MAKING DISCIPLES

LUKE 5:1-11, 27-32

Mk. 4:1 [ESV]. Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.

•          Teach the Word (Lk. 8:11, 10:39) on the shore (5:1-2; mend the nets)

•          Teach the Word in the sea (5:3; cast the nets)

Mt. 4:18-22 [ESV]. While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

 19. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

 20. Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

 21. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.

 22. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

  I. Fisherman for sinners (5:4-11)

      A. Command (4-5)

          1. Launch

          2. Lower

          3. Labor

          4. Listen

      Robertson noted, “Fishing in this lake was Peter’s business and he really claimed superior knowledge on this occasion to that of Jesus.”

      B. Catch (6-7)

          1. Plentiful

              a. Split

              b. Sink

          2. Partners

      C. Conversion (8-9)

          1. Wonder

          2. Worship

              a. Holy

              b. Hide

      D. Call (10-11)

•          Peter’s failure (Jn. 21:5)

•          Peter’s faith (Mt. 14:29)

•          Peter’s fullness (Mk. 3:16)

•          Peter’s falling (Mt. 26:33-35)

•          Peter’s forsaking (Jn. 6:68)

•          Peter’s following (Jn. 21:15-19)

•          Peter’s fishing (Acts 2:14)

          1. Follow

      Edersheim wrtoe, “First, the call came after the open breach with, and initial persecution of, the Jewish authorities. It was, therefore, a call to fellowship in His peculiar relationship to the Synagogue. Secondly, it necessitated the abandonment of all their former occupations, and, indeed, of all earthly ties. Thirdly, it was from the first, and clearly, marked as totally different from a call to such discipleship, as that of any other Master in Israel. It was not to learn more of doctrine, nor more fully to follow out a life-direction already taken, but to begin, and to become, something quite new, of which their former occupation offered an emblem.”

Lk. 9:23 [ESV]. And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

          2. Fish (2 Tim. 2:26)

      Robertson wrote, “The old verb. . . means to catch alive, not to kill. So then Peter is to be a catcher of men, not of fish, and to catch them alive and for life, not dead and for death. The great Pentecost will one day prove that Christ’s prophecy will come true.”

      Jesus likened fishing to fishing for men, an example of evangelism. If Christians are not fishing, they are not following Jesus.

      Alexander Maclaren stated, “Many a very earnest and busy preacher, or Sunday-school teacher, or missionary, has brothers and sisters, husband or wife, children or parents at home to whom he has never said a word about Christ.”

      Taking men alive pictures compelling men to Christ. Likewise, the term “win” in Prov. 11:30 in the Hebrew means “to take” (Prov. 24:11; Jas. 5:20). In the New Testament to “win” means “to gain” (Mt. 18:15; 1 Cor. 9:19-22; 1 Pet. 3:1). Jude spoke of “snatching” souls (Jude 23).

      C. T. Studd said, “Some want to live within the sound of Church or Chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.”

              a. Boats

      Lloyd Cassel Douglas, a preacher, wrote The Robe, and The Big Fisherman. The title perfectly fit Simon Peter–the Big fisherman, a man of strong frame (Jn. 21:11).

              b. Business (ship owner)

      Robertson commented, “Now they leave their business for active service of Christ. The conduct of this group of business men should make other business men to pause and see if Jesus is calling them to do likewise.”

      In Chicago, D. L. Moody gave up business to pursue the business of Christians. Moody said, “THE greatest struggle I ever had in my life was when I gave up business.” D. L. Moody related how he left business for the business.

“I had never lost sight of Jesus Christ since the first time I met Him in the store in Boston, but for years I really believed that I could not work for God. No one had ever asked me to do anything. “When I went to Chicago I hired four pews in a church, and used to go out on the street and pick up young men and fill these pews. I never spoke to the young men about their souls; that was the work of the elders, I thought. After working for some time like that, I started a mission Sunday school. I thought numbers were everything, and so I worked for numbers. When the attendance ran below one thousand it troubled me, and when it ran to twelve or fifteen hundred I was elated. Still, none were converted; there was no harvest.

