Winterfest 2005 was an awesome experience for our youth group. 5 of our students were baptized into Christ upon our return to Huntsville and several more experienced spiritual renewal as a result of our weekend in Gatlinburg. The weekend centered around the theme of “Master & Commander”. Central to this idea was the passage from Luke 5:10-11 that relates the call of Peter, Andrew, James & John. “Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.’ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”

I’ve often wondered if Peter & the boys had any prior knowledge of Jesus. Had they heard him preach & teach before this experience? The Gospel of John seems to give some enlightenment here, but Luke’s point is clear: Upon receiving their call, these lowly fishermen responded faithfully. They left EVERYTHING for the sake of the call. Family. Friends. Occupation. Matthew 4 paints the picture of Zebedee left standing alone in the boat, holding the nets, watching his sons as they chase after Jesus. I think it’s easy for us to sometimes lose sight of the radical nature of this act. These men were not acting prudently by following this new rabbi from Nazareth. They didn’t do the smart thing, the responsible thing. What loving son leaves his father & the family business to follow a stranger? Is that honoring your father, James? Is that honoring your family, John? And what of Peter’s wife? How was she to support herself if her husband becomes an out-of-work bum, content to hang around drunkards & tax collectors? Surely such thoughts entered into the minds of these would-be disciples and their families.

Yet, the text blows you away with it’s simplicity. I don’t know if Peter knew what he was signing up for when he got out of that boat and followed Jesus. I don’t know if there was some kind of allure about Jesus that made him irresistable to them. Isaiah 53 seems to make that rather unlikely. All I do know is what Scripture tells me: Peter left his nets, symbolic of his old life, and began an eternity-altering journey with the Savior. Aren’t we called to do the same? Doesn’t the call of Jesus on our lives demand that we leave behind our “old” selves and put on the character & Spirit of Jesus? Isn’t that what being a new creation is all about? Are you clinging to your nets? Are you content to remain safely in the boat? I’ll admit, the boat is familiar. It’s what we’ve known. And getting out of our comfort zones makes us vulnerable, even scared. But the call to discipleship is no less radical today than it was 2,000 years ago when four sweaty, smelly fishermen made themselves available to the working of God in their lives and in so doing, helped usher in the Kingdom of God.