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I. A Preposterous Proposal
It all started with the Lord’s preposterous proposal. He said to Simon: “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” That doesn’t sound so outrageous. He was just giving them a fishing tip, wasn’t He? What’s so preposterous about that proposal?
Four things, really. First, the best net fishing is done at night when the fish can’t see the nets in the dark water -- not in broad daylight. Second, the best fishing is done in the shallow water, where the fish come in to feed at night. Third, these were seasoned fishermen who had just come in from fishing all night without any success. They were tired and discouraged and didn’t especially want to start on the day shift right after finishing a long night shift. Fourth, their nets were all cleaned from their night’s work. It was a messy job to clean the seaweed and slime off those nets. They didn’t necessarily want to repeat that drill for such a preposterous proposal.
What Jesus asked was beyond all reason and all fishing experience. A carpenter from Nazareth was telling a seasoned fisherman from Galilee how to catch fish in his own lake. Peter knew this lake like the back of his hand. He knew precisely when, where, and how to catch fish; if Peter wasn’t catching fish, chances were good that nobody was catching fish. Now, here was this carpenter making this preposterous proposal and telling the fisherman how to fish. How would Peter respond?
Let’s listen: “Master,” Peter protested, “we have worked all night long but have caught nothing.” Peter was sitting on the fence. On the one hand, Peter knew this was a preposterous proposal and didn’t make any sense whatsoever. His peers at the pier would have a good chuckle at his expense when they docked. On the other hand, Peter wanted to obey Jesus. Still fresh in his memory was a wedding reception, where Jesus also had given some rather unusual instructions to fill some large jars with water and serve it to the guests. Best wine he had ever tasted.
Also, Peter had just heard the Gospel taught by Jesus from his own floating boat to the crowd on the shore. He had had a front-row seat. He had heard promises more beautiful than the bewitching charm of the Sea of Galilee sparkling in the morning sun. Suddenly, something snapped in Peter’s heart. He jumped off the fence onto the side of obedience, saying to Jesus: “If you say so, I will let down the nets.”
Did you hear it? The keys jangling. Right there, Peter surrendered the keys to his heart to Jesus -- all the keys, including the master key. It was an electric encounter on the shore between the Carpenter and the fishermen -- and it wasn’t about fishing at all, was it? Jesus wanted to see who held the keys to Peter’s heart. Peter obediently surrendered the keys of his heart to Jesus. He took Jesus at His word. He trusted Him. He didn’t analyze, argue, or equivocate. He simply obeyed. The bare essence of Peter’s reply was: “You say...I will.” James and John also gave the keys of their heart over to Jesus as they followed Peter in heading out to the deeper waters…and deeper into faith.
Sometimes, the Lord makes preposterous proposals to us, too. He says things in His Word that don’t fit very well into our thick skulls. Some of the mind-boggling teachings from Scripture include the Trinity, the dual nature of Christ, the incarnation, the resurrection, free grace, and eternal life. Some folks think that these teachings are preposterous proposals that don’t make any sense. Well, they don’t have to make sense. They only have to be God’s Word and God’s will, and we say like Peter: “You say...I will.” He said it; we believe it; and that’s that. It’s that simple!
II. A Remarkable Reward
After the Lord’s Preposterous Proposal followed His Remarkable Reward. These fishermen netted a whopping catch. Their nets almost tore. Their backs almost broke. Their boats almost sank. God was saying in language that fishermen could understand that amazing things can happen when Jesus holds the keys to a heart.
It illustrated the truth that God never asks of us anything, no matter how costly, that He doesn’t return and reward us a hundred times over. The Twenty-third Psalm puts it in these words: “My cup runs over.” We can’t outgive God, no matter how hard we try. We ask God for a grain of sand, and He gives us a whole beach. We ask Him for a drop of water, and He gives us an entire ocean (minus the salt). God never simply gives just enough. He always overgives to those who trust in Him. He always gives far more than either we desire or deserve.
Let’s look at Peter’s response again: “He fell down at Jesus’ knees.” Peter had never done that to anybody before. Peter knew now that he was in the presence of the divine. Do you hear those keys again? He was passing them to Jesus as he sank to the ground in humility and said to Jesus: “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” Peter felt absolutely unworthy to be in the presence of the Holy One. Notice that now Peter addresses Jesus as “Lord” instead of “Master.” The encounter was no longer between the Carpenter and the fisherman but between the Savior and a sinner. Peter was confessing His sins to the One who forgives sin. He had surrendered the keys of his heart and life to the right person.
