Session 3
Sermon Script
Throughout this retreat, we’ve been reflecting on what it means to “Be A Friend” by looking at Jesus’ relationship with his disciples. Jesus reached out to his disciples. He called them his friends, not his servants. Jesus served his disciples. He demonstrated his love by washing their feet. So, we tried reaching out and serving one another in our own way.
Being a friend has less to do with deciding who will be your “friend”. It has more to do with deciding how you will relate to the other. When you relate to others with love, care and respect, you are being their friend – even if you may not consciously think it. That’s the kind of friendship we need more of in this world.
There was one more thing that Jesus did for his disciples. He reached out. He served. And he did something that any good friend would do. Jesus BELIEVED in them. This was what he said right after he called them his friends—
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
John 15:16
Notice how Jesus doesn’t say “I now choose you”. He says, “I chose you”. It’s in the past tense. He had already chosen them. He “appointed” them, which means he chose them specifically for a purpose. Because he believed in them.
When someone chooses you, it empowers you. It boosts your confidence and self-esteem. Why? It tells you that the other person sees something special and valuable in you. It tells you that they believe in your potential to grow and become a better person. That’s what Jesus did for his disciples. But this wasn’t the first time. He already chose them three years before, when he first met them by the lake where they were fishing.
Luke tells the story beautifully in his Gospel. He captures details that the other Gospel writers don’t mention. I want us to read it together, bit by bit.
One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
Luke 5:1-3
What do you see Jesus doing? He gets into Peter [Simon]’s boat. His personal space. He steps into Peter’s life. He was reaching out even then!
Jesus didn’t get into Peter’s boat just for his own convenience. See what happens right after—
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
Luke 5:4, 5
Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
Jesus saw how tired and discouraged Peter was. Peter experienced failure and disappointment. When Jesus tells him to let down the nets again, Peter responds with hesitation and reluctance. He doesn’t think it will do much. But he still does it, since Jesus said it.
When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
Luke 5:6-10a
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Contrary to what he expects, Peter experiences a miracle. He simply follows what Jesus says, and this happens. He becomes overwhelmed by it all. He feels completely undeserving of all the fish he caught.
Jesus could have left right after that. That could have been the end of his interaction with Peter. But he doesn’t.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Luke 5:10b-11
The miraculous catch of the fish was only a preview of things to come. Jesus told Peter, “You will fish for people.”
What does that mean? “You will do greater things than what you’ve been doing.” “Your life will be more than just catching fish every day.” “You will make a difference in people’s lives.” “You will now start living the life you were meant to live.”
Jesus believed in Peter. Jesus chose Peter (and the other disciples) for that reason. He saw something in the ordinary, uneducated fishermen. Jesus showed Peter a NEW possibility for himself and his life.
That’s what a friend does. A friend believes in the other person – to the very end. A friend opens their eyes to see a new possibility about themselves and their life. In doing so, a friend gives them HOPE about their future.
However, in the three years that followed, Peter and the disciples often lost sight of what Jesus had told them. Many times, they were overcome by their doubts and insecurities. They felt small and incapable. They ran away whenever they felt stressed and scared. There were times when they lost sight of why they were following Jesus in the first place.
So it was important for Jesus to remind them again, as a friend, that he still had FAITH in them. That he had called them from the beginning for a reason. That he had confidence that they will go and bear fruit for others. He said this as he was nearing the end of his time with them. Everything was coming to a full circle.
Even when we don’t believe in ourselves, God believes in us. God believes in us like a friend. God believed in us before we were even born.
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
Jeremiah 1:5
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.
That’s why God never gives up on us. Because God has faith in who we are and what we can become.
When we are discouraged, insecure, and even hopeless, God brings his word of hope into our lives. Jesus came to us in the flesh to show us that. So that we can break through the lies and the voices that put us down, and find our confidence in God. When we believe in what God says, we change.
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
John 14:12
In the same way, the greatest thing you can do for someone is what God has done for you in Jesus. That is, to believe in them. Have faith in them, no matter how many times they stumble.
Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being
Goethe
Help them see what they couldn’t see before. Empower them to be the best that they can be. Be a friend to them.
That’s why we need each other. All of us struggle with our insecurities. All of us go through our life being scared and afraid, focusing on why I can’t do this and that – like Peter when he first met Jesus. We can face and rise above these challenges by speaking a word of hope and encouragement into each other’s life.
This word of hope we share always comes from God. The word we try to speak on our own has no power. It’s like a band-aid we try to put on a wound. God’s word, on the other hand, has power. It has the power to heal and lift up the other person’s spirit. It has the power to open their eyes. God will always give us the word to speak.
That was what Peter (and John) later did in their life. There’s a story I like very much in Acts. I referred to it at last year’s March retreat too. It’s the story of a beggar at a temple gate. He was born crippled and lay begging at the temple gate. He lived much of his life being ignored and pitied by others. But this is what Peter and John did for him—
Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
Acts 3:4-6
Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
Peter had nothing to give to the beggar. He simply gave him his attention. He spoke a word of hope to him. He believed that the beggar can stand strong and walk. He then helped him up. The story says that “the man’s feet and ankles became strong.” The beggar started walking and went into the temple to rejoice. Peter and John changed the beggar’s life by being his friends.
Hi-C, being a Christian is more than saying, “I’m a Christian.” It is more than reading the Bible. It is more than going to church every week. These are all important, but it’s much more than that.
Being a Christian is being a follower of Jesus. Being a follower of Jesus is being his WITNESS. Being a witness is to be a FRIEND. That’s what God calls you to be.
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