“Then God opened my eyes.

“There was a class of young ladies in the school who were, without exception, the most frivolous set of girls I ever met. One Sunday the teacher was ill, and I took that class. They laughed in my face, and I felt like opening the door and telling them all to go out and never come back.

“That week the teacher of the class came into the store where I worked. He was pale and looked very ill.

“‘What is the trouble?’ I asked.

“‘I have had another hemorrhage from the lungs. The doctor says I cannot live on Lake Michigan, so I am going back to New York State. I suppose I am going to die.’

“He seemed greatly troubled, and when I asked the reason he replied:

“‘Well, I have never led any of my class to Christ. I really believe I have done the girls more harm than good.’

“I had never heard any one talk like that before, and it set me thinking.

“After a while I said: ‘Suppose you go and tell them how you feel. I will go with you in a carriage, if you want to go.’

“He consented, and we started out together. It was one of the best journeys I ever had on earth. We went to the house of one of the girls, called for her, and the teacher talked to her about her soul. There was no laughing then. Tears stood in her eyes before long. After he had explained the way of life, he suggested that we have a word of prayer. He asked me to pray. True, I had never done such a thing in my life as to pray God to convert a young lady there and then. But we prayed, and God answered our prayer.

“We went to other houses. He would go upstairs and be all out of breath, and he would tell the girls what he had come for. It wasn’t long before they broke down and sought for salvation.

“When his strength gave out I took him back to his lodgings. The next day we went out again. At the end of ten days he came to the store with his face literally shining.

“‘Mr. Moody,’ he said, ‘the last one of my class has yielded herself to Christ.’

“I tell you we had a time of rejoicing.

“He had to leave the next night, so I called his class together that night for a prayer-meeting, and there God kindled a fire in my soul that has never gone out. The height of my ambition had been to be a successful merchant, and if I had known that meeting was going to take that ambition out of me, I might not have gone. But how many times I have thanked God since for that meeting!

“The dying teacher sat in the midst of his class, and talked with them, and read the fourteenth chapter of John. We tried to sing ‘Blest Be the Tie That Binds,’ after which we knelt to pray. I was just rising from my knees when one of the class began to pray for her dying teacher. Another prayed, and another, and before we rose the whole class had prayed. As I went out I said to myself:

“‘Oh, God, let me die rather than lose the blessing I have received to-night!’

“The next evening I went to the depot to say good-bye to that teacher. Just before the train started, one of the class came, and before long, without any pre-arrangement, they were all there. What a meeting that was! We tried to sing, but we broke down. The last we saw of that teacher, he was standing on the platform of the rear car, his finger pointing upward, telling that class to meet him in Heaven.”

On his way home from meeting one night Mr. Moody saw a man leaning against a lamp post. Stepping up to him and placing his hands on his shoulders, he said;

“Are you a Christian?”

The man flew into a rage, doubled up his fists, and it seemed for a moment as if the missionary might be pitched into the gutter.

“I’m very sorry if I have offended you,” said Mr. Moody.

“Mind your own business!” roared the man.

“That is my business,” the other replied quietly, and went on his way. About three months later, on a bitter cold morning at daybreak, some one knocked at Mr. Moody’s door.

“Who’s there?” he asked.

A strange voice answered, and he said, “What do you want? “

“I want to become a Christian,” was the reply. Mr. Moody opened the door, and, to his astonishment, there was the man who had cursed him for talking to him as he leaned against the lamp post.

“I’m very sorry,” said the man. “I haven’t had any peace since that night. Your words have haunted and troubled me. I couldn’t sleep last night, and I thought I would come and get you to pray for me.”

That man accepted Christ, and the moment he had done so asked:

“What can I do for Him?”

He taught in the Sabbath school until the war broke out, when he enlisted, and was one of the first to be shot down, but not before he had given his testimony for God.

