by Pastor Gina
I want to tell you all a story, because I love telling you all stories.
There was a poor farmer. He actually owned this great piece of land. It just wasn't doing very much for him.
And he had tried what he thought would be great ways, but year after year, he just couldn't grow enough crops. He could barely make the living that he was hoping for. You know, it wasn't just about himself.
It was about providing for his family. It was about making good on the legacy that had come before him. And he just decided, “You know what? I'm exhausted. I can't do this. I'm not my father. I'm not my grandfather, my great-grandfather. I'm not the guy down the street whose farm is doing well. It's time to sell this land.”
And his friends and his family tried to encourage him, like, you know, talk to some other people, try some other thing, look into some other methods, and maybe you'll find something different.
He didn't want to. He just wanted to sell the land and move on. And so he did.
So in comes this new farmer, and this new farmer is like, you know, we're going to change some things up. And one of the things he decides to do is take a new part of the land. And he says, “You know, I'm gonna dig this land up.”
And as he starts digging and digging deeper, he comes upon what seems to be gold. And he thinks, “Well, what about that other farmer? He didn't even know it was here.” He makes the necessary contacts and conversations, and beneath that land that was just cast aside when the one farmer became exhausted, there was some of the richest gold to be found in that area.
So the first farmer, he spent so many days just searching the surface, just toiling in his despair, just beating up on himself for all the things that he couldn't do, that he took the quickest exit in his mind to make the situation better. But the other farmer found a treasure that was not only going to change his life but change the lives of so many others. This reminds me of the scripture that we're going to go to today, where Peter is spending his evening fishing, his whole night fishing, and comes up empty.
The passage comes from the book of Luke, chapter 5, beginning in verse 1 through 11.
One day, as Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water's edge two boats left there by the fishermen who were washing their nets.
He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into the deep water and let down the nets for a catch.
Simon answered, Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything, but because you say so, I will let down the nets. When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boats to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man. For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of the fish they had taken. And so were James and John, the son of Zebedee, Simon's partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, do not be afraid, from now on you will fish for people. So they pulled their boats up on the shore, left everything, and followed him. You know, it's so easy to hear that scripture, as many of us, I'm sure, have heard it multiple times and think, okay, this is that one message where we're told to go be fishers of men.
A lot of times people just pass over the whole story and say, Peter was down, in walks Jesus, Jesus says try again, he tries again, and he's like, “Well, now I've proven myself to you, Peter, come follow me, let's go be fishers of men.” And that's how the disciples came to be formed. It's really easy. It's cut and dry. “I did a miracle, you're impressed, let's go find people to follow us in this.”
But there's actually so much more to it. You know, as I was listening to it, it reminded me of a time where I felt stuck searching for an answer and what I needed to do regarding my call. And I remember I kept having conversations with pastors, with friends, with family, I kept reading little things about other ministers and their call, I kept looking back to some of the information that I had been given to me around answering a call and what does that feel like.
And I remember that these books, these conversations, these stories I've heard of other people answering their call, were not going to be the answer. I needed to pause for a moment and I needed to look inward, I needed to go a little bit deeper in order to wrestle through this and come out on the other side.
How often in our lives are we feeling called to something or are we feeling spiritually stuck in something? And we don't know that one of the greatest options, if not the first and only option, to get us to find those teachers and those external points of help is to start by turning inward.
One of the things that my best friend always says is you can't solve a problem with the same mind that created it. So I noticed that when I reach a place of being spiritually stuck, you know, I've been out fishing all night and I haven't brought anything in, here I am with that same mind dwelling on what I don't have, what I didn't do, what's not working out. And then I start predicting that outward future that because of this, here's what's going to happen.
And if this didn't happen last night, then this is what will happen in the future. And you see the theme, because I come back to it all the time, if I'm dwelling on what I didn't do and stewing in that problem, and then I'm looking at all of this external stuff and all of this future opportunity and I'm stewing in there, then I'm not present right here. And when I'm right here, if I recognize that what I'm doing is not going to get me any further, the thoughts I'm thinking is not going to promote the outcome of positivity that I'm hoping for, then it's time to make a change.
