“Follow Me!”
August 18, 2013
Mark 1:16-18
“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. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
Matthew 9:9
“As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
Three military recruiters accepted an invitation to talk to the seniors of a local high school. The principal wanted his 200 young men to hear of the opportunities in the military. The meeting was to be 45 minutes long. Each recruiter had 15 minutes to speak and then another 20 minutes in the cafeteria to meet with interested boys. The Army recruiter went first and got so excited that he went 20 minutes over. The Navy recruiter stood up and also spoke for 20 minutes.
The Marine Corps recruiter, realizing that his 15-minute speech had been cut to two minutes, walked up to the podium. He spent the first 60 seconds in silence, looking over the group of high school seniors. After what seemed to be an eternity, he said, "I doubt there are two or three of you here who could make it as marines. I want to see those three men as soon as we're dismissed." He then turned and sat down. Predictably, he was mobbed by the young men when he arrived in the cafeteria. The Marines motto was "We are looking for a few good men." So was Jesus.
I can imagine Jesus walking the dusty streets and the sandy beach after be all night in prayer – looking for a few good men who would be willing to follow Him. And He found them. They dropped everything, got up, and followed Him.
It is astonishing to me that grown men would drop everything to follow someone. There was no money involved. Sometimes if a person offers you enough money you might drop what you were doing and follow that person. It would have to be so much that it would be an offer you couldn’t refuse.
I guess you ladies do something like this when your sweetheart asks you to marry them. Julie left her teaching job in a public school when she became my wife. She has been following me for over 40 years now. There was no money involved but there was love. Love is a good motive – but these men hadn’t learned to love Jesus yet. They barely knew Him.
We are talking about grown men here. We are talking about men with careers. We are talking about men with families. What would possess them to immediately leave their jobs and leave their families to follow Jesus?
I think there were three things that compelled them to drop everything to follow. First of all, they believed in Him. There was something about Jesus that instilled a belief in Him. It may have been the way He looked; it may have been the way He talked; it may have been the way He made them feel. It may have had something to do with the miracles He did, too.
I think Jesus may have known some of the disciples prior to enlisting them. Some may have seen or heard of Him performing a miracle. But some didn’t seem to have any prior knowledge of Him. They were just convinced to believe.
Later in Jesus’ ministry the disciples clearly believed. Listen to this conversation between Jesus and His disciples.
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Matthew 16:13-16
When we are invited to follow Christ we are faced with a choice – to believe or not believe. Belief is a choice. Some people look at the world and choose to believe there is no God. They are atheists. The Bible calls them fools – because the evidence is there. It is clearly seen. (Romans 1:19-20) But they choose not to believe. Some people look at the world and choose to believe that it evolved. Personally, it wouldn’t hurt my faith if God choose to build the world that way – but I look at the evidence and it confirms the Word of God – that we were created and that our world is not billions of years old but relatively young.
I remember when I was a new Christian I went through a time where my faith was questioned. I had to come to a place where I choose to believe. With Joshua, I said, “As for me and my house – we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) The disciples had to choose to believe in Jesus in order to follow Him – and so do we.
Secondly, they had to trust Him. Jesus said,
“For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
John 6:40
The disciples not only choose to believe that – they put their trust in Him. They left their jobs, their homes and their families to follow Jesus. At one point Jesus said,
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:27-28
The disciples so trusted Jesus, even when many people turned back (John 6:66) they didn’t. They believed. They trusted. Their lives are a testament to that trust. They all went on to give their lives for their Master. All were killed for their faith. Only John died of old age – but he was imprisoned for his faith for a good part of his life.
Do you trust Jesus? Do you trust what He promises? You cannot follow Him without trusting Him. He leads you through some scary places. The disciple’s beliefs were struck to the core when Jesus was crucified. Peter denied he even knew Jesus during the time of trial. He stopped following Jesus and went back to fishing. But Jesus wasn’t done with him yet. Three times he asked Peter if he really loved Him. Twice he said he did. Listen to the third time.
“The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, 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!”
Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”
Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” John 21:17-22
The bottom line, Jesus said, is not to worry about anyone or anything else – just follow. That’s asking a lot. That is asking us to trust Him. Peter did. He totally trusted Jesus to the very end when he was crucified for his faith. Peter was so humble by that time he asked to be crucified upside down because he was not worthy to be crucified in the same way as his Savior. That’s not just trust – that commitment.
And that is the third thing needed to follow Jesus. Jesus asks us to commit to Him. Listen to His Word.
