Mrs. Jill Briscoe: Luke 5:1-11 (Sept. 8, 2016 Chapel)

well I've thoroughly enjoyed being here not just enjoyed thank you for giving me your hearts you gave me a heart that doesn't always happen in fact very seldom does it do in the colleges that I go to and so it's been such a blessing to speak to your heart and share my heart with you so talked a little bit about coming to Christ as student at Cambridge 18 years of age let me read you something I wrote about that long time ago I can remember the Bible Janet the girl that led me to Christ produce from nowhere and handed to me while we were in bed side by side in that ward at hospital she opened it to Luke chapter sit 5 and told me to read it how could she have known that that was the most perfect piece of Bible for me to read for you see it's about Jesus calling fishermen and my father was a fisherman and I am my father's daughter my dad would say to my sister and I follow me and I will make you fishers of fish so we followed him because we loved him and he taught us his trade many times when I was at a whirl I would ask my mother where my father was and she would say gone fishing I know just where he'd be after the top of his long waders in the middle of a rushing river in the gorgeous English Lake District Wordsworth country or in Northern Ireland where the Mountains of Mourne sweeps down to the sea and I know exactly what fly he was using to catch what fish after all my sister and I'd helped him to make them under the microscope during the long dark english winter nights so when I lay in that sterile ward all those years ago for healing the sheets holding me quite securely in place it all made perfect sense and my heart gave a great responsive shout of faith yes I get it my father is a fisherman and I am now my father's daughter and I will follow him because I love him and he will teach me his trade so you know the well-known passage that in God's economy the girl who led me to Christ opened and said read it I read it she said now let me explain it to you I said you don't need to I understand sure how do you understand and I replied in a little more informal way with words that I've just read to you Jenny my father's a fisherman my father's daughter etc etc and so it makes good sense to me you know the words well Jesus the side of Galilee just beginning the redemption of the world his three years on earth that he spent telling the world the kingdom had come when Jesus finished speaking he said to Simon put out into deep water let down the nets for a catch Simon said master we've worked hard all all night and we haven't caught anything but because you say so I wonder how he said that oh okay he was tired he was wet they hadn't caught anything you wanted to go home and kiss his wife and pick up his kids and get to bed what do you mean pull out into deep water what do you mean go fishing but he said well because you say so just be obedient even if you have to say it like that you'll change your mind along the way because you say so I'll let down the nets and when they done so they caught such a large number of fish their Nets began to break so they signaled their partners they came with the other boat and you know the story and the fish began to commit aside you know we're just jumping in like this wonderful when Simon Peter saw this he fell at Jesus feet and he said whoa go away from me I'm a sinful man just like you and I would have said Jesus said don't be afraid from now and you're going to catch men that's why this talk is called Gone Fishing so they pulled up their boats unsure they left everything and everybody and followed him yes undoubtably one of the richest passages of scripture in my life's experience so Jesus asked Peter then my husband's got a fabulous book on Peter and I can't remember the title I will before I'm through don't tell him I said that okay fabulous men loved Peter by the way they say I'm like Peter Otis always putting my foot in my mouth you know things like that Jesus asked Peter three questions in his life Peter will you follow me Peter do you love me Peter will you die for me and you can read that in Luke chapter five the gospel and John 20:1 after the resurrection when Jesus had breakfast with Peter in his resurrection body remember and I'm going to ask you the same questions on his behalf will you follow me do you love me will you die for me so will you follow me as I lay in that hospital ward do did Jenny tell me I'm praying you won't get well yet I said well gee thanks should I've got such a lot to tell you and I know what you're going back to a college I've seen your friends I need time to tell you how to follow Jesus and God answered her prayer incidentally and I was there for ten more days for no reason we couldn't figure out what was wrong with me I thought they ought to do that before they let me leave and they never did find out one day it was all gone I guess God just took me in there to get me saved I don't know so Peter will you follow me following Jesus what happened that day said Peter I want your boat and went your boat he was getting pushed into the water to remember the story the crowds coming and he's - he's got Galilee behind him and if you had a leper you wanted healed you'd push two people crowding people pushing people shoving let me get me on him let me get near him so he looks along sees the boat and he says Peter I want your boat he gets into the boat I love this picture again I'm a visual learner I see this he wants your boat listen to me he wants to get into your life he wants to be in your life and address the crowd on your shore okay so what your boat like sort of a boat little fishing boat ideal maybe it's big aircraft carrier maybe it's a submarine does all its work outta sight we're all different he wants our boat figure out what your boat is because Jesus wants to sit in it and be Lord of the ship lordship okay and he wants to address the crowd on your shore vivid picture it was for me and Jenny said when you sail out of this ward well you're going back to Hamilton College Cambridge