Submitted by admin on Mon, 08/06/2009 - 9:34am
MP3 File:
Luke 5:1-7 (v 4: "Put out into the deep water...")
One day the people were crowding around Jesus—jostling and shoving—so he borrowed Peter's fishing boat in order to teach them better. When he was done, he told Peter to push his boat out into the deep water and to let down his nets for a catch. Peter said, "I don't think it will do any good. We've had our nets out all night long and come up empty. There's just no fish out there."
You go fishing and you hope the fish are hungry—ready to take the bait and chomp down on the hook. But Peter didn't usually fish with a hook and line. As a commercial fisherman, he usually fished with what's called a "gill net"—a long net 8 to 10 feet wide and maybe hundreds of yards long. (Today, international laws say gill nets can't be longer than 2.5 km.) Peter would have suspended his nets vertically in the water (with weights on one side and floats on the other) between two boats or a boat and the shore. Then another boat would splash and make noise and drive the fish in the direction of the net. Small fish swam right through the net; but larger fish couldn't go through and became stuck by their gills. With a gill net you could catch fish even when they weren't biting. When they weren't hungry.
Peter had been fishing like this all night and caught nothing. So he knew there were no fish in the area. But since it was Jesus telling him to go out, he gave it a shot anyway. And of course, you know what happened. Where no fish had been all night, suddenly the water was full of fish. The nets were strained to the max—and began to tear. Hauling the fish into the boat filled it up so much that it was in danger of sinking. They called the second boat over to help, and it too was soon overloaded.
And here's a lesson for us: Jesus calls us to go out into the deep, into deep places—where we can get in over our heads.
Jesus dares us to leave the safety of the shore. (You can fish from the safety of the shore or the dock, but Jesus says get into the boat. Push out into the deep.)
What we want to do in this series of messages is to look at the risky side of faith—the side of Christianity that costs us something.
Usually, when we think about God's gift of salvation, we think about his mercy and his grace and his blessings. Instead of Kingdom Dare, we like being Kingdom Kids—with all the benefits...
...the fairy tale ending—the happily ever after: the castle with the moat and the drawbridge, the butlers, maids, and the servants. We want the good life—luxury, gourmet food.
That's okay—to a certain extent. There are real blessings that come from knowing God—from having a personal relationship with the Lord. Following Jesus is the best way to live.
But there is another side to this spiritual journey that calls us to something bigger than our personal comfort and ease. Something bigger than a "happily ever after."
Principles of a Kingdom Dare.
1. Blessings can turn into dares.
Following Jesus isn't just about blessings; it's also about service. God calls us—enlists us to be part of his kingdom's purpose. As we grow and mature as believers in Christ, we discover that following Jesus isn't only about what he can do for us—it's also about what he calls us to do. It's about how we fit into his plan. He saves us not just for ourselves, but also for the bigger picture—for the kingdom.
So how do blessings turn into dares? Let's think about that for a moment.
A while back I bought a
canoe. And it has been a blessing! When we want to escape from the hectic pace
of life for a while, Sharon and I take that canoe out on the water and paddle
around and drink in the beauty of nature all around us. That's a blessing. We
spend time together alone, uninterrupted. That's a blessing. We've seen deer,
bald eagles, and loons. And that's a blessing. We've had picnics together on
small islands. And that's a blessing.
But last summer I thought it would be
good if we raised the bar on the blessings. Instead of just paddling around
Thomson Reservoir or going down to the Spafford Park landing on Dunlap Island, we took the canoe up to
the Highway 2 bridge over the St. Louis to spend several blissful hours
together paddling 14 miles down the river back into Cloquet. It was going to be
such a blessing!
You can see where this is going. It
was August. The river was low. The rocks were high. We got hung up several
times coming through the rapids. Nearly flipped a couple of times. Took in
quite a bit of water. Sharon finally had had enough and
announced she was going to walk around the rest of the rapids. But it wasn't
too bad. We only had about 12 miles to go.
Here's my point: Good things can lead to new challenges, to new adventures, to times of stretching and more growth.
If you park your "blessing" in the back yard and never enjoy it—never put it to use, what good is it? If you never do anything with your "blessing," then it stops being a blessing.
