The following sermon was presented by the Reverend John W. Howe, Rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia, on February 6, 1983. The title is, Jesus in Your Business, and the scripture reference is Luke chapter 5, verses 1 through 11.

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to Luke. Reading from chapter 5, beginning at the first verse. While the people pressed upon Jesus to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and they were washing their nets.

Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land, and he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. And Simon answered, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing, but at your word I will let down the nets.

And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish. And as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink.

but when Simon Peter saw it he fell down at Jesus knees saying depart from me for I am a sinful man oh Lord for he was astonished and all that were with him at the catch of fish which they had taken and so also were James and John son of sons of Zebedee who were partners with Simon and Jesus said to Simon do not be afraid henceforth you will be catching men And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him. The Gospel of the Lord. Exactly 60 years ago right now, there was a most important meeting held in the city of Chicago.

You may have heard about it. It was held in the Edgewater Beach Hotel. I think it probably was an unprecedented gathering of the rich, the famous, and the powerful.

Men from all over this country who literally ruled the world of finance and politics, they came together to dream dreams and to lay plans of how they could even further increase their wealth and their influence. Among others at that meeting were the following people. The president of the largest independent steel corporation in the world.

President of the largest utilities corporation in the world. President of the largest natural gas corporation in the world. The world's largest wheat speculator.

All of these were Americans, but they had so increased their holdings that they were not only national giants, they were international giants. The president of the New York Stock Exchange. The president of the Bank of International Settlement.

The Secretary of the Interior. There was a man whose nickname was the greatest bear on Wall Street. And there was also the man controlling the world's greatest monopoly.

And believe it or not, it was based on matches. It started out with a match company and that had parlayed into a monopoly and had become the world's greatest international monopoly. If ever there was a meeting of the rich and powerful, this was that meeting.

If ever there was a gathering of people who could literally shape the course of destiny, you would have thought it was that gathering. I wonder how many folks wished that they might have been present, wished that they could have moved in that kind of a circle of influence, move among such folks as were gathered 60 years ago right now. I'm reminded of John Kennedy's comment when he hosted a dinner at the White House of a number of Nobel Prize laureates and he said, never has there been such a gathering of intelligence under this roof since Thomas Jefferson dined alone.

That's a great comment, wasn't it? Probably it would be fair to say that prior to this particular meeting, there was never such a gathering of wealth and influence since Alexander the Great dined alone. Tremendous power.

And yet it is an incredible fact of history, a footnote to history, that's absolutely shattering to trace through what happened in the next few years to those several people that I've just mentioned. I wonder if you've ever read about this. It's been documented and reported time and time again because it is so startling.

The president of the largest independent steel corporation, a man by the name of Charles Schwab, died in bankruptcy having spent the last five years of his life living on borrowed funds. The president of the largest utilities corporation, Samuel Insull, died penniless and a fugitive from the law. The president of the largest natural gas company, Howard Hobson, died after going insane.

Did you wish for a moment that you might have been at that meeting? Arthur Cutton, the world's largest wheat speculator, died after going bankrupt abroad. Richard Whitney, the president of the New York Stock Exchange, was released from Sing Sing so that he could die at home.

President of the Bank of International Settlement, Leon Frazier, died in a federal penitentiary. Albert Fall, the Secretary of the Interior, having gotten caught up in the Teapot Dome scandal, was released from a prison sentence so that he could die at home. Jesse Livermore the greatest bear on Wall Street committed suicide Ivar Kruger the king of the international match monopoly committed suicide you see in 1923 all of these men and lots of others had learned how to make a living by 1929 it was evident that they had not learned how to live have you ever wished that you might be more successful anybody here that ever wish that you can learn how to be successful and still be a total failure these men had learned how to make a living if you had been present at that meeting if I had been present I'm sure beyond the shadow of a doubt that we would have said oh to be like those men oh to have the resources that they have oh to be able to make the decisions that they can make the point is that it's fairly easy to be on top of things when you're on top of things but what do you do when the bottom drops out?

