Opportunities: Ordinary to Extraordinary

Christians do not always want to make time for Jesus. A lot of us want to go our own way and do what we want to do instead of following Christ. Christ loves us all. The times that He does ask something of us we should always do it. Christ has never held anything back from us. We should never hold anything back from Him. Our time, our service, our money, and even our gifts and talents should be things that we are willing to offer to God. He is the one who gave us these things anyway.

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Virtual Chapel 2-1-2006

Once while Jesus* was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ 5Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’ 6When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, and ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ 9For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; 10and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ 11When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.                    Luke 5:1-11

When a new opportunity presents itself to you, do you tend to proceed with caution or just go with the flow?  In today’s scripture, Jesus presents Simon Peter with an opportunity.  It was not an opportunity that Simon Peter had expected.  Simon had been going about life as usual, fishing long hours, cleaning nets, etc.  He was not looking here or there for a change.  He is a person, like most of us, who lives his life, which is nothing extraordinary, just ordinary.  Life is puttering along until one day an opportunity presents itself to him.  Simon is approached by a man who had already made a name for himself and had a crowd following him.  Simon suddenly finds himself caught in the net of Jesus.  At first, Simon does not yet understand the significance of the encounter as he is hesitant to do what Jesus says, to let down his nets.  Simon is not looking beyond his routine; he is thinking of how tired and exhausted his routine has made him.  He doesn’t have anymore energy to try and catch again.  For whatever reason, he reluctantly follows Jesus’ instructions and lowers his nets in the water and to his surprise catches more fish than he could have imagined.  How can this be? 

Can you recall those moments in your life when you just knew something to be true?  What was it that changed your viewpoint?  How did you respond?  Peter has just experienced one of those moments.  Suddenly in the middle of life is usual, he has experienced something extraordinary.  It was not something that he ever looked for, but it was the benefit of being caught in Jesus’ net.  In the light of Jesus, Simon saw himself more clearly than ever before.  He saw the gap between his life as usual and his potential.  Jesus calls him away, away from his fishing boat, away from his nets, away from his ordinary and into something new and extraordinary.  Jesus doesn’t call Simon because Simon is the best fisherman around.  There is nothing that Simon has done that puts him above all others.  Simon is just an ordinary person, to whom Jesus presented an opportunity. 

Many of us go through life in a similar fashion as Simon.  We get so caught up in our ordinary routines that we forget that there is something more that we should consider.  Our day to day living can be just as tiring as it was as a fisherman in Peter’s time.  We have errands to run: pick up groceries, pay bills, study for class, and work after class, class after work…  We can get so bogged down with these ordinary tasks that we can easily forget to look up from our nets of daily living and invite Jesus to give us some instruction.  Often times we don’t even consider the possibilities.  Jesus presents us all with opportunities to become disciples, to move from the ordinary to the extraordinary.  In doing so, we must be willing to have our lives as usual interrupted, reevaluated and rearranged.  We must not get so caught up in our day to day tasks that we miss the opportunity to put down our nets and let God work wonders in our midst.  Simon’s call did not happen in a holy place, but in the ordinary of life.  This is a reminder to us all, that God’s kingdom is entering our world.  It is around us; when it presents itself, how will you respond? 

Peace and Blessings,

Rev. Leigh S. Martin

Reinhardt College Chaplain

"Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord."  -Psalm 31:24

For more information

• Rev. Leigh Martin
  (770)720-5634 
  LSM@reinhardt.edu