PARABLES OF CHRIST
THE DRAGNET
DR. JIM DIXON
MATTHEW 13:47-50
APRIL 19, 1998
Dragnet was the name of a radio and television program which focused on LAPD. The radio program began in the year 1949 and the television program began in January of 1952. The most famous Dragnet series was the 1967-70 television series starring Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday and Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon.
The word “dragnet” referred to a police net, a police operation that was designed to ensnare and capture criminals. But the word dragnet does not really come from the world of crime. The word dragnet comes from the world of fishing. A dragnet was a massive net which was weighted with lead and pulled through the sea, ensnaring, capturing, gathering fish. In the biblical world, in the time of Christ, there were three different nets used in fishing. Each of these nets were described by different Greek words. The Greek word for the dragnet was the Greek word, “sagene.” This is the word our Lord Jesus Christ uses in this parable. The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a “sagene.” The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a dragnet.
From this parable this morning we have three teachings. The first teaching is this. The kingdom of heaven gathers people. The kingdom of heaven gathers people.
I want to tell you the story of Adoniram Judson. He was born in 1778 and he was reared in a parsonage. He was reared in many parsonages around the greater Boston area. He was a brilliant young man. He went to Boston University. He graduated summa cum laude and valedictorian. While he was at Boston University, his best friend was a man named Jacob Ames. Jacob Ames was, for all practical purposes, an atheist. Jacob Ames made fun of Adoniram Judson’s faith. He introduced Judson to Voltaire and the French philosophers. Eventually Judson’s faith just eroded away and after Boston University, Judson went home and told his parents that he, too, had become an atheist. His father pounded the table and slammed doors. His mother cried.
At the age of 21, Judson moved to New York City. He wanted to become a playwright. While he was there he became fascinated by stories of the American frontier. Being young and being adventuresome, he decided to saddle his horse and head west. This he did. One night he came to a lonely inn. He was needing a room to stay in, to spend the night. He asked the proprietor and the proprietor said that there was one room left. He said, “You can have that room but it’s not going to be easy for you because in the room right next door there’s a man who is very sick. His illness is grave and there’s going to be a lot of commotion.” Judson didn’t care. He was so tired he couldn’t wait to get to his room. As he got to that room that night, it was a nightmare of a night.
He could hear this sick man in the room next door just moaning and groaning and he could hear the man agonizing. He could hear footsteps going in and out of the room and things being wheeled in and wheeled out. He could tell that whoever was in this room next to him, this guy was really sick. He began to think as he lay there about his friend, Jacob Ames, and how he would have responded to the whole subject of suffering and death. He wondered if his atheist friend had any fear of death. He knew that he did.
The next morning, Judson went downstairs to pay his bill. As he went up to the innkeeper, he asked how the man was in the room next to him. The innkeeper said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you heard. The young man passed away in the middle of the night. It was so sad. He was so young. He had just graduated from Boston University back east.” Judson froze as the innkeeper said his name was Jacob Ames.
Well, Judson didn’t care about the American frontier anymore. He no longer had any interest in traveling further west. He turned his horse around and headed back towards Boston. In Boston, he fell down on his knees and he repented and he gave his life to Jesus Christ. Adoniram Judson became one of the greatest missionaries the world has ever known.
It was February 6, 1812 when Judson was ordained and sent forth as America’s first official foreign missionary. He went to Burma. In Burma he trained people to evangelize and he led countless people to faith in Jesus Christ. What’s that all about? It’s about the dragnet. It’s about the kingdom of heaven which gathers people. It gathered Judson and through Judson it gathered others. It’s about the gospel which gathers people into the net of the kingdom.
All of you have seen Billy Graham crusades and you’ve watched your television set or perhaps you’ve been at a Billy Graham crusade as the altar call has been given. You’ve seen hundreds, thousands of people get out of their seats and walk down front to accept Christ. All of that is the net of the kingdom of heaven gathering people. Jesus said to His disciples, “I will make you fishers of men.” We too are called to go forth and make disciples of all nations. We are part of this gathering process, part of the work of the dragnet. Most of you had some moment in your life when you felt the tug of the Holy Spirit and you, too, were gathered into this net.
