Called by God Part 2: They left everything and followed him ...

Luke 5:1-11     Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.   He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.   When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."   Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets."   When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.   So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.   But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!"    For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken;   and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who are partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people."   When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Context: As we take a look at our second "call" story we find both similarities and differences between the call of Isaiah and what is essentially the call of Simon, who will be called Peter as a result of this encounter with Jesus.  One of the striking differences between these two men is that Simon is a simple working man, a fisherman on the lake with a band of friends rather than a man of the royal court.  Simon and the other disciples lived in the land surrounding the lake of Gennesaret, which is actually the Sea of Galilee.  Fish were an ordinary food item and these good and honest men made their living as fishermen.   They were probably all family men because that was simply expected of good Jewish men.  They seem to have owned two boats and had large enough nets to put out into the deep water.  From archeological evidence their fishing boat could have been as large as 26.5 feet long, 7.5 feet wide, and 4.5 feet deep. (NISB Commentary Vol 9, Pg 116)

In the book of Luke, Jesus has been teaching and preaching and healing in the region of Galilee.  He had stopped into Simon's house recently and alleviated the fever of his mother-in-law. (Luke 4:38-41)  Simon had witnessed Jesus as he healed in his house.  And now he and his friends are witness to his popularity, his preaching and his power from his boat.  While much of Jesus' work and teaching has taken place in the synagogue, in this passage it is clear that Jesus also finds a mission field and fellow missionaries in the ordinariness of life. 

Going Deeper and Pondering the Deep:  While the call of Isaiah took place within a religious experience, the call of Simon takes place in the context of that ordinariness with a miraculous twist.   At the end of a long, hard day, the fishermen respond to Jesus from the moment he steps into their boat and into their lives.  When Jesus gets into the boat, Simon  responds by taking him out into the water.  He then listens to Jesus preach ... I wonder what Jesus said that prepared Simon, the professional fisherman with empty nets, to respond.  Simon calls Jesus "master" and acts in obedience by casting his nets into the deep, even as his voice drips with skepticism.   His skepticism is met with the power of God ... so many fish the nets were about to break!   So many fish that both boats almost sank!

At this point there is a remarkable similarity between Isaiah's response and Simon Peter's response.  Recall the words of Isaiah, "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips"  Compare them to these words:  "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!"  Like Isaiah, Simon has experienced the power and the presence of God ... Jesus is no long just "master," the Greek word epistates {ep-is-tat'-ace} which mean overseer.   Jesus is now his "Lord," the Greek word kurios {koo'-ree-os} which means one to whom a person belongs.   

• Have you ever felt this sense of unworthiness in the presence of God?  
• Were you able to accept the grace that God extended in order to overcome your feelings of unworthiness and enter into a relationship of "belonging" to God?  
• If you continue to struggle with feelings of unworthiness, what do you think is keeping you from embracing your sense of value as one who belongs to God?" 

When we examine "call" stories we often find some kind of a-ha moment at this point.  When this moment comes, the heart is changed and life changes.  Sometimes even the name is changed ... Simon is now Simon Peter.

• Have you ever had an a-ha moment?  
• How did your heart change?  
• How did your life change?
• There is a lovely song called I will change your name (Click to listen)   I will change your name.  You shall no longer be called ____________.   I will change your name.  Your new name shall be ____________.  As you think about who you used to be and who God is calling you to be how would you sing this song ...

We also often find a sense of fear in "call" stories ... 

• Have you ever had a sense of "fear" about something you felt "called by God" to be or to do.  
• Did you experience a healthy fear to guide you or did it paralyze you and keep you from acting?  
• How did you respond to your fear?

Right after Jesus says "Do not be afraid," he says, "from now on you will be catching people."  The Greek word translated "catch" is zogreo {dzogue-reh'-o} which means "to take alive."  

• What do you think it means to "catch" people or "to take [people] alive" in the sense of the words Jesus speaks?
• How would you or how do you embrace this call to "catch" people?
• How does this alleviate the fear of God's power?

Changed in so many ways by this simple encounter, Simon Peter and his companions are "called by God" into a life of discipleship.   "They left everything and followed Jesus."   The one who is "called by God" is ready and willing to leave the old life behind in order to to go wherever God calls! 


Some of us may have a mystical religious experience like Isaiah did ... but most of us will probably just be living our life like the disciples when we'll simply walk into our call.  All of us can experience an invitation from God in a way we know we are being led, urged, invited ... "called by God" into a sacred and holy life.

Praying:   Howard Thurman said, “There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.”

As you wait and listen for the sound of the genuine in yourself ... spend some time in silence with this breath prayer from Luke 5:5b breathing in "if you say so" breathing out "I will."