Testing vs Temptation

Text:  Genesis 22:11-13:  11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."  12 He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."  and Mark 1.  13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.  INTRODUCTION: My dear Friends in Christ, The movie "Rent-a-Kid" starring Leslie Nielson has an opening segment that shows a dream sequence. [Video]  Little Molly is an orphan who just gets adopted. Her new family is extremely wealthy and has everything a child could want materialistically speaking. They even have their own merry-go-round in the house. The new parents tell Molly she can have anything or go anywhere in the house she pleases. She's just not allowed to go into this one room. It's off limits! Molly let's curiosity get the best of her and opens the door. On the other side she finds it is an exit to the outside with her new parents standing by a car waiting to take her back to the orphanage. Her parents are taunting her with phrases about how she just couldn't listen and do what she was told. It's back to the orphanage as she screams and then wakes up. Here we see both a temptation and a testing.  Over-all it’s a test, but opening that door when told not too is a temptation. But sometimes it is hard to distinguish between temptation and testing.  One way to distinguish the difference, for our purposes, is to note who’s doing the tempting or testing and the purpose of the tempting or testing.
I. First let us look at testing
	A. When God told Abraham to offer up his only son on Mt. Moriah as a sacrifice, He wasn’t tempting Abraham to sin, He was testing him. So God tests.
		1. And it’s for His purposes and for Abraham’s good.
			a. The first thing God tells Abraham to do is "Take your son," Isaac is the focal point. And that's the problem. Isaac was not only Abraham's pride and joy, Abraham had begun letting his love for Isaac push his love for God out of the center of his life. And if God was going to raise up a great nation through Abraham, then God had to remain the central focus in Abraham's life.  b. You could look at it like this: Many years ago some missionaries were going into a remote corner of Africa to work with a primitive tribe. The missionaries were uncertain about how they would be received, so they decided to give the tribe a gift as a sign of goodwill. As they flew over the area a bright, shiny new plow was parachuted down to the tribe. The plow would help the natives as they farmed. At least that was the missionaries’ intent. They were unprepared for what they found a few days later when they arrived at the encampment. The natives had never seen a plow before. They hadn’t a clue as to what this strange-looking instrument which had dropped out of the sky was used for. Not knowing what to do with it, they had put the plow on a pedestal and were worshiping it!  The plow was designed to help them farm. It was designed for use in the fields, not to be revered. But the members of that primitive tribe didn't know that, so the plow became an ornament, rather than a tool! God didn’t want Isaac to be an ornament, an idol.  He didn’t want to take second place. That would not be good for Abraham.
		2. .God was taking that Spirit-wrought faith which is reckoned as righteousness and putting it through the refining fire to show Abraham and all of us what it means to trust God’s promise.
			a. The harder the test got for Abraham, the more he focused on the promises of God. b. This text is really not about what you must do to strengthen your faith, but about what God has done so that your faith might be strengthened; c. The Lord puts our faith to the test and then he strengthens our faith in his promises and all this is done out of love.
	B. .And with testing there’s always comes a way out. God isn’t into breaking faith but building it.
		1.. For Isaac the way out was a ram caught in the thicket-- A substitute sacrifice.
			a. This is the Jesus-point. That’s where all of God’s testing of faith, in all the trials and pains and sufferings of this life are intended to bring us, to the Jesus-point. b. “God will provide,” faithful Abraham said. God did provide.
		2. The Lord who gave Abraham a strong faith strengthened that faith. The Lord further strengthens Abraham’s faith by providing a ram that he could use for the sacrifice.  He took the ram and offered it to the Lord in the place of his son Isaac.  He also called that very special place, “The Lord Provides.”
II. And we are brought to see that there is a vast difference between testing and temptation.
	A. God tempts no one. James is clear on that, and we need to be clear on that too (James 1:12-18). God does not dangle sin in front of our eyes and then dare us to disobey. That’s the work of the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh.
		1. Temptation begins with desire, the heart unbuckled from God. The heart that does not “fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”  The heart that is self-curved in on itself. Desire births sin, and sin matured gives birth to death. But don’t blame God for that. It’s in you.
