Proper 3A
Mark 1:16-18; John 21:15-19
“Follow Me”
About 10 years ago my son & my daughter, Bill & Erika, & I were out doing some caving in Virginia. Caving is when you go out & exploring a cave for entertainment & is sometimes referred to as "spelunking".
We had reached the cave on a very slow day & the owner offered to give us a guided tour that was a little off the beaten trail from the normal vacationer’s tour, but he warned us that it would take us about 4 times as long & we had to be prepared to get a little dirty. But it would be worth it because we would see a wonder of God’s creation: a beautiful treasure. & he wasn’t kidding. We walked & meandered for a couple of hours, following his lead past a prehistoric bear skeleton, into darkened recesses, down rock slides & thru crevices where we had to crawl on our knees & wiggle on our bellies, which, for me, was quite an adventure. In the meantime, however, we saw gorgeous stalactites & stalagmites & some really rock outcroppings & caverns.
Finally, exhausted, wet & covered w/ mud, he pointed to a hole & said, “We’re almost done. The exit is right thru there.” I looked at the hole & then at my waistline & then back at the hole. “You gotta be kidding!” I said, “There must be another way out of here.”
“Well, we can always go back the way we came,” he said. “But trust me. You’ve followed me this far; you can make it.”
& he was right. It was snug & it scraped me up a little, but I made it.
Most of you, if not all of you, are here because at some point in your life someone took you, carried you or dragged you to God’s house. In unspoken words they were saying to you the say think the tour guide said to me. Follow me. &, you know, our experiences were somewhat similar. There were times that it was a joy & the way was easy, so we followed willingly. Other times, however, it was more challenging. We didn’t know if it was going to fit, whether it was our waistline or schedule, & we needed to be cajoled just a wee bit. But the people leading us did what they did because they wanted to share w/ us a special treasure that had really been a blessing to them. In my case, it was the beauty of God’s creation. In your case, they wanted you to come to know the Jesus Christ they had come to know; they wanted you grow up under the tutelage of the Lamb of God who had blessed their lives; they wanted you to experience the magnificence of the saving power which comes thru our Lord & Savior.
This morning I want you to hear Jesus’ words to his disciples once again as he calls them to follow him. In particular, I’d like for us to journey w/ Peter as he discovers what it means to follow Jesus.
I’ve chosen Peter as my focus because I’ve always thought that were was great significance in the fact that the first and last words that Jesus spoken to him were “Follow me.” Initially, they were spoken to him when he was still known as Simon. No one knew him as Peter “the Rock” yet because that was a name that would be bestowed on him until later when Jesus would ask all the disciples: “Who do you say I am?” & Simon responded, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” But that time was years away…just before Jesus started to speak to them about his impending death.
For now, he was Simon, Son of John, who grew up in Capernaum, on the north side of the Sea of Galilee, a great location for someone who family was in the fishing business. In fact, in every practical sense, it was assumed that would be the career path of Simon & his brother Andrew. Until one day, as they stood in the sea casting their nets, hoping for a catch that would not only feed their family but would be large enough so they could sell some for the extra income they needed to pay taxes & fix their equipment, an itinerant preacher named Jesus crossed their paths & changed their lives forever. “Follow me,” he said, & they laid aside their nets & began a three year odyssey which led them to become “fishers of men”.
It was a grand time during which everything went perfect. Never were there any disagreements among the disciples & they all sought to place the ministry ahead of everything, even their own personal wants & needs. They fully understood Jesus’ purpose & never questioned what he sought to accomplish. The love of the Lord was so all-encompassing that the hearts of everyone who heard his words were filled w/ his spirit, coming to love & respect him as the Son of God.
Actually, now of these last few things occurred. The three years of Jesus’ ministry were far from perfect for those who were called to follow him & be his disciples. Strive as they might to do their best, & despite the stunning miracles they would witness, there were often disagreements, even with Jesus. They sometimes doubted his miraculous power, they doubted the course God had set for his ministry & life; they even doubted his resurrection. The Gospels tells us how some of the apostles, namely James & John, sought the hold the privileged positions on the right & left sides of Jesus. & although many people’s hearts were moved by his love & the power of God he demonstrated, many also came to ridicule him & listened to him only in hopes that they might be able to use his words against him.
& Simon Peter was as fallible & imperfect as all the rest. His bravado & overconfidence led to a variety of embarrassing incidences. There was the time he walked on the water, lost his faith & began to sink; or the time at the Last Supper when he initially refused to allow Jesus to wash his feet. There was the episode when Jesus foretold his death that Simon Peter stated that it would “never happen” & he was rebuked by Jesus as “Satan” & “a stumbling block” & during Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane when he cut of the servant Malchus’ ear & was rebuked by Jesus for his violence. We all know about his 3 denials of Jesus after his arrest & the incident at the tomb after he ran there & then seems to tell the other disciples what he had witnessed.
& these are just a few of Simon Peter’s blunders. You would think that w/ this kind of a history, the other apostles would want to get rid of this poor excuse for a disciple of Christ as soon as possible. After all, who would want this bad example influencing new converts?
But we know that Jesus didn’t see it that way. Matthew 16:18: “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
& today’s last reading: “I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!’”
Thru all his slip ups, Jesus saw a man who was more than the sum-total of those mistakes. He saw a man of faith who he envisioned as the rock foundation of Christ’s church on earth: A man whose faith-filled courage would cause him to follow Jesus, even to death. Peter discovered that Jesus would not hold his faults against him but, instead, forgave him. & I believe Peter used these errors & Christ’s merciful forgiveness as opportunity for learning & growth as he become the person God intended him to be.
My friends, as baptized believers in Christ’s church we are called to be disciples & follow Jesus. & even though a disciple is called to live in Christ, equipped to live like Christ, and sent to work for Christ, that doesn’t mean we’re perfect. We, too, will muddle thru life & make mistakes. There will be times we are opposed to the direction Christ is taking our community of faith because it makes us uncomfortable & we might even place ourselves as a stumbling block to that change. But if Peter’s life says anything to us it is this: “I can still be used by Christ; I can still work for Christ; I can still be a blessing to others thru Christ.”
You see, regardless of where we might be in our journey w/ our Lord, he will not toss us aside. He calls to us today just as he first did and says, “Follow me.”
Do you hear that, because he is speaking to you: “Follow me.” (Point to someone) “Follow me.” (Point to someone else) “Follow me.”
