Called to Be Workers for the Kingdom of God
Sunday Worship Service — August 23, 2026
Text: Luke 5:1–11

5

1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a] the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 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.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

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.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 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.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

In Luke 4:43, Jesus made a very important declaration:
“I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”
There are three important truths in this statement.
First, Jesus came to preach the good news of the kingdom of God.
Second, the good news of the kingdom of God was not intended for only one region or one nation, but for all people.
Third, this mission was not something Jesus created for Himself; it was the mission entrusted to Him by God the Father.
Immediately after this, Luke records Jesus calling Peter in chapter 5.
Why does Luke record the calling of the disciples as he describes Jesus’ ministry of proclaiming the kingdom of God?
The reason is that the proclamation of God’s kingdom was not intended to end with Jesus’ earthly ministry. Jesus chose and trained disciples and entrusted them with the mission of taking the good news of the kingdom to the world.
Today, I want us to look at how Jesus calls workers for the kingdom of God.
1. The Kingdom of God Begins with the Word
In Luke 4, Jesus demonstrated that the kingdom of God had already come through Him.
Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons. Because of this, the people of Capernaum wanted Jesus to remain with them.
But Jesus did not stay there.
Instead, He said:
“I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”
And Jesus left Capernaum and continued preaching the good news of the kingdom of God in other places.
Now, as we come to chapter 5, we again see Jesus teaching the Word.
Look at verse 1:
“The crowd was pressing around him and listening to the word of God as he stood by the Lake of Gennesaret.”
Why were the people coming to Jesus?
They came to hear the Word of God.
Luke is showing us that the kingdom of God comes to people through the proclamation of God’s Word.
Then why is the Word so important in the ministry of God’s kingdom?
Could Jesus not proclaim the kingdom simply by healing the sick and casting out demons?
No.
Healing and miracles can serve as signs that the kingdom of God has come. But the miracles themselves are not the gospel of the kingdom.
Healing a person’s body and making that person a citizen of God’s kingdom are not the same thing.
A person may be healed physically without becoming a citizen of God’s kingdom.
A demon may leave a person without that person necessarily submitting to Jesus as Lord.
The heart of the gospel is calling people to believe in Jesus Christ, the King of God’s kingdom, and to submit to His rule.
Therefore, the ministry of proclaiming God’s kingdom must always be centered on the Word of God.
Even today, we see ministries that emphasize healing, miracles, success, or extraordinary experiences.
People naturally want to be healed. They want their problems to be solved. And so they may be attracted to people who appear to have special spiritual power or the ability to perform miracles.
But if the ministry of the church becomes focused only on meeting people’s immediate needs, it may attract many people without truly revealing the kingdom of God.
Why?
Because the heart of God’s kingdom is not simply that our problems are solved. The heart of the kingdom is that sinners are reconciled to the holy God and become citizens of His kingdom.
That is why we must proclaim the gospel.
We must proclaim that Jesus Christ bore our sins, died on the cross, and rose again from the dead.
We must call people to hear that message, repent of their sins, and believe in Jesus Christ so that they may become God’s people.
Romans 10:17 says:
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
Faith that makes us citizens of God’s kingdom begins with hearing the Word.
Therefore, one of the most important ministries of the church is to faithfully and clearly proclaim the Word of God.
2. Jesus Calls Peter
After Jesus finished teaching, He said to Simon Peter:
“Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
Peter was a professional fisherman.
He had spent his life fishing on the Sea of Galilee.
Jesus, on the other hand, was not a fisherman.
Yet Jesus told Peter to go out into the deep water and let down his nets.
Peter answered:
“Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
Peter had experience.
He had spent the entire night fishing.
He knew that they had caught nothing.
Yet Peter chose to trust Jesus’ word rather than rely solely on his own experience.
He said:
“Because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
This is an important picture of faith.
Faith means trusting the Word of Jesus more than we trust our own understanding and experience.
Peter did not yet fully understand who Jesus was.
He had not yet seen the cross.
He had not yet witnessed the resurrection.
He had not yet experienced the fullness of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
But at this moment, Peter began to trust Jesus’ word more than his own experience.
And this became an important beginning of his calling.
3. God Calls Us in Ways We Do Not Expect
Peter followed Jesus’ word and let down the nets.
What happened?
“They caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.”
There were so many fish that even after filling the boats, the boats began to sink.
This is not simply a story about Peter catching a lot of fish.
Through this event, Jesus was revealing something about who He is to Peter.