				a. And the result is like what happened when they were renovating the Queen Mary. This gracious old vessel was the largest ship to cross the oceans when it was launched in 1936. Through four decades and a World War this ocean liner served its owners well. Then it was retired to Long Beach, California where it is anchored as a floating hotel and museum. During its conversion to its present status, its three massive smoke-stacks were taken off to be scraped down and repainted. But on the dock these massive pieces of steel crumbled. Actually that is not quite true. There was nothing left to crumble. Nothing was left of the 3/4 inch steel plate from which the stacks had been formed. All that remained were more than thirty coats of paint that had been applied over the years. The steel had rusted away. b. Is that not an analogy of what happens to some people's character? They give into temptation time and time again, until their inner moral fiber is eaten away.
		2. Subjected to temptation, we daily sin much.
				a. You are tempted. Some temptations you identify, fight tooth-and-nail, and still give in. b. Others come so naturally that you've sinned before you know it, or perhaps don't know it.
	B. And we are brought to realize that Jesus does not endure and resist temptation to set an example, to show us that it can be done. Too often this is how this text is preached: "Jesus did it, so can you."
		1. But born in sin and constantly plagued by the devil, the world and our sinful flesh, there is no way that we can resist temptation perfectly.
				a. If the point of Jesus' temptation is that we must perfectly imitate Him to be saved, then we will only find despair. We can't do it. b. That's why Jesus did it for us, and gives us the credit for His perfect work.
		2. He does this on the way to the cross, where He sheds His blood for us; and by His death our lives are won. Now, the Father looks upon His repentant people and says, "When I look upon you, I don't see your sins-the many times you gave into temptation and followed the devil's whispers. I don't see any of that because My Son has switched with you. He's taken your load of sin onto Himself, and He's given you the credit for His resistance to temptation. You're forgiven, because I see no sin on you."
III. So the answer to both testing and temptation is… Jesus.
	A. First there’s a parallel between what God does and with our OT text because what Abraham almost did in his offer of his only son on Mt. Moriah is exactly what God Himself would do on Mt. Calvary.
		1. And the parallel goes further.  Abraham saddles a donkey for the journey...Jesus rides a donkey toward Jerusalem and the cross. Abraham takes two men, his servants, with them...Jesus is placed between two men on Golgotha. Abraham laid the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac...the cross was laid upon Jesus for Him to carry. It was a three-day journey to Mt. Moriah...Jesus was in the tomb until the third day. Abraham bound his son to the wood upon the altar...God’s Son was bound to the altar of the cross. 2. And yet no angel called from heaven to put a stop to Jesus’ sacrifice. No ram was offered up as a substitute in place of Jesus. Instead, Jesus was offered up as the Lamb of God as the substitute for you. “Where is the lamb?” Isaac asked his father as they journeyed together. The answer is seen as Jesus bows His head and dies. He is the Lamb. He is the one who is sacrificed for Isaac, for you, and for every sinner
	B. And second in our Gospel Jesus is tempted. Jesus takes our humanity in its most weakened state – hungry, thirsty, alone, vulnerable – and faces the full blast of our temptation, He emerges victorious.
		1. He conquers in weakness, not strength. The secret power of the cross is revealed here.
				a. This Jesus conquers the devil’s might with strength hidden in weakness, in total reliance on the Word. b. God, who spared Abraham’s son, did not spare His own Son in order to save you.  So Jesus resists temptation for you, so that He might give you the credit for His work.
		2. The Gospel includes the joyous truth that Jesus gives you His righteousness even as He takes away your sin: so when God looks at you, He sees you as His holy child.
CONCLUSION:  There will be times when you must walk as Abraham did for those three days, trusting and obedient to God’s Word even when it seems to make no sense at all. He may be testing us to strengthen our faith.  There are times when we are like that little girl who did not resist temptation and her conscience kept on saying “it’s your fault.” But you know that in either case the Lord is with you. You know that He has delivered us. You know this because you know that Jesus resisted temptation for us.  And God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up at the cross for our redemption. He is the Lamb whom God provides to save, who took our place on the cross and for His sake we are forgiven all of our sins.  Amen.