- It's a blessing to go to college, but you have to study or you lose the blessing.
- Getting that new job is a blessing, but you still have to get up out of bed and go to work!
- You are blessed to find the love of your life, but to love her you have to give her your life.
It's the same way with God's blessings. Jesus described God's gift to us as a "pearl of great price" and a "treasure hidden in a field" (Matt. 13:44-46). The one who discovered these incredibly valuable finds goes out and sells "everything he had" in order to buy the field or the pearl. In other words, salvation is free—but it costs you everything to follow Jesus.
This is a paradox: Jesus gave his life so salvation could be free—but following him costs us everything. How can salvation—a free gift of God that could never be earned—how can salvation cost us everything?
Our society is all about getting the best deal, shopping for the best bargain. Our society is about buying low and selling high, about squeezing the most out of your investment, about getting ahead, climbing to the top.
Jesus says once our lives have been redeemed, once we've escaped the destructive power of sin, once we gain a spiritual perspective, once we understand his kingdom's priorities, then the world must lose its power over us. Everything must change. And this leads us to our second principle of a kingdom dare...
2. We cannot live in God's kingdom using worldly ways.
Jesus turns everything on its head! In his kingdom, it's the last who will be first...it's the one in the low place who will be called up higher...it's the humble who will be exalted. In God's kingdom, the one who loses his life is the one who actually finds it. In the kingdom of heaven, it's the one who dies to himself who learns to truly live.
This is why it takes courage to follow Jesus—you cannot follow Jesus like the people follow American Idol. Following Jesus is not about a popularity contest or a talent show. To follow Jesus requires sacrifice and courage and dedication. It means surrendering your life to his cause instead of demanding his power and resources for the things you want.
To follow Jesus means being willing to take a chance, to lay your life on the line, to dare to risk it all. If we ever want to stretch beyond the ordinary, if we ever want to push into new areas—it's important we be willing to step up to the challenge and take the dare.
Last week Jeff talked about "focusing our call"—knowing how and why God has called us. Jesus was the Son of God, but he didn't do everything. His call was not just about what to do—it was also about what not to do. Jesus was focused.
So when the people came to him and tried to get him to follow their agenda—to stay with them and care for their needs (and not travel on to other villages)—he knew he had to say "no" to them so he could say "yes" to what his Father had called him to do. This is the third principle of a kingdom dare...
3. Every "yes" requires some kind of "no."
To say "yes" to God means saying "no" to temptation...to the devil...to the world. To stand at an altar and say "yes" to your new husband means saying "no" to all the other eligible bachelors in the world. To say "I do" to one means saying "I don't" to millions of others. To follow God's way means saying "no" to our own way.
We need to focus our call, to know what we are doing. Jesus knew what he was supposed to do. He was focused because he spent time in prayer alone with his Father. He met his Father first before he met with the crowd.
So Jeff issued a challenge—he dared us to spend one hour alone with God. Without interruptions or distractions. If we dare to meet with God, we'll become more focused to serve in God's kingdom.
So, how did you do? How many of you tried to get alone with God? Maybe you invited God to spend an hour with you while you did something else—say, driving to the Cities. Or mowing the lawn. Or watching TV? (Just you and God, there on the couch, watching So You Think You Can Dance?)
Tell me your story. Did you have any trouble with this "dare"? Were you stretched? What did you learn? What did you learn about God? About yourself? TALK BACK / FAITH STORIES
4. A dare may not make sense to the worldly mind.
Why is it that so often a "dare" leads to something stupid? For instance, we often dare to do something only because we don't want others to think we're chicken.
One lazy summer evening
when I was about 10 or 11, I was riding my bike up and down the sidewalk in
front of our house. After a while the girl next door and I started playing
"chicken" on our bikes. We would ride toward each other and then veer off at
the last possible second. Of course, the one who was first to turn was
"chicken."
So I decided I'd push it to the limit.
I wasn't going to be "chicken" to a girl. And to make sure I didn't turn
my bike, I turned my head and looked behind me so I wouldn't see her coming at
me. And that's how I came to be involved in a head-on collision—between bicycles.
