The Calling of Jesus
Brad Bailey - September 8, 2013
Intro
football season officially started this past week... it unleashes the energy of fans. Lives that have been in slumber seem to awaken.
What it means to be a "fan" really bears a breadth of intensity...default fan... the weekend fan... the obsessed fan. (IMAGE) For some...it's as if life is back on...there's a reason to get up again.
Last weekend driving home from the picnic with my oldest son... he was excited because he was hosting a fantasy football draft that night. At one point I said, "Just remember it's "fantasy." It got quiet. And then he said: "Not to those who have a team it's not."
> We all want to have a team...something we can be inspired by...energized by.
I like being a fan.
But I wonder.... is that how we relate to God... to Jesus.
Are we fans... or followers? What we may need to realize is that Jesus never sought fans...but rather followers.
Because we live in a time and place in which Christianity as a religion has known of Christ as a central figure.... there has never been a greater potential to be a fan rather than a follower.
There is a difference. What are some of the differences?
• Participation...Just look at any sporting event... where two groups of lives are...Fans are in the stands...and players are on the field.
A fan doesn't have to do anything. Fans have T-shirts.... players have jerseys.
• You can be fans of multiple people... but you can't truly be loyal in following multiple leaders.
Personal - I had some posters of Jesus... and Led Zeppelin...and surfing.
You can be fans of multiple people... a bit divided in time...but not in the nature of being a fan of both. But devotion to the influence and loyalty of another....is not something to can simply share. (Neither with a spouse nor God.)
• Fans are drawn by what someone has done, followers because of who someone is. They are coming to Jesus strictly for what He can do for them. A fan cheers on someone who offers them. A fan is being served by the "hero." A fan is bound only by how the "object" they cheer serves their sense of well-being (i.e. inspiration, confidence, power, etc)
• You don’t have to do everything to be a fan....or change anything.
In fact, registering your support as a fan of something is so easy that it only requires clicking a button on Facebook. When Facebook was becoming popular, they had a button called “become a fan.” Today it is called the “like” button. Jesus isn't calling for Facebook fans....but rather those who want to participate in what he is doing.
A fan is defined as an enthusiastic admirer. A fan can love the team and still not be on the team. He can wear the T-shirt and have thorough knowledge of the game and the players involved. He can feel like he is part of the game while never being involved on the field.
One of the symptoms of a being a fan is that you think you are a follower
So lets look again at the calling of Jesus.
Matthew 4:18-22 (NIV)
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Here we read of the calling of some of the first disciples.
The call of Jesus is a call to FOLLOW HIM.
At first we may read of this calling and think it's rather wild that these guys just walked off with a stranger. Didn't their parents every teach them not to be so trusting of strangers? These were not strangers. Jesus had begun teaching in something of the role of a rabbi.....and he was likely already gathering crowds. From those crowd he now chose and called out these followers.
Read through the Gospels accounts and the whole of Jesus' life and earthy ministry is surrounded by two words - "crowds"...and "disciples"...or followers...There are crowds and there are the committed...and the committed are disciples...those who chose to give up everything for the privilege of following him into the life he offered.
The first thing we should realize is that...
1. The calling of Jesus is life-defining
The calling of Jesus offers the highest and most undeserved privilege.
There is something revolutionary in how Jesus calls his disciples. It is rooted in the Jewish traditions of rabbis...yet broke out of tradition as well. [1]
(Summarize some of below)
What defined the Jewish people and the nation of Israel was the honor of being a people who had the Torah… which was considered ‘the way, the truth, and the life.’
Torah (first 5 books… given directly to Moses) = teachings, instructions, or the ‘way’… Torah was the way, the truth, and the life. Central to life… (Described by Rob Bell in Velvet Elvis, pp. 127 – 130) Education was really a ‘school of life’ Not merely information…. but life formation…that which holds onto a Divine relationship… as the source of formation for true life.
Bet Sefer (House of the Book) - Around 6 years old, many Jewish kids would begin formal school for he first time – probably local synagogue / local rabbi.
Began memorizing… by age 10 most knew the entire Torah by heart. (That’s why as you read Jesus… you have a sense they know all the references to OT scripture he quotes…)
Rabbi’s teaching Torah were the most respected figures of the community
By age 10… most students had begun to sort themselves out… most moving into their family trade…apprenticing… but those who had special abilities in the Scriptures would begin to distance themselves… stand out… and enter another level of education.
Bet Talmud (House of Learning) – Age 10 to around age 14…only ‘special students’ continued into this level while most transitioned into learning the family trade.
These best of the best would memorize the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures. By the age of 13 or 14… the top students had the entire Bible memorized. (Genesis through Malachi… 39 books)
They’d also study the art of questions and the oral tradition… how over thousands of years various Scriptures were understood… and what it meant to live them out. So you would have a verse… but then large amounts of commentary.. oral tradition… of who said what in the name of whom about it.
Perhaps you recall… Jesus was found in the Temple in Jerusalem…at the age of twelve.
