What Can Be Said of Your Faith?
January 3, 2024
“When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.’ And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear!” Luke 5:4-6 (NLT)
As I read those words in my Bible reading this week, it reminded me of the call Jesus makes to those he invites to follow him and the faith it requires of those who respond to truly follow.
In the church, the word faith can become so commonplace that we miss its true meaning: to put one’s faith in Jesus. It rightly includes repenting of sin and believing in the resurrection of Jesus to be saved. That second part, believing or trusting or having faith in Jesus, means taking the steps to follow him. It includes believing in one’s heart, professing with one’s mouth, and living out that belief in one’s actions.
This scene in Luke 5 was early in Peter’s journey of following Jesus. No doubt, Peter had heard of the initial teachings of Jesus in the synagogue and of the healings of those who were sick and demon-possessed. Now Peter was face to face with Jesus, and Jesus gave him a command that seemed, well, unreasonable! “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”
Fishing was Peter’s livelihood. Jesus was a carpenter. Why did Jesus tell Peter how to fish? Eventually, we see Jesus used this to illustrate how Peter and the other disciples would “fish” for other people to follow Jesus, but, in this moment, it was a matter of Peter deciding if he would TRUST Jesus, in everything, even in the things Peter thought he knew better than Jesus.
In the book The Root of the Righteous, A. W. Tozer wrote, “Pseudo faith always arranges a way out to serve in case God fails it. Real faith knows only one way and gladly allows itself to be stripped of any second way or makeshift substitutes. … What we need very badly these days is a company of Christians who are prepared to trust God as completely now as they know they must do on the last day.” (p. 58)
In Peter’s life, he had to decide if he trusted Jesus. Was his faith in Jesus? Or was his faith in himself, circumstances, or what he’d previously known? In the arrest and trial of Jesus, Peter denied he even knew Jesus. But it wasn’t in the faith failures of Peter that Jesus made a disciple, it was in his faith. Jesus ultimately left the leadership of the church to Peter, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” (Matthew 16:18, NLT)
What can be said of your faith? “We can prove our faith by our committal to it and in no other way. Any belief that does not command the one who holds it is not a real belief; it is a pseudo belief only.” (Tozer, p. 57)
As 2024 begins, would you let your faith be evidenced everything—in your time, talent, and treasure?
This Sunday, I’ll kick off a new sermon series Turn the Lights On (Again), and I’ll invite members of Leeds First Methodist to be reminded of our membership covenant and remember your baptism. I hope you’ll plan to attend and invite someone to join you; they’ll be glad you did.
Happy New Year!