Mr. Moody’s zeal was well known in Chicago. He would not wait for opportunities to be made for seeking to bring men to Christ, but made them himself. It is related how, on one occasion, he accosted a young man, apparently just come from the country, with his frequent inquiry: “Are you a Christian?”

“It’s none of your business,” was the curt reply.

“Yes, it is,” was the reassurance.

“Then you must be D. L. Moody!” said the stranger.

      While watching fishermen in Brazil, the men cast nets into the Atlantic coast.

•          Kept the nets clean (keep the vessel clean)

•          Cast the nets together (laborers together with God)

•          Moved the nets position (all things to all men)

•          Worked the nets tirelessly (gain souls)

A Plea for Fishing

Now it came to pass that a group existed who called themselves fishermen. And lo, there were many fish in the waters all around. In fact, the whole area was surrounded by streams and lakes filled with fish. And the fish were hungry.

Week after week, month after month, and year after year, these who called themselves fishermen met in meetings and talked about their call to fish, the abundance of fish, and how they might go about fishing. Year after year they carefully defined what fishing means, defended fishing as an occupation, and declared that fishing is always to be a primary task of fishermen.

Continually, they searched for new and better methods of fishing and for new and better definitions of fishing. Further they said, “The fishing industry exists by fishing as fire exists by burning.” They loved slogans such as “Fishing is the task of every fisherman.” They sponsored special meetings called “Fishermen’s Campaigns” and “The Month for Fishermen to Fish.” They sponsored costly nationwide and world-wide congresses to discuss fishing and to promote fishing and hear about all the ways of fishing such as the new fishing equipment, fish calls, and whether any new bait had been discovered.

These fishermen built large, beautiful buildings called “Fishing Headquarters.” The plea was that everyone should be a fisherman and every fisherman should fish. One thing they didn’t do, however: They didn’t fish.

In addition to meeting regularly, they organized a board to send out fishermen to other places where there were many fish. The board hired staffs and appointed committees and held many meetings to define fishing, to defend fishing, and to decide what new streams should be thought about. But the staff and committee members did not fish.

Large, elaborate, and expensive training centers were built whose original and primary purpose was to teach fishermen how to fish. Over the years courses were offered on the needs of fish, the nature of fish, where to find fish, the psychological reactions of fish, and how to approach and feed fish. Those who taught had doctorates in fishology, but the teachers did not fish. They only taught fishing. Year after year, after tedious training, many were graduated and were given fishing licenses. They were sent to do full-time fishing, some to distant waters which were filled with fish.

Many who felt the call to be fishermen responded. They were commissioned and sent to fish. But like the fishermen back home, they never fished. Like the fishermen back home, they engaged in all kinds of other occupations. They built power plants to pump water for fish and tractors to plow new waterways. They made all kinds of equipment to travel here and there to look at fish hatcheries. Some also said that they wanted to be part of the fishing party, but they felt called to furnish fishing equipment Others felt their job was to relate to the fish in a good way so the fish would know the difference between good and bad fishermen. Others felt that simply letting the fish know they were nice, land-loving neighbors and how loving and kind they were was enough.

After one stirring meeting on “The Necessity for Fishing,” one young fellow left the meeting and went fishing. The next day he reported that he had caught two outstanding fish. He was honored for his excellent catch and scheduled to visit all the big meetings possible to tell how he did it. So he quit his fishing in order to have time to tell about the experience to the other fishermen. He was also placed on the Fishermen’s General Board as a person having considerable experience.

Now it’s true that many of the fishermen sacrificed and put up with all kinds of difficulties. Some lived near the water and bore the smell of dead fish every day. They received the ridicule of some who made fun of their fishermen’s clubs and the fact that they claimed to be fishermen yet never fished. They wondered about those who felt it was of little use to attend the weekly meetings to talk about fishing. After all, were they not following the Master who said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Imagine how hurt some were when one day a person suggested that those who don’t catch fish were really not fishermen, no matter how much they claimed to be. Yet it did sound correct. Is a person a fisherman if, year after year, he never catches a fish? Is one following if he isn’t fishing?