Bet Midrash (House of Study) - Disciples – Around the age of 14 or 15, at the end of Beth Talmud, most students were now learning the family business and starting families of their own. Those most prolific and passionate… would now apply to a well known rabbi to become one of that rabbi’s disciples (talmidim). We often think of a disciple as a student… but the goal wasn’t just to know what the rabbi knew, but to BE just like the rabbi.
When a student applied to a rabbi… he was desiring to take the rabbi’s YOKE upon him. He wanted to learn the rabbi’s way of life. So when the student came and formally presented their desire to be a student… to follow them, the rabbi had to decide if this young person could do what they did… could spread their yoke… Did they have what it took? It was a critical process… because the rabbi would be committing their life to train this disciple… they would be risking their own reputation.
If not the best of the best… they would respectfully direct them to take up their family’s business.
> Each was placing their fate in the other.
But if the rabbi believed that this kid did have what it took, he would say, “Come, follow me.”
At that point a student was likely to leave his father and mother… synagogue… friends… and village… and devote his life to learning how to do what the rabbi did.
They followed him everywhere… not wanting to miss a thing.
It was even said that one ‘should cover themselves with the dust of the rabbi’s feet.’
So at the age of 30, when a rabbi generally began his public teaching and training of disciples, we find Jesus walking along the Sea of Galilee…
Jesus comes as the true "Master of Life."
He is the divine interpreter of God’s Word… and the divine trainer of God’s way.
We can be so focused on the amazing sacrifice of Christ… that we overlook the amazing truth. We embrace Him as Savior but don’t fully see him as our rabbi… teacher… Master trainer.
• “This is a new teaching… by whose authority…” because rabbis authority always was built on former recognized rabbis… but once in a while a rabbi would attempt to emerge more outside their predecessors… in which case they would be required to provide two witnesses as to their appropriate authority. Jesus responds noting John the Baptist… and the Father / Spirit
Life is a gift… but apart from God… we are dead… we breath but we don’t know why. When we no longer function in connection with our intention… we are no longer what we were created to be… we cease to exist in that way.
> Imagine the Creator of the universe began revealing himself….would be sending a part of himself as a divine master… he’s going to choose someone as his special student in a course in life… true life.
The very thought would transcend the value of anything else… let alone the value of any earthly school.
> Now imagine the choosing of students…. How it might go…
> Now imagine he shows up to your town… and chooses you.
Why fishermen? I suppose because they were not so immersed into the various religious -political parties. he was going to be able to take these loyal but less sophisticated drop-outs....and shape them without as much presumption about what they knew. He would bring a revolutionary break fro the understanding of God in relationship to so much...include tribal like loyalties to the religious schools of thought...and ethnicity... gender... and socio-economic matters.
“At once they left their nets and followed him” … left their father… strange?
> Can you begin to grasp the magnitude of what was at hand… to have one come forth who is being spoken of as a new rabbi and more… unlike any… and comes forth publicly and calls you out… saying “Come follow me” which is ultimate confirmation… for it says… I have assessed you… and you can be like me !
At that moment… everything else was second choice… it was above and beyond anything else life had to offer.
Jesus described the invitation to enter the kingdom… the reign and rule of God… to live in service and security with Him… as that of finding a treasure hidden…
I want to suggest… in the backdrop lies a father.. Zebedee… perhaps a little confused… but blown away with PRIDE…. full of honor. (I can’t help but think of my own father who faced a similar point.)
Jesus imparts the transforming reality that God believes in you.
2. The calling of Jesus is rooted in God ...not you.
We can be so self oriented that we think it all begins and ends with us... and that will only leave us uncertain of our destiny.
Did you catch the most significant difference between what had become the rabbinic tradition and process… and how Jesus chose his disciples?
> He chose them. If they had sought to be his apprentices...when they faced the immensity they would have realized that they didn't have what it took...and felt bad that the rabbi had accepted their belief in themselves. But Jesus had gone and chosen THEM.
This is so significant… that towards the end of their three years together… as he prepares them to go forth after his death and resurrection… he reminds them…
John 15:16 (NIV)
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last.
The calling of Jesus rooted in God... originates in God... emanates from God.
It's HIS initiative...his choice.
Have you ever felt God drawing you? calling you towards Himself? That calling is rooted in HIM...not you. It begins in HIM...not you.
3. The calling of Jesus is formed in "family" (community.)
Jesus sees the individual nature of every life...and he is very clear that every individual must make a choice.
But he always calls us into community because that is essential to the nature of God..
God is one in three persons...and eternal community.
We cannot fully grasp God's communal nature without community.
It is through our joining with others that we transcend our addiction to yourself.
But it is also part of how we develop our new identity and way of life.
Family is what helps us understand the world... life...
Jesus made it clear that he has come to reconcile us to the Father...and therefore to restore us into being a spiritual family.
Mother's recent passing...see afresh the lives that helped form God's nature in one another.
Community provides us with fellow players who are training together...and "player-coaches."
I know that we may have our most intimate and defining moments with God when we are alone. But we will never develop a healthy and lasting understanding of God alone.
We are formed with others.
