Will You Follow?

This week we look at the calling of four disciples:  Peter, Andrew, James and John.  Their response is something we can learn from.  To read the sermon, click "Read More."  To hear the full audio, click the play icon below.

To read the Scripture reading, click - Luke 5:1-11
 
 
This last week I had something fairly unusual happen.  Twice I had a conversation with different people this week who spoke about things that we used to do as a church, and each time it was sort of framed in the context that that’s what we need to do again.  Now these were all things that went away at least 30 years ago, and things change, and bringing them back isn’t something we should be entertaining.  We need to be looking to Jesus to guide us into the future, not jumping back some place Jesus left 30 years ago. 
 
Friday, I wanted to get some exercise in.  So I got my phone, put in my earbuds, and started to exercise on our treadmill.  I was reflecting on the week, and started to think about those discussions, when the song we just played came on.  When I got to the last verse, it just kind of jumped out it me.  
 
Take a look at it with me, the last half of the last verse – “I don’t care about things you used to do, Cause I see better days are waiting there for you.”  That verse just jumped out – so I listened to the song again, and when I was done, I went back and listened again.  It’s a great song, with a great message. 
 
Let’s go back and look at the reading again.  Jesus is standing along the shore of the lake talking to the people crowding around him.  The text calls it the Lake of Gennnesaret, but a footnote identifies it as the Sea of Galilee.  So He’s standing on the shore, people crowding around Him on three sides, and He’s trying to talk with them.  He looks down the shore a little ways, and He sees some fishing boats pulled up on shore, with the fishermen sitting on shore cleaning their nets. 
 
Jesus makes his way toward them, with the crowd following right along with Him, till He gets to the boats.  He steps into one of them, and asks one of the fishermen to kindly put off shore just a little, which He does.  This way Jesus can sit in the boat and talk to the people without fear of being pressed into the Sea.  And I imagine that the people on the shore can be more relaxed too, maybe they sat along the shore when they saw Jesus sitting on the boat, at least those up front.  But this way He is able to continue his message to them, and I think that both He and the people He is talking to are a little more comfortable.  And he doesn’t have to worry about the crowd pushing up on Him, and possibly pushing Him into the Sea.
 
When He’s done talking to the people, he has a strange request for the fisherman, who was Simon Peter.  He asked him to go out into deeper water and put the nets down again.  Now we know from the story that Simon and his partners had been out fishing all night long.  They didn’t catch anything, and they were tired.  But not only that, they had just finished cleaning the equipment, rinsing out the nets, cleaning up everything, everything was all ready for tomorrow. 
 
Can you understand his hesitation?  But he did what Jesus asked him to do.  I don’t know why.  Maybe something about the message Jesus just shared?  Maybe there was something in Jesus’ mannerisms, and Peter sensed there was something different about Him.  I don’t know.  But Peter was obedient.  And we all know the results of Peter’s obedience.  The nets were so full of fish they were literally ripping, the ship was sinking, and there was an abundance of fish!  So many fish, Peter called back to shore for his partners to come out and help him get them all in. 
 
What was Simon’s response?  He knew at once that he had just witnessed a miracle.  He fell at Jesus feet, didn’t he?  He confessed he was a sinner, certainly not worthy of Jesus’ attention.  Jesus looked at him, and said, from now on, you will catch men.  We probably all the King James translation of this one, “you will be fishers of men.” 
 
But for me, the most amazing part of this story was what happened next.  They pulled their boats back up the shore, and just left them.  They left the fishing equipment and the nets, they left the boats, as far as we can tell, the boats were still full of fish when they left, but that’s not all they left.  They left everything.  They walked away from their lives as fishermen, they left their jobs, their careers, and they followed Jesus. 
 
To understand how much they left, we need to understand who they were.  We know Simon, later named Peter was there.  His brother isn’t mentioned in this passage, but all three of the other Gospels tell that Simon Peter and his brother Andrew were both called at the same time, so we know that Andrew was there.  But it also mentions his partners in this fishing business, the sons of Zebedee, James and his brother John.   So there were at least four partners in this fishing business, so it must have been a pretty good business.  Yet all four left everything to follow Jesus. 
 
Jesus called them to follow Him.  And they left everything, and they followed.  And I don’t think they were ever the same.  They saw miracle after miracle.  They even participated in several miracles themselves.  At one point, Jesus sent the twelve out on their own, and they drove out demons, and healed many sick.  They all played a part in the feeding of the multitudes on at least two different occasions. 
 
In fact, Peter, the one who at this time fell at Jesus’ feet confessing he wasn’t worthy, later, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, people used to line up their sick along the streets, hoping that Peter’s shadow might fall on them, and they would be healed.  (Acts 5:15)
 
Peter, James and John, three of the four who followed Jesus in our reading, were called the Sons of Thunder, these were sort of the inner core of the disciples, these were the closest to Jesus.  In Matthew 17:1, we see these were the three that joined Jesus on the mountaintop at the transfiguration.  In Mark 5:37, we see these were the ones who were allowed to enter Jairus’ home when Jesus healed his daughter.  In Matthew 26:37, we see these are the three who, in the garden that last night, were invited to come and pray with Jesus.  The rest stayed behind a little, these went further on with Jesus.  These men left everything, but it was well worth it.
 
I am reminded of Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus in John chapter 3.  Jesus tells this very devout Jew, a teacher, a member of the Pharisee’s sect, that you must be born again to see the kingdom of God.  And what He means is that when you become a Christian, you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you have a spiritual awakening, a spiritual birth, and you begin to grow into the image of Christ, you begin to exhibit the fruits of the Spirit that Paul talks about.  For these four, it was a pretty dramatic change.  When Jesus called, they left everything they used to be behind, and they became disciples. 
 
In the song we heard, the Everlasting Place, we also see a call to follow Jesus.  It’s a call to a beautiful place, a place where you can see forever.  The first verse promises it won’t always be easy, but there will be better days waiting there for you.  It certainly wasn’t always easy for these four fishermen – Peter, Andrew, James and John.  James was the first to be killed.  Herod had him killed in Acts 12.  When Herod saw how much that pleased the Jews, Peter was arrested, too.  And he would have been killed if an angel hadn’t come to the rescue and helped Peter escape.  No, it certainly wasn’t easy for any of them.  But they never looked back.  They kept their eyes focused on Jesus. 
 
What we need to understand is that each of us have been called, too.  Called to follow Jesus.  Called to an everlasting place, no tears and no pain, forever in the arms of love, sheltered in the wonder of such a beautiful place.  This is the place Jesus is preparing for us.  And we have a choice to make.  We can’t belong to Him, and still be our own.  Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.”  Paul understood.  Paul left everything and followed Jesus, too. 
 
It doesn’t matter how we used to do things, or even what we used to do. Jesus is calling us to start over.  He is calling us to follow Him.  Let me encourage you this morning to leave everything behind and follow Him.