Because You Say So

A few years ago, our family took a trip to north Georgia to the Chattooga River to go whitewater rafting. We chose the package that included the class 5 rapids because we wanted to make a memory. Class 5 rapids are defined as “extremely difficult, long, and very violent rapids with highly congested routes, which should be scouted from shore. Rescue conditions are difficult, and there is a significant hazard to life in the event of a mishap.” Interestingly, that’s also a description of the Atlanta expressway system.

You’d think the most important person to me in that boat was one of the boys or Lisa. But they weren’t. The most important person was the young woman sitting behind us. She was our guide – a 21-year-old, self-described river rat. This is what she did for a living, every single day through the spring, summer and fall. She knew the river like a life-long friend.

She told us that if we would do exactly what she said, when she said to do it, for as long as she said to do it and not a second longer, we’d be fine. She even had us practice doing what we were told.

During the orientation – which is when you sign all the legal documents absolving the proprietors of responsibility in case you die during the upcoming adventure – I asked if anyone ever went down the river without a guide.

“Yes,” she said, “there are two kinds of people who do that – people who are, themselves, guides and people we pull out of the river – if we can find their bodies.” In other words, rafting a class five river is one of those places you can’t go without a guide.

There are lots of places like that. Space. Mountains like Everest and K2. Closer to sea level, the Australian outback. You can go there by yourself if you want, but something will eat you. Even certain monuments, museums and exhibits require a guide. It’s more of a time than a place, but today is one of the environments you really don’t want to try and navigate alone. Tomorrow is that way, too.

There’s a story in Luke 5 that connects just here. Jesus is standing on the edge of the Sea of Galilee. That should tell you right off that something important is about to happen. Any time you run across a mountain, desert or water in the Bible, slow down. Those are the settings in which God usually does something awesome.

Jesus has just finished preaching from a borrowed fishing boat when he tells the fisherman, Simon, to put out into deep water for a catch.

You know what’s irritating? When someone who knows just enough about something to fit inside a thimble tries to tell someone who possesses a truck load of knowledge how to do something. That drives experts up a wall. Like if I tried to tell a rocket scientist how to rock it with solid propellants for the first stage, since they provide a higher impulse value for escaping Earth’s gravitational force, and liquid propellants, like RP-1 for the service module, because, duh. They’d be nice about it, probably, but I’d be immediately out of my depth.

That’s what’s happening in Luke 5. Jesus is a great teacher, but he does not know the first thing about fishing. Simon knows he’s not going to catch any fish in the middle of the day in the deep water. He’s known that since he was a boy. No one ever catches any fish when the sun is high and they never catch them far from the shallows. Jesus’ command makes no sense whatsoever.

But Simon does it anyway. Maybe it’s a fledgling faith. Maybe it’s just respect for Jesus. For whatever reasons, though, Simon says, “But because you say so.”

Can I just tell you that’s not a bad reason for obedience? I know your parents told you to obey because they said so. And you said it to your own kids even after you vowed you’d never say it. But this isn’t that. This is you and me voluntarily standing under the authority of Jesus and doing what he tells us simply because of who he is.

And let’s be honest; the things Jesus tells us to do don’t always make sense – until we do them. He even said it would be that way. If you hold to my teaching you really are my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free, (John 8:31, 32). Understanding often comes after obedience. That’s why they call it faith.

So Simon rows the boat out into the deep water, lets down the net and has to see a chiropractor the next day. Jesus apparently knows more about fishing than the professional fisherman. Of course he does. When this story opened, he was speaking the word of God. And the word of God is what created the world. What’s harder – creating a fish or catching one?

I don’t know what time of day you are reading this, but whether you are sitting there with your morning coffee or winding down for the night, the seconds, minutes and hours ahead of you are uncharted waters. You’ve never been there. But Jesus has. Even if it doesn’t make any sense, do what he tells you – just because he says so.