 II. Friend of sinners (5:27-32)

Lk. 7:34 [ESV]. The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'

      The Romans sold the right to collect taxes. Those who collected the toll taxes could charge anything and offer exorbitant loans to those who could not pay.

      David Smith noted, “No man with a shred of self-respect would have engaged in an occupation which was held in such ill repute. . . .”

“The Greek satirist did them no injustice when he classed tax-gatherers in one vile category with whoremongers, brothelkeepers, parasites, and informers. . . .”

      Edersheim explained, “It is of importance to notice, that the Talmud distinguishes two classes of ‘publicans:’ the tax-gatherer in general. . . and the. . . custom-house official. Although both classes fall under the Rabbinic ban, the douanier - such as Matthew was - is the object of chief execration. And this, because his exactions were more vexatious, and gave more scope to rapacity.”

“The very word. . . and its root-meaning, associated with the idea of oppression and injustice. He was literally, as really, an oppressor.”

      A. Cost (27-28)

          1. Turn back (Heb. 11:27; Levi to Matthew, Simon to Peter, Saul to Paul)

          2. Take up (Lk. 9:23-59-61)

Acts 26:20b [ESV]. that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

      Robertson noted, “This detail in Luke alone. He left his profitable business for the service of Christ.”

      B. Compassion (29-30)

          1. Party (“Levi made Jesus a big reception.” )

      John Wesley said, “No man ever went to Heaven alone; he must either find friends or make them.”

      A. B. Bruce stated, “Once more: we can believe that Matthew meant his feast to be the means of introducing his friends and neighbors to the acquaintance of Jesus, seeking with the characteristic zeal of a young disciple to induce others to take the step which he had resolved on himself, or at least hoping that some sinners present might be drawn from evil ways into the paths of righteousness.”

Lk. 15:2 [ESV]. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."

          2. Pharisees

      Robertson wrote, “They were not invited to this feast and would not have come if they had been. But, not being invited, they hang on the outside and criticize the disciples of Jesus for being there.”

Mt. 21:31a-32 [ESV]. Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.

 32. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

Mt. 23:13 [ESV]. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.

You builded temples in His name

Of mortar and brick and stone

With windows of glass most beautifully stained

With tower and spire and dome

But what do we of the byways care

For structure and line and trim

Out in the dust of the lonely road

We only ask for Him.

You robed your choirs and trained them well

In proper and etiquette song

You bought fine organs to edify and lull the weary throng

But what do we care for your black-robed choir

Or your organ’s deep Amen

We want you to walk beside us here and point the way to Him

Oh the roads of the world are our crooked maze

And we are woefully lost

For the path to Him and roads of men

Is pained and hidden and crossed

But what do we care for the trappings of art

When our heart’s high hope is dim

We seek the touch of His healing hand

Won’t somebody show us the way to Him?

      C. Cure (31-32)

Rev. 3:17 [ESV]. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

          1. Weak not the whole

Lk. 15:7 [ESV]. Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

          2. Sinner not the self-righteous

Lk. 18:9 [ESV]. He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:

1 Tim. 1:15 [GNB]. This is a true saying, to be completely accepted and believed: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I am the worst of them,

      Robertson said, “The self-satisfied are the hard ones to win and they often resent efforts to win them to Christ.”

      Matthew, the sinner, became a gospel writer. Jesus is the Great Physician for the lost.

•          Who makes up the “tax collector’s and sinners” today?

•          Does the church classify people today?

•          How can the church today change from a well-ness clinic to a rescue mission?

•          Why can whole people never be well?

      Tony Campolo told the story of a visit to Honolulu for a Christian Conference. On the first night there, Campolo awoke sometime after three and left the hotel in search of a place to get something to eat. Eventually the teacher found a tiny coffee shop, with one man behind the bar who served him coffee and a doughnut. Campolo was the only customer until suddenly the coffee shop filled with girls. Some sat at small tables, others at the counter near Tony. These girls were prostitutes. He tells the story:

I overheard the woman sitting beside me say, "Tomorrow's my birthday. I'm going to be thirty-nine."

