Jesus’ words to Peter, "Put out into the deep water" are significant. They challenged Peter to step beyond the comfortable level of human wisdom and understanding into the realm of extraordinary faith and risk and uncertainty. As a result, when this event was over, he and his companions stepped into a level of relationship with Jesus that they hadn’t known existed. That last phrase, "they left everything and followed Him" means that they left their fishing business – their comfortable, familiar livelihood – behind them and put out into the deeper waters of faith.

Of all the apostles of Jesus I think I like Simon Peter best. His forward, outspoken nature, his awkward, even clumsy honesty, his quick turnarounds, and his willingness to admit it when he was wrong all attract me to the stories I read about him in the Bible.

But perhaps the thing I like most about Peter is that he was a fisherman. Those of you who know me probably have some idea why I would say that. I suspect that if Peter were to appear here on this earth today and I could have lunch with him, it wouldn’t be long until we’d be talking fishing. Tackle, techniques, fish behavior, and most of all, fishing stories would be swapped. I like fishing stories. And I especially like the one we are going to look at this morning. It is the story of Peter’s most successful day on the water, fishing wise – though it started out as a failure. The story is recorded in Luke 5:1-11. I’ll read it to you now.

It looks to me like the events described here probably took place in the morning as Luke mentions Peter’s words about the fishermen having fished all night and caught nothing. Jesus was teaching near the shore of Gennesaret or the Sea of Galilee. The crowd listening to him, perhaps in an effort to hear Him better, had pressed the Lord right up against the water’s edge. Jesus spotted a couple of empty fishing boats pulled up in the shallows. The fishermen who owned them were nearby, washing their nets and probably themselves listening to what Jesus was saying to the crowd. The Lord stepped into one of the boats, the one that belonged to Simon Peter, and asked the big fisherman to push Him out a little ways. Simon dutifully laid aside his nets and did what Jesus asked. Besides providing a little breathing room from the encroachment of the crowd, this probably allowed the multitude to hear Him better. Most fishermen know that sound carries very well across the water.

Jesus was already acquainted with Peter. He and his brother Andrew had been disciples of John the Baptist and had begun following Jesus when John introduced Him as "the Lamb of God."(2) So they were already followers, yet not to that extent to which they would ultimately follow Him. In fact, this event would move Peter and his fishing companions into a level of commitment to Jesus that would be deeper than anything they had yet known, which will be the point of my sermon. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

An interesting thing to note about this passage is that Luke does not tell us what Jesus taught on this occasion. That is because it was what happened after Jesus’ sermon that Luke wanted his readers to know.

According to verse 4, when Jesus had finished speaking, He issued a request to Peter: "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."

To those of us who have read this story before and know what Jesus was about to do, this request seems quite reasonable. But to the fishermen present on the shore that morning, I can tell you that it was nothing short of laughable. It would be like a total novice telling a professional fisherman how to fish and then, with a straight face, giving advice that was dead wrong for the conditions. Most fishermen know that there are some days when it doesn’t matter what you do or how you do it, you’re not going to catch any fish. They also know that there are certain "dead" times during the day – times of the day when fishing is very poor. This particular time of day was just such a "dead" time. The sun rises higher into the sky and the fish, which have no eyelids, retreat to the deeper, darker parts of the lake and become very hard to find. For Peter and his bleary eyed fishing partners, already up all night, and skunked to boot, Peter’s response seemed appropriate: "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing…." "We didn’t even catch fish during the productive hours and you want us to go out now? Peter was a professional fisherman who was dialed in to the local conditions. Even today, if you are fishing with a guide and the guide calls you up and says, "Maybe we ought to stay home today. Things just aren’t happening," you’d better listen to the guy unless you just have money to burn. He knows his business.

But there was a measure of respect that Peter had gained for Jesus by this time, so he quickly followed up his protest with the words, "but at Your bidding I will let down the nets." I can imagine the other fishermen rolling their eyes at Peter’s words.