At the same time, this story shows us how surprising and diverse God’s ways of calling people can be.
God can use unexpected circumstances in our lives to call us to Himself.
Some people come to God through illness.
Some encounter God through failure.
Some come to church because they are lonely and eventually hear the gospel.
Some come because a family member or a friend invites them.
Some come to church simply out of curiosity, and eventually become God’s people.
God can use all kinds of circumstances to bring people to Himself.
My own story is like that.
When I was a sophomore in high school, one Saturday afternoon a friend said to me,
“Jeungbok, there is a church where you can play table tennis for free. Come with me.”
So I went to church to play table tennis.
I had no idea that God would use something as simple as an invitation to a church to call me to Himself.
From that time until today, I have continued to be part of the church. And now I stand before you as a pastor, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.
Looking back, I realize that it was not simply an accident.
It was God’s calling.
Sometimes God comes to us in ways we never expected.
He may use an illness.
He may use a failure.
He may use a friend.
He may use loneliness.
He may use an ordinary Saturday afternoon and an invitation to play table tennis.
What may look like an ordinary event to us may be part of God’s extraordinary work of calling us into His kingdom.
And when we look back on our lives, we may discover that God was already working long before we realized it.
God calls people in many different ways, but ultimately He calls us to Himself through His grace and through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
4. Those Who Are Called by God Confess That They Are Sinners
The most important change that took place in Peter was not that he caught a great number of fish.
The most important change was that Peter began to understand who Jesus truly was.
Look at verse 8:
“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’”
What an extraordinary scene.
Jesus had just enabled Peter to catch an enormous number of fish. But Peter did not simply celebrate the great catch.
Instead, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said,
“Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”
Why did Peter respond this way?
Because Peter encountered the holiness of Jesus.
When we truly begin to understand the holiness of God, we also begin to see the depth of our own sinfulness.
We see the same thing in Isaiah 6.
Isaiah saw the Lord in the temple, and the angels were calling out:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
And how did Isaiah respond?
“Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips.”
When Isaiah saw the holiness of God, he also saw his own sinfulness.
The same thing happened to Peter.
As Peter experienced the power and holiness of Jesus, he became deeply aware of his own sinfulness.
So he said,
“Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man.”
Peter was not saying that he hated Jesus.
He was expressing his awe, reverence, and fear before the holy Lord, recognizing that he was unworthy to stand in His presence.
This is an important mark of genuine faith.
Two things belong together:
a reverent fear of God’s holiness and a love for God’s grace.
When we truly encounter God, we cannot simply say,
“I am a good person.”
Instead, we begin to confess,
“I am a sinner.”
I experienced something like this in my own life.
I began attending church when I was a sophomore in high school. After I returned from military service, when I was a junior in college, I was praying in the prayer room at church. As I sang the hymn, “My Heart Was Dark with Sin,” I came to a deeper realization of my own sinfulness.
I realized that I was not simply a person who had weaknesses or shortcomings.
I realized,
“I am a sinner before God.”
Looking back, I can see that God had already been calling me long before I fully understood His calling.
The same is true for us.
Those whom God calls eventually come to recognize their own sinfulness and learn to depend not on their own righteousness, but on the grace of Jesus Christ.
5. The Kingdom of God Advances Through Sinners
The world generally looks for capable people.
It looks for courageous people, talented people, experienced people, successful people, and people with strong leadership skills.
But God often works in ways that are very different from the standards of the world.
The people God uses are not people who boast about their own abilities.
They are people who recognize their weakness and sinfulness and depend upon the grace of God.
Think about Moses.
God did not choose Moses when he was living in the palace of Egypt and appeared to have influence and power.
Moses had left Egypt and had spent many years in the wilderness, working as a shepherd.
And it was there that God called him.
Moses responded by emphasizing his own inadequacy:
“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
But God chose to use Moses.
Why?
Because the power to accomplish God’s work does not ultimately come from human ability.
It comes from God.
Jesus also called Peter.
Peter had just confessed,
“Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man.”
And Jesus answered,
“Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”
Peter was no longer going to live simply as a fisherman.
He was now being called to become a worker for the kingdom of God, bringing people to Jesus Christ.
Therefore, when we appoint or recognize workers in the church, ability alone should never be our primary standard.
Can this person speak well?
Can this person organize things well?
Can this person attract a large number of people?
Is this person successful in society?
These things may be useful, but they are not the most important questions.
More important questions are:
Does this person recognize that he or she is a sinner?
