Mark 1:14-20
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." 16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his
brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for
people." 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his
brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with
the hired men, and followed him.
After reading this passage, any one of us would have to live on Mars to claim we do not understand it! You do not have to be a theologically
-trained scholar to understand that Jesus only requires two things of us – to repent with belief in Him, and that we follow Him. The disciples
did that; and they also followed Jesus immediately!
Andrew, Simon, James and John not only followed immediately, but where it says they “left” their nets (v.16) and their father, Zebedee
(v.20), the word indicates that by choosing to follow Jesus they were also doing a “push-away” – you know, the kind of thing you should do
at the dinner table!
They left, or pushed-away some things; they left the comfort and security of family, occupation and familiar surroundings to follow Jesus.
One preacher imagined what that must’ve been like for their family:
Can’t you see papa Zebedee stomping into the house that night. “Ethel!!!” he yells. “Do you know what those kids of yours did to me? They
ran off with some wild-eyed preacher from Nazareth. Just like that. They didn’t even ask permission. This preacher comes along and starts
wailing about the kingdom of God coming, or some fool thing, and they get all teary eyed and religious and go off with the man!” [1]
Now, is that all it ever means to follow Jesus? Can you not be an obedient Christian without going to Africa like David Livingstone? Of
course; not everyone is called to leave home and family. Not everyone is called to be a missionary or a preacher. God uses people where
they are too; God has Christian plumbers, actors, teachers, stay-at-home Moms. God might even have a called politician or two!
One call is not greater than another – but there is nothing greater than responding to the call God places on your life to follow Him.
Dr. Jeffery E. Greenway, who served as president of Asbury Theological Seminary…told of an incident that occurred at his inauguration. A
pastor friend took him aside and said, “Jeff, there are two great days in a person’s life–the day you were born and the day you discovered
what you were born for. You were born for this.” [2]
You were born to respond to God, and it is the greatest day of your life to respond to His calling on your life.
On the other hand, if you try to respond to your neighbor’s call you’ll probably be miserable. If you’ve been called to be a missionary or a
preacher, respond to that call. If you’ve been called and gifted to be an accountant or a mechanic, then use those gifts in that calling.
Scripture declares that the gifts and calling of God are “without repentance”. That means God is never upset or embarrassed by the choice
he made in calling you to be his child, or in calling you to be the kind of servant you can be. God knew what He was doing when he gifted you
to be a follower and fellow-servant of Jesus Christ.
The concept of “following Jesus” carries the sense of making Jesus Christ the priority of your life where, when and how He calls you. It is
about readiness to leave it all behind, not necessarily the requirement of leaving all material possessions, family or occupation. Matthew
Henry, a theologian of the 17th century, wrote: Not that we must needs go out of the world, but we must sit loose to the world…. That
expression speaks to my soul. As Corrie ten Boom, who wrote “The Hiding Place” put it this way, We must hold the things of the world
loosely, because it hurts when God has to pry our fingers from around them.
Obedience begins with repentant belief and an immediate following of Jesus. But beginning does not constitute the whole of the journey.
Our call from the King to the Kingdom is not just immediate following, or beginning – but finishing.
Follow me, said Jesus. The Christian life is not a sprint, but a marathon – a long distance run. Going the distance to finish well is the key
component of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. Many make the start – but will you finish?
I have always hated long-distance running. (These days I hate any kind of running; I even despise the word). Long-distance running has two
characteristics which are both vital and very distasteful; it takes a lot of practice time and it takes a lot of endurance.
If you would be a disciple of Jesus Christ, I want to suggest these two characteristics are going to become your best friends. Let me tell you
why.
Practice Time
Jesus had disciples; he started with fishermen and tax collectors, but he made disciples out of them. The word means “learner” – one who
sits at the Master’s feet, walks with the Master, runs errands for the Master, and just generally hangs-with the Master, doing whatever the
Master says. It is the learning experience.
If you’re going to be Christlike, you must spend time with Christ. Read that: devotional life, prayer, sacrifice, humility, compassion, service,
worship…giving up your will for His. It only takes a moment to say the sinner’s prayer and have your sins forgiven – that’s beginning! But it
takes a lifetime of practice to become a disciple.
William Willimon, who is a United Methodist Bishop, was once Dean of the Chapel at Duke University. He tells of getting a telephone call
from an irate parent: “I hold you personally responsible for this,” the father told him. “Me?” the campus minister asked. “Yes, you. I send
my daughter off to college to get a good education. Now she tells me she wants to throw it all away, and go off to Haiti as a Presbyterian
mission volunteer! Isn’t that absurd? A B.S. in mechanical engineering from Duke, and she’s going off to dig ditches in Haiti.”
“Well,” said Willimon, in a feeble attempt at humor, “I doubt the engineering department taught her much about that line of work, but she’s a
fast learner; she’ll probably get the hang of ditch-digging in a few months.”
“Look,” interrupted the father, “this is no laughing matter. I hold you completely responsible for her decision. She likes you. You’ve filled her
head with all those pie-in-the-sky ideas!”
“Now look,” said Willimon, trying to keep his ministerial composure. “Weren’t you the one who had her baptized?”
“Why, yes,” the father replied.
“And didn’t you read her Bible stories, take her to Sunday school, send her off on ski trips with the Presbyterian Youth Fellowship?”
“Well, yes, but ...”
“Don’t ‘but’ me. It’s your fault she believed all that stuff, that she’s gone and thrown it all away on Jesus — not mine. You’re the one who
introduced her to Jesus, not me.”
“But all we ever wanted was for her to be a Presbyterian,” said the father, meekly.
“Sorry. You messed up. You made a disciple.” [3]
Over time – time spent with Jesus in prayer and study, and time spent serving and loving others in His name – you become His disciple. To
finish well you need practice time; you also must develop and employ…
Endurance
To “endure” is to last, or survive; endurance also means stamina, fortitude. Enduring, in the Christian context, is not just surviving, but
growing and overcoming. That is a status that does not come without some pain and sacrifice. A long distance runner understands pain and
sacrifice.
In his inaugural address last week, the new president talked about the difficult times in which we live. The economic crisis and war are dark
clouds. Yet he talked about the endurance we have as Americans; hear some parts of that address:
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been
one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the
pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and
women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and women
struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of
our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. [4]
President Obama quoted Thomas Paine’s words of encouragement, written in December 1776, the time when our new country’s destiny
hung by the slimmest of threads. General George Washington ordered that these words be read to the people…
…in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger,
come forth to meet and to repulse it. [5]
And then he brought 1776 into 2009…
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue,
let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were
tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace
upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations. [6]
In faith, and with courage, men and women stepped out to respond to Thomas Paine’s challenge, and to follow George Washington’s
leadership. It is that well of determination that held the water of freedom from the time of our forebears, down to this very moment.
If men can act so boldly in the heat of the contest for political freedom, offering their very lives as surety for the preservation of an ideal and
heritage, certainly there is hope for the cause of Christ.
For freedom Christ died, to cleanse us from sin, and save our souls. We will answer the call when America calls, enduring the hardship of
time and enduring trials. Certainly the body of Christ must answer immediately when Jesus calls. The pain and sacrifice are no less; the
eternal stakes are much higher!
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ENDNOTES
1] Desperatepreacher.com
2] The Two GreatestDays In Your Life by Bruce Howell
3] CSS Publishing
4] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/20/president-obamas-inaugura_n_159370.html
5] Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, December 4, 1776, Library of Congress,
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/learn/features/timeline/amrev/north/paine.html
6] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/20/president-obamas-inaugura_n_159370.html
