Jesus Preached from a Boat

” And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

² And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

³ And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.”

Luke 5:1-3

I arrived at work one morning and I was handed my work order for the day. I was pleased to see it was for a job at a friend of mine’s house named David. We had become acquainted at a local mega church where we did a lot of electrical work. He used to be the facilities manager but was no longer working there. It had been a long time since I had seen him.

One of the perks of my job is that I meet a lot of nice and interesting people and David was one of them. He was a great guy to work for. He used to call and say that he had “gravy” work for us, but we would wind up working there for days. It was one of my favorite places to work.

David had recently suffered from a stroke and was forced to retire. I think it was hard to go from managing a multimillion dollar facility to staying at home all day, but this was where the Lord placed him. He and his wife were going to sell their house and, during the negotiations, it was discovered that the house had aluminum wiring. That’s where I came in. I was there to replace all the switches and outlets with aluminum compatible devices.

David followed me around as I worked and helped as much as he could. He would remove the wall plates ahead of me and replace them when I was done. We talked a lot during this time. We reminisced about various projects we completed at the church. We talked about how crazy it was working for a church.

The last day I worked at David’s house, he cooked us some bratwursts on the grill. We sat and talked and the subject turned back to the mega church where he had worked. We talked about the multimillion dollar sanctuary and how no expense was spared during its construction. The sound system alone cost a million. The heating and air system was placed in another part of the building and giant mufflers were installed on the vents to make the sanctuary quiet as possible. The place is a sight to behold.

Then David spoke with me honestly and said that, in some ways, it bothered him that all this money was spent on what was just a building. We talked of how people were lost and suffering all around the world, and millions were spent on a building instead. Then he said something to me that I’ll never forget. It was brilliant in its simplicity. He said, “Jesus preached from a boat.”

How true that is. We are so blessed in America. Our sanctuaries are built to honor God with padded pews, fancy paint jobs, expensive sound systems, projectors and the list goes on and on. Some cathedrals have gold lined walls and, yet, Jesus preached from a boat. We worship and sing in the comfort of air conditioned rooms where we are shielded from the weather, yet, Jesus preached from a boat.

The gospel can be declared anywhere. Whether it be spoken from behind an expensive pulpit or in the jail downtown, it’s still the gospel. Jesus preached from a boat.

I’ve never been to Bible college, but the Lord has been my professor for a long time. He teaches me lessons in various ways and, that day, He chose a retired facilities manager to show me that the gospel is the gospel, no matter where it’s preached.