So nets were loaded back into Peter’s boat. His little crew of two - himself and his brother Andrew - rowed out in the sight of all, feeling ridiculous no doubt, until they were in the deep water a ways offshore. I can imagine Peter and Andrew muttering under their breath as they rowed out, the gawking onlookers chattering among themselves, laughing and pointing. Peter’s boat was probably the only one on the whole lake not tied up to the shore by this time of day. Others down the shoreline who owned some of the 230 boats(3) that worked the lake probably laid aside their nets to watch and see what crazy Peter was up to.

Of course Peter had not yet realized – none of them had - that the One on the shore who had given this command, though He wasn’t a professional fisherman, was the Maker of fish - and lakes and land and fishermen and the world for that matter.

Over the side went the nets. I can’t imagine that there was much enthusiasm in it. Peter was feeling like a fool. Jesus may have been a remarkable speaker but his fishing knowledge was all wrong! They waited. Then suddenly the lines went tight! The boat listed to one side as a huge volume of fish was encompassed. Peter quickly assessed the situation. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. He was totally unprepared for this. So strong was the pull over the side that the nets began to rip. In an instant, Peter was on his feet in the boat, shouting and waving frantically for his partners, James and John to come to their aid. Soon, with the other boat alongside, they hauled in their catch and there were fish everywhere. Both boats were so full that they were in danger of sinking.

Back onshore probably, Simon Peter came up to Jesus and fell at His feet. He was ashamed of his doubt. "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" Peter was overwhelmed with his sense of unworthiness before this One who possessed such great power. He felt utterly embarrassed and deflated in the realization that he had so confidently brushed aside this One who commanded the elements of the world. Peter had thought he knew Jesus. Now he realized he hadn’t known Him at all. It wouldn’t be the last time that Peter had to back up and admit that he was wrong.

Peter waited to hear Jesus’ footsteps walking away from him in disgust. Instead the now humbled fisherman heard these words: "Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men."

Luke reports something very important to us in the final verses of this account. He says, "When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him."

Because of what these men witnessed that day, they realized that there was something much greater to live for than their fishing careers.

Jesus’ words to Peter, "Put out into the deep water" are significant. They challenged Peter to step beyond the comfortable level of human wisdom and understanding into the realm of extraordinary faith and risk and uncertainty. As a result, when this event was over, he and his companions stepped into a level of relationship with Jesus that they hadn’t known existed. That last phrase, "they left everything and followed Him" means that they left their fishing business – their comfortable, familiar livelihood – behind them and put out into the deeper waters of faith.

So what does all of this have to do with you and me? I believe that there are parallels for us in this concept of putting out into the deep water. The first thing I would point out is that:

Until this time Peter only knew the shallows. He had a business. He had business partners. He was married. He may have had other family – we don’t know. He probably owned a home in Capernaum. He was living a normal, comfortable, ordinary life. No one could condemn him for that. He was even a follow of Christ to a certain extent, having followed Jesus when John announced Him as "The Lamb of God," as mentioned earlier. But after he left John to follow Jesus he had returned to his fishing. A deeper level of commitment was something that hadn’t occurred to him. Christ knew Peter was capable of more. He knew he could be a fisher of men. Peter didn’t know that yet. Had someone told the big fisherman that someday he would use the keys of the kingdom to usher thousands of people into the church who would respond to his preaching, I doubt he would have believed it. But the Lord knew. He had great plans for Peter that would take him out into deep waters where great things are accomplished for God. And it was on this day when Jesus beckoned him to "put out into the deep water" that started him on that course.

There are "deeps" and "shallows" of life for all of us. By "shallows" I refer to the everyday, ordinary things we must do to exist. They are common things, comfortable things, familiar things, predictable and relatively safe things like getting up and going to work, owning a home, earning a living, paying the bills, coming home at night to rest, and getting up the next day to start all over. Things like buying the groceries, cooking the food, painting the house, changing the oil in the car, tending to the yard and picking up the kids at school. Things like balancing the checkbook and doing the shopping and then doing it all over again. For many there is getting an education, advancing in a career, moving up the ladder, getting ahead in life, perhaps starting a business, making a profit, establishing sound investments.