Now there’s a second teaching from this parable. The second teaching is very hard. In fact, for many it’s kind of a shock. The second teaching from the dragnet is this. Not all who are in the net are saved. Not all who respond to the gospel are saved. Not all who are gathered by the kingdom of heaven are saved. This is, of course, a difficult teaching.
There is a joke I heard some time ago. It’s kind of a dumb joke. You may have heard it. It’s about a salesman who wanted to fly from New York to Chicago. He was on standby. He got the last seat. As he was entering the aircraft, he was hoping that the seat wasn’t just a horrible seat. He was pleasantly surprised to see that the only empty seat remaining was right next to a beautiful woman. He sat down there. She had a laptop computer and she was working but he decided to strike up a conversation with her. She pretty much ignored him but he kept talking. Finally she turned to him and she said, “You know, I’m really very busy and besides I’m very picky when it comes to men.” The salesman said, “Well, what kind of men do you like?” She said, “Well, I kind of like Native American Indians because they’re strong and have great stamina. I like Jewish men because they tend to be sensitive and they understand a woman’s varying moods. Then I like doctors because they’re so intelligent and they have such a great knowledge of the human body.” The salesman said, “Well, what’s your name? She said, “Well, not that it matters but my name is Sylvia Cole. What’s your name?” The salesman thought for a second and he said, “Tonto Bernstein, M.D.”
Now, that is a dumb story but is it not true that sometimes people pretend to be someone they’re not. Is it not true that sometimes people feign an identity. They pretend to be that which they are not. There are 1,700,000.000 Christians on this earth nominally. One billion, seven hundred million. But they’re not all true believers. These are nominal Christians, not all true believers. Some of them are pretending to be that which they are not. There is deception involved and some of them are self deceived, actually believing themselves to be Christians and not understanding what a true Christian is. And yet all of them have, in some sense, responded to some expression of the gospel and have come into the visible church and are part of this net, have been gathered into the net.
I want to tell you the story of Pope Sixtus IV. He was the pope who built the Sistine Chapel and the Sistine Chapel is named after him. He was a decadent pope. He brought nepotism to new highs. During his papacy he hired 16 nephews to serve with him in the Vatican and two brothers and three sisters. Six of his nephews, he made cardinals. They all were given great power and great wealth and they traveled with vast entourages. They ate the best food and they wore the best clothes. They wore pearl embroidered clothing. They slept with many partners in luxurious beds. They were debased and decadent.
The Vatican was very wealthy and the church invested all of its money with a wealthy Italian banking family called the deMedici family. The deMedici’s were the ruling family of Florence, Italy and they had all of the money of the Vatican invested with them. But one day Pope Sixtus IV arbitrarily and capriciously decided to just change banking families. He chose another Italian banking family and he took all of his money away from the deMedici family. This angered Julian deMedici and it angered Lorenzo deMedici, the two most powerful members of the deMedici family. They began to criticize the Pope and the papacy. They began to speak openly of the debauched lifestyles of the Pope and of his family. The Pope became angry.
He ordered that Julian deMedici and Lorenzo deMedici be assassinated and so it was that on April 26, 1478 Julian and Lorenzo deMedici entered the cathedral at Florence for Easter mass. As the cup of Christ was lifted, a dagger was thrust into the back of Julian deMedici and a dagger was meant for the back of Lorenzo deMedici and it was to be simultaneous but Lorenzo responded quickly and threw his cloak back and he was able to ward off the attack. He escaped from the cathedral. His family had great wealth and great power and he swore that he would get vengeance. He began to seek out those who were part of the assassination conspiracy. He hanged some of them and he pushed others out of the windows of palaces. Pope Sixtus IV excommunicated Lorenzo deMedici from the Catholic church and excommunicated the entire deMedici family. He closed down all the church in Florence. But just six years later, in 1484, Pope Sixtus IV died. Ultimately the deMedici family prevailed. Two members of the deMedici family became queens of France, Catherine deMedici and Marie deMedici. Of course, incredibly, three members of the deMedici family became popes in Rome, Pope Leo X and Pope Leo XI and Pope Clement VII were all deMedici’s.