TITLE: Stay in the Water by Pastor Lohn Johnson

Text:  Mark 1:24-26 24 "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are- the Holy One of God."  25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!"  26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.

INTRODUCTION: My dear friends in Christ, When the movie, “Jaws,” was released some years ago, it had the effect of keeping people out of the water.  A number of vacationers changed their plans that summer.  Instead of traveling to the   oceanfront, they traveled inland, well away from “shark-infested” waters. This is why: [Video] Jaws was a scary movie, but the horror of it was largely erased by avoiding those places where the great white shark lived.  If today’s text, on the other hand, was made into a movie (and it has been somewhat with exorcism films), viewers would be haunted by nightmares and there would be no escape.  To avoid sharks, one must simply stay on dry ground; but where does a person go to avoid the horror of demons?  Hollywood knows this, and that’s why some of the scariest films ever made have to do with demon-possession.

I. A man in Capernaum was plagued by such a possession.

       A. He came to the synagogue where Jesus was teaching and he began to mock Him:  “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?”  It was the demon speaking.

           1. No one caught this scene with a video camera, but if someone had, we would be just as amazed as the people there were.  The exorcism was performed in front of them all.  “Be silent,” Jesus commanded the demon, “And come out of him!”

          2. And this scene would forever be etched in our nightmares—as the demon obeyed, it convulsed the man’s body twisting him into something which looked unhuman, and with a scream, enough to curdle your blood, the demon came out of the man and flew off looking for another body in which to live.

      B. Which brings us to you and me. As unsophisticated as it may sound to our ears, the devil is still alive and well today, a roaring lion or maybe even like a prowling shark, looking for someone to devour. He’s real (not like this): [Video: Fake Shark]  But He’s on a leash now and restrained.  But that doesn’t mean he can’t work great mischief. And the greatest mischief he can work is unbelief, doubt, despair.

         1. And if Hollywood got their hands on this particular text, the haunting questions they would be leaving the theater with would be:  “Am I next?  Is there a demon looking for me?  Where can I hide?  Where can I go for safety?”  Hollywood may create the questions, but the Christian Faith gives us the answers.

            a. It may sound a little strange to your years, but you need to go into the water.  To avoid great whites, Jaw’s moviegoers stay out of the water; [Video: Jaws 3] but to be safe from demons, into the water is exactly where we must go.

           b. It may have been long ago for many of you, but your Christian parents brought you to that very water when you were baptized.  We were helpless, just like the man in Capernaum.  Satan had his way with him, and he also had charge over us.  Demon-possession is not something that the people in Capernaum ran to the local drugstore to find a cure for.  No one could master the devil then, and none of us today can either.  In some ways it’s like this: [Video: Bigger Boat] When Jesus cast out the demon in Capernaum, the people saw in Him the power and authority of God.  He had the bigger boat.

       2. But at a time not that long after our text it would look like he had no authority when He was dragged like a fish out of water to a hill called Golgotha and nailed there upon a cross for you.

           a. But Jesus’ death on the cross is the exorcism of the world. It has all the same marks of an exorcism. You might even picture it this way: Jesus was going around collecting all the unclean spirits, as well as all the diseases, the maladies, the death everything and drawing them all into Himself so He could take them into His death.

           b. And because He did this on your behalf; and because He rose triumphantly from the dead; and because He now lives within His Word and Sacraments for you, there is forgiveness for you. He put into the waters of Baptism what we get out—forgiveness and life.

II. And for that same reason your Christian parents brought you to the water of baptism because Jesus is in that water with the power of God destroying the works of the devil.  “He (Jesus) delivered us,” writes the Apostle Paul, “From the domain of darkness.”  In your baptism, Paul goes on, “He disarmed ‘Satan.’”

       A. You belong, not to the devil, but to Christ for this reason—you are baptized in Christ Jesus.   You do not need to fear demon-possession.  Jesus, within the water of baptism, has claimed you for His own, and His power is greater than the power of the devil.

       B. Why then do we foolishly venture out of the water?  In Jaws, after the shark claimed a victim, no one dared to leave the safety of the beach…at first.  But then when the danger appeared to be over, a few, and then many swimmers went back into the ocean.  And you can guess what happened.  The great white soon claimed more victims.

          1. For Christians it’s just the opposite.  Our safe haven is in the water.  To leave the water is not brave…it’s foolish.   We would have an easier time battling a great white shark than doing battle with Satan.

            a. As a shark never stops to rest, so the devil never stops seeking you and me.  His jaws are always open to devour us.

            b. He never shows himself to us.  He remains hidden in the guise of temptation so that we leave the safety of our baptism and walk foolishly into his trap.