It isn’t that these things are wrong or unimportant. They aren’t evil. It’s just that they are the shallows of life. They don’t stretch our faith. They don’t challenge it. In fact, since even unbelievers do these things, and many do them quite well, we could say that they don’t require much faith at all.

Peter and his partners were in the shallows of life and the Lord was beckoning them into deeper waters of faith. Had they continued only at the level they had attained they would have died as fishers of fish and would never have become fishers of men. They would never have been apostles of Christ as Jesus wanted them to be. So when the Lord challenged Peter that day to "put out into the deep water" He was concerned about much more than a net full of fish. Deeper water was on His mind – deeper than even the deepest recesses of Gennesaret. And that’s where we come into the picture. I believe that:

My friends, there is more to life than just getting up and going to work. There is more to life than obtaining a comfortable lifestyle. There is even more to life than career advancement and financial success and the gold watch of retirement.

"So are we all supposed to become apostles then?" you ask?

No. That role was reserved for only a few. But I can’t help but believe that God wants us to do more with our lives than just attain a level of comfort and then die. I can’t help but believe that He wants us to apply our talents appropriately to further our relationship with Him and His cause in this world. These are the greater things He beckons us to when He challenges us to "put out into the deep water."

"I could never do something really great for God," you say.

Really? How would you know if you never step out of the shallows? Peter and his partners had no idea where the choice to leave all and follow Christ would lead. That’s the deal with the deep water. You have little idea what it is like, looking from the shallows. From the shallows the deep water always seems intimidating.

Isn’t this exactly what each of us needs to do in our lives, though – to put out into the deep water in our relationship with God? Are we really secure in the idea that a life in the shallows is all He expects of us?

Some of us have already launched out. If so, then perhaps we just need to look deeper. Others have yet to leave the shallows.

"How?" you ask. "How can we put out into the deep water with the things of God?" Let me suggest a few things…

A. We can put out into the deep water in our worship.

By this I mean that we can make a conscious effort to commune with God when we assemble here. In my opinion, worship today in many places has been sidetracked. It has become very shallow. People have come to believe that worship is something that happens to them when the style of music is right, when the speaking and lighting is all choreographed just right. When a certain mood is produced, then they feel they have worshipped. But worship isn’t supposed to be about us. It is about God. The telling thing about much that is called worship today is that the very same moods can be produced at a rock concert attended only by unbelievers.

True worship is much more than a concert or a party. It is much more than good entertainment. True worship is when we, as created beings, bow down before our God in our hearts and communicate our love and admiration to Him. It is when we acknowledge our proper place before Him and sincerely recognize who He is. It is when we surrender our wills to Him. It is when we thank Him and praise Him and cherish Him with our whole hearts. It is when we come eagerly to learn from His word. True worship cannot be attained by those who do not know God and those who are focused only on themselves. We would do well to "put out into the deep water" in our worship.

B. We can put out into the deep water in our conversation.

We talk about so many things. We talk about the weather, about sports, about politics. We talk about our hobbies and interests. We talk about other people. Most of this talk concerns only transient things – things that don’t last – things that will have no meaning in a day or two – things that have little or no association with eternity. Putting out into the deep water in conversation involves engaging one another about things of greater significance.

How often do we ask, "How are you doing?" without really expecting an answer? If someone really answered, we’d be shocked. We wouldn’t know what to say.

What if we took the time to ask someone how he or she is really doing? Now there would be a surprise!

I realize we cannot have deep conversations with everyone but does that mean we should never have a deep conversation with anyone? Often such deep conversations among Christian can only be experienced with someone "of like faith." That’s why we need one another.

Why are we here? Where are we going? How can we get there? How are we doing? What is important to us? What is important to God? How can we better serve Him? Such conversation is much deeper than a quick "Hi, how are you" or a review of the latest basketball scores. To have it we need to build deeper relationships of trust with one another and avail ourselves one another.

