A Different Kind of Invitation
An invitation has the power to change a life.
All of us are where we are because of an invitation. In fact, we could all probably tell our stories by just telling the stories of the invitations in our lives.
[Tweet “We are where we are because of an invitation.”]Maybe it was an invitation you said yes to & that opportunity changed your life for the better… or maybe you said yes to an invitation you should have said no to. And because you said yes to that invitation it has led you to deal with some negative consequences that have had a major impact on your life.
For many of us, we are where we are because at some point we said yes to the invitation of Jesus. As a group of people who consider ourselves followers of Jesus, it might be good to go back & look at the invitation Jesus gave to His first followers because I believe there’s something in the original invitation of Jesus for us too.
The 3 Invitations of Jesus
1 One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. 2 He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.
INVITATION #1: 3 Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.
INVITATION #2: 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”
5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” 6 And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.
8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” 9 For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. 10 His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.
INVITATION #3: Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!”
11 And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus. Luke 5.1-11
Peter and the Invitations of Jesus
Now this is the first time in Luke’s gospel we read about this guy named Peter. If you fast forward the story, just so you know, Peter is going to become one of Jesus’ closest followers. At the end, right before the cross, Peter will deny Jesus three times. But after Jesus is raised from the dead, Jesus & Peter are going to have a moment where Peter is reminded just how much Jesus loves him. Peter will go on to be a leader in the church & according to Luke, Peter actually preaches the first gospel sermon & literally thousands respond to his message, are baptized & the church begins.
So when you & I come to this moment, the beginning of the relationship between Jesus & Peter, there’s a LOT hanging in the balance in this moment.
It begins with Peter, a professional fisherman, being tired from a long day of work. Fishing, casting his nets hundreds of times, with little to nothing to show for it. Now they’ve pulled the boats up, left them on the shore because they’re too tired to deal with them right now, & they’re sitting close by trying to catch their breath & mend their nets because they’ll be right back at it tomorrow, trying to catch fish, trying to make a living.
Jesus sees the boat & He sees a ministry opportunity. He invites Peter to let Him use his boat to teach from. Peter didn’t have to say yes. In fact, what if Peter had simply been too tired, too annoyed from a long hot day of unproductive fishing, & what if Peter had said NO to Jesus?
But Peter says yes to this first invitation. And notice, Jesus’ first invitation isn’t to do anything extraordinary. Jesus’ first invitation to Peter is to simply use something he has for a short moment. For Jesus, its a pretty simple ask. For Peter, it’s a pretty simple yes.
Then Jesus offers his second invitation to Peter. He’s already built a little trust with Peter. Peter has heard him teach. I’m sure he was impressed. And Peter has let Jesus use his boat & that worked out ok as well. So Jesus invites Peter to go fishing.
Can you see Jesus smiling in the boat? Laughing at Peter & the other guys as they chase fish all over the boat & they marvel in utter disbelief?
Don’t you know Jesus is absolutely enjoying every minute of this? Fish flopping all around. The boat is starting to sink because of the great catch of fish. These soon to be disciples struggling in confusion with what to do next.
Jesus is probably thinking how glad He is to be human in this moment so he could experience this moment in this way. It’s the same joy any parent has when they get to shower blessings on their kids. And this invitation of Jesus wasn’t about anything Jesus wanted from Peter, it was about what He wanted for Peter.
It’s after Jesus invited Peter to let him borrow his boat for a few minutes to preach from, it’s after Jesus invited Peter to go out fishing one more time, it’s after these relatively simple invitations that Peter said yes to that Jesus then invites Peter to something more…
When Matthew told the same story, Jesus said…
“Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” Matthew 4.19
[Tweet ““Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” Matthew 4.19”]The Invitation of a Lifetime
Right here in this moment, Peter says, “YES.”
And the invitation that Jesus offered to Peter is the same invitation that Jesus is offering you today.
My question is, have you accepted the invitation of Jesus? Not just part of it. All of it.
I think a lot of us have heard the first part of the invitation, when Jesus says, “Come follow me,” and to that part of the invitation we say, “Yes.” At some point many of us were so convicted by what Jesus did FOR us that just like Peter we too wanted to say yes to following Jesus.
We wanted to say yes to being a disciple of Jesus. A follower of Jesus. We wanted a relationship with Jesus. We wanted to learn from Jesus. And we even wanted to be more like Jesus in every way. So when we heard Jesus say, Come follow me, we said, “Yes!”
But there’s a SECOND part of the invitation… did you hear it? The invitation of Jesus isn’t just an invitation to be a disciple. It isn’t just an invitation to be a follower. Jesus said, “Come follow me… from now on you’ll be fishing for people!”
[Tweet “A life of following Jesus is both a life of following & a life of fishing.”]A life of following Jesus is both a life of following & a life of fishing. It’s a life of receiving an invitation to follow but it’s also a life of inviting others to follow.
You were never invited just to be invited, you were invited to be an inviter. And here’s the thing, you don’t know what hangs in the balance for someone who Jesus wants you to invite into the Kingdom of God.
For you & I to understand what Jesus is calling us into, that we are the body of Christ, called to Live different, to INVITE people to come together, this is a HUGE part of the mission & vision & ministry of Jesus!
[Tweet “You were never invited just to be invited, you were invited to be an inviter.”]You don’t know what hangs in the balance for someone.
Your invitation has the power to change a life. You were invited to be an inviter.
