Follow Me
Epiphany 3 – January 23, 2011
1. That's quite a story in the gospel. I mean, here we have these 4 men, minding their own business, literally. When Jesus finds them, they're working away at their jobs as fishermen – casting & mending their nets. And then along comes this Jesus, who moved into the neighborhood not all that long ago, leaving his hometown of Nazareth because his cousin John the Baptism was arrested – so Nazareth probably wasn't so safe for him anymore either. And as Jesus goes out for a walk one day along the seashore, he sees Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, and just like that he says, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. Immediately, it says!
2. I know! And did you catch the next part? It says that as Jesus and Peter and Andrew went on their way together, Jesus spots 2 other brothers, James and John. They're fishermen too. They're working in the boat with their father, mending their nets. Matthew doesn't tell us Jesus' exact words; it just says “he called them,” - but he must have said about the same thing to them that he said to Peter and Andrew, because, “Immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him” too! Can you imagine?! Jesus shows up and says “Follow me” and they do it!!! Right then and there, they up and leave everything else behind – their jobs, their families, their homes – everything they've ever known. The way Matthew tells it, they don't even think twice, they just do it.
1. That's hard for me to understand. It'd be like someone coming up to one of us in math class and saying, “Follow me, and I will make you multiply people.” Or lacrosse practice, “Follow me, and I will make you run for people.” Or hockey or drama club or band. I mean really, how likely is it that we or anyone else we know would drop everything and follow a complete stranger just because he came up to us and said, “Follow me”?
2. And I keep thinking about Zebedee – James & John's father. How do you think he liked this whole scenario? To have his sons just up and leave him holding the nets... What would our parents do if something like this happened? What would they think if we actually did it – if we heard Jesus say, “Follow me,” and we just up and left whatever we were doing, quit school and left our parents behind? I think my parents would freak out. They spend our whole lives telling us to be careful around strangers, not to go with anyone we don't know, no matter what anyone might say. They'd definitely be worried. Who is this man? What does he want? I think they'd probably try to talk me out of it – or call the police to come rescue me.
1. Yeah, it's hard to put ourselves in the story. Most of the Christians I know have never had this kind of a call, where Jesus asks them to leave everything and everyone they know behind to follow and be faithful.
2. Still, I think this story has something to say to us – and to everyone here this morning. Because these stories in the Bible aren't just about things that happened to people a long time ago in a far away land. The book of Hebrews says the Bible is a living and active word – and that means that it's supposed to speak to us too. It's supposed to be alive in our lives. These stories we read – they're our stories too. So I think that even if Jesus doesn't call all of us to leave home and family and school and friends behind, he still calls us. I mean, isn't that what being a Christian is about? Following Jesus? Jesus comes to us in the middle of our everyday “stuff” - school, homework, practices, hanging out with our friends and says to us - “Follow me.”
1. I think that's kind of cool – that he calls everyone to come follow – and that he has something for all of us to do. Because that's a part of it too. Not just following with our words, but learning to serve him and other people with our actions. It's like Peter and Andrew and James and John were getting on-the-job training. None of them knew what they would be doing. They didn't know what it meant to “fish for people.” But as they walked with Jesus, going where he went, doing what he did – seeing how he taught and proclaimed God's reign coming near, how he healed the sick and cured their diseases, they learned from him. And then after a while, he sent them out to do those same things!
2. I think that's part of this whole call business – it's really just an invitation to live our lives following Jesus – in everything that we do, even if he never asks us to leave our hometown. And as we follow him, we learn to do the same kind of things that he did. He asks us to bring his light to the dark places of the world, to teach and tell others about the love of God for everyone, to offer hope and healing to the hopeless and hurting, and then to help them hear Jesus' invitation to follow in their own lives.
1. I hear what you're saying. It makes me nervous though. I'm not very good about talking about God or stuff like that. I'm not sure Jesus called the right person when he called me to come and follow.
2. I know what you mean. But Jesus always knows what he's doing. If he could use James and John and Andrew and Peter, I bet he can use us too, just the way we are, with our different abilities and our different interests and our different personalities. He takes all of those things that make us who we are, and he helps us learn to use them for his work as we follow him. God's love for us is pretty amazing and there are lots of people who need to know about it. All Jesus wants is for us to share that love – in our words and in our actions. He'll help us learn how to do it along the way. All we have to do is listen for his voice and follow him.
Amen.
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