“ FROM NOW ON YOU WILL CATCH MEN”:

KEYS TO A FULFILLING LIFE

Luke 5:1-11

Key Verse 5:10

“And so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men.’”

This passage teaches us the keys to living a truly fulfilling life, that is, a life that catches men and brings them into God's kingdom.

First, a hardworking man

Look at vs. 1-2. "One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people 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." This passage shows that while others were immersing themselves in the Bible conference, the fishermen were washing “their nets.” At first glance it seems as if they were saying to the world, "You mind your own business, and we’ll mind our own business." However, the fact that they were "washing" their nets indicates that they were hardworking men. Indeed the fisherman is a hard worker. If you go ocean fishing and watch the crew of a fishing boat work, you will get an idea of what I mean by "hardworking." 

Last Thursday I visited Toledo UBF to attend a wedding. There I met Dr. Paul Hong. He reminded me of a hardworking fishermen like Simon Peter. He is three years younger than I am. And because of his hardworking spirit, he is now living a truly fulfilling life. Sometime in his late forties, he decided to start working on his Ph.D in Business Management and received his Ph.D at the age of 45. Since then he has been working as a tenured professor at the Business Department of Toledo University. Last Friday at 2:40 p.m., his daughter got married to a fine young man who is working as an in-house counsel at the Human Resources Department of Toledo University. Thus, because his son-in-law, Kevin West, is the manager in charge of the Human Resources Department, Dr. Paul Hong's job, which had already been secure, has now become even more secure. 

The Lord God blessed his hardworking spirit not only in terms of his career, but in terms of the “business” of the Lord’s kingdom. In the past he used to pioneer Bowling Green University, right next to Toledo University. While he was there, with his hardworking spirit, he went out to the campus to invite students. But for the first several years he remained largely unfruitful: he could not invite even a single student to a single Bible study. Deeply frustrated, he made a vow to God, "Lord, if you allow me to meet one sincere Bible student, I will dedicate him to you, so that he can go to a foreign country as a missionary." Then he went out fishing. But still, all he got was rejection after rejection. Nevertheless, due to his vow, he went out again and again. Being an Accounting major, he kept meticulous records on the number of rejections he had received. Soon the number went up to 99. Finally, he got tired. He wanted to give up. But in his hardworking spirit, he decided to go out again. Then, lo and behold! On his 100^th “fishing trip,” he met a very sincere Bible student named Don Kuper. Don was a very handsome Caucasian student, as handsome and tall as the famous classic American actor Gary Cooper. And guess what?  Today, Shepherd Don Kuper is a self-supporting missionary and the director of Argentina UBF, teaching English to the locals at the night, but teaching the Bible to Argentine college students at the University of Buenos Aires during the day.

Again we wonder why Jesus fished a man like Simon Peter. What caused Jesus to choose a smelly fisherman like Simon Peter as the pillar of his church? The answer is obvious. He was looking for someone who was truly hard-working. Feeding the flock of God is never a lazy man's job. Just think about a mother. What mother is lazy? A mother must feed her baby 24 hours a day. It is a full time job. The same is true of a good father who works hard to provide for his family. Likewise, Jesus looked for a spiritual mother and a spiritual father who would work hard to feed God’s flock. Simon thus fit the profile. 

Second, a sacrificial man

Look at v. 3a. "He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore." My hunch is that Jesus must have gone out to the beach early in the morning. I do not think Jesus woke up late in the morning like at 10 a.m. or even at 12 noon. He must have woken up at like 4:00 a.m. Then Jesus prayed deeply. He then went out to the Sea of Galilee like at 6 or 7 a.m. Then, people thronged around him. And he began to teach them the Bible. Then more and more people gathered around him. In order to come close to Jesus and listen to his beautiful, soul-quenching words, they kept pushing. As a result, Jesus was on the verge of falling into the sea. Then he saw some boats on the water's edge and perhaps hurried into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore.

