Life Changing Faith

This study reviews Owning a Faith That Matters. We look at six sessions:  life-changing faith; yielded faith; expectant faith; praying faith’ confident faith and maturing faith.

Jesus said we only need the faith the size of a mustard seed…about 1 to 2 mm across.  He said that if we had only that much faith we could move mountains.  Imagine the faith of a 1-2 mm seed compared to a large mountain.  Faith is important to Jesus and Jesus wants  us to have faith.  

But what is faith? The word faith is from Latin meaning “trust, confidence, reliance, credence, belief.”  It is from a word root meaning “to trust” and that is from most ancient word root indicating “to trust, confide, persuade.”  

Life is full of surprises and important life-changing forks in the road.  We all face decisions that require life-changing faith.  The question is “in whom do you trust.”  Many look to money in which to place their trust, confidence and persuasion.  That is not necessarily a bad thing IF you are looking at that money to remind yourself in whom to place your trust – “In God we trust” is what we should remember every day.

God calls us into a adventure, which sometimes requires a deep faith in God rather than the faith that longs for comfort and consistency.  We look in this study at one such example as we look at Luke 5:1-11 and see that faith begins with the call to follow Jesus.

Luke 5:1-3    The First Disciples

5 As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God’s word, he was standing by Lake Gennesaret. 2 He saw two boats at the edge of the lake; the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then he sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat.

Luke was Paul’s friend and traveling companion.  He wrote both the Gospel and the book of Acts, written between 61 and 63 AD.  Luke addressed his Gospel to Theophilus, meaning “friend of God”, A title which could easily describe a faithful follower of Christ.  Luke’s Gospel is the longest book in the New.  It constitutes the first volume of the two-volume work Luke and Acts.  

In Acts, Luke referred to the Gospel’s purpose as dealing with “all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up, after he had given instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.  The Gospel of Luke is one of the Synoptic Gospels, a designation also given to Matthew and Mark.  Synoptic means “with the same eye or viewpoint.”  Jesus’ ministry in these gospels is organized geographically, beginning with his Galilean ministry, then moving outside Galilee as well as within Galilee, and ending with events in Jerusalem, including Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Luke utilized a journey theme.  He traced Jesus’ steadfast resolve to journey to Jerusalem where he would be crucified.  Luke demonstrated special concern for people whom society considered outcasts.  He placed emphasis on Gentiles.  Luke reflected a special concern for poor individuals and those with leprosy.  Additionally Luke called attention to women who assisted Jesus in his ministry.

In this study we see that faith begins when we hear God’s Word.  Jesus had been teaching his message in the Galilee and in this passage we see that crowds followed after him. These crowds were filled with individuals of varying motives.  Some sought healing.  Others wanted that basic staple of life—bread.  Yet others possessed a sincere desire to learn from him.  Some followed Jesus solely from a motive to trap him and use against him for their own political gain.

Jesus was delivering God’s word.  The Greek term for word encompasses the meanings of doctrines or teachings.  Jesus presented God’s message – God’s doctrines; God’s wisdom – in terms that the common, ordinary person could understand.  His listeners recognized that his words carried an authority unlike that of the scribes and Pharisees. 

This passage describes Jesus’ first disciples.  Peter, Andrew, James and John worked as fishermen.  Jesus had been teaching a crowd of people and Peter and his crew were doing what fisherman do.  Then Jesus asks Peter for a favor.  At first glance it was just a little thing: “can I borrow your boat?”  Simon was Peter’s given name.  It literally means “flat-nosed.” It functions as a Greek alternative for the Hebrew name “Simeon.”  Presumably Simon gave his permission because Jesus got into one of the boats and sat down to teach.  In the first century the rabbis taught from a seated position.  

OK so we see Peter and his crew busily cleaning up after, as we will learn in a minute, working “all night” fishing.  Jesus basically asks him, “can I borrow your boat?” And “can you push off just a little bit so the sound is better for the crowd?”  Now Peter  could have said “no, I’m busy”, but rather he did as he was asked.  The first step in a life changing faith is simply to do as you are asked.  Simple enough.

In the next verses, we see that faith is simply acting on what Christ calls us to do.

Luke 5:4-7

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

5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we’ve worked hard allnight long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll let down the nets.”

6 When they did this, they caughta great number of fish, and their nets began to tear. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

Peter successfully completed step one of a life changing faith.  He did as he was asked to do.  Now we see a second step in building a life changing faith.  When Jesus had finished teaching the crowds he told Simon to put out into deeper water and let down his nets.  Again, a simple request, but one that required more work than just pushing out into the water a little bit. Peter responded that they had worked all night long and hadn’t caught any fish,  but now this teacher was asking that they push out into the lake (inland sea) again and go fishing.  

While Peter could have whined that they were too tired because they worked all the night before, he instead simply acted on what Jesus told him to do.  Faith is simply acting on what Jesus calls us to do, so Peter said “if you say so, I’ll let down the nets.” Now lest you think that these are just rowboats in the park, realize that in 1986, archaeology found one of these boats buried in the mud of shore.  These ships are nearly 30 feet long and 8 feet wide.  That is just about as long as 2/3 of a railroad box car and only about 1-2 feet narrower.  Think “small” deep sea fishing boat that you have to row or sail by hand.  Jesus had basically asked Peter to “do a little work for me, and push away from shore a bit.”  Then he asked Peter and his crew to “now, go do work and catch some fish.”  

Peter and his crew did as was requested and the results were amazing.  They caught a great number of fish as Jesus had told them would happen.  They caught so many fish, in fact, that they had to call the other boat to come help and both boats were so full that they began to swamp, or even be in danger of sinking.

In the next verses we see that Jesus calls us to a life of trust in him.

Luke 5:8-11

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!” 9 For he and all those with him were amazed at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s partners.

“Don’t be afraid,” Jesus told Simon. “From now on you will be catching people.” 11 Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed him.

Peter’s response startles us. You might think that one would be grateful for a fishing haul so great that it almost swamped both your boats.  But while impulsiveness characterized Peter’s character, he recognized that when he was in Jesus’ presence he was in God’s presence.  His words reflect that.  He responded much like the prophet Isaiah when he saw the majestic Lord in the Jerusalem temple.  When we truly recognize who is God is, we recognize ourselves for who we are–weak and sinful.

Peter realized that, compared to the status that God had set for humanity to live, as a human, he was a weak and sinful man.  So these “strong armed, strong backed fishermen” basically recognized the supernatural at work and begged Jesus not to associate with them; the concept being “YOU are a God and we are but sailors.  Please don’t degrade yourself by hanging around with us!”

But Jesus not only “hung around with them”, Jesus told Peter  “from now on you will be catching people.” He called them into the “inner circle” of his ministry.

Here is the greatest demonstration of faith in this passage.  They then landed the boats, left everything, and followed him.  So we see Peter and his crew did as they were asked.  Peter and his crew did as they were told, to great effect.  And now we see Peter and his crew “walk off the job” to continue to learn from Jesus and assist him in his ministry.  Jesus called them to a life of trust in him.

Jesus calls us to a life of trust in him.