JUST AN ORDINARY DAY

15 April 2012

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Luke 5:1-11 

Luke 5:1-11 (NIV)

1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God,

2 he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.

3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."

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."

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

7 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.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"

9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,

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."

11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

            -- I want to share with you a story that I heard this week on Focus on the Family  

            -- Lysa TerKeurst -- the founder of Proverbs 31 Ministries -- was getting on an airplane to head back home after a week of teaching and ministering to women -- just like she had done hundreds of times before

            -- she was tired and worn out from all of the ministry and prayed that God would just grant her one request -- that He would let her have the airplane row all to herself so she could stretch out and relax on the way home

            -- and it looked like God was going to do that -- the flight attendants were making their final checks, and no one else had come to claim the two empty seats on her row -- but, right before the doors closed, two more people came on board and took those seats -- an Indian woman took the seat next to the window and a large man sat down in the middle seat next to Lysa

            -- Lysa just sighed and decided to make the best of it and to try to get some work done as they were flying since it was obvious she wasn't going to get any rest -- she pulled out a manuscript that she had been working on and began revising it when, all of a sudden, the man next to her said, "I couldn't help but notice the word, 'God,' all over your paper there -- That's a curious thing to be in a paper."

            -- Lysa turned to the man and realized, in that moment, what was going on -- for you see, it was no accident that God said, "No," to her prayer for an empty row -- it was not chance or dumb luck that this man happened to sit down next to her on that plane -- this was a divine appointment from God -- and as Lysa began to share with this man the good news of salvation and her own story of faith through a lifetime of abuse and rejection, God touched both his heart and the heart of the Indian woman who was sitting next to them listening -- and before the plane landed, both of them had received Jesus as their Lord and Savior and their lives had been changed forever

            -- Lysa closed her account of this experience by thanking God for helping her to have a heart that is open to His presence and to the opportunities for ministry that He places in all of our paths

            -- now I had heard this story before -- I am a fan of Lysa TerKeurst and her ministry -- but, this time, as I listened to the podcast again on the way to work -- not paying a lot of attention because I already knew how the story was going to end -- I heard God speak to me -- it was almost an audible voice -- and I heard Him say "It was just an ordinary day"

            -- I have been thinking about that phrase all week and pondering just what God meant when He gave those words to me -- "It was just an ordinary day"

            -- what was He trying to get me to see? -- what was He trying to get me to understand?

            -- I mean, aren't all our days pretty much ordinary days? -- at the end of the day, when someone comes up and asks you how your day was, how many times do you say, "It was fine -- it was just an ordinary day"

            -- that's exactly the type of day that Simon Peter was having in this passage here in Luke -- it was just an ordinary day in the life of an ordinary fisherman

II.  Scripture Lesson (Luke 5:1-11)

            -- look back with me at verse 1 if you would and let's see what happened on this ordinary day

            -- verse 1-3

1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God,

2 he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.

3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

            -- I want you to notice what is not said in these verses -- Luke opens up verse 1 by saying, "One day..."

            -- it was not a special day -- it wasn't a holiday -- it wasn't a feast day -- it wasn't even a Sabbath -- it was just one ordinary day in the middle of the week -- and everybody was going about and doing what they normally did

            -- Jesus was just standing there by the lake teaching -- just like any Jewish rabbi would do -- and a group of people had gathered around to hear Him teach on the kingdom of God

            -- right down the beach from Jesus, a handful of fishermen were sitting there next to their boats -- washing their nets after a long night of fishing -- just doing what they did every day -- just going about their normal, ordinary way of life on just another normal, ordinary day

            -- Luke says that the people began to crowd around Jesus -- I guess that more and more people were coming to see what was going on and they were jostling each other trying to get close enough to hear -- it obviously was making it difficult for Jesus to speak to the crowd effectively

            -- so, He got into the boat that belonged to Simon Peter and He asked Simon to put out a little way from the shore -- and then He sat down and continued to teach the people

            -- that was the perfect place to speak from -- sitting there like that would have been liking sitting in an amphitheater -- Jesus would have been able to project His voice out and it would have carried out across the water and up the sloping beach and through the crowd so everyone could hear -- and it also kept Him from getting mobbed and jostled by the people He was trying to speak to

            -- verse 4-5

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."