Her friend responded in a nasty tone, "So what do you want from me? A birthday party? What do you want? Ya want me to get you a cake and sing 'Happy Birthday?'"

"Come on!" said the woman sitting next to me. "Why do you have to be so mean? I was just telling you, that's all. Why do you have to put me down? I was just telling you it was my birthday. I don't want anything from you. I mean, why should you give me a birthday party? I've never had a birthday party in my whole life. Why should I have one now?"

When I heard that, I made a decision. I sat and waited until the women had left. Then I called over the fat guy behind the counter and I asked him, "Do they come in here every night?”

"Yeah!" he answered.

"The one right next to me, does she come here every night?"

"Yeah," he said. "That's Agnes. Yeah, she comes in here every night. Why d'ya wanta know?"

"Because I heard her say that tomorrow is her birthday," I told him. "What do you say you and I do something about that? What do you think about us throwing a birthday party for her right here tomorrow night?"

A cute smile slowly crossed his chubby cheeks and he answered with measured delight, "That's great!..."

"Look." I told him, "if it's OK with you, I'll get back here tomorrow morning about 2:30 and decorate the place. I'll even get a birthday cake!"

"No way," said Harry (that was his name). "The birthday cake's my thing. I'll make the cake.”

At 2:30 the next morning, I was back at the diner. I had picked up some crepe-paper decorations at the store and had made a sign out of big pieces of cardboard that read, "Happy Birthday, Agnes!" I decorated the diner from one end to the other. I had that diner looking good.

The woman who did the cooking must have gotten the word out on the street, because by 3:15 every prostitute in Honolulu was in the place. It was wall-to-wall prostitutes...and me!

At 3:30 on the dot, the door of the diner swung open and in came Agnes and her friend. I had everybody ready (after all I was kind of the M.C. of the affair) and when they came in we all screamed, "Happy birthday!" Never have I seen a person so flabbergasted...so stunned...so shaken. Her mouth fell open. Her legs seemed to buckle a bit. Her friend grabbed her arm to steady her. As she was led to sit on one of the stools along the counter we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

As we came to the end of our singing with "happy birthday dear Agnes, happy birthday to you," her eyes moistened, when the birthday cake with all the candles on it was carried out, she lost it and just openly cried.

Harry gruffly mumbled, "Blow out the candles, Agnes! Come on! Blow out the candles! If you don't blow out the candles, I'm gonna hafta blow out the candles." And, after an endless few seconds, he did. Then he handed her a knife and told her, "Cut the cake, Agnes. Yo, Agnes, we all want some cake.”

Agnes looked down at the cake. Then without taking her eyes off it, she slowly and softly said, "Look Harry, is it all right with you if I.. I mean is it OK if I kind of... want I want to ask you is...is it OK if keep the cake a little while? I mean is it all right if we don't eat it right away?"

Harry shrugged and answered, "Sure! It's O.K If you want to keep the cake, keep the cake. Take it home if you want to."

"Can I," she asked. Then looking at me she said, "I live just down the street a couple of doors. I want to take the cake home, OK? I'll be right back. Honest!"

She got off the stool picked up the cake, and, carrying it like it was the Holy Grail walked slowly toward the door.

As we all just stood there motionless, she left. When the door closed there was a stunned silence in the place. Not knowing what else to do, I broke the silence by saying, "What do you say we pray?”

Looking back on it now it seems more than strange for a sociologist to be leading a prayer meeting with a bunch of prostitutes in a diner in Honolulu at 3:30 in the morning. But then it just felt like the right thing to do.

I prayed for Agnes. I prayed for her salvation. I prayed that her life would be changed and that God would be good to her. When I finished, Harry leaned over the counter and with a trace of hostility in his voice, he said "Hay! You never told me you were a preacher. What kind of church do you belong to?"

In one of those moments when just the right words came, I answered, "I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning."

Harry waited a moment and then almost sneered as he answered, "No you don't. There's no church like that. If there was, I'd join it. I'd join a church like that!”