How did Jesus get into his boat? We can easily imagine how this happened. You know Jesus is the kindest and gentlest person of all. He is never rude. So he must have asked Simon, "Would you mind me getting into your boat, so I could use it as a podium for a while?" Then Simon approved. Then when he got into the boat, Jesus asked Simon one more favor, "Would you mind putting the boat out a little from the shore?" "Oh, I don’t mind at all, sir." Then Simon put it out a little from the shore. But when we think about it, we can easily understand that it might not have been easy for Simon to honor Jesus' request, for the previous night he had worked hard, catching nothing. Once upon a time, about 20 years ago, I went out to the Long Beach pier for night fishing. Nowadays this pier no longer exists. But at that time there was a small pier which was floating in the middle of the Long Beach harbor. And there I tried to catch something the whole night; it was a really exhausting experience. At that time I did not catch anything. And when I came back home, all I wanted to do was to collapse into my bed and fall asleep. That must have been how Simon must have felt. Yet, when Jesus asked him for this or for that, he nevertheless said, "Yes, yes." He honored all of Jesus' requests. This indicates that Simon must have been a sacrificial man. He was not a selfish man. As a selfless man, he put others' interest ahead of his own. Of course, many people are altruistic, to some degree. But not all are truly altruistic when there is a conflict between their own interests and the interests of others. But Simon was different. Even during an extremely difficult situation, Simon saw to it that other people, in this case Jesus, were first taken care of. 

When you think about it, Jesus is the most needy person. He is needy in that he is short of hands, but has tons of sheep to feed. This is true on college campuses. And he is looking for someone who is willing to sacrifice his time, go out to meet lost sheep, and feed them with God’s word.  

Our missionaries in overseas countries like Africa set a good example in taking care of the needs of all the needy students in African college campuses. They are needy financially and spiritually. About a month ago, I talked to Missionary Mark Yoon of Kenya. He said that in order to attend the Inter-African UBF Bible Conference, students from Kenya UBF must pay $600 for airplane tickets. My initial investigation revealed that the average monthly salary of an African man is around $100. Thus Kenyan students had to pay six months of their salary just for the airplane tickets alone! It has been said, “Money is the universal language.” Just as money talks here in the United States, so too does it talk on the African continent. But the fact that all the missionaries and their local student coworkers were willing to pay this much money shows us that they were and are very sacrificial. 

At first glance, a selfish person seems to enjoy his life far better than a sacrificial person. But this is not true. It may appear that way in the here and now, but in the long run, it is the sacrificial person who lives a truly fulfilling life. We can see this as true by comparing Lot in Genesis with Abraham. Lot lived for the immediate benefits in front of him. He lived to fill his own selfish desires, and no more. But Abraham sacrificed his own interests, even his fortune, for the sake of brotherhood. What happened then? Eventually, who lived a more fulfilling life, Lot or Abraham? The answer is obvious. Abraham did. 

"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 shore." I know that everyone of us is busy with this or with that, and doesn’t want to be bothered. But today Jesus is looking to get into someone’s boat. Are you willing to allow Jesus to get into your boat? As Jesus gets into your boat, Jesus wants to use it to serve his purpose, that is, to feed his flock. Are you willing to let Jesus do that, even if it means losing additional hours of sleep or rest?

Third, a longsuffering, patient man

Look at v. 3b. "Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat." This passage suggests that Simon Peter had to let Jesus use his boat for a considerably prolonged period of time. You know, it is Jesus' practice to teach his flock until they are fully satisfied. This is particularly true when he had a large congregation. Nowadays it is said that, because the newly emerging generation’s attention span is grower increasingly shorter and shorter, pastors of some churches do not even serve messages at all. They just put the congregation through some music program, and that’s it. While music service has its place, preaching also has its place. And the Bible says that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Consistent with this truth, when Jesus came, he served the flock of God with the living word. Knowing their need for God's word, on one occasion, Jesus taught the crowds from early morning till late in the evening (Mark 6:35). Perhaps this was what Jesus did from Simon's boat. Once he got into the boat, he immersed himself in teaching God's word to the crowds. Then the time went by quickly: 7 a.m. became 10 a.m., then noon came, and even lunch time past. 