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."

            -- so far, it's just a normal, ordinary day, but things are about to change

            -- when Jesus finished speaking, He told Simon to take the boat out into the deep water and to put his nets out for a catch -- and you can tell from Simon's response he really didn't want to do what Jesus was asking him to do

            -- he had already spent the whole night out there on the lake fishing and hadn't caught anything -- and he and his partners had already come back and washed their nets and gotten everything cleaned up -- I'm sure they were tired and they probably just wanted to go home and get some rest before they had to go back out on the lake to fish again

      -- and, to top it off, I'm sure Simon was sitting there thinking, "This man may be a good rabbi, but He doesn't anything about fishing"

      -- fishermen at that time on the Sea of Galilee fished at night, in the shallows, not in the deep -- they would attach their net to the shore, and then they'd go out just a little ways into the shallow water where the fish congregated, letting the net out as they went -- then, they'd make a wide semi-circle and head back to shore, trapping fish in the net

      -- this was the way it was done -- this was the normal, ordinary way to fish -- this was how everybody did it

      -- and now this rabbi -- this carpenter -- is trying to tell Simon, an experienced, professional fisherman -- how to fish -- and He's telling Him to put out into the deep waters and let down his net

      -- so, Simon says, "I really don't want to do that -- I think it's a waste of time -- but, just to be nice, I'll do what you say" -- and so Simon heads into the deep water and lets his nets down

      -- verse 6-7

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

7 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.

      -- Simon did what Jesus told him to do -- in spite of the fact that it went against everything that he had been taught and against the way things were normally done -- and the results were miraculous

      -- even though they were in the deep -- even though it was the wrong time of day -- they caught so many fish that their nets began to break -- and Simon had to call his partners to come and help

      -- verse 8-10

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"

9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,

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."

      -- when Simon tells Jesus to go away from him, he's not trying to get rid of Him -- what he's trying to say is, "I am too sinful for you to look at -- I am too sinful for you to be with -- you are too holy and I am afraid"

      -- being in the presence of God and hearing His voice and responding to His word is a humbling event -- it reminds us of who we are and of who God really is

      -- Simon's words here reminds me of the words of Isaiah when he was brought before God's throne and saw Him face-to-face -- in Isaiah 6:5,  Isaiah cried out, "Woe to me -- I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

      -- that's what Simon is saying here as he realizes who this man is in the boat with him -- "Woe to me -- for I am a sinner and I am in the presence of God"

      -- but look at how Jesus responds, "Don't be afraid -- for you have finally seen Me -- you have finally heard My voice -- now come with Me and you will catch men just like you caught these fish -- if you stay with Me, then you will catch souls for the kingdom"

      -- verse 11

11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

      -- it had been just a normal, ordinary day, but it didn't stay that way -- it had been just a normal, ordinary life, but in an instant the ordinary became extraordinary

      -- what made the difference?

      -- it wasn't a willing heart -- Simon certainly didn't want to do what Jesus had told him to do

      -- it wasn't faith -- Simon had no faith in Jesus' fishing ability -- Simon didn't expect to catch a thing when he dropped his nets into the deep water -- and, at this point, Simon is not Peter -- he is not the rock -- he has not yet put his faith into Jesus as his Lord and Savior

      -- so, what made the difference between it being just another ordinary day and a day that Simon would never forget?

      -- it's simple -- it was Jesus -- Jesus stepped into Simon's normal, ordinary day and made it extraordinary -- and He wants to do the same for us

      -- when I was listening to Lysa TerKeurst's story and God spoke to me and told me, "It was just an ordinary day," I think He was trying to get me to understand that every day with Him is extraordinary -- that there is no such a thing in God's kingdom as just an ordinary day -- and that He wants to do amazing things in our lives and in the lives of those around us -- if we will only see Him and listen to Him and respond to Him when He calls

III.  Closing

      -- so, how can we make our ordinary days extraordinary?