III. An Incredible Invitation
Now came the Lord’s Incredible Invitation to Peter: “Do not be afraid.” “From now on you will catch men.” Here’s God’s call to Peter to the full-time service of the Lord. It was an Incredible Invitation. If Peter thought it was exciting to catch so many fish, how much more of a thrill it would be to catch people for Christ in large quantity! With the great catch of fish, Jesus may have been giving Peter a symbolic picture and prelude to Pentecost when Peter stood up to proclaim the good news, and 3000 folks were baptized in one day. The keys Peter had surrendered to Jesus would now be in Jesus’ hands and would unlock doors for Peter, which would be much more critical than any Peter could have opened had he kept the keys.
Saints, surrender the keys of your heart and life to Jesus, and He will unlock incredible doors of opportunity you never knew existed, doors of peace, purpose, and provision. And it can begin right now. Jesus said to Peter: “FROM NOW ON you will be catching people.” Not later. Not someday. NOW! He is a “right now” Lord who calls for a “right now” faith. Anytime you are ready, He is anxious to begin. How about “right now?”
The response of Peter and his partners was instant. “When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.” If Peter had refused to turn over the keys of his heart to Jesus that morning on the seashore, we might never have heard of him again. But because Peter, James, and John surrendered their keys in obedience to Christ, the whole world knows about them. Their writings in the New Testament have caught hundreds of millions of people for Christ down through the ages in the gospel net.
Abraham Lincoln used to tell the story of a blacksmith who heated a piece of iron in a forge, thinking that he would make a horseshoe out of it. But then he thought of something else to make out of it and started hammering it that way. Changing his mind again, he began hammering another thing out of it. When he had hammered it so much in so many different ways that it was not good for anything, the blacksmith held it up in his tongs, looked at it in disgust, and thrust it hissing into a tub of water. As he did so, he observed, “At least I can make a fizzle out of it.” So many are doing that with their lives today because they haven’t surrendered the keys of their heart to the Lord. They are making a fizzle out of their lives. An Indian poet reminisced ruefully: “I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument, while the song I had intended to sing has remained unsung.” It’s hard to imagine sadder words. It is impossible to imagine those words being spoken by one who has surrendered the keys of his heart to Jesus.
How about us, Saints? Does Jesus hold the keys to our hearts? Have we surrendered them all to Him? Or are we still holding some of the keys back? How about the master key? Who holds that? The Master ought to have the master key, wouldn’t you say? Does Christ have the key to our wallet, bank account, and financial assets so that these resources are at His disposal in the proportion He deserves? Does Christ have the key to our appointment book or calendar so He can call upon our time freely in the service of others? Does Christ have the key to our abilities to use in ministry to others? Does Christ have the key to our devotional life so that we read our Bibles, attend Bible Class and church, and pray and meditate spiritually as He would like? Most importantly, does Christ have the master key to our hearts so that He completely controls our will, obedience, and trust? Peter, James, and John held nothing back. “They left everything and followed Him.” Surely there is more that each of us could surrender to Christ in our heart of hearts than we already have. As we give Him more control over our lives, He will return countless blessings and joys.
On the other side of a great door is a more Christ-like you, whom God still intends for you to become. As long as you hold the keys to your own heart in your own hand, you cannot unlock that door. But if you surrender them to Christ, He will open that door for you and amaze you at what He can make of you. So Saints, what’s it going to be? Will you keep wrestling for control of the keys, or will you entrust them into the hands of the Master Locksmith?
A book reviewer said of the great American novelist John Updike that at his best, he “stitches his stories into our skins.” The story of Jesus’ call to Peter on the beach at Galilee is one that we want God to stitch into our skins. There is no limit to what God can make out of us as we surrender more and more of the keys of our hearts to Jesus. His gracious love can take us to heights and thrills we have never dreamed of whenever we are willing to trust and love Him more.
Are you ready, Saints? He is. Pull your boat up on the beach, leave everything, and follow Jesus. Surrender the keys to your heart to Jesus and discover life’s grand adventure. So next time you ask, ‘Where are my keys?’ you already know the answer: The Lord has them. Amen.
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