          2. You and I do that when we bite and devour each other with our angry words; when we see after our own will rather than Christ’s will; when we hold a grudge and refuse to forgive those who hurt us or our loved ones; when we live as though God’s Word did not matter.

            a. When you and I neglect the Lord’s body and blood we put ourselves in danger of walking away from our baptism.

            b. Our Savior urges us to partake of His Sacrament often because through bread and wine He enters us in order to fight against the works of the devil for us.

            c. To pass up the privilege of coming to worship, over and over again, puts one in danger of walking away from their baptism.

        3. But our life should be like this:

               One pastor tells a story of something that happened to him many years ago during the Korean War. The pastor was aboard a flight from New York to Los Angeles. The flight attendant seated a girl in her early twenties beside him.  Obviously this girl had never flown before. Over the loudspeaker, the flight attendant said, “Fasten your seatbelts.” The girl didn’t even know what a seatbelt was.

               The Pastor helped her and asked, “You’ve never flown before?”

She said, “No, this is my first time.” As he spoke to her, she opened her pocketbook, and there was a picture of a handsome young GI.  The pastor said, “You’re going out to see him?” “Yes,” she said, “he’s coming home. I’m going to see him.”

She went on to explain that they had gotten married a year and a half before. They had a honeymoon of just a few days, then he had gone to the coast and left for Korea. Now he was coming back home; she was going to see him. The pastor could tell that going to see her husband meant more to this young woman than anything else. He was her bridegroom; she was his bride and she was going to see him. Later the pastor said, “You wonder sometimes why Christians live as they do and make the choices they make. They are on their way to see their bridegroom, yet they go right out and live in the world as though it made no difference in their life at all.”

And that’s true, isn’t it? One day we are going to see the Bridegroom, our Lord and Master. “Man does not live on bread alone,” Jesus says, “But by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”  The words, the forgiveness of Christ given here are life itself, and are your safe haven.

III. Fish are born in water and they live in water.  How foolish for a fish to jump out of the water onto dry ground.  It will die unless someone puts it back into the water.

      A.  And so with us.  Christians, like fish, are born in baptism’s water.  We live in that water within Jesus’ church.

         1. To stop hearing His words and partaking of His body and blood is to jump out of the water.  It’s to reject our baptism.  It’s to part ways with our Savior.

         2. And then like a fish out of the water, we are easy prey for the devil.  We will die unless our Lord, through a parent, or a Christian friend, or a church member or pastor, puts us back into the water.

     B. Jesus knows full well that you and I often give in to Satan’s temptations; that we do not daily live as His dear possession; and that we struggle with guilt because of this.

        1. So we are called to never forget we are like fish in water.  As fish swim in a lake, the water is full of life for them.  With every gulp of water that goes in and then out through their gills, life-giving oxygen enters them.  Fish live within this rich water.  Wherever they go in the lake they are always immersed in and surrounded by this life-giving water.

      2. This is like our lives within the church.  As lake water is full of oxygen for fish, so our baptisms are full of forgiveness for us.  As fish take in oxygen from the water, so our ears, week after week, take in Jesus’ life-giving words and our mouths takes in His precious flesh and blood.

CONCLUSION:  Yes, Jesus is your Savior.  He is life and salvation for you, and He urges each and every one of us to remain and abide with Him in the water.  So remember who you are—you are possessed by Jesus, through baptism, out of grace and mercy toward you.  You are His fish, living in His water, within His church, where there is always forgiveness and life for you.  Amen.