We all need a platoon... a group who will fight for goodness.
(In one week... Home Churches)
4. The calling of Jesus is defined by participation.
Jesus said I will make you fisher's of men.
He was the light of the world...and then speaks of those who follow becoming lights in the world.
As was noted earlier...the most fundamental nature of fans... is that they are never actually part of the game. Just want into any event...there are one set of lives in the stands...and another set on the field.
You don’t have to do everything to be a fan.
In fact, registering your support as a fan of something is so easy that it only requires clicking a button on Facebook. When Facebook was becoming popular, they had a button called “become a fan.” Today it is called the “like” button. Jesus isn't calling for Facebook fans....but rather those who want to participate in what he is doing.
Jesus wasn't and isn't calling us to join a fan club...but rather to join a mission...to follow him into the restoration of creation.
Over the next several weeks we are going to open up what it means to live naturally supernatural.
I think many of us may feel that those who follow Jesus look more like the wild fans...crazy. I believe Jesus does call us to be distinct...and in some ways peculiar to this world. But I think he wants us to be weird in the right ways.
Next week... the life purpose that defined the life of Jesus...and can define ours.
We'll look at the identity he restores us to... how the Father and Son work with us by the Spirit they sent.
5. The call of Jesus is to die in order to live.
Mark 8:34-35 (NIV)
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
Here we see where Jesus is basically saying to these fans, it is time for a DTR talk. [2]
D –T –R. Some of you will recognize what these letters stand for. How many of you know what the letters DTR stand for? For a young man in a relationship, these letters strike fear in their hearts. They dread the DTR talk. It makes single men so uncomfortable they will only use the initials DTR. The objective is to postpone, run away, and put off DTR for as long as possible. In fact many men are so afraid of the DTR, they will terminate the relationship when they sense the DTR talk is imminent. Now do you want to guess what DTR stands for? D.T.R. stands for Define the Relationship. This is an official talk that takes place at some point in a romantic relationship to determine the level of commitment. You define the relationship and decide where things stand – is it casual, or is it committed?
Is one of you just in it for the fun of going out or is it going somewhere?
Why are you in that relationship?
He is confronting them with why they are really seeking Him out.
Jesus is exposing the reasons that some want to be around Him and is saying, you need to move beyond being a fan, beyond looking for just seeking to satisfy earthly desires and realize the truth of who Jesus actually is and become his follower.
Jesus did this with the crowd of fans here.
And he is saying it is time to separate the fans from followers.
He does this same thing, this time of defining the relationship, with many people.
He did this was many lives... always at the right time... and he will do it with us.
One thing about such a DTR process...is the appropriateness of timing. Asking someone on a first date if they have marriage intentions....may not be fitting. Why? Because they don't know anything about you yet. Yet sometimes we expect people to DTR the first time they even hear about Jesus.
Jesus isn't looking for pre-mature commitments.
But wherever you are... it will help you to grasp that the calling of Jesus is a life-defining privilege that can only be accepted with a life-defining price.
Must leave father and mother... sell your riches... etc
CLOSING:
Maybe you're just beginning to explore who Jesus really is. Maybe you've wondered what the "religious expectations" are. I hope today you've begun to hear Jesus calling not for religion but response. That may take some time to explore relationship.
> Ask God today to speak to you... to make Jesus known.
Maybe you've known this calling and responded...but your sense of priority and participation has felt at a loss.
> Ask God to renew your calling. Maybe you've felt more like a weekend fan than a life follower.
Today... maybe you want to trade in your T-shirt for a uniform.
Resources: Ronnie Knight ("Jesus Wants Followers Not Fans"); On Rabbinic tradition - Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis;
Notes:
1. We can here this rabbinic fulfillment further expressed in Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
The word for "easy" implies "well fitting"...the way you were designed.
It is in light of being one who teaches "how to live" that we hear Jesus declare: "The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness." John 10:10 (NLT)
2. Another point in which we see Jesus engage the nature of being "fans"...and seek to define the relationship" is found in John 6:1-29...."Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick." (1-2)
Further on in the text we find that there are 5000 men along with women and children, probably close to 15,000 to 20,000 people that Jesus sees out there. That is a big crowd, that is a lot of fans.
That would enough people to fill up all the seats of Staples Center (18,118.)
We're told that Jesus “had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. (Mark 6:34)
Jesus recognizes that these people are only just fans of his right now, but He wants to teach them and help them learn so they will be His followers and not just fans.
He wants that for every person here as well.
Well the next morning Jesus and his disciples are gone. The people get in their boats and find him back across the waters...and listen to what Jesus says to them.
John 6:27-29 (NIV)
Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." 28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" 29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
And yet another example is that of the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-31) - He's a fan of Jesus... he even tells him he admires him...and seeks his teaching about what he should do...what matters most. But when told to sell his goods and give them to the poor...he walks away.
I don't think Jesus told him to sell everything so that the man would turn away...I think Jesus knew that the young man was interested in following when he was well off...and he didn't yet have a commitment to follow through in adversity. SO Jesus was bringing up what wasn't there already.