      -- first, we have to reach the same point Simon reached that morning -- Simon had God in the boat all morning, but he really didn't see Him -- Simon had listened to God all morning, but he really never heard Him -- it was only after the nets filled with fish to the point of breaking that Simon realized Who was in his boat

      -- we have to know Who is in our boat -- we have to know Who is in our day

      -- I think everybody here is probably familiar with the "Where's Waldo?" books -- -- the pages are filled with drawings of normal, ordinary people doing normal, ordinary things -- they're just doing the things of life -- they're going to work -- they're going to school -- they're going to beach or to the mountains or somewhere else

      -- but somewhere in the midst of all those normal, ordinary people is Waldo -- wearing his distinctive red-and-white striped shirt and his bobble hat and his glasses -- and the goal is to find him in the midst of everything else that is going on

      -- that's kind of like Jesus -- as we go through our normal, ordinary days doing our normal, ordinary things, Jesus is right there -- He's in the midst of everything that is going on -- but, a lot of times, we just don't pay any attention to Him -- and if we're not aware of Him -- if we're not hearing Him -- and if we're not seeing Him -- then we're not experiencing Him

      -- we have to experience Jesus in order for our ordinary days to become extraordinary

      -- Lysa TerKeurst gives us a good picture of how we need to do that -- when she got on that plane, it was just a normal, ordinary day -- and even when that man sat down next to her, nothing changed -- she could have gone the whole flight and never said a word to that man

      -- but, when she heard him ask about God, she realized that there was something greater going on -- that this was not just a normal, ordinary occurrence, but a divine appointment -- and that Jesus wanted her to tell this man her story

      -- Lysa was open to God's presence -- she looked for Him on that plane -- she listened for His voice -- and when she saw Him and heard Him and responded to His command, God did an extraordinary thing through her

      --  He'll do it through us, too, if we remember to look for Him during our normal, ordinary days

      -- the second thing that has to happen in order for our ordinary days to become extraordinary is to be open to whatever God tells us to do -- you don't do extraordinary things in ordinary ways

      -- as Albert Einstein once said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results

      -- God is a God of creativity -- and while He never changes, the ways He uses us and the ways He reaches out through us change all the time

      -- when God wants to take the ordinary and make it extraordinary, He will ask us to do things we don't normally do -- He will ask us to break from tradition and do things in a completely new way -- ways the world may think are wrong

      -- think about how Jesus asked Simon to put out in the deep water and to drop his nets in the middle of the day -- what do you think Simon's partners thought as they saw his boat heading into the middle of the lake?

      -- in order to see extraordinary results, you sometimes have to give an extraordinary effort

      -- the final thing that has to happen in order for our ordinary days to become extraordinary is that we actually have to respond and do what He tells us to do -- no matter how crazy or strange it may be

      -- we don't have to want to do it -- Simon didn't want to go out fishing again that morning -- Lysa didn't want to spend her flight ministering -- she just wanted to rest -- we don't have to have a willing spirit -- we just have to have an obedient heart

      -- we don't even need faith -- like I said, Simon didn't have faith in Jesus that day, but it didn't stop Jesus from doing a miracle -- God has called me to do things that I didn't believe were possible

      -- He had me pray for healing for this man in the hospital and I didn't have any faith -- I didn't believe this man was going to get better -- I walked out of there and thought to myself that man was going to die -- but God healed him and that man walked out of that hospital on his own two feet and he came back to our church the very next Sunday

      -- our faith -- or our lack of faith -- is not a hindrance to God's ability to work in us and through us

      -- we need to learn to just do what He says and leave the rest up to Him

      -- when Simon and his partners washed their nets by the Sea of Galilee on that day, it started out as a normal, ordinary day -- but it quickly into something that changed their lives forever

      -- as you leave here today, remember that there is no such a thing as normal and ordinary in the Kingdom of God -- but that every day can be a day of wonder and miracle if we only seek God's face and listen for His voice and respond in obedience to His call

      -- let us pray