and you've got a crowd on your shirt it's not like the crowd Jesus had who wanted to listen to him were intent on touching him it'll be aggressive it will be difficult you'll lose all your friends my rely lose all my friends well don't worry about it God will give you new ones true actually I did lose all my friends I roomed with a girl who never spoke to me again for the whole year she was my roommate once I had tried to talk to her about Jesus so what's your boat like Jill and she asked me the question I said what do you mean she said well what sort of a boat what what what you like doing what are you talented to do I said like playing tennis like skating like having fun that's good God will use tennis I'm skating he'll use sports which he has in my life all over the world so I've spoken in sports ministry as things ah here's tennis put on tennis tournaments down in the knot right in a city for kids that had never had a chance to do anything like that and then I had the Salvation Army Band and we had a pig roast and talked about Jesus yeah think about it what sort of a boat have you got how talented are you had gifted he's going to use everything and he will say to you as he said to Peter now let's go to deep water listen to me the big fish are not in the shallows around the church or in the church you don't fish in a swimming pool that's the church you fish outside in the dark pools and the rivers the dangerous places pours out into the deep he's saying it to all of us whatever sort of a boat you have even fishing vessel it's going to get a bit rough out there for a little fishing vessel but that's where the big fish are folks and I remember coming back to that passage one night down in Liverpool and the stories I told you as a teacher down there and God said to me okay let's go fishing Jill let's go to the deep waters with a big Fisher getting on a bus and going back to the red-light district so he will use everything you are make a list of your talents and gifts in the end Jenny pushing me she said what you like doing most and I said I just like playing with words she saw that's wonderful she took me to Ecclesiastes 12 read it sometime it's what Solomon did with words and how he did it and how he catalogued them and how he ordered them and how he Illustrated them fabulous she said God will use your words yeah so I went fishing and what's happened from 60 odd years ago to now he's asked me the second question after Peter had thoroughly messed up and denied his Lord and the cross happened and the resurrection happened you know what happened in John 20:21 they went fishing and again caught nothing in the so I said he was a lousy fisherman he never seemed to catch anything and suddenly in the dawn there was a figure on the coast and John said who's that is it making a fire as early as this is that there's somebody out there and Jesus caught anything it's the Lord and you remember Peter went over the edge expecting to walk on water again and didn't that time so he splashed his way to the show and had a talk with Jesus and the others brought the boat to the shore came along afterwards and there was a charcoal fire there and the was growing ow every day of his life Peter would hear the crow and he would eat his breakfast over Jack avoir searing right and here was the resurrected Jesus and said let's have a talk you're me Peter do you really love me referring back to before Jesus was arrested when the disciples had been walking up towards that event arguing who was biggest and greatest and Peter saying me and the disciples talking and Jesus turning around and rebuking them what are you talking about and they all began to say well I'll follow you I'll follow you i love you i love you and and peter big mouth he was the biggest of all and he said i don't know what these guys will do do you remember this incident Peter said on the road but I'll love you I don't know if they will love you I love you I got with you tythia jesus said do you really love me searing he plays with words I have no time to explain it to you agape our agape the love of God phileo human love eros central sexual sort of love he used the agape word do you agape me do you love me as I love you the love of God John 3:16 is I love the transcends everything else I will love you whether you love me or not that's the love of God I will love you whether you ever love me back or not I will love you even if you reject me I will love you that's okapi phileo is I will love you if you love me basically I might manage to love you if you don't love me but it can never last phileo eros the love the feeling too big for words feeling sensual sexual side of love Jesus uses Agra pay Peter says you know Lord you know what I did I'm sorry I you know I'm I thought I loved you I'm sorry Lord I only feel a oh you he answered with the lesser word you know he asked him again Peter do you love me Lord you know I only have I thought I loved you I could pay but I have this little tiny bit of phileo love third time jesus said and it just about finished him off with the charcoal fire reminding him and the crowing and he said Lord you know everything Jesus said I'll take the love you've got Peter a little bit of love and how grow it and I'll grow it until you love me enough to die for me which Peter did much later on he doesn't just want us to follow him and do Christian things he wants our heart he got your heart all of your heart or do you keep a little bit for this a little bit for that or a little bit for you dare to give him all of it I got a style do you love me and then the big question will you die for me will you die for me you and I will die one day we don't know when he has numbered our days remember so we may apply our hearts unto wisdom and use them wisely we just don't know I have a dear friend who's 50 busy dying of cancer she lost her 17 year old daughter in a accident two months ago you just never know you can't keep yourself alive have you noticed do you know that and don't fall into the devil's trap of thinking when then I'll live for him and I'll