Second Presbyterian Church

"When the Prognosis Is Guarded:
Preaching From the Gospel of Luke"
March 7, 2004

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Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2004 » Sermons for March 2004 » Sermons from the Series on Luke

#13 in the Series on Luke
The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Isaiah 6: 1-7
• Luke 5: 1-11

During my clinical training as a pastoral psychotherapist we had to learn how to conduct an initial interview and to write up an assessment of the clients that we were seeing. We had to write about the presenting problem, appearance, demeanor, personal history, a tentative description of the psychodynamics, a diagnosis, and lastly write a prognosis and why.

The prognosis was one's "learned opinion" concerning the outcome of the psychotherapy. What mattered was not necessarily how severely the person was suffering. Rather, what really mattered was how motivated was that particular person to go through the long, involved process of self-examination. How motivated was the person to enduring the discomfort that came with looking at his past so that he could allow the pain of the past to diminish and free him to get on with his life?

When the person was impatient and wanted a quick fix, then the prognosis for improvement was guarded; it was not good. When the person was sick of the suffering and aware that 1) the situation took time to develop and that 2) it would take time to correct, then the prognosis greatly improved. A client who was willing to spend the time, money and personal effort to get better usually had an excellent prognosis, or chance of becoming significantly better.

Our passage this morning is a setting by the Sea of Galilee in which Jesus called Simon Peter, James and John to be disciples. According to the text they seemed to have agreed immediately and left everything to follow Jesus. Our passage about the call of Isaiah to become a prophet seems similar to me in that both Isaiah and the Disciples were willing, even eager, to follow the Lord.

But it didn't begin so. Peter, James and John were tired. They had been fishing all night and had not caught any fish. It had been a wasted effort. Those of you who fish know what it is like. You can go to your favorite fishing spot and catch a bunch of fish. The next time, for no apparent reason, you can't even get a nibble.

The crowds were pressing at Jesus; he needed just a little more space. So he requested Simon to take him out, just off shore. There, Jesus sat down in the boat and taught the crowd. Again, in the days of Jesus the act of sitting down was the custom of teachers when they taught. When Jesus had finished teaching the people he turned to Simon and told him to go out into the deep water and let down his nets. Simon responded that he would, because Jesus asked him to do this, but that they had caught nothing after an entire night's fishing. In other words, Simon was telling Jesus that he would do it, but the prognosis for catching fish was guarded. If Simon were a betting man, he would have placed his money on empty nets, not a ton of fish.

Yet Simon obeyed Jesus' command. He cast his nets. And there were so many fish in the net that the other boat had to come out and assist in the catch. There were so many fish that both boats sank down to the gunwales.

At that point Peter got a sense that Jesus was the Messiah. "Get away from me, for I am a sinful man!" He might not have been totally conscious of it yet, for we are several chapters away from the confession Peter made when he and the other disciples were at Caesarea Philippi (Luke 9: 18-20).

Yet Peter's reaction was no different from Isaiah's reaction when he encountered the Lord in the Temple in Jerusalem. He said, "Woe is me, for I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips!" (Isaiah 6:5) Whenever a human being has a close encounter of this kind with God, he becomes very aware of just how sinful he is. This happened to Isaiah. This happened to Simon. This happened when we realized our need for redemption and asked Jesus to become our Savior.

We believe that we are good and righteous people. We have no idea just how unrighteous we are unless we meet the righteousness of God. Then at that point the truth is very clear. Our clean looks pretty dirty. Have you ever owned a white shirt? You wear it, you wash it, your wear it, you wash it. You then decide that you need a new white shirt. You go buy it, bring it home, and place it in the closet beside the other white shirt. Suddenly it strikes you just how dingy that old shirt had become. Compared to the new white shirt it looks yellow, dingy.

No matter how righteous we try to be, compared to the righteousness of God we are no better than a dingy yellow.

Simon felt very dingy yellow. For some reason this experience of catching fish at the command of the Lord made him realize just how righteous Jesus was and just how sinful he, Peter, was. "Get away from me, for I am a sinful man!"

Jesus said those very comforting words that are often said when a human meets God, "Fear not." God is always willing to comfort a person who is aware of his sinfulness. Jesus continued, "From now on you will be catching men." And the disciples; Peter, James and John; left everything and follow Jesus.

The bible says that they were astounded at the results of casting their nets. They were astounded at the amount of fish the Lord directed them to catch. It was enough to convince them to follow Jesus.

You realize, that any congregation's future, or prognosis can be guarded. Too often we look around us and don't see the fish in the sea. The sea is empty. There is nothing to catch. The prognosis is guarded; it is not good.

Here are some words of reassurance. It is not for us to worry about how many fish we catch. It is not up to us, as a congregation, to take responsibility to get results. All that is up to God. It is God who provides the opportunity for us to be fruitful. These are words of reassurance, because trying to take responsibility for how many fish we catch, or people we bring in, is like trying to control the weather. We cannot do it; we are not supposed to do it!

If it is up to us, then the prognosis is always, at best, guarded. So, what should we do? Two things we should do. They are simple to say and hard to do. First of all, we have to hear the call of Jesus to go and do whatever he calls us to do. Second, when we are clear that we have heard the call of Jesus, then we are to go out and do it, regardless of what we think the outcome will be, regardless of how guarded the prognosis seems to us.

Peter thought there would be no fish. He had fished all night. But he reluctantly obeyed Jesus. He couldn't get them all in his boat! Can we also listen for the call? Can we also take courage and faith and obey Jesus' call? I pray so. Because that is the only way we are going to produce results. It is the only way our prognosis can change from guarded to excellent.

The good news is this. God is in charge. It is He who calls us to minister. It is He who sees to it that results happen. All we have to do is listen and obey. Are you willing to do that? Are you willing to listen for the call of Jesus and to obey that call? I'm sure you will; I'm sure I won't be alone in this boat ride. Amen.

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.