything?
That was the situation of Simon Peter (Luke 5:5) - And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!”
A calling has been described as an activity that is a person’s most important job, especially one in which the person has an unusually strong interest and ability, one's occupation, profession, or trade or an inner urging toward some profession or activity.
Fishing was Peter’s calling.
After the Resurrection, while the apostles were waiting for Jesus in Galilee, Peter again spent hours fishing at night and caught nothing (John 21:3) - Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
What drives you?
What matters most to you?
What is your calling?
Understanding the context of this story -
Peter met Jesus about 9 months earlier at John the Baptist’s revival: he was there for Jesus’ first miracle in Cana of Galilee, saw Jesus cleanse the Temple in Jerusalem, overheard Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, watched Jesus talk to the woman at the well in Samaria, and witnessed some healings in Jerusalem. Jesus was not an unknown quantity.
He had traveled with Jesus but he had bills to pay and needed to get back to business.
WHAT CAN YOU LEARN WHEN JESUS GETS IN YOUR BOAT?
1. You face your own inadequacy.
Luke 5:8 - But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
Jesus did not come to call good, religious people, but people who had failed and had regrets (Matthew 9:13) – “For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
If you do not feel inadequate, you didn’t meet the authentic Jesus.
2. You receive a call not just to salvation but to service.
Luke 5:10 - And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”
God has called you to salvation (Romans 8:30) - And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
The call to freedom in salvation is not for yourself but to serve others (Galatians 5:13): For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
God’s call to serve others demands a certain kind of life so your life does not get in the way of your service but reflects the Caller:
1 Thessalonians 4:7- For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.
2 Timothy 1: 9 - . . . who saved us and called us to a holy calling.
1 Peter 1:15 - But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.
3. You recognize God’s call on your life with unconditional surrender.
Luke 5:5, 11 – “But at your word I will let down the nets.” . . . And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
Example: During the Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant was about to take Fort Donelson in Kentucky and 16,000 Confederate troops. The Confederate General Buckner asked for a negotiated surrender. Grant’s response became famous: “No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted.” Ulysses S. Grant became known as “Unconditional Surrender Grant.”
The terms of your surrender to Jesus are unconditional and immediate.
Quest 9 Sermon from February 27th, 2022