You want to know what it is to be successful. Don't look at the guy whose business is going well. Look at the guy whose business is collapsing, and then you'll know whether or not he's successful.

Do you know what I'm saying? The guy who knows what real success is is going to be successful regardless of what happens to his business. St. Paul put it this way I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content that's true success I've learned how to be abased as well as how to abound my joy is not dependent upon my circumstances if I'm successful quote unquote that is to say if my business is going well I can enjoy that but if my business collapses I've learned how to cope with that I can be abased just as well that's the man who's truly successful there's a deeper application I think though in a kind of a microcosm we see something here in the story of Peter at this point he's not even called Peter he's still Simon Simon which means the shifty one the sandy one there's nothing strong here there's nothing stable you wouldn't think of building a building on sand nothing is going to be built on Simon he's got to become Peter the rock before anything can be built on him and here he is he's met Jesus before but he's still just a fisherman he's not become a disciple yet but Jesus is beginning to minister throughout the Galilee area and he comes one day to the shore of the Sea of Galilee and there is such a crowd probably thousands of people have come to hear him that there's no place where he can stand and be seen and heard and so he notices the boat isn't being used he says could I borrow your boat for a few minutes and he pushes off far enough from shore that people can see him and hear him and here's Simon in the background, and he's washing his nets.

You get the picture? I mean, he's not really even into what's going on. He's just washing his nets.

And Jesus teaches and teaches and teaches for a while. By this time, surely Simon is done. He's laid out his nets to dry.

And Jesus says, Simon, let down your nets. now I don't know how you read that story but here's how I read it now look Lord you're a terrific preacher but you really oughtn't to mess in somebody else's business you see one thing we know if you don't catch any fish during the night you're sure not going to catch them in the morning if they're not running at night they're not going to be running during the day why don't you just stick to preaching Lord let down your net that is ridiculous we have toiled all night long we've taken nothing the fish aren't out there nevertheless At your word, I'll do it. And at that moment, the whole story whips around and goes in a different direction.

Now that's how I read it. I don't see Peter responding in faith. I see him full of skepticism at this point.

But the preacher has come to town and we'll honor him, we'll cater to him, we'll go along with what he says. so he goes back out in the boat and lets down the net which he's just cleaned and to his astonishment he takes in such a catch that the net begins to break he hauls it over the gunwales there are too many fish to fit into the boat he calls over James and John with their other boat and there's too many fish to fill in that boat and both begin to sink and immediately Simon recognizes who this really is or at least he begins to recognize that he's not dealing with an ordinary human being this isn't like any preacher I've ever met before and as soon as he recognizes who Jesus is he recognizes something about himself did you catch that? Depart from me, O Lord, I'm a sinful man.

When you finally see, when you really see who Jesus is, like a reflex action, like a knee-jerk almost, you recognize your own unworthiness, your own sinfulness. He's the Lord, and I'm a sinful man. And the remarkable thing about the story is this, that Jesus invades Peter's business.

Mind you, He won't do that until Peter says, Come in, Lord. Until Peter opens the door for Jesus to come in and invade that business, He's not going to do it. He doesn't ever, ever, ever force Himself on anybody.

But the minute He comes into Peter's business, suddenly that business is more successful than it ever has been. So successful, Peter doesn't know what in the world to do about it. And in the process, Peter becomes a changed man.

And then ironically, Jesus calls him out of his business. Did you catch that? More successful than he's ever been.

Finally, I figured out how to do it, see. And he leaves his nets, leaves his boat, leaves his father, leaves the business, and starts down the road that ends in martyrdom, hanging upside down on a cross. It's a dangerous thing to invite Jesus into your business.

Not because it threatens your business. but because it threatens you. I had a friend named Bob Kroc when I was in Sewickley, Pennsylvania.

Bob was a member of our parish, St. Stephen's Parish. And he owned a small printing business. And in the early 70s, that business ran into the deepest kind of trouble and all of a sudden Bob realized they were desperately overextended.

