Sometimes when you hear passages like today’s bible reading you can find yourself asking the question.
Does this really apply to me?
You maybe saying hey I already have a life.
I have a family.
I am not going to leave my job and family simply to become a full time disciple.
I can’t afford it financially or emotionally.
And any way it is not where my hopes and dreams lie.
Or I am comfortable right where I am.
Now if that is how you feel I would encourage you to dive a little deeper into this text.
This text is not so much saying what you must do,
but what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.
What it means to respond to God’s call?
And there is a difference between what you need to do and what it means to be?
Straight away verse 14 reminds us again that being a disciple means focussing on the future.
The Good News of Jesus.
It means having hope.
It means getting on with living a future with Jesus and sharing this future with others.
Listen again to verse 14
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.
Jesus didn’t stick around and wait for everything regarding John’s situation to be dealt with.
He didn’t allow the sins that were happening to John affect him in sharing the Good News with others.
He got on with the life he was meant to be living.
He got out there letting people know things were going to be good.
That the problems we experience in life will not stop God giving people heaven.
Jesus gets out their reminding people that God is present and at work bringing about a better life
Now if we look at our pasts
Nearly everyone has been affected by sin.
It would have been very easy for Jesus to say ahh my best friend John is in trouble I need to focus on him.
Satan loves using sins of the past to get in the rode of us hearing, receiving and sharing the Gospel.
What sins or events in the past hinder you having a good trusting relationship with God and other Christians?
What sins are still pestering and influencing you?
What sins pop up from time to time that get in the rode of you hearing the Good News and sharing the Good News?
If there are any,
I encourage you to do the following.
First focus on the future and the life Jesus promises and what you will have.
Let this dominate your thoughts, words and actions.
Remember as we will hear next week,
Not has more power than God.
Nothing has the power to defeat God and His plans for us.
And secondly if you find it too difficult to let go of the sins of the past
Especially those that affect you.
Seek help.
Although we can’t stop sins happening to us.
We all need to take responsibility of how we react to the sins of the past that affect us.
Be honest with yourself.
Ask yourself what sins of the past are affecting how I relate to other people in this congregation, in our parish, in your family and in the wider community?
Seek help for how you react to these sins.
Seek help specifically from Christians, a pastor or other people who will encourage you to look forward.
And encourage and help you to share the Gospel in your life,
no matter what is happening.
Our hope doesn’t come from the past or what we have done.
But the future that has been created by Jesus Christ.
So the call to follow Jesus is about being influenced by Jesus and grace,
not by sin and revenge.
It is about looking towards the future.
In verse 15 we discover that being a disciple of Jesus means having urgency.
In other words being keen to share the Gospel.
At times we can engulf our lives with many things.
With many other priorities.
And as a result think we have all the time in the world to share God’s love.
However God calls each of us as disciples to have sharing the Gospel as a priority in our lives.
And in fact in every part of our lives.
When this becomes a perspective of life.
It changes how we approach work, family, our relationships with others.
It alters how we deal with problems.
When people hearing the Good News is central.
Then we are concerned with our words and actions in all situations.
And our primary focus is sharing God’s grace and not living legalistically.
This doesn’t mean we become walk overs.
It doesn’t mean we are constantly mentioning Jesus.
And it doesn’t mean we become gospel softies.
But it does mean looking at ways on how we can bring God’s graceful perspective into situations.
This may involve dealing with a difficult problems in gentle ways.
It may involve being more generous than we need to be.
It certainly involves giving up some of the things we demand.
It entails checking out what people say about others and not just assuming or taking gossip as fact.
And there will be times in our life when we will need to be firm about being graceful.
So a good question to ask is how can I help others see that there is a better way to life than being focussed on themselves, on revenge and only doing things when they will get rewarded.
Now one of the interesting things as you read the scriptures is that when it comes to the laws of God.
They are most appropriately used when they are applied to ourselves as individuals and as a community.
It was the Pharisees who loved saying to people they had failed in this law or that law.
But being criticised for not applying them to themselves.
But as you look at the Christian disciples it was Paul, Peter and others they were concerned about following the law.
And why?
Not so they could be saved.
They realised that only Jesus could do that.
But they did it because following God’s laws is the best way to share the Gospel with others.
And when it comes to others.
It is not God’s laws we focus on but God’s grace.
God’s unconditional grace, forgiveness and mercy.
As disciples of Jesus this is what we should be generous with.
And as we do God’s kingdom
God’s way of life is close to people.
So responding to God’s call is being deliberate and urgent in being graceful.
Now in verses 16-20 we see that responding to God’s call means a change of life.
Listen again to these verses.
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.
For Simon and Andrew
For James and John
They had a life,
likely a planned out life.
A life that would give them something to do.
A life that was familiar.
A life that gave them a decent income.
And yet they chose to leave that life and follow Jesus.
Now for most people following Jesus doesn’t mean a change of jobs.
But it means putting your job, your family, your life into God’s perspective.
And often our perspective needs to change.
Our approach to living needs to change.
Simon, Andrew, James and John needed to trust Jesus.
Likewise as we live as disciples we need to trust that Jesus way of life is best for us.
And often trusting Jesus means not trusting other things.
Many people live a life of trusting false gods without realising it.
Some trust a routine, others money, others family, others a particular attitude or approach to life.
Now these things in themselves are not bad unless we allow them to dominate our life,
And hinder us in sharing the gospel.
A gentleman called Max makes the following comments
For years I had my routine.
It made life comfortable for me.
I was organised.
And would not change for anyone, unless there was a real emergency.
I would get grumpy if anyone interfered with my routine.
At times I would become very stressed and even aggressive.
However recently I had begun to see living this way is not helpful either for myself or others.
And it is not faithful to God’s calling for me.
I had placed my routine and myself at the centre of my life.
And had sidelined God and others.
Now I am trying to change,
Thinking more about how I can help others even when it interferes with my life.
These means trusting Jesus.
Another aspect of Simon, Andrew, James and John is that being disciples does mean knowing everything.
It means being on a lifelong journey with Jesus.
It is through this lifelong journey that we are constantly growing as disciples.
That we are constantly discovering God’s unconditional love and how it applies to our life.
That God is constantly forgiving us
And God is constantly helping us in our daily life.
Now being on lifelong journey with Jesus is not like a maths class where we go to class learn the formula and that is it.
It involves us constantly being influenced by Jesus.
Think about who has influenced your life, they are likely to be good friends, mentors, parents or grand parents, who we have spent a long time with.
As Michael Foss the author of Real Life for Real Faith once said,
“Hang around with Jesus long enough and you can’t help imitate him, pick up his approach to life.”
So how are you keeping in contact with Jesus?
Are you having daily devotions?
Are you worshipping frequently?
Are you talking about the sermon with others?
Are you attending Bible Studies when they are offered?
What else are you doing?
All these activities are helpful in us being influenced by Jesus.
Jesus who allows grace and forgiveness to overshadow law and revenge.
Being a follower of Jesus involves:
focussing on the future and His good news,
being deliberate and urgent
and allowing Jesus to change our life
A life focussed on receiving and sharing his love.
The movie Amazing Grace is a movie that I would encourage everyone to see,
It is the true story of God interacting in the life of Wilber Wilberforce,
In the movie we see God change Wilberforce the politician from being a self centred person to one who follows God, and places others above himself.
It results in him caring more for others and being active in promoting the abolition of slavery.
It is a great example of how when we respond to God’s call our meaning and focus in life alters.
Even though we may continue in the same family, employment and neighbourhood as before.
And when we respond to God’s call.
God does wonderful things in us so that we experience His love
And we willing share it.
Amen