If you and I were to sit down and write a list of the people we have contact with in a typical week, how many would we discover with whom we have more than a casual relationship? There is the mail man, the person who checks out our groceries, the gas station attendant, our child’s school teacher, our associates at work. We speak to all of these and others like them but the relationship we have is shallow at best.

It can even be that way with our Christian brethren. One any given Sunday morning I see two kinds of people here in the service. I see those who quickly leave after the last "amen" is said. And I see others who hang around and talk and seem to really each other’s company. Sometimes people are still around here an hour after the service. What are they doing? They’re talking. They’re sharing. You can tell that their relationships with other Christians are important to them. They have deep relationships with others of faith. Some of us would do well to "put out into the deep water" in this area.

Shallow praying is an epidemic! A quick "Thank you for this food," a hasty, "Please forgive me, Lord," and maybe an occasional prayer "for all the sick people" is about as deep as it goes with many. To linger long in prayer, to stay at it until every sin is confessed and every wrong attitude is acknowledged is something that some never know. Persistence in prayer is rare.

"But it’s hard to have time to pray," someone says.

The Creator of the universe has invited us to come and talk to Him and we can’t find the time? What is wrong with his picture? There is deep water in prayer that is available to all but sought by few.

It must be embarrassing to have been in the church for years and still know very little about the Bible. If this book is our lifeline, if it is what will judge us in the last day, shouldn’t we be familiar with it? Yet such familiarity does not come without effort and it becomes more apparent each year that few are willing to put forth what is necessary.

A few weeks ago one of our members came by my office and said that it was time that she gained a better grasp of the Bible and its structure and meaning. She asked if I could help her. I recommended some study material to her and as far as I know she is now working toward that goal. She is here this morning but I’m not going to mention her name. I just hold her up as an example of how one might put out into the deep water in Bible study.

There are needy people all around us – so many that it is very easy for us to just tune them out. We’re busy with our own lives. We don’t have time. Said another way, we’re focused on self. Sorry, but that’s the truth. It’s the truth for me and it’s the truth for you. I could do much more than I do in this area.

Putting out into the deep water in this area might mean taking time to help someone older than we are. There are older people all around us who live lonely lives. They’ve outlived their friends perhaps, or just can’t keep up with social interaction anymore. Could you brighten up an older person’s life? Is that deep water for you?

On the other end there are children everywhere being raised without fathers or mothers or both. Divorce exacts a devastating toll on people and the worst hurt are the children. Could you be a big brother or big sister to such a one? Could you build a relationship with such a child so as to provide comfort and guidance and a good example that might point that youngster to heaven?

"But I’m to busy." Yes I know. There are so many shallow things to do and somebody has to do them, right? But maybe you need to raise your eyes a bit and look out across the waves to the miles of deep water that God is calling you to.

Personal evangelism has fallen on hard times these days. Few want to learn how to do it and fewer yet actually do it. Yet countless people still depart this earth for a Christless eternity every day simply because no one cared enough to interrupt them to talk to them about their souls.

Many of you here his morning could lead another person to Christ if you put your mind to it. Yes, it takes some effort but it isn’t rocket science. Actually it is lack of concern for the lost that is the larger problem. Not learning how to do it.

Peter put out into the deep water, and his life was never the same again.

Maybe you’ve come to the point in your life where you’re tired of living only in the shallows. You’re ready to do something meaningful and lasting for God. If so, I encourage you to get started today.

If you are already a Christian and have already started, perhaps something deeper yet is calling you. Will you respond or ignore it?

If you are not yet a Christian, perhaps today is the day that you will take that first step to do something about your soul. We’d love to help you.

Footnotes: Please use your back button to return to your place.

1. The basic idea for this message came from a sermon preached by Batsell Barrett Baxter in 1959. After hearing that sermon on a recording, I wrote my own message using his angle, a phrase from the text as my title, and my own development.
2. John 1:35-42
3. Albert Barnes cites Josephus for this number.

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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