January 22 sermon – Pastor Roecker
Mark 1:14-20
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”
16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
It was a day none of them would ever forget. They were simple fisherman who plied their trade on the Sea of Galilee. They were followers of the true God. They had come to believe that an upstart traveling preacher from Nazareth was the long-awaited Messiah – the One the LORD God had been promising for thousands of years. They had first seen him way down south near the Jordan River, east of Jerusalem. That is where some of them had been introduced to Him. They had heard Him preach and teach. Now, they were back home in Capernaum – back to their old way of life. No doubt, they had plenty of time to think about what this Jesus had said as they spent long nights on the Sea casting their nets hoping for a catch.
Now, Jesus had come to Capernaum. As He walked along the shore of the Sea He spoke to them. His words that day would change their lives forever. “Come, follow me…and I will make you fishers of men” (v. 17).
Peter and Andrew, James and John could not possibly have known what following Jesus would mean for them – not entirely. Three of them would be put to death for following Him. The fourth would endure the isolation of being banished to a small island called Patmos. They could not have known all that following Jesus would mean.
For now, they knew it would mean leaving their livelihoods behind – leaving behind all that they knew. For what? To follow a traveling preacher who had nothing of earthly value to offer them. But, Peter and Andrew, “…left their nets and followed him.” James and John, “…left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.” They could not have known all that it would mean for them to follow Jesus. What they DID know was that this man, slapping His sandals along the shore, was special. He had shown Himself to be special by His words and the wonders He had performed. This man was the promised Messiah. So they followed.
Jesus calls you to follow Him too. Are you aware of what that entails? Are you aware of what that ensures? Let’s take a look at both.
I. It Entails Unconditional Commitment
Following Jesus entails unconditional commitment. Jesus is not looking for half-measures. Let’s look at four features of the unconditional commitment called for by Jesus.
First, it entails subordinating everything to the Savior. Jesus is up here. Everything and everyone else is down here. Nothing and no one is to be more important than Jesus. The disciples left their livelihoods, their possessions, even their families to follow Jesus. Earlier, we heard how Elisha left a thriving and successful agricultural business to become God’s prophet. Twelve yoke of oxen was nothing to sneeze at. He was a wealthy man. He left it all behind. Now, Jesus does not always require this. The point is that we must be WILLING to give up everything in order to follow Him.
Secondly, following Jesus entails simulating the Savior’s ways. Jesus calls you to think the way He thinks, speak the way He speaks, love the way He loves, be patient the way He is patient, be kind the way He is kind, help others the way He helped others, forgive the way He forgives.
The problem is that we want to lead. We want to do things OUR way rather than HIS way. Or, at the very least, we want to walk alongside of Jesus and have an equal partnership. When Jesus goes this way, instead of following, we want to say, “Let’s talk about this, Jesus. Let’s work out some kind of deal.” But notice, Jesus did not say to the disciples, “Come, lead me!” or “Come alongside of me!” He said, “Come, FOLLOW me!”
By the way, I am not suggesting that Jesus is going to tell you the answer to every single decision in your life. He doesn’t promise that. What I am saying is that here in the Bible Jesus shows you the way God wants you to live your life. And when you want live your life in a way that is contrary to what He says in His Word, He says, “Follow my way, not your way.”
The third thing following Jesus entails is sharing the cross of the Savior. I certainly don’t mean that you or I or anyone else could share the agony Jesus endured to pay for the sins of the world. He went to the cross, alone. He had to. No one could contribute in the slightest way. Only Jesus could pay the price for the sin of the world.
Sharing the cross of the Savior means enduring whatever you need to endure in order to keep following Him. Later in the Gospel of Mark Jesus would famously put it this way, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (8:34,35). Our crosses will come in many shapes and sizes. It might be the cross of being ridiculed for your faith or the cross of losing a friend because of your faith or losing a job because of your faith. Following Jesus might mean telling the truth when telling a lie would be much easier. It might mean leaving a boyfriend who is leading you away from Jesus. It might mean leaving a church which is not teaching what Jesus taught. Whatever the cross is, following Jesus means being willing to carry it.
Finally, following Jesus entails sharing the work of the Savior. In the case of the four disciples in our text, Jesus directly called them to be fishers of men – to catch souls for the kingdom, to pull people from the depths of their sin into the ship of salvation. You have not been called to be Christ’s apostles the way Peter, Andrew, James and John were. But, you have been called to share in the Savior’s work. And what is His work? Nothing less than the salvation of souls.
This work takes many different forms. It takes the form of a mother reading bible stories to her child. It takes the form of a father leading his family in prayers and devotions. It takes the form of serving on the church outreach committee for some and serving as a Sunday school teacher for others. It takes the form of folding service folders for worship. It takes the form of cleaning the church. It takes the form of inviting your coworker to worship with you. It takes the form of placing an offering in the plate.
The list could go on nearly forever. What forms does it take for you? Whatever the Savior’s work looks like in your life, it entails unconditional commitment. It takes commitment to spend time holding a devotion with your family. It takes commitment to prepare a Sunday school lesson. It takes commitment to serve on a committee or clean the church. Often it is not easy.
II. It Ensures Incredible Consequences
So, why say “yes”? So far, following Jesus doesn’t sound terribly appealing. It sounds difficult. It is. So, why follow Him? Because following Jesus ensures incredible consequences. To put it another way: You will never be sorry you did. And, you will be eternally sorry if you don’t.
What are these incredible consequences? First, following Jesus ensures a meaningful life here on earth. Isn’t that what everyone wants? We want our lives to mean something. People’s satisfaction with their jobs has more to do with meaning than it does with money. They are looking for satisfaction. They want their job to make a difference in some way. This is the reason for the famous “mid-life crisis” many people experience. They get to the middle part of their lives and suddenly ask, “What does it all…mean?”
Following Jesus ensures that your life will have meaning. You will spend your life serving Him and serving others. In some cases you might be doing the very same things you would be if you weren’t a follower of Jesus. But, because of Jesus, those things have meaning. You see, following Jesus means that when you make dinner for your family you are doing that on behalf of Jesus. He is providing food for your family through you. Following Jesus means that when you deploy for six months you are deploying on behalf of Jesus. He is protecting people like me through you. Following Jesus means that whether you fix people’s phones or clean people’s homes or vacuum the church or change your child’s diaper you are doing those things on behalf of Jesus. Peter, Andrew, James and John went to the ends of the earth preaching the good news on Jesus’ behalf. But, you don’t have to go to the ends of the earth for your life to have meaning. Your life has meaning every time you go the extra mile to serve others on His behalf.
But, of course, there’s more. Not only does following Jesus ensure you will have a meaningful life here on earth, it ensures you will enjoy an eternal life in heaven. After all, where did Jesus lead those four disciples? He led them from the shore of the Sea of Galilee all the way to the halls of heaven! If you were able to ask Andrew whether he regrets having left his fishing business behind that day, how do you suppose he would respond? “Well, we did have a good thing going there.” No! It is laughable to imagine Andrew having second thoughts about following Jesus once he entered the glories of heaven. You won’t either.
So, answer Jesus’ call to follow Him! Follow Him when times are good and when times are bad, when it is easy and when it is hard. Follow Him today and tomorrow, in happiness and in sorrow. Follow Him over every hill and through every valley until that glorious day when He finally leads…you…home. Amen.
S.D.G.