There on a lazy summer evening in Ellendale, MN, with both our parents
puttering around in the front yard, we ran head-on into each other. Our bikes
were mangled together, handle bars twisted, baskets dented. There were a few
scrapes and bruises, a little blood. But no broken bones. And I guess I'd have
to say, there were no "chickens" either.
Was it daring? Maybe a little. Was it stupid? Yes. Definitely, yes.
When we talk about a "kingdom dare," though, we're not talking about doing something stupid. Instead, we're talking about doing something that may not make sense to the worldly mind. A "kingdom dare" may seem incomprehensible to the earthly perspective.
1 Cor 2:14
But we're also talking about something that—done rightly—will open the way to incredible things in the spiritual realms. A "kingdom dare" leads to living boldly and courageously for the King.
Down through history, new discoveries,
explorations into new territory, even pivotal historical events happen when
someone makes a calculated risk and dares "to boldly go where no man has
gone before." For some men that would mean going into the kitchen—but that's
a whole different topic.
I'm talking about the Jacques Cousteau with his deep sea
explorations. I'm talking about Sir
Edmond Hillary and the conquest of Mount Everest. I'm talking about Neil Armstrong and that first step on
the moon. I'm talking about Christopher
Columbus—daring to take a chance the world was NOT flat—sailing into
the unknown, risking falling
off the edge of the world.
Those examples, of course, are merely human adventures that changed the course of history. But...
5. The best dares are those that alter the course of eternity.
Take Jim Elliot, for instance, who, along with four others, dared to risk their lives in a South American jungle in order to bring the gospel to a stone-age tribe. They weren't being stupid. They studied and prepared and did all they could to achieve a positive outcome. But in the end, they had to put themselves in jeopardy for the sake of the call of God—and the Auca tribe. So they died, all five of them, at the point of a spear, there in the Ecuadorian jungle. Yet, because they dared, the tribe eventually accepted the Good News of Jesus Christ—they were transformed and followed Jesus themselves.
Today there are seven Christians in an Iranian prison. They did nothing wrong—except they were Muslims who received Christ and converted from Islam to Christianity. They counted the cost and dared to risk it all in order to follow the Lord.
"What would you dare to do to follow Jesus? What are you willing to give to serve the Lord?"
Jesus calls us to take a risk. To go to deep places where our boat could sink or where we could drown! Jesus calls us to go where it's over our heads. To go where we can't touch bottom. Jesus' call is a dare.
Some people try to always "play it safe." The whole idea of doing something risky or dangerous for the kingdom seems wrong to them:
- Why go to the mission field? You could catch the swine flu if you get on a plane.
- Why bring Jesus up in conversation? People will think you're some kind of weird, religious nut.
- Why spend time and energy volunteering for Vacation Bible School? You'll wear yourself out trying to keep up with all those energetic kids.
Every year people risk going into deep water to catch fish. Every year in Minnesota people go out in a boat and drown. Twelve last year; 15 in 2007; 30 in 2002. And yet people still go fishing!
If you want to live, you've got to take a risk. Life itself is a risk. You cannot stay at home, hiding out, staying in shallow places, if you want to live. To live life fully, you have to step out. Take a chance.
If people take a risk to go fishing, can't we take a risk to follow Jesus?
Here's the deal: real, genuine faith must lead to action. Faith is not about theory. If it's real and genuine, faith can't stay locked up inside our heads or inside our hearts. It has to come out in some tangible way. Staying safe on the shore isn't an option. Faith is going out where it's deep, over our heads.
So what does God dare you to do this week? What's the deep, in-over-your-head challenge? How will you stretch beyond the ordinary and push into new areas?
Jeff gave you a dare last week, to spend one uninterrupted hour with God. So I'm going to give you a dare as well. Let's make it simple. Nothing as big as a net full of fish. How about just one hook and line? How about just one small thing to encourage one person?
- Maybe do a favor for a neighbor.
- Maybe share a glass of lemonade with someone.
- Maybe send a letter—a real, pen on paper letter—to someone who's lonely.
- Maybe give an hour or two helping help at a food shelf, street mission, or something like that.
- Maybe visit someone unable to get out—a hospital patient, nursing home resident, a shut-in, an inmate.