During this prolonged period of Bible lectures, the crowd enjoyed the session, but what about Simon Peter? During a group Bible study, Missionary Philip shared an interesting viewpoint: he said that Simon must have been complaining a lot to Jesus, but not audibly. Nevertheless Simon withstood the ordeal. He endured the hardship. He must have felt tired. He must have wanted to go home to rest. It was within his discretion to either keep waiting on Jesus or to call it quits and head home. But which one did he choose? He chose to endure. 

This indicates that Simon Peter was a longsuffering, patient man. He knew how to endure hardship. Later, during his discipleship training under Jesus, and certainly during his leadership period as the pillar of Jesus' church, his patient character paid off. And ultimately, he could endure such hardships as to the point of suffering martyrdom. 

It has been said, "When you see one thing about a man, you can tell ten things about him." Hence, during Jesus' teaching session, Simon demonstrated a patient character, and thereby positioned himself to a place where Jesus was ready to make a great revelation to Simon about who he truly was and about what he came to do. 

In Simon’s case, the waiting period was more or less four hours. But to some, the period to wait on the Lord lasts even as long as 40 years. Look at Moses. He waited on the Lord for 40 long years. In Hebrew 11:27, we see that during these 40 years, Moses "persevered" because he saw him who is invisible. But an impatient person cannot persevere, for to persevere means to persist despite obstacles. And of all the obstacles, impatience seems to be the hardest to overcome. Thus, in order to live a fulfilling life, we must learn to be patient. 

Regarding the need to be patient, Psalms 37:7 says, "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes." In the same way, King David also says in Psalms 40:1, "I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry." Similarly the Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:25, "But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." Then Hebrews 6:15 says, "And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised." Likewise, after waiting on the Lord patiently on that day, Simon was ready to be rewarded with an astonishing revelation. 

Fourth, an obedient man

Look at v. 4. "When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’" When the teaching session came to an end, Simon might have thought to himself, "Oh, thank God. It’s finally time to go home." Then already he must have been thinking about going back home, enjoying a nice meal prepared by his wife, and then sleeping for 24 hours straight. But Jesus did not allow that to happen. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch!" Wow! Another fishing expedition?! No way! Simon almost said it. But what did he say instead? Look at v. 5. "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.’" Given the fact that Simon was an experienced fisherman and Jesus a carpenter who probably knew little if anything about fishing, and given the fact that he had already worked hard all night long trying to catch fish without any success, it again was extremely difficult for Simon to accept much less obey Jesus' request. 

So look at what Simon said. "But because you say so, I will let down the nets." The expression, "because you say so" indicates that he had the deepest respect for Jesus. Yes. He was an experienced fisherman. Yes. Jesus was a carpenter-turned-country rabbi. But still Simon obeyed Jesus. Why? Of course, through listening to Jesus' words, probably all day long, he might have recognized Jesus' greatness. But a rabbi is still a rabbi. A preacher is still a preacher. And a fisherman is still a fisherman. Yet he still obeyed Jesus. Why? One answer is in order: he was willing to listen to others. He was humble enough to respect others as better than himself. 

In his humility he was willing to deny his own ideas, and to try again. Later it turned out that this country rabbi was the Son of God. Simon Peter discovered that Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior sent from God. But this revelation did not come until he had first obeyed Jesus' word. "Because you say so I will let down the nets." This statement brings to mind one important truth: that is, obedience to Jesus' word is the key to experiencing the revelation of Jesus himself. 

Simon Peter was an obedient man. Even when he could not understand, he nevertheless obeyed. This obedient character, the character that obeys God's word, played a critical role for him to rise above the multitudes. It became the launching pad for him to live a truly fulfilling life as a fisher of men. 