“He said to a man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”
Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:59-62
Do you ever watch those poker games on TV? I used to play poker when I was in the army. I was never too good because I was so poor growing up. It was hard for me to bet very much. But I would win pretty consistently because I was conservative with my bets. Now, I treat gambling like alcohol. If you don’t do it you will never have a problem with it. Avoid those things. But once in a while I watch those games for a few minutes as I am channel surfing. I noticed that when one of those gamblers gets a good hand – he goes ‘all in’. He bets everything! We have a sure winning hand with Jesus. We need to go all in with Jesus. We need to totally commit our all to Him. Don’t hold anything back.
I am betting my eternal destiny that the Bible is true and Jesus is who He says He is – God of all creation. Savior of the world. I’m all in. Are you?
Jesus said,
“And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:27
There is a cross. The Christian way isn’t always easy. That’s why we can only follow Jesus if we believe and trust – only then can we commit. Not everyone is willing to have that level of trust. There was an incident in Jesus’ life where a wealthy young leader came to Him asking about eternal life. He said he kept the commandments. Jesus didn’t argue with him. He simply said,
“You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Luke 18:22
The man said he believed. He said he did the right things. But he lacked total trust and total commitment. Jesus was asking him to go all in. He didn’t do it. He left very sad. Jesus is asking you to do the same – to go all in.
When you do go ‘all in’; when you choose to follow Jesus – what is your calling? You become fishers of men. Jesus said, “I will make you fishers of men.” (Luke 1:17)
Let me give you a couple of tips in fishing for men. I’m trying to teach my grandsons how to fish and the first thing you have to do is “go where the fish are”! In other words, look for opportunities.
1. Look for Opportunities
“As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake…” Mark 1:16-18
Jesus' ministry did not begin with big meetings. It began with individual relationships. Jesus begins with two of John the Baptist's disciples. One was Andrew. The other was probably John. Jesus probably went on to meet all of the twelve disciples during this time. Jesus was looking for opportunities to develop relationships with these men.
Many of us have great opportunities surrounding us but we don't see them. We are like the Persian farmer, Ali Hafed, who sold his farm and traveled all over the world in an unsuccessful search for diamonds. He finally died in poverty and despair in a distant land. Thousands of diamonds were later discovered on his original farm. Near where you live are young people who are diamonds in the rough just waiting to be seen. We need to look for opportunities.
2. Initiate Conversations
When Andrew and John start following Jesus, who spoke first? Verse 38 says, "Jesus turned, and saw them following and said to them..." Jesus took the initiative to speak first. He not only spoke first to Andrew and John but also to Peter and Philip. If Jesus had not spoken to them - would He have had any disciples? These relationships began when Jesus took the initiative to speak first.
Walter Henrichsen in his book, Disciples Are Made, Not Born says. "Several years ago I helped a young man who was afraid to witness. He was starting a student ministry so I asked, 'Joe, how many students do you know by name?' He could only name two or three. I said, 'Joe, in the next four weeks, get to know 50 students. You don't have to witness to them. Just get to know them. Stop by their rooms and talk with them. Go to athletic events with them. Eat meals together. Get to know 50 men so that one month from today, when I return, you can introduce me to each of them by name.' One month later I came back and found he had led six men to Christ. He discovered that as he became friends with non-Christians,' the Lord naturally gave opportunities to share his faith."
3. Find Their Life's Purpose and Passion
In John 1:38 Jesus asks His new acquaintances one of the most fundamental questions in life. "What are you looking for?" He wanted to find out what their aim and goal was. Every human has a God-shaped void which only He can fill. Men try to satisfy this emptiness by working very hard to become rich, famous or powerful. But without God He is empty, still unsatisfied, still wanting something more. By finding out what people live for, what they feel would make them successful, what their life's purpose is, it will help us eventually to show them how Jesus will give their life the ultimate purpose and meaning.
4. Invite Them to Your House
When two disciples asked Jesus where He was staying, He said, "Come and See" (John 1:38-39). This implies more than they should see the place where He was staying. It was an invitation to visit Him. It led to their staying with Him that day. By opening His home He was symbolically opening His heart. As they shared meals together they had the opportunity to get to know each other better and for their relationship to grow.
Are you a fisher of men? We ought to be in some way. That’s what we do.
That is our purpose. But first we need to be committed ourselves. Are you all in? If not – I invite you to do so right now. As a sign of your commitment – would you come to the front as we sing?
SONG