History is filled with stories like that. History is filled with stories of corruption in the visible church and it doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about the Catholic church or whether you’re talking about the Protestant church. History is filled with stories of corruption. Into the visible church, into the gathering, into this net of the kingdom of heaven comes good and bad. Despite the proper exercising of church discipline, good and bad grow together within the net. This is true not only of the clergy but of the laity. It’s true not only of the pulpit but of the pew. There is a mixture of good and evil within the net of the kingdom and not all who respond to the message of the kingdom are truly saved.
You know how Jesus sent seven messages to seven churches as recorded in Revelation, Chapter 2 and 3. You know how Jesus said to the church at Sardis, “You have some there who have not soiled their garments. You have some in your church who have not soiled their garments. They will walk with me in white for they are worthy and I will not blot their names out of the book of life.” But the inference is, “There are going to be others who have their names blotted out.” This is true not only of the message to the church at Sardis. When you look at the messages to the seven churches, to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, in five of those seven churches there is a definite warning that within the church there’s a mixture of true believers and false believers, those whose faith is not genuine. This will always be true in this age of the world and the visible church.
There’s a third and final message from this parable. The third and final message is this. Judgement is coming. You see, judgement is coming. The dragnet will be gathered to shore and all that is within the net will be sorted, will be separated. In fact the word “judge” in the Greek is the word “krina.” This word literally etymologically at its root means “to sort.” That’s what’s going to happen at the consummation. There’s going to come a sorting, a separating, a day of judgement. Judgement begins with the household of God.
I heard a little story recently of a couple, a young couple who were going to be married. In fact they were in their car driving to their wedding. They had a horrible accident and there they were at the gates of heaven standing in front of St. Peter. He had a smile on his face and he welcomed them into heaven and through heaven’s gates. The young couple said, “Well, you know, we were about to be married. I know Jesus said that in heaven people are neither married nor given in marriage but we were just about to be married. We love each other. Could you make an exception? Is there any chance we could be married?”
Peter said, “Well, I don’t know. I’ll have to check on that.” So the couple comes into heaven, Peter heads off and the young couple do not see Peter for an entire year. After a year, Peter comes back and he says, “I have good news. You can get married.” The young couple said, Well, you know, we’ve been thinking and eternity is a long time. On earth, you’re just married till death do you part but eternity is a long time. Is there any chance, if we ever wanted to, maybe 10,000 years down the road, maybe we could get a divorce? Peter said, “Listen, it took me a year to find a minister up here and now you want me to find a lawyer!”
I don’t know how many ministers and how many lawyers are going to be in heaven. I do know that I know some great people who are lawyers, some of my best friends, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t more lawyers than ministers in heaven. Particularly when you consider the apostasy that is taking place within the visible church. The real issue with regard to judgement day and entrance into heaven is, of course, faith and you all know that. It doesn’t matter is you’re a lawyer or a minister. It doesn’t matter whether you’re clergy or laity. The only way you’re going to pass through those gates, the only way you’re going to enter heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ. “God loved the world so much He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish.”
So the issue is, do you have faith and do you believe? Is your faith genuine? Biblically as we close this up, there’s three tests of whether your faith is genuine. There’s a theological test. The Bible says if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead. we shall be saved. But those are theological affirmations.