So, I want to invite you to look at the scripture with me today, and I hope you get some nuggets here. I hope you get an opportunity to learn some things from it that perhaps you've never heard before. First of all, just starting with that little basic statement of Jesus saying to Peter to put out into the water.
He's saying, “You know, Peter, I hear you. You tried all night, but I want you to go out a little bit further into the water.” When Jesus is telling Peter that he needs to put out into the water, he's saying, you need to trust.
Number one, you need to trust. If you look at what is shallow, what is it? Shallow is easy.
When I was young, I wasn't always the greatest swimmer. I'm still not the greatest swimmer today, to be honest with you. But one of the things that scared me about the deeper water was that there was this thing in the deeper water called my brother. And if I actually got out a little too deep, then the monster known as Brian was going to try and take me down a hundred times, let alone the fact that I wasn't a good swimmer. And I could cling to the wall, but if that monster in the deep came over and pulled me off the wall, I was done for.
So, the shallow is easy. The shallow is safe.
Usually when you're standing in the shallow, even if you're in a pond or out on the beach, you can still see. You can still see where everything is. You feel good. Even if you get a little bit shaky, it's like, “Nope, this is fine.”
When you go into the deep water and you're doing things that you can't manage with just life and logic and human understanding, you're actually going to have to have that thing called faith. You're actually going to have to find that half of a mustard seed that you have, because if we had the whole mustard seed, we wouldn't be sitting here right now.
So we're going to find that half of mustard seed, and we're going to really lean into that thing called faith. Because when you go out into that deep water, you're now in a place of surrender. You're now in a place where you say, “You know what? It's between you and me, divine. It's between you and me, God. We got this. I am trusting in you. I may not be able to see what's underneath me. I may not be able to predict what's coming in beside me, but I'm putting my complete trust in you.”
What I like to think of when I think about the deeper waters, I like to think of that as the mystery.
I had a mentor named Byron in my life and one of the things that he would do is help me understand that you have to be comfortable with the mystery. It's not just being okay with the mystery. You have to be beyond that and know that if you have faith and trust as you are standing in the deep water, as you are in the mystery, then things will be revealed to you.
You know, there's that song called Oceans where the vocalist is singing, call me out onto that water. Call me out into that place where I have to face the mystery, where I have to lean into you, God, and I will call upon your name. I'll keep my eyes above the waves.
I'll have that trust that I don't need to have in the shallow water because that's where everybody and anyone can stand and do well. But I know you're calling me to something deeper. You're telling me to put out into the water, go into the place that's beyond my control, beyond my understanding, and I'm going to allow the mystery, the source, the creator of life, the empowerment of Christ within me to be my strength, to be not only my float, but to be what empowers me to stand in the deep, to swim in the deep, to laugh in the deep, to experience the deep for all that it's worth.
Then when I step out of it, I can say, “Yeah, that's what it's all about. That's what it means to have faith. That's what it means to close your eyes and take those steps forward knowing that it's going to be okay.”
And that's what Jesus was saying to Simon Peter. He was saying, “Go out a little deeper. I see what you're capable of, so why are you still standing in the shallow water? You want that abundant catch? You want that thing that you've been waiting for in life? Well then trust me and let's get deeper.”
There's the first one for you. It’s knowing that there is so much in the deep, but we have to be the ones willing to step into the deep. Even if it is eyes closed and a little trembling, take that step into the deep and spirit meets you there because spirit is always with you.
The second part that I wanted to encourage you all to look at is, we like to say we're going to become fishers of men.
Jesus says, you will fish for people from now on. Well, you guys ever hear that phrase, how are you going to take care of others if you can't take care of yourself? Well, how are you going to go out and be fishers of men, fishers of consciousness, fishers of disciples of Christ and bring them into a relationship with Christ if you're not even doing that for yourself?
