Luke 5:1-11; Psalm 138; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
In preparation for this sermon, I researched Canada’s religious population. As we all know, the percentage of the population with religious affiliation is decreasing. However, the number of followers of Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism has doubled since 10 years ago. Even among the Christian population, although they believe in God, only 20% of them are active and attend worship services more than once a month. I am very proud of our church members who are increasing attendance and continuing to try things during these difficult times. When I looked at Alberta statistics, one interesting thing was that while the population with citizenship was 4.17 million, the number of people born in Canada was 3.1 million. The number of citizens who immigrated from outside Canada was as many as 1.07 million. Of these, 20% are from Europe, 13% are from the Americas, 13% are from Africa, and 60% (600,000 people) are from Asia. In detail, there are 170,000 in the Philippines, 140,000 in India, 70,000 in China, and about 30,000 each in Vietnam and Pakistan. Alberta has welcomed a large number of immigrants. Christians have embraced them despite the continuing impact of policies. Additionally, over 2 million people do not have Christian faith. I want to begin today’s sermon at this point.
Jesus Christ came to the land of Israel 2,000 years ago. At that time, the majority of the Israelites believed in Jehovah God. Is there a reason why Christ had to come to this earth? Yes. I can find one reason why, in Luke 5, Jesus went to the side of the disciples who were laboring all night. At that time, the Jews were trapped by legalism and lived only toiling for what was right for them. Disciples have worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. I think these overlap each other. But Jesus says to Simon, “Put out into 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.”
Because you say so, I will let down the nets. The Lord speaks, and we Christians follow his words. We obey. The most straightforward and essential principles of religious life can be found in today’s Word. That is following the words of Jesus. Following the Word means following the messages and teachings of the Bible. Simply put, this begins with completely serving and worshipping God. It means meditating on the Word of God ourselves. It is about reflecting our lives in front of the mirror of the Word. That is why we live in a way that is right in the eyes of God.
And like James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and Simon’s partners, we too must follow and put Jesus’ words into practice. Jesus says. “Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”
The disciples who met Jesus left home, leaving their boats behind. They follow Jesus. This is not a choice everyone can make, nor is it something we can make right now. But what’s notable is the change in their lives. The fact is that they chose Jesus Christ. They abandoned their previous ways of living. Peasant fishers and processors suffered from fishing license fees and taxes under Roman control. However, Peter and the other disciples seem to have been in a more stable position than the others. So it looks like they had their own boat and left it behind. Archaeological findings can confirm that Peter’s hometown was relatively prosperous in terms of the size of the houses where the fishermen of Bethsaida lived and the structure and economy of the house where he lived with his mother-in-law in Capernaum. The critical fact is that they decided to follow Jesus Christ and, from now on, become fishers for people.
What kind of people are these? From the perspective of Jerusalem’s leaders, the fishermen of the Galilee were of a very low class. The Jews had deep-rooted prejudice against Galilee. “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”(John 1:46) “The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees realized that Peter and John were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13).” The disciples must have been relatively familiar with learning, considering that their names were Greek and the academic and cultural style of the time was Greek. Looking at John 12:20, we see that they could speak Greek. There was no important reason for fishermen to speak Greek, unless it was to understand Greek philosophy and scholarship. However, now the disciples have decided to give up many things and follow Jesus Christ. Why is that so? Because they witnessed Jesus Christ, who is the way and the truth.
Today, we have the Bible given as a gift from God. We can know the footsteps of Jesus Christ’s grace. Even many dramas and materials help us understand Jesus. Believing in Jesus and creating a church community demands energy from us. It demands commitment. However, God gave us Jesus as a gift. He provides us with unending love. He gives grace. Let’s look at Apostle Paul’s confession. It’s verse 10. “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”
By the grace of God, the enemy of the gospel became a messenger of the gospel. That same grace of God will be with us. Like the disciples, we, too, will fish people with the grace of God. Jesus visiting his disciples and Saul changing into Paul are all the grace of God. Jesus visits Galilee, a place that others have ignored. Jesus, who called his disciples there, is calling us today. Jesus called us to Knox for those who believe in Jesus but stay there and for those who do not have faith. I’m thinking about making today Soup Sunday, inviting our neighbors, and sometimes passing it on to them. On the evening of Tuesday, March 4th, we will be holding a Pancake Tuesday event, and we are also planning to invite our neighbors. We will continue to invite and sow the gospel like mustard seeds. We sow and pray that by the grace of God, it will bear fruit 30, 60, or 100 times that amount. Let us do this together with the power of the Holy Spirit. The Lord will guide us. Amen.