When we try to follow Jesus, Jesus issues a lot orders, instructions, and commands, most of which we find unreasonable and even offensive. For example, Jesus says to his disciples in   Mark 8:34, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." This already sounds offensive. But he goes one step further: "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." Furthermore, at the previous Summer Bible conference, we heard a message proclaiming, “One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Mk 10:21a). Along with these Bible passages, we see the Holy Spirit speaking to us words like, “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people” (Eph 5:3) and “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8). Indeed these words of God sound offensive. So, at best, a lot of church-going Christians enjoy reading these Bible passages, but never acting upon them. 

But there are some who are serious about these Bible teachings, and actually act upon them. St. Augustine was one of them. During his young adulthood he lived a sexually immoral life. But one day he read Romans 13:11-14, and he was no longer the same person. "And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." He deeply repented of his double life. He then became an influential leader of the Christian monastic movement. And most importantly he turned from his empty way of life to a truly fulfilling life.

Fifth, a friendly man

When he obeyed Jesus' word, what happened? Look at vs. 6-7. "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 boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink." He experienced a huge success. This success was so great that the Bible uses the expression "astonished." What does astonished mean? It means "to be filled with sudden wonder" or "to be surprised greatly." This is what many Christians discover after obeying Jesus' word. For example, you know the famous writer and professor named C.S. Lewis. He was always bothered by romantic desires (not the kind of romance between a man and a woman, per se, but romance in the sense that he longed for the Ideal: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probably explanation is that I was not made for this world” – Mere Christianity). But after much struggle he finally decided to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Then he was filled with joy. So he wrote a book entitled Surprised by Joy.

But this is not my point at the moment. My point is how to manage success. The deal is this: Jesus is the author of all success. And the victories Jesus wants us to gather into our bank account are too great for us to possibly imagine. Later the Apostle Paul expressed the same truth in Ephesians 3:20, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." This passage tells us that in order for us to fully accept all the blessings Jesus wants to bless us with, we must come up with the right vessel to put all the blessings in. Simon had this vessel right next to him, and the Bible passage calls this vessel "partners." Partners are friends. Simon had lots of friends. This partnership requires friendship. It thrives through the spirits of those working together. In a sense, Simon Peter got an A minus in demonstrating this capability, that is, the spirit of working together. Later, he learned to work together with John and James. Then when the Lord God sent tons of sheep, like 3,000 of them daily, the church could catch all of them, feed all of them, nurture all of them, and finally send all of them out to reach others! 

Sixth, a humble man

Still there is another key to living a fulfilling life – to have humility, that is, the quality to remain humble at the time of huge success. A lot of people are hungry for success. But not all know how to handle success. In times of success, they almost always become proud. They think that they had become successful because of their own efforts or through their own merit. So they become proud. That is the surest way to go down hill. King Saul was such an example. But this was not so with Simon. Look at vs. 8-10a. "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 fish they had taken, And so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners." In times of success, Simon saw his great sin - the sin of complaining to Jesus, the sin of not knowing Jesus, and the sin of living his life only according to his own wit and strength. 

In his statement saying, "I am a sinful man," he admitted that his success had come from Jesus. Thus far all he had reaped was emptiness. Because he had lived a life without faith, and instead lived a life with his own hands, he remained a man opposite of the man in Genesis 1:28. Here, God commanded us to increase in number. He commanded us to be fruitful in all different ways. If we do not live this way, we are already in sin. Now, Simon discovered why he had remained unfruitful. Now the man of mere calculation died and the man of faith was born; a great man who would go on to live a truly fulfilling life was born on this day.

Seventh, a decisive man

Thus, Jesus was ready to give Simon the right purpose of life. Look at vs. 10b-11. "Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men.’" 

To receive the right purpose is one thing, but to take possession of and act upon it is another. How did Simon take possession of this blessed direction? Look at v. 11. "So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him." This shows that Simon was a man of decision. He decided to follow Jesus. This decision did not come without any costs. In fact, it was a costly decision. He left his job! The problem was that after quitting his job, even though he followed Jesus full time, Jesus did not pay him a salary, not even a penny. Indeed, it was a costly decision. But it was a worthy decision. This decision led him to live a truly fulfilling life, perhaps the most truly fulfilling life of all, next to Jesus’. 

One word: “From now on you will catch men.”