When God Uses Your Boat

What do you have that God wants to use? It might be something you own. It might be a gift you have. It might be an experience you have gone through, good or bad. The key is not always to decipher what God might use, but to live in a way that allows God to have a full-access pass to reorient your life.

Jesus already had a following, in fact it is probable Simon, James, and John knew who Jesus was before this encounter. Jesus approaches Simon and asks if he could use his boat as a teaching platform.

In traditional rabbinical style, Jesus sat down in the boat and began to teach. After the teaching moment, Jesus demands (command in the Greek) to go fishing. Why? He wanted to go out and do what Simon relied upon for his existence: that which held Simon’s identity.

So what happens when God uses your boat?

Simon, the fisherman, informs Jesus now is not the right time to fish. Moreover, they are tired after a long night in which they had caught nothing. It should seem odd that Jesus, a carpenter, well, at best a religious carpenter, was going to instruct them on fishing.

Simon responds in obedience calling him, “Master.” Simon is obedient and will do as he is instructed. We don’t know Simon’s attitude, was it one of reverence or cynicism? What we do know is he obeyed. He let God use his boat.

The verse moves us quickly to the result of this day-time fishing expedition. They had caught so many fish the nets were beginning to break. They called others over in order to help. The catch was so full their boats were then beginning to sink.

What a payday this was. Sure they were tired but literally their ship had come in. And then after the shock, after celebration, Peter suddenly fell down at Jesus’ feet in recognition of his own sinfulness. In the presence of this holy God, he felt the shame and horror of who he really was. Simon commanded Jesus to go away.

But Jesus looked at Simon and said, (imperative) “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching people.” And when they got to shore they left everything, including most likely, the great pay day of fish.

Suddenly everything had changed. No longer would their lives be based on the accumulation of wealth, power, and materialism. The commodity for which they would invest their lives would be people. And this is what happens when God uses your boat.

Suddenly, God calls for you to take those gifts and passions, those areas of personal identity and yield them over to Him for God’s purposes. God desires to completely reorient your life.

This passage is not just about professional ministers. It is true God has called me and the Church ordained me in the Spirit to preach the Word, administer the sacraments, and order the Church. Not all of you are called to that ministry of the Church.

But all of us are called to be a minister of the gospel.

The catch is not about us, but about God. Here are some anchors for our text today in considering God’s call upon us all.

God brings in the catch.

They went out to fish at the wrong time. They were tired; they were not going to catch fish. But the catch was so great the nets were breaking and boats were sinking.

So too with us, like catching fish logically and rationally at the wrong time and the wrong place, the harvest will be plentiful not because of our desire, efforts, or intellectual arguments but because of the grace, power, and strength of God. No matter how great those days in Acts were, it was clear the catch was all about God.

I can think of several times when I knew God was leading me to do or say something when I was tired, when I thought it was a waste of time, when I was not in the mood. Sadly, many times I did not obey. But on some occasions, when I trusted God I was amazed at what God did through my little faith and small act of obedience.

We are not worthy.

Why did this marvelous catch cause Simon to confess and humble himself at Jesus’ feet? Fish are not supposed to be caught during the day. And yet when Peter caught a glimpse of the power and holiness of Christ, he falls before Him in the profound grip of his own sinfulness. Simon’s response to the power and knowledge of Jesus is not a fisherman’s response; that is, he did not say, “Why did I not know where the fish were?” He responds as a human being in the presence of one he now calls Lord.

Like Simon we indeed are unworthy. But that is precisely why Jesus came. Notice Jesus did not say, “Oh, no Peter you are not really a sinner, you are a good guy you just don’t know it yet.” Instead, I believe Jesus affirmed Peter was correct: he was a sinful man. There was a moment of honest and needed humility for Peter. As stated in Romans 3.23: “We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We, like Peter, must never forget our daily dependence upon God’s grace and love. Otherwise, we might be tempted to take this new life, and the gifts and passions given by God, and use it for personal profit or gain.

Jesus had confronted Peter with his own inadequacies in the very activity that defined who Peter was as a person, his occupation. The holiness of the One in his midst is contrasted with Peter’s own inadequacies pushing him to self-examination and confession.

Simon’s skill as a fisherman is not the issue; the issue is his life. Yet in Jesus’ eyes, his sin does not disqualify him; the same power that prompted Simon to fall at Jesus’ knees will lift and strengthen him into God’s service.

In Christ’s call to them, it was not merely to change what they did for income. This call transformed who they were. It did not offer them a new occupation, but a vocation, a calling for life.

However, the significance of this story is not Simon’s, James’ or John’s obedience. The significance of this story is that God calls individuals not as perfected saints but humble sinners to be witnesses of His mercy, grace, and hope. This call of God transforms those who choose to obey it and defines who they are.

The Community of Catchers.

The catch is so big, it will take the community to haul it in. They had to call James and John over to help with the catch. With our society blazing the trail, we are quick to think in individualistic terms. We individualize faith and religion; we rarely talk about the capital “C” Church.

We are Christians in community--not simply by worshipping together, but together serving in mission. It is paramount that we keep reminding ourselves we today live and serve in the Church. Our culture encourages us and many areas of the Church today still nurture persons into a largely individual faith. So the question is not if God can use you, but will you allow God to use you?

We must consider the question, “What is my boat?” What is the thing I find my identity in?

When I was in high school it was clear to many people basketball was my life. I found my identity in my basketball skills and my ability to be better than others. As I have grown older I would have to say my identity and my passion is shaped around pastoring and preaching.

Yet even these activities must always be used in submission to my following God. They must continually be laid upon the altar so I can say, “God if you took it all away I would still love you and want to love you more.”

Today, wherever you are, whatever your areas of giftedness, whatever your pursuits in life, may we lay all those things down on the seashore, or at the altar. May we recognize the “catch” is all about God and not about us. And as those who have been caught, may we, compelled by God’s love, and empowered by His Spirit, endeavor to make worshipping God our means and end, which demands us to go into all the world both inside and outside church buildings, in the community shelters, on the streets, in the office buildings looking for those who are lost and hopeless.

And in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, as one who has been caught, may our very lives that we live, be our greatest evangelical tool, becoming our foundation before we even open our mouths.
How can the ministry and the catch be all about God and not about us? We must really let God have our boat. We must remember God is responsible for the catch. We are to work with excellence and diligence, never settling for mediocrity.

So go, make your life and vocation about God. May your mission be lost and broken people. But may we rely on God’s strength, power, and wisdom. May the catch never be a means to any personal end. It is a high and sacred calling. It must always be about God and not about us. But as we go and catch people, I am sure Peter would testify that life was found when he let God use his boat.