die for him you don't know if there's a when he has numbered your days I remember sitting on that plane on 9/11 and hearing their pilot say something's happened as a national emergency and and my first thought was were going down and then emptying the gas into the ocean and the noise and my conversation with the young doctor next to me ever heard that noise before no I haven't Lima many a mile flower he said he said to me I think we're going down I said so do I I'd never heard anyone empty the gas into the ocean in all my flying days and it's a horrible noise it's just opening the like when he putting the wheels down you hear and he was opening the I don't know to let the oil out before he landed because it was dangerous to fly with so much and immediately the pilot came on said it's alright it's alright I'm just emptying the gas and the doctor said to me I don't think he's telling us the truth I said no - I interesting as soon as he told us that F body dived for that thing you never read me to so complicated that thing have you noticed I never noticed till then how complicated it was and it fell silent it was interested when you get into an emergency like that or other things at first there's a plasma driven through dubrow's and then silence there was nobody talking all shut up to our own immediate thoughts and it was silent and I began to have my conversation and I first apologized to God because I said to him lord I love you dearly but I just wasn't expecting to see you today sorry I was very ashamed of myself I I didn't want to die and actually I realized immediately it would have been fine heavens fine I know where I'm going it's getting there were frightened of right it was just how I was going to get there I didn't want to do to get there and I know he smiled and I think I shared this with you and said let's try and do a little bit better from now on Jill yes so but my immediate reaction was I want to live I want to follow you I want to fish only go I want you to use my boat funny when you're faced with will you die for me there is a natural dying for all of us there is a daily dying Paul talks about have you ever prayed at the beginning of a day help me to die a little bit to my selfish self today I hate praying that prayer try it though and he'll give you an opportunity I promise you I dare you to we we're all about me well I'm all about me I don't want to speak for you I mean I don't think I am half the time and then something happens and I realize I am all the time so loving him and dying for him daily to my wants for example in missions I shared with you how Stuart unexpectedly was called away all those years I didn't expect that in fact we had three choices when we came out of work our careers to go into missions and we chose the only one that meant we could do it together around the corner of your grand any place anywhere Lord Jesus in that missionary convention I remember standing up when that call came and saying any place any time anything around the corner of you're glad anywhere Lord there's a no no I never expected this in fact I wrote a little booklet oh no I never expected this for missionaries because around the corner of that decision you will be surprised we were surprised he was asked to run the big center the hub of that whole mission organization and when we got there within a year the head man of that organization said you we have people giving us castles all over the world we lived in a castle somebody in Austria wanted to give the mission a castle somebody in Norway gave us a castle because we had a castle I guess I don't know but and Stuart and major said we can plant this mission in Europe and I need you to help me and oh I never expected this not ten months of the year for ten years three kids oh I never expected this will you follow me will you love me like I love the world I remember having a talk with the Lord about it and he said oh yes I I had to leave home for 33 years Joe Lord did you want to go back oh yeah what was it like being separated like that you know don't you now a little bit of the drill yeah will you die a little bit to your dreams will you die a little bit to good dreams having Jesus together it's better than that do you really love me and then will you die for me so there can be a personal physical dying that we have to cope with and I've been a pastor's wife for 60 years now no I'm sorry 40 55 years or something like that I'm no good at math I married a bank inspector I should never have done that so I remember when we first got married this has nothing to do with anything he came home and he said Jill after the first month of marriage and can I see the books I thought he meant start a library he meant I want to see the accounts but I said what do you mean he said all the things you've you've bought you know the groceries and stuff I said well what's books he said well you write accounts Jill where is it I said I've never heard of such a thing I said you mean you want me to write down everything I spend remember my background small doubt Nabi he said yes so he would go catching criminals in the bank looking at all the accounts all week clever ha ha that's how they did it cooking the books we'd say then he'd come home to his wife and it would take him all evening to figure out how I'd made it balance and it took me all day to do it and to hide this and I add that soon so I remember the end of the third month I think he's trying to figure it out and he looks at me and he says what's this at the bottom and and you know where where you would put balance I didn't know that word so I'd put left to spend and he sighed and looked at me he said oh alright where is it and I said I've spent it so at that point for the sake of our marriage we gave that up and I have never kept booked since have to adapt to each other give a little can we do it can we do it can we love him with all our heart and soul practically and can we die for him little deaths little deaths and the big death and it has been our experience in the last 10 years of our travel to have