God is Calling us to Fish

Title: God is Calling us to Fish By Pastor Lohn Johnson
Text:  Mark 1:14-20 14  Jesus came into Galilee, …  saying, “ … the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."  16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.  17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men."   INTRODUCTION: My dear friends in Christ, to me the movie Bruce Almighty is a modern day parable.  It’s totally unrealistic, but some of the scenes are great teachable moments.  One scene God calls Bruce.  But Bruce is reluctant.  Maybe a little like Jonah.  The movie captures the insistence of God’s call.  But we’ve got to ask to what did God call Bruce?  The movie shows that it was to answer his objection about how God was running things.  That’s not real.  God is not answerable to us. That’s not a good picture of God.  But it can illustrate the message of our text.  We are not called to what the movie god calls Bruce.  The calls in our text were to the Kingdom of God which was at hand and the calling message said “repent and believe the Gospel.”
I. So here we see that the call is by the Gospel to the Kingdom of God.
	A. So the call is by Gospel.  But what is this Gospel?
		1. (What it is not)  What do you think of this?: [Video Mighty Smiter]  Now I would have smote Bruce, and he deserved smiting.  But we all deserve the same.  But God did not smite.  God, the mighty smiter, chose to smite someone else, not us, not Bruce.  That’s the core idea of the Gospel.
		2. And notice that Mark does not define the Gospel in our text.  We’re supposed to know what he means.  And to know what he means the people of Mark’s day would have immediately turned to Isaiah 52.  That’s where the word appears – that’s where it is defined.
			a. Isaiah speaks God’s words: Isaiah 52:6-7  Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I."  7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, …, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns." So Isaiah tells us God is coming-bringing the Good News, the Gospel.   b. Then Isaiah tells us what God will do.  Isaiah 52:13  “13 Behold, my servant shall…be high and lifted up,...” Where else is God’s servant lifted up but on the cross.    c. Isaiah under God’s direction even describes what happened on the cross. 53:  4 Surely he has borne our grief and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted…. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;….  10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin,
		3. God had sent Jesus to fight and defeat that which causes our problems, that which had decimated us, that which has separated us from God, our sin.  God would smite his own Son instead of Bruce, instead of us.
	B. Now in this text Jesus was going into the battle.  He had been empowered by the Spirit in His baptism.  He had just come from defeating the devil in the wilderness.  He was beginning the mission to fulfill that “Gospel.’ He came to establish His Father’s kingdom through that Gospel.  But the Kingdom he would fight for and bring about was different than any other.
		1. The Kingdom of God was not a physical Kingdom, at least not yet.  Not some earthly Camelot; not some ideal dream earthly kingdom.  This Kingdom was to be a spiritual kingdom, first.  A Kingdom of allegiance to a new King.  A King who rules beyond this world yet in this world.  The King is Jesus.
			a. This was to be a Kingdom of now -- a kingdom of blessings.  Blessings not necessarily of material wealth and earthly power, but definitely including blessings of knowing God, of forgiveness and love given freely from God.   b. This was to be a kingdom of eternity.  It offers eternal life with God.
		2. And how could such a Kingdom be near?  Jesus shows that God is taking decisive action in mankind's history to bring about this Kingdom.  It is near because Jesus has come.  Jesus is bringing it about.
			a. And to bring it about Jesus lived a perfect life, a life without sin in the place of sinful men.    b. And as Isaiah had described it: Jesus was taken by sinful men and mocked, beaten and nailed to a cross to die.  While Jesus hung on that cross God smote Jesus for the entire load of sin of mankind.  Jesus died, abandoned by God.  He suffered Hell in the place of men.  He fought our battle and it looked like He lost.   c. But on the third day after His death, He rose from the dead – He was victorious for us.
II. But then we’ve got to ask “How does one become a citizen of the Kingdom?”  It’s simpler than we think: God calls us into that Kingdom with the Gospel.
	A. In our text Jesus is looking for soldiers for His Kingdom.  Here we see Jesus walking through a crowd – that area near the “Sea” of Galilee was crowded.  He intentionally picked four men.
		1. Jesus simply calls them by saying, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
			a. The four disciples in our text, Peter, Andrew, James and John are called by the Gospel.  They are called by Jesus' words, called by His message.  Jesus' words penetrated their minds and hearts and worked faith in them.  They became citizens of God's kingdom because of the faith that was created in them.    b. Their hearts were transformed, their allegiance was changed.  Instead of placing first importance on possessions, job and even family, God became of first importance.  The four disciples showed this when they dropped all and followed Jesus.  He gave them salvation because they were brought to believe the Gospel: the Gospel that God forgives them for the sake of Jesus.
