Follow Me and I Will Make You: The Calling of Peter

Introduction

There are moments in life when you need a push. Some extra strength to cross a threshold, to rediscover the meaning of what you're doing, to move forward where you've been stuck. Where can you find that energy? Where can you find purpose?

This Sunday at Efficient Church, Toan LY TIN, a pastor in Montpellier and head of training at his evangelical church, came to share an encouragement for everyone who needs to move forward. He chose to walk us through Luke 5:1-11, the account of the miraculous catch of fish and Peter's calling. A passage he summed up with the title he gave his own message: "Follow me, and I will make you."

This isn't a call reserved for a few heroes of the faith. It's your call too. And it often comes at the moment you least expect it, when it feels like nothing is working.

Outline of the Message

1. When God saves you, he comes to save all of your life

When God meets you, he isn't only after saving your inner self, your spiritual life. He comes to restore, renew, and bring back to life everything that you are. And he also comes to give you back a purpose.

The passage in Ephesians 2:10 says it clearly: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them." Being with God flows very naturally into a doing with God. And it's that doing which gives your life meaning and direction.

Sometimes you need to hear (or hear again) God's call on your life. Psalm 23 shows God as a good shepherd and you as his sheep. Sometimes the sheep wanders off, sometimes it just lingers in the pasture. But the shepherd leads it, personally and together with the flock, guiding it by his voice. Hearing his voice. Hearing his call. That's what sets you in motion.

2. Jesus's look at Simon: "You will be Peter"

Toan LY TIN first traced Peter's journey with Jesus. Their first encounter is found in John 1:42: "He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, 'You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas' (which is by interpretation, Peter)."

Just a few words, but something powerful is happening here. "Jesus looked at him." The Greek means to look intently, to look right into someone. It's the same verb the Gospel uses later when the rooster crows and Jesus turns to look at Peter after his denial. A look that says a great deal. A look that sees past appearances.

With a single look, Jesus sees who this Simon is. He sees his life, he sees his future. Psalm 139 says God already saw us while we were being woven together in the depths. And John 2:25 notes that Jesus "himself knew what was in man."

That's good news for you: Jesus knows exactly who you are this morning. He hasn't changed. He knows you personally, beyond whatever you'd like to show. Toan LY TIN puts it with humor: "I can't disappoint Jesus, because he already knows exactly who I am."

And Jesus renames him. Naming someone is an act of authority. A Simon becomes a Peter. And this name is prophetic: in Matthew 16:18, Jesus will say, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly." When Jesus looks at you, he doesn't just see your past; he sees what he can make of you.

3. Between the encounter and the calling: that in-between we all know

What happens between Peter's first meeting with Jesus and his calling in Luke 5? If you read the Gospels quickly, you might think the two moments are the same. Not quite.

In Luke 4, just before this, Jesus spends the evening at Simon's house, heals his mother-in-law, and performs many miracles. In between, there was probably also the wedding at Cana (John 2). Simon Peter had started spending time with Jesus while still carrying on his life in Capernaum and his work as a fisherman.

Put in today's terms, says Toan LY TIN, it's as if Peter had started coming to church. As if he'd begun serving Jesus, welcoming him into his home, living like a Christian. But you can live a Christian life, serve Jesus, without ever having truly heard, deep down, what he's calling you to. His voice may have reached a certain level of your awareness without yet having set your whole life in motion.

4. Luke 5:1-11: the calling that comes at the moment of failure

Here's the passage, from the World English Bible: "Now while the multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets. He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.' Simon answered him, 'Master, we worked all night, and took nothing; but at your word I will let down the net.'" (Luke 5:1-11)

What follows is well known: nets breaking, two boats filled almost to sinking, Simon Peter falling at Jesus's knees and saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord." Then Jesus's words: "Don't be afraid. From now on you will be catching people." They bring the boats to land, leave everything, and follow him.

Notice the detail Toan LY TIN highlighted: Jesus addresses this call to Simon right when his life is bearing no fruit. He'd fished all night and caught nothing. It's in a moment of failure that Jesus chooses to call him.

That's deeply encouraging. In our failures, it feels like everything is over, like we've ruined everything, and all we want to do is hide. And that's precisely when God says, "You're ready to receive my word, which is going to launch you into the works prepared beforehand for your life."

5. The fruit comes from God, not from your own strength

This moment reveals an essential truth: the works God has prepared beforehand must not come from your own strength. They come from God working in you. Your talents, your energy, your help come afterward, in service of what God is doing.

Simon had fished all night, skillfully, with all his experience and know-how, and caught nothing. At Jesus's word, in broad daylight (the wrong time to fish), in deep water (the wrong place), the nets overflow. The fruit bursts forth like a promise: the fruit you'll bear with Jesus is on a completely different scale than what you produce by your own strength alone.

Our moments of failure are precious. Our illusions fall away. Our pretensions are exposed. Our heart is laid bare. And finally, finally, we can listen to God, who never stopped speaking to us.

6. The holiness of Jesus reveals your sin: and that's not bad news

Faced with the miraculous catch, Peter's reaction is surprising. He doesn't jump for joy. He falls to his knees, filled with fear, trembling. And he no longer calls Jesus "Master," he calls him "Lord." He's standing before the Lord, the holy God.

It isn't the quantity of fish he notices first: it's the quantity of his sins.

When you ask God to step into your life, to give you back momentum, to show you the way, one of the first things he does is show you the true state of your heart before him. Sin runs deep in us. We think we're doing fine, especially if we go to church and read the Bible. But these face-to-face encounters with God show us the real condition of our heart, so wretched, so quick to turn toward evil.