He was about to lose everything. He was about to lose the business plus his savings and everybody else on the payroll was about to lose his job. And because he had nothing else to lose, because he was desperate, Bob put a little three-by-five card up on the bulletin board.

He said, starting tomorrow morning, I'm going to open my office an hour early for Bible study and prayer and I'd invite any of you who would care to come and join me. They didn't know if he'd be alone or if they'd come full of skepticism and antagonism. Over half the people on the payroll showed up the next morning.

They didn't pray just about the business, although obviously that was a chief motivating factor. They prayed about the business, but basically they just began to get into the Word of God and they began to allow God into their lives. They began to pray together.

Suddenly they found themselves knowing each other in a way they never had before. Suddenly, whereas before they'd just been business partners, they begin to become fellowship partners. The remarkable thing is that in the course of a very short time, God utterly turned that business around.

it became a booming success and in the process many of those workers came to know Christ for the first time they hadn't known him they gave their lives to him and then just like Peter a number of them ended up leaving the business and going into full time Christian service I wonder how many folks come week after week to this church, to any church. I wonder how many of you come faithfully. Here you are Sunday after Sunday.

You love God. You love the Lord Jesus. You love to come and worship Him.

You love to sing songs of praise. And yet somehow, if the truth be known, what happens on Sunday morning bears absolutely no relationship shipped to what happens on Monday morning? Never dreamed of inviting Him into our businesses.

Do you know what I'm talking about? Never dreamed of it. What would it mean to ask Jesus into your business?

I don't know what that would mean. Except in the most general sort of a way. What it means is, Lord, so far as I am able, whatever I'm responsible for now belongs to You.

I'm going to do it Your way. That means if there are things that the world would tell me ought to be done and they conflict with what Your Word says ought to be done, I'm going to do it the way Your Word says. If there are business practices which kind of fall off into the gray area, or even worse than that, they're downright wrong.

I'm not going to do it that way anymore. I'm going to do it your way. And let the chips fall where they may.

If Jesus Christ were to come to you and tell you to do something, and it is absolutely off the wall, as far as you're concerned. Would you be willing to do it his way? Now, I suspect that the result of that would be blessing in your business like you have never seen before.

Not because Jesus is primarily interested in your material well-being. but because obedience always leads to blessing. Jesus is interested in something even deeper than that though, namely that you would become a blessing to others.

It may be that he ends up leading you out of that business altogether, just as he did with Peter. But all of a sudden that doesn't matter anymore. See, what's important is not being a success in worldly terms anymore, but it's belonging to Him, which is true success.

We heard the story of Gideon a few moments ago. It's really an ironic story. You know, we hear this read in church and it's so solemn and formal.

It's really a funny story if you stop and see what's going on. Here the angel of the Lord comes to Gideon and he says, Behold, the Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor. And here's Gideon hiding in the winepress, lest anybody even see him.

Who, me? Because you see, the background is the Midianites have come in and they have whomped Israel. And they've done it over and over again.

And every time Israel starts to rebuild, in they come. The Amalekites and the Midianites, and they lay the whole country waste. Which is because Israel had sinned against God, and finally he allowed the consequences to catch up with them.

So the Midianites have come in, they've mowed down the buildings, they've burned the crops, they've sowed salt in the soil so nothing will grow again. Here's Gideon with a little handful of wheat, and he's trying to mill it by hand, hiding in the winepress lest anybody see him. The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor.

Who? Me? And then the angel says, God's going to use you to deliver your whole people.

And Gideon says, my family is the smallest clan in the smallest tribe in all of Israel. and in my family I'm a nobody and the Lord's going to use me? And the angel of the Lord says, yes, because God will be with you.

Do you know that that's exactly the same conversation that we hear over and over and over in the Scriptures? It's exactly the same conversation that God had with Moses. Who?

Me? go face Pharaoh and lead people out of Egyptian bondage? I can't even get a sentence out.

I stutter. You remember that? Then what's God's answer?