Jesus said to Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” He asks the same question of each and every one of us here today. Who do you say that I am? Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” That’s a theological affirmation. The early church developed the Apostle’s Creed which says, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and in His Son Jesus Christ our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate. Crucified, dead and buried, He descended into hell. On the third day He rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.”
Those are theological affirmations. From the earliest of times, the Christian church was concerned with theology as reflective of holy scripture. All the creeds and confessions including the Westminster Confession of Faith are efforts to understand the theology of scripture. If your faith is genuine, there’s a minimal theological affirmation that you must make.
I read just recently in WORLD MAGAZINE that in the United Methodist Church, where there are 8.5 million members, the government of the church just recently refused to discipline a pastor who has performed gay and lesbian marriages. This is in violation of that denomination’s policy and theology. But, you see, the denomination and the government of the United Methodist Church refused to apply that policy and theology properly. This is happening in mainline denominations all over the world.
I mean there are people who are ordained who do not believe in the deity of Christ. There are people who are ordained who do not believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ. Their beliefs or their lack of beliefs are in blatant violation of creeds and confessional statements but those denominational creeds and those denominational confessions are not enforced. They’re not enforced. If this is true in the clergy, how true is this of the laity? So many claim to be Christians and do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings and that He died an atoning death and that death could not hold Him and that He rose in power and He’ll come again. Basic theological affirmation is necessary for genuine faith.
There is a second test and the second test is a moral test. If your faith is genuine, it has some expression in morality in your life. Just a few weeks ago, Paula Jones’ sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton was thrown out by a federal judge. Surveys show that for many Americans, the whole deal was thrown out long ago. It was thrown out long ago because many Americans just don’t care.
Gene Amole in his column in the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS recently said that the fact that so many Americans do not care about the morality of their leaders is an indication that they don’t care about their own morality either. Surely there’s some truth in that. There’s a moral erosion in this nation. TIME MAGAZINE, NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE,U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT, they’ve all mentioned the moral erosion in America.It doesn’t matter whether you’re conservative or liberal, you’ve got to be concerned.
Of course as Christians we’re called to a higher standard and if your faith is genuine, there’s going to be some pursuit of holiness. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.” It doesn’t mean that those of us who truly believe are without sin. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” and we all need, desperately, His grace and His mercy and we all need desperately to show grace and mercy. But, you see, if your faith is genuine, there’s some legitimate pursuit of righteousness in your life. There’s a struggle with sin and you are seeking holiness day-by-day.
There’s a third and final test if your faith is genuine and that’s a ministerial test. If your faith is genuine, you ‘re going to seek in some measure to serve the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “You have not chosen Me. I have chosen you and I’ve appointed you to go and bear much fruit.” To go and bear much fruit. To be of some use to the kingdom. To be of service which is at the root of the meaning of the word minister. “By their fruit, you will know them.”
There’s a diversity of meaning within that statement but part of the meaning is that those who truly believe are involved in acts of service for the kingdom of heaven. You know Matthew, Chapter 25, where Jesus said, “The Son of Man will come from heaven in power and great glory and all of His angels with Him and He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him shall be gathered all the nations and He will separate them one from the other as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He’ll say to those on His right hand, ‘Come oh blessed of My Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the world for I was hungry and you gave Me to eat. I was thirsty and you gave Me to drink. I was naked and you clothed Me. Sick and in prison and you visited Me. A stranger and you welcomed Me.’ To those on His left hand, He’ll say, ‘Depart from Me you workers of inequity into the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels for I was hungry and you gave Me not to eat. Thirsty and you gave Me not to drink. Naked and you clothed Me not. Sick and in prison you visited Me not. A stranger and you welcomed Me not.”‘
You see, there’s a ministerial test of genuine faith. Genuine faith results in acts of service. In this church we give you countless opportunity to serve Christ, His kingdom and His church from Sunday School teaching to tutoring in the inner city. We pray that your faith is genuine but if it’s not… If you know in your heart your faith is not genuine, we’re going to give you a chance to change that as we close this morning. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.