			2. And later Peter and Andrew, James and John were to become apostles, ones sent with Jesus’ authority to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
			a. Jesus was weaving His own net, the dragnet of God’s kingdom that is cast to the ends of the earth and literally hauls everything ashore to be sorted out at the Last Day. Jesus was going to die and rise, and Peter and Andrew, James and John were going to follow Him, to be eyewitnesses of what He was doing, and to be sent by Him as His authorized representatives, the Twelve, the foundational pillars of His church and His holy ministry.   b. Simon and Andrew, James and John would have later understood it this way...to be a fisherman, you have to be in a boat.  The fish were out in the deep water.  To get at them you had to get into the boat.  The boat is Jesus’ church.  The boat is where the baptized who regularly, in faith, come to hear the words of Christ and receive His body and blood in the Sacrament--these are Jesus’ followers.  These are the ones who are in the boat.
	B. We’re called too.   Jesus’ net has come to us.
		1. We are as fish caught in the dragnet of the kingdom of God, a net woven out of Jesus’ own death and resurrection, and net in which we die in order to live.
			a. All fish struggle to get out of nets. And rightly so. The net means their death and doom. Our sinful self always goes with a struggle. Our sinful self doesn’t want to be netted, he wants to be “free” meaning enslaved to Sin and Self. But the believer in you knows that this is a Gospel net, a good news net, that leads not only to death but also to resurrection and life. Jonah illustrated it with his life. Jesus did it with His.  We have to die to our old life of selfishness, sin and are risen to a new life and be placed in Jesus’ boat, the church.   b. To be baptized to is have the call to discipleship spoken to us. “Follow me,” Jesus said to you in your Baptism. And there in the water you were caught in the net of God’s kingdom, caught by a love that will not let you go, caught in a death that means freedom and life.  And we are caught and placed in Jesus’ boat.
		2. And Jesus’ boat is no cruise ship.  It’s a fishing boat.  On a fishing boat everyone works.  There are many and various tasks to do, and not everyone does the same task, but everyone on the boat works in some way.  And so in Jesus’ boat--here in the church --there are many ways to serve.  And not all of us do the same task, but everyone works, everyone serves.
			a. It’s automatic.  When one follows Jesus, one will serve. If you are regularly hearing Jesus’ words; if you are always coming up for His Sacrament, Jesus will be at work in you and through you.    b. The best givers in any congregation are not those with the most money, but those who love to follow Jesus.  The best workers are not those who have the most time on their hands, but those who love to follow Jesus.  “Follow Me,” says Jesus.  That must come first to be a giver, a server, a fisher of men.
		3. So, my fellow fishers of men, how’s fishing?  Don’t lie. Be honest.  It’s frustrating, isn’t it?  The work, at times, can seem pointless.
			a.  “Why do I never seem to get results?”  We follow, we work, we serve...where is the reward for all this effort?  “I have invited my loved one, my friend, but they always have an excuse.  Why can’t I catch that fish?”  “I do serve in Jesus’ church, and no one seems to notice.  I’m not much appreciated.”   b. But we’re frustrated because we’ve turned it around and put an “I” in there. Friends, Jesus calls us to be fishers of men, not catchers of men.  We do the fishing...He does the catching. Like Philip, who we saw last week we say, “Come and see” --See Jesus.    c. In whatever way you serve--hanging up a banner here in church, counting money, singing in the choir, singing from the pew, bringing your children to church with you, living your Christian faith at school, being a Christian example at work--God does not require us to get results; He requires us to be faithful.  Fishing is no easy task.  A fisherman can sit in his boat all day and get only a few nibbles.  Fishing in Jesus’ boat also takes patience.  It takes simple trust in His promises.  He promises to provide the results--the results He wants--in His own time.
CONCLUSION: Bruce was called by the movie’s god.  We are called by the Gospel – called by the news that God smote Jesus instead of us.  That gospel is like a net.  It captures fish, and drags them into the Kingdom, a Kingdom where Jesus reigns now and for eternity.    Peter, Andrew, James and John would have seen the nets dragging the fish into the boat, the church (often tied to the Kingdom of God).  The Church is a working boat.  In that boat we follow Jesus.  In that boat we serve as we have been served.  Now we live a new life dedicated to our Savior.   In that boat we are fishers of men, a sometimes frustrating job, especially when we look at ourselves, at our results.  But we are called to look to Jesus, to be faithful.  He will provide.  Amen.