Jesus Used an Empty Boat
Jesus uses the unlikely, the weak, the rejected, the forgotten and gives them a place and a purpose in His Kingdom. Jesus loves the underdog. He doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called. This is seen in Luke 5:1-11 when Jesus called His first disciples.
When we drop into Luke 5, we find Jesus teaching next to the Lake of Gennesaret. There is a large crowd of people pressing in to hear him. Imagine trying to hear Jesus over the sound of crying babies, loud people, flowing water, in the days before modern sound systems. Jesus gets creative in order to reach the people.
The gospel records in Luke 5:1-3, “On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him 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 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.”
Jesus gets into the boat and goes out into the water. He sat down, as teachers did in the first century, and He taught from the boat. At first, we are tempted to miss what Jesus did. Why did this matter? It wasn't because the crowd bothered Jesus. He wasn't seeking space because He stayed near the shore. Nor did Jesus simply want a boat ride.
No, this was strategic. Jesus went out on the water so that He might be heard. Jesus knew that due to the coves and the mountains around the lake that He could use His surroundings as an amphitheater. When the sound waves of His voice hit the water it would amplify His voice for all to hear. So by getting in the boat Jesus created a natural sound system so that over the noise of the water and the crowds the truth might be heard.
Jesus used an empty boat and He made it into a pulpit. What most of us would have seen as simply a boat left by the shore, He used so that willing ears might hear the Word of God. Jesus employed the empty and He started with an empty boat.
Have you ever felt useless to God? Do you doubt that God can use you? If an empty boat can become a pulpit, what can Jesus do when He enters into your life? God desires to fill the empty and overflow into the world.
God will use us; all we have to do is to bring our emptiness. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). By embracing our weakness and walking by faith, God will put us in the right place and right time to be used by Him. God employs the empty and uses the unlikely for His purposes. May Jesus fill our emptiness with His Spirit that we might overflow for His glory.