Does this person understand the holiness of God?
Does this person depend on God’s grace rather than on his or her own abilities?
Is this person willing to obey the Word of Jesus?
God advances His kingdom through people who acknowledge their sinfulness and depend upon His grace.
This is one of the important differences between the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God.
6. We Must Respond to God’s Calling with Obedience
Look again at Luke 5:9–11.
Verse 9 says:
“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.”
Then Jesus says to Peter:
“Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”
And verse 11 says:
“So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”
What is important here is their response to Jesus’ calling.
Jesus called, and they followed Him.
Peter, James, and John came to a moment when they had to respond to Jesus.
Would they continue living as fishermen?
Or would they follow Jesus and become workers who proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God?
They chose Jesus.
Of course, this does not mean that they irresponsibly abandoned every responsibility in their lives.
It means that Jesus’ calling became the highest priority of their lives.
The same is true for us.
When God calls us, we must respond to His calling.
If God has called us to be His people, then we must live as His people.
If God has called us to proclaim the gospel, then we must proclaim the gospel.
If God has called us to serve His church, then we should serve His church with joy.
God’s calling changes the priorities of our lives.
7. Why Did Jesus Call the Disciples?
Finally, let us consider one of the most important questions in today’s passage.
If Jesus is God, why did He need to call disciples?
The One who began the kingdom of God, proclaimed the kingdom, and will ultimately bring the kingdom to its fulfillment is Jesus Christ.
When Jesus came into this world, the kingdom of God entered human history in a decisive way.
When Jesus bore our sins, died on the cross, and rose from the dead, He opened the way of salvation.
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit so that God’s people could become witnesses to the gospel.
And even now, Jesus reigns as King of kings at the right hand of God, ruling over His creation.
So why did Jesus call disciples?
It was not because Jesus lacked power.
It was not because He needed human assistance.
Jesus called disciples because He graciously chose to give His people the privilege of participating in the work of His kingdom.
This has been God’s way of working from the beginning.
In Genesis, God did not create millions of people all at once.
He created Adam and Eve and said to them:
“Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth.”
God began with one man and one woman, and through them humanity eventually filled the earth.
The same principle can be seen in the spread of the gospel.
Jesus did not personally appear to every person in the world and preach the gospel to each one.
Instead, He called a small number of disciples.
He taught them.
He sent the Holy Spirit to them.
And He sent them into the world.
The gospel began in Jerusalem, spread throughout Judea and Samaria, and eventually reached the ends of the earth.
And that same gospel has now reached us.
Think about this.
If Peter had not responded to Jesus’ calling to “fish for people,” the gospel would not have spread through Peter’s ministry in the early church in the same way.
The gospel that reached Peter eventually reached countless others.
And that gospel has now reached us.
The God who called Peter has also called us.
And He has given us the same mission:
“Fish for people.”
“Go and make disciples of all nations.”
This is the mission of the church.
Conclusion — Being Called Is a Privilege
Dear brothers and sisters,
Being called to be a worker for the kingdom of God is certainly a responsibility.
But it is also an incredible privilege.
It is not because we are capable of expanding God’s kingdom by our own strength.
It is because God chooses to use our small acts of obedience to accomplish His great purposes.
Like Peter, we are weak.
Like Peter, we are sinners.
We lack wisdom.
We lack strength.
We lack ability.
But God calls people like us.
And He says:
“Don’t be afraid.”
“From now on you will fish for people.”
Therefore, we do not need to boast about our abilities.
Instead, we should confess:
“Lord, I am a sinner.”
And we should believe:
“But You have called me.”
And we should obey:
“Because You say so, I will let down the nets.”
Even if our ministry seems very small, God can use it.
Even if our gospel witness seems to reach only one person, God can use that one person to reach another.
The gospel that began with Jesus calling Peter eventually spread throughout the world and has now reached us.
And one day, when the gospel has been proclaimed to the nations and the Lord returns, Jesus Christ will bring the kingdom of God to its glorious fulfillment.
On that day, we will live forever with Jesus Christ, the King of God’s kingdom.
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters,
Hear the calling of Jesus, the King of God’s kingdom.
Acknowledge that you are a sinner.
Depend upon the grace of Jesus Christ.
And obey Him as a worker for the kingdom of God.
May all of us become faithful workers who proclaim the gospel of God’s kingdom, faithfully fulfill the mission God has entrusted to us, and one day receive the reward that our Lord has promised to those who faithfully serve Him.
Let us pray.