I know that, but I'll be with you. I'll be in your mouth. He comes to Joshua and he says, Moses' time is over.

You're going to take over for Moses. And Joshua says, me? Take over for Moses?

Yes, I'll be with you. Comes to Jeremiah and says, I'm calling you to be my spokesman, to turn the people of God back from immorality and compromise. And Jeremiah says, I'm just a kid.

That's what he says. Behold, I am only a youth. I am just a kid.

That's okay. I was with you before you were conceived in your mother's womb. I will be with you.

He comes to Isaiah and says, I've called you to be the mightiest prophet of all time. And Isaiah says, me? Lord, I've got a filthy mouth.

I love dirty jokes. That's what he says. Can you take your religious spectacles off and read it the way it really reads?

I love dirty jokes. Yeah, I know. And I'm going to cleanse your mouth and you're going to be my prophet.

How many of you know that one man plus God equals a majority? One woman plus God equals a majority? Gideon says, I can't do that.

And the angel of the Lord says, but I'll be with you. And the essence of the story is that Gideon's answer turns out to be exactly the same as Simon Peter's. Nevertheless, at thy will. But it's interesting that Gideon takes a long time to get there.

He says, Lord, if it's really you, then I'll do it. But could you just prove it to me? If it really is your word, I'll do it.

But I need to know. And so he says, let me bring you out my gift. And he brings out his little gift and puts it on the rock, and the angel touches the sacrifice with the tip of his staff, and fire comes down from heaven, it's consumed.

And Gideon says, thank you, Lord, I'll go do it, right? No. He says, thank you, Lord, for that, but would you mind? One more sign.

says, I'll put out a sheep fleece and could you soak it and leave all the ground around it dry. And God says, okay. And he does it.

And Gideon says, thank you, Lord, I'll go do it, right? Wrong. One more time, Lord, just to make sure for the West Coast.

Late report from the newsroom. Just for fun, let's do it the other way around, Lord. I'll put out the fleece and let it remain dry while all the ground is wet.

And God does it. And finally, Gideon's convinced, and he says, okay, Lord. Nevertheless, at thy word, I'll do it.

You've got to read the story for yourself. Do you know what happens? He starts off with 32,000 men.

And God says, that's too many. Send some of them home. And he ends up sending home, finally, all but 300.

And 300 men plus God is a majority. And they beat the Midianites without firing a single shot. Their business is making war.

And when they let God invade their business, it becomes more successful than they ever dreamed it would be. And you know what? God calls Gideon out of the business of war and makes him the judge over all Israel.

Do you see a pattern here? So I wonder what it would look like for some of us, some of you, to invite the Lord Jesus Christ to enter into your business, whatever that might be. Lord, from this day on, I'm going to do it your way.

Not the way the world tells me to. Not the way the clever on Wall Street do it. Not the way conventional wisdom says, but I'm going to do it the way your word says.

And Lord, if you've got a particular word for me personally, I'm going to obey that and let the chips fall where they may. I suspect that the end result will be you're going to be more successful than you ever dreamed of being and at the same time success is going to matter a whole lot less than it ever mattered. It's not just that God's going to change your business.

God's going to change you. He might even call you out of that business. And that's okay.

If calling Jesus Lord doesn't include that, then I don't know what it really means. It's a self-contradiction to say, you're Lord of my life, but not my business. If He's Lord of my life, He's Lord of my business.

In fact, he's either Lord of all, or he's not Lord at all. So let's bow our heads together. You may not be the boss in your particular business.

You may just be one of many folks responsible to others who are responsible to others. But could I invite you this day to yield to this Lord Jesus Christ whatever it is that you are responsible for. Lord Jesus Christ you knocked on the door of my life long ago and I opened that door to you and asked you to come in and be my Lord and this morning I would hear you knocking on the door of my business life and I want to open that door as well and ask you to come in and take that for which I am responsible and use it for your own namesake Lord invade my business and within it use me in all the contacts and relationships that I have to bring glory to Your name.

For Jesus' sake. Amen. Amen.