the huge privilege of being in countries where people are physically dying for Jesus and to be working with the church underground now we worked with the church underground for 50 years you see Stuart now I've lived through Nazism communism 50 years where we work behind the Iron Curtain in secret now terrorism and it's sort of deja vu for us all of this student I keep looking at each other as the news cameras and comes or we arrive in one of those countries and saying this is just like it was this sound familiar to you yeah in fact the last speech that the North Korean man made about the rocket heading our way was if you just changed the language a speech I heard Hitler give deja vu right so what does that mean for the church cirtl the wagons don't come near me keep me safe no it didn't mean it in the first century and it doesn't mean it now there is more urgency than ever and I want to tell you something all the easy places have gone in missions and the most needy and the most responsive are waiting I told you that the first message so Peter and his wife both martyred go to Rome you will see the picture you'll see the prison they kept him in and all the stuff they did to them they say that he was crucified upside down Jesus had told him that would happen in John 21 told him the good news and then he told him the bad news one day you will stretch forth your hands and be led where you do not want to go that's how you're going to glorify me by your death etc so I think it was four or five years ago we were in India with a seminary there fabulous Emory Indian seminary with 800 young Indians training to walk into a Hindu village or Muslim village and where they if there were women they would not be killed if there were men they would be to take the gospel and Stuart and I've worked with that organization many years it's near ERISA which those of you that follow missions will know blew up actually the month that we arrived there and that's very close to the seminary actually it was a conflict between other religions and the Christians just got caught up in it and added to the martyrs basically they were the fathers and mothers of the children we had eight hundred students and actually as I'm looking out at you in the seminary place it's very very similar and I remember it very clearly it was very dramatic and had no time to tell you all those stories but um it had been a very very difficult and stretching time for us with the missions people and then with these beautiful young students and it was the last night we had police there trying to protect everybody in the seminary they didn't know if their parents were dead or alive if they got out into the forest at that point and Stewart and they said well Stewart and Jill just continued just you've given us two weeks teaching but just let's have a meeting every night and we prayed all day and night and all of this stuff and then the last night came and I listened to my husband give this most incredible message absolutely incredible and he simply talked about taking up our cross and following him all the way home all the way home all the way home i sat there being so grateful that the next day we were going to try and get out of there and home I'd had it in every sense emotionally I was done oh good and as I sat there listening and bowed my head for the prayer the Lord and I began to talk and I had I don't have visions but I had a picture he gave me in my head it was a wall and there was a cross against it and the Lord said to me set your cross Jill and I said yes Lord said are you done I said yeah he said who are you expecting to carry at home for you i sat there for a long time until I could say okay all the way home all the way helm Lord all the way home and that night and the week I wrote this my prayer in India March 2015 am I one of his disciples that heard his voice one day who understood the call of Christ to follow come what may and did I follow faithfully until the way got tough then lay my cross against a wall and say I'd had enough when life began to cost me much of things I held most dear did I slow my pace change my mind and give way to my fear adapt the call to fit my life at some point in my traveling and did my heart abandonment to God begin unraveling did I wants of eyes to notice what a loss at when a lost sinner fell did I interrupt my selfish life to tell who saves from Hell or lay my cross against a wall protect my heart from breaking and say it was just too extreme this leaving war forsaking did he become a passing thought a dream unreal apart and not my constant focus or the one who gripped my heart did I give my whole allegiance to the people in my life and try and live a lifestyle that avoided pain and strife so things that used to break me up like kids who were abused no longer touched a nerve in me as my conscience wrote confused my heart broke old and callous so I didn't want the cost went in some grubby bedroom a child's innocence was lost when did I stop crying about that Lord right then when I lay my crust did I find a way to chloroform on my conscience and my choices did I learn to turn deaf ears to lost and lonely voices did I eat my way to fatness while a sinner beg for bread did I quit my bible teaching while my world had not been fed will I follow you my Jesus take up my cross again will I carry it right home with me whatever loss or pain yes I give you all my days and hours and lift my eyes on high so send me send me use me Lord until the day I die I pray with you and I just want to bring you into his presence and let you respond to whatever in this golden silence he gives us in this moment just block out everybody in everything what has he said to you in these few days we've had together talk to him will you talk to him Lord Jesus I love you all the way home all the way home all the way I'm in Helmand will you join me in thanking Jill Briscoe thanks JB

Channel: John Brown University

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Length: 38min 7sec (2287 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 16 2016