It's really important to recognize that before you can cast your net outward into the world and bring others to know Jesus like you do, have you cast your net inward. Are you too busy running around trying to fix problems and help everyone understand what they can do to navigate life better, but not giving any attention to your own? How many times has something come up in someone else's life, and you are the first one and the best one with the greatest advice ever, but don't let them catch you an hour later or a day later when you didn't even take your own advice and you're stewing in the same problem? It's just one of those things of that recognition that you cannot continue to go out and look to others and look to their problems and think you have all the solutions, all the answers, if you're not willing to do that within yourself.
You know, there are many times where I would go through my week and I would be talking to a friend of mine about everything I was going through that wasn't working out.
Okay, Jesus is asking me to push out further and I was saying no. I was going over, why? This is why. My boat's not sturdy enough. My nets are old. The guys I have helping me, they're not good enough. And there I am.
I'm being the Peter who's like, “I've done this enough. I'm not going out further.” And my friend says to me, “You know what, Gina, I heard this great minister on Sunday. I'm going to send you their message. I want you to listen to it.” I was like, “Okay, that sounds great. I need something because I just can't seem to get with it.” Little jokester. It was my message from the Sunday before.
And it hit me. From then on, I would always say that same thing of like, “You know what, when I get these messages, they're being given to me first.” And that's not a selfishness. That's a realization that I can stand up here and say, “Hey, do this, do that. Here's some steps, guys, I got your homework for you.” Then I walk out of here like, “Ha, that was great.” But come find me two days later or just ask my office manager for the latest report on where my brain is going.
If I don't take the time to cast my net inward, if I don't take the time to recognize that I need to be awakened, that I need to shift my mindset, that I need to spend time in meditation and prayer, that I need rest and I need balance, who am I to offer it to any of you all? You have to cast your net inward before you cast it outward.
There will be times in your life where you'll come across hurts. You'll come across inconvenient things you weren't expecting that really throw you into a tizzy. For example, that time of year when our insurance premiums are being renewed. After I had an accident I got a little bit of raise. Let's say it was a lot of bit of raise, but I tried to think of it in a beautiful way. So I got a little bit of raise on my insurance. And then what happens the day after I find out about that raise? My 16-year-old gets rear-ended.
And I'm just like, “Man, man, you've got to be kidding me. You've got to be kidding me.” But there's only so much I can do with that.
I can say a prayer, I can assess the situation, and I can keep going. I can recognize that, you know what, this isn't a place to stew. But if I do start stewing, I have to look deep and understand what is it beneath that. What is it that has me doubting? What is it that has me in that place of insecurity and fear versus trust? In that moment, instead of getting caught up in the situation, I said, “You know what, that is too bad.”
And I do, as a mom, I had compassion and a little bit of worry of what my daughter was going to do and how she was going to handle this. But beyond that, complete honesty, that's it. That's all I felt towards it because there's not much I could do about it. And if I were to let it take me into this tizzy of being sad and down and just treating everyone poorly around me because of that situation, that right there is another example of how I'm not doing work within myself.
So what I've learned from doing work within myself is that the best mother that I can be for my daughter in that moment was being present, not letting the hurt, the disappointment, the unexpected accident define who she is. Instead, I can always keep telling her who she is and reminding her to turn inward and letting go of all of that.
When Peter brought in that big catch, what did he do? We just heard the story. He went and he fell at Jesus's knees and he's like, “I am sinful. I don't even deserve all this.”
Like shame on me. Isn't that another thing that prevents us from realizing the fullness of who we are? Isn't that another thing that keeps us from being in that highest realization that keeps us locked into the separation as if there's something between us and the love of God, something between us and the fullness of who we are as God's children.
So there it is. There's the overall message. Like yes, you are meant to be fishers of men and that starts with the “man” inside us. And yes, you are going to pull in a harvest, a catch, an abundance unlike you've ever seen before.