And that's where grace shows its full glory. Facing such a wretched person, Jesus Christ says: "I love you. I want you to come with me. Follow me, just as you are. I died on the cross so that all this sin, all this wretchedness would disappear, and so that God could fully forgive you, justified by my blood."

7. "Follow me": two words that sum up the whole Christian life

In Matthew 4:19 and Mark 1:17, we get the precise wording of Jesus's final words: "Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men." Peter's true calling (and yours) is contained in those two words: Follow me.

Those are the exact same two words Jesus will use again after Peter's denial, to restore him, in John 21:19: "Follow me."

Toan LY TIN quoted the German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who wrote on this passage during the Nazi era: "Follow me, walk behind me, that is all. It is bare of all content. It is not a program for life, an ideal to be striven for. It is not a cause. Follow me." Following a person. That's the heart of the Christian life.

It isn't about dropping everything to go become a hermit in the mountains. It's a priority of the heart: putting the one who calls you first, recognizing him as Lord. Peter was serving Jesus, had lent him his boat, but wasn't yet following him fully. You can be a Christian and not truly be walking where the Lord is waiting for you.

8. Three invitations for today

At the end of his message, Toan LY TIN offered three practical steps.

a) Simply believe that God is calling you. It's one thing to believe God calls people; it's another to believe God calls you, because he knows who you are, because you're precious to him, because he has a plan for your life and specific purposes for you.

b) Don't stay stuck in an in-between. Don't settle for a life you judge to be good enough: I go to church, I read the Bible, I have good values. When you read the Gospels, you see just how great, strong, and magnificent God's call is. We're called to a magnificent life. Whatever your past, whatever your story, God is able to make your life magnificent for his glory. There's so much more. And since God doesn't force himself on you, it's up to you to want to move forward with him.

c) Fear God. Ecclesiastes 12:13 concludes: "Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." Toan LY TIN paraphrases: "Jesus, that's the whole of the Christian life." It's only in that fear that pride steps back, that spiritual understanding opens up, and that your heart becomes ready to hear the voice of God.

9. "Follow me and I WILL MAKE you": he's the one who does the making

The preacher's last remark, and perhaps the most freeing one. It isn't about taking your calling into your own hands. It isn't about becoming someone by yourself.

Jesus says, "Follow me, and I will make you." I, who saw in you not a Simon but a Peter. I, who, better than you know yourself, will make you into who you're meant to be. Your responsibility is to hold on to following him day after day, faithfully, as best you can. He'll do the rest.

It's a disposition of the heart, a positioning in your life. When you do that, the way opens up. Some doors close, because they weren't the right ones. But the real doors open, and you move forward.

Peter is remarkably encouraging on this point. You can't do worse than he did: denying his Lord three times. And yet Jesus lifted him back up and led him fully into his calling. If your heart is rightly positioned, you won't miss your calling to step into the works God has prepared for you.

Key Takeaways

1. When God saves you, he comes to save all of your life, and he has already prepared good works beforehand for you to walk in (Ephesians 2:10).
2. Jesus sees who you are and what he can make of you. He sees the Peter behind the Simon.
3. You can spend time with Jesus without fully following him. The in-between is comfortable, but it isn't your calling.
4. God often calls in the midst of failure. The moments when your nets are empty are the moments you're finally ready to hear him.
5. The fruit comes from him, not from your own strength. Your talents follow, they don't lead.
6. "Follow me": two words that sum up the Christian life. Following a person, not a program.
7. It's Jesus who makes you into who you're meant to be. Your part is to follow him; his part is to do the making.

Personal Application

Take a moment before God and ask yourself honestly:

1. Do I really believe God is calling me, personally? Or do I think his call is for other people?
2. Am I settling into a comfortable "in-between" (spending time with Jesus without truly following him)?
3. What recent "failure" might God want to use to call me into a new step?
4. What works am I doing by my own strength rather than by listening to his voice?
5. Concretely, this week, what would it look like to "walk behind him" instead of ahead of him?

Scriptures Cited

• Luke 5:1-11 · the miraculous catch of fish and Peter's calling (the central text of the message).
• John 1:42 · Jesus looks at Simon and renames him Peter.
• Ephesians 2:10 · the works prepared beforehand.
• Matthew 4:19 and Mark 1:17 · "Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men."
• John 21:19 · Jesus restores Peter: "Follow me."
• Matthew 16:18 · "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly."
• Psalm 23 · the good shepherd who leads his sheep by his voice.
• Psalm 139 · God sees us from the depths.
• John 2:25 · Jesus "himself knew what was in man."
• 2 Corinthians 4:6 · God makes his light shine in our hearts.
• Ecclesiastes 12:13 · "Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man."

FAQ

At what point in my life can Jesus call me?

Often, says Toan LY TIN, it's precisely in moments of failure, when your nets are empty, when it feels like nothing is working. Simon Peter had fished all night and caught nothing: that's the very morning Jesus called him. Our failures strip away our illusions, expose our heart, and finally make us ready to listen to the voice of God.

Is going to church and reading the Bible enough to really follow Jesus?

Not necessarily. You can spend time with Jesus, serve him, live like a Christian, without truly following him deep down. Peter hosted Jesus, watched him perform miracles, before actually leaving everything to follow him. The call to "Follow me" targets a priority of the heart: recognizing Jesus as Lord, walking behind him, and letting him lead your life instead of settling for a comfortable in-between.

How can I know if I'm really walking behind Jesus and not ahead of him?

The preacher offers a simple key: true fruit comes from God working in you, not from your own strength. If the fruit you bear is on a different scale than what you could produce alone, if your talents come in service of what God is doing rather than being your driving force, you're walking behind him. Jesus says, "Follow me, and I will make you." Your part is to follow him faithfully, day after day. His part is to do the making.