But in that moment, you know, fall down in humility, fall down in gratitude, fall down in praise, but don't fall down in shame. Don't fall down in denial. Don't fall down saying, “No, no, God, this is too much. You're treating me too good right now.” Fall down and say, “Wow, thank you, God. Thank you. I trusted and I went out into the deep. My eyes were closed. I was shaking. I was scared, but I trusted and you were right. And I knew it all along.”
That's where Peter ends up eventually, but he goes through many trials of still questioning himself and questioning that empowerment that's within him.
The last thing that I want to share with you all to tie all this together is that recognition of what you pull in in your net when you cast it out. As Peter was casting his nets with his fellow fishermen, with his friend, John and James, and he kept pulling in emptiness. And I bet as he pulled in these empty nets, he pulled in anxiety.
And I bet after that, he would cast out a net with self-doubt. And from there he would pull in fear. And I bet as he cast it again, and he would cast these inadequacies and he would cast anger and he would cast frustration.
I bet he pulled in exactly what he was casting out. And so when you throw your net out there into the deep, are you throwing it out with the back of your mind saying, “Yeah, I've been at this all night. I'm not going to get anything. I don't even know why I'm doing this.”?
Okay, cool. So when it comes in empty, I'm going to say, why did you do it? You already knew what you were going to get, so why did you bother casting it out?
Instead, can you say, “You know what? I have been at this all night, but I haven't really been at this all night. And so now I'm going to step out a little further. I'm going to cast that net deeper. And I can't wait to see what I pull in because I know it's going to be amazing.”
Can you do that? Can you cast your net in faith, in trust, in reliance? Can you cast your net into something that is greater than you? So, when you bring it back in, you have the fullness of that abundance in front of you, and you can say, “Yeah, this is what it's about to cast my net into the deep. This is what it's about to believe in the mystery and the greatness that's in it.”
I know there have been a lot of times where I've recognized that I am casting my net over and over again into a place that's not serving me. And it takes someone coming along and saying, “Why do you keep doing that?”
So in this moment, I'm saying that to me, and you can make the decision if I'm saying it to you or not. Only you know if you're casting your nets in places that aren't serving you and what you can do to change that.
My challenge as I wrap this up is to say to you, do you hear the invitation that Jesus was giving Peter? This wasn't just a scripture on how we all need to be great evangelists and be fishers of men. Yes, that is a huge piece of it once you get to the end of the story. But are you hearing the message along the way? Are you ready to get out of the shallow water and go deeper? Are you ready to fish within yourself before you go out there and be everyone else's savior? Can you take the time to dig deep within yourself and trust that divine guidance, the Presence of the Spirit, will be greater than human understanding any day, any moment, any second of the week.
And as you go through this week, your homework is to reflect, where am I casting my net? Do I need to change my location? And when I'm pulling my net in, what am I really pulling in? What is beneath the surface of everything I'm seeing here? And will I be willing to step out in faith even when the water looks deep, when the water looks dark, and I know I haven't been there before? Will you be willing to step out in faith?
I told you that story in the beginning of my message about this farmer. Peter's been like this farmer. I've been like this farmer. Perhaps you've been like this farmer. But here's the moment where Jesus is calling you to go deeper, not deeper into your comfort zone, not deeper into the patterns and the behaviors that have kept you here, but to go deeper into the alignment, into the surrender, into the truth that we have when we turn to Christ Jesus.
Please pray with me.
Almighty God, we thank you for the deep. We thank you for the challenges and for the mystery. And even sometimes as we thank you for that, we don't feel it.
But God, help us to know that it's in those times of surrender and trust. Help us to know that it's in those times of knowing that you will never fail us, that you never abandon us, that you are always beside us. Help us, God, in those times to trust with a faith unlike any other, to trust as we continue exploring the deep, exploring ourselves, and turning inward to find the presence of Christ.
God, we thank you so much for giving us everything that we need to navigate these waters, deep and shallow. And we thank you so much for reminding us, just like you did Peter, that all of this abundance is meant to be ours when we trust in you. It's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
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