Title: Follow-First Step
Place: BLCC
Date: 3/19/17
Text: Matthew 4.18-22; Luke 5.1-11
CT: Following Jesus begins with a first step to listen and then trust enough to follow.
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FAS: Much of the world looks upon the adrenaline junkies who jump out of "perfectly good airplanes" as crazy, but jumping from 25,000 feet without a parachute or wingsuit? That would just be suicide, right? Not anymore. Luke Aikins recently plummeted from an airplane at 25,000 feet without any kind of parachute, landing neatly in a square 100-foot by 100-foot net set up to catch him. He landed at a terminal velocity of 120 mph. Utterly crazy and even stupid, right? The guy has a wife and a four-year-old son.
But there is another angle to this story. Aikins was clear that this stunt involved a ridiculous amount of training. For starters, the 42-year-old has over 18,000 jumps to his name. Then according to CNN, "He prepared for the stunt by doing dozens of jumps—each, naturally, wearing a parachute—aiming at a 100 square foot target, opening his chute at the last possible moment. In his practice jumps he would pull the cord at 1,000 feet, something he had to get special dispensation for. He said in the runup to the jump that he had consistently been hitting a much smaller target, giving him greater leeway with the full-sized net."
As Aikins said, "Whenever people attempt to push the limits of what's considered humanly possible, they're invariably described as crazy. I'm here to show you that if we approach it the right way and we test it and we prove that it's good to go, we can do things that we don't think are possible."
Okay, so the guy still might be insane, but he does have a good point: Proper training will get you to places you never thought possible.
LS: Faith isn't just a blind leap into the dark. It is always a step that involves risk, but it is also based on good and sufficient reasons. When we truly listen and trust in what our Lord tells us it is unlimited what impossible things we can do.
Andrew Finch, PreachingToday.com; source: Euan McCurdy, "World first: Skydiver plummets 25,000 feet—;with no parachute," CNN (8-7-16)
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We are in our second week of the sermon series we are doing together called “Follow”. We learned last week that we didn’t have to be perfect before we were invited to follow Jesus. Actually we said it was a prerequisite to be a sinner. All those who followed Jesus were sinners or worse and needing a savior
We said last week that you didn’t have to even believe Jesus was who he said he was. None of the people who followed Jesus in the gospels believed he was the Son of God….yet.
You see, religion puts it like this: Change and you can join us. That is what the Pharisees believed and the only way you could follow them was to be good at playing the game “Pharisees Say.” Kind of like the game Simon Says only it was played to glorify the Pharisees not Jesus.
Jesus on the other hand didn’t even expect you to be good at Jesus Says. He said to “Follow Me” just as you are. Now the truth is that when Jesus lets just anybody, someone like me, follow, the religious types tend to get a little upset.
But Jesus says, “follow me and you will be changed”.
So have you asked yourself this week if you are really following or are you still just watching as Jesus passes by? Are you applauding what he is doing but are you doing anything yourself to follow?
Today we are going to be looking at a story found in Matthew. The problem is Matthew just gives us a brief look into what happens. He leaves us hanging a little bit in my opinion. Here is the cool thing about the gospels. They all have basically the same story of the life of Jesus, but in some ways from a different angle.
I even brought my Land Book, that is the guy’s name that put it together. It puts all the gospels side by side on each page and compares them to one another. It demonstrates the similarities of them all and how some of the gospels go deeper with different parts of the gospel. We are going to look at one such instance today.
Let’s start with Matthew. [Screen 3] Turn to Mattthew 4.18-20: 18 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. [Screen 4]19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” [Screen 5] 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
That’s the story in Matthew. Wow. Now be honest. Am I the only one who reads this and thinks it is a little unbelievable? Come on. This guy walks up to where we are working. Minding our own business trying to make a living and says, ‘Come follow me.” Do you really think I would?
Read the next two scriptures and it seems a little irresponsible: [Screen 6] 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, [Screen 7] 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Really? Do you really think they just dropped their nets, left their father,
poor old Zebedee, after this guy walks up out of the blue and says follow me?
I don’t know about you but there just seems to be part of this story missing in Matthew. Maybe it was because Matthew was a Jew and just expected people to get why these guys would up and follow Jesus without hesitation. But wouldn’t you like a little more info before you just left the boat and your dad to follow this traveling teacher.
Luckily, Luke was a doctor and actually a Gentile. He provides us with a little more to go on in his book of the gospel. Kind of like Paul Harvey’s Rest of The Story. Just aged myself there.
Let’s go to [Screen 8] Luke 5.1: One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God.
These people were listening to Jesus first. They had to hear the truth first and then their faith was built up from what they heard. But where is our man Peter.
Luke 5.2-5: [Screen 9] 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. [Screen 10] 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon (Peter), and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. [Screen 11]
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” [Screen 12]
5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
Peter listened to Jesus’ words and began to trust this guy. Something about this Jesus seemed to be different. He spoke with such authority. Peter was amazed at what he said. He had to decide to trust this Jesus after hearing His word.
Peter had no idea what was hanging in the balance. He was about to sign on to be the Rock. He was about to enter into an eternal relationship with this Jesus. Peter would one day be adored, by many for this decision he was about to make. He would one day be called a saint and great cathedrals built in his name. But right now... he didn’t know any of this…
He had to decide to trust this man in front of him on what he had just heard.
That may be where you are today. Are you having to decide if you trust these words of Jesus you are hearing today? Peter did.
Luke 5.6-11: [Screen 13] 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. [Screen 14] 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. [Screen 15]
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” [Screen 16] 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and [Screen 17] 10 so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” [Screen 18] 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Don’t know about you but that makes a lot more sense to me. Yep, they followed.
They followed because they had listened.
They put themselves out in the boat with Jesus.
Then they trusted Him and followed. And oh how blessed they became.
They had found the One who would change them in ways they had never imagined.
So what’s this got to do with us today here at BLCC?
What are the steps we must go through to truly follow Jesus. People often talk of how faith is blind. Don’t know if that is completely true. We do believe in things we may not see. I get that from Hebrews 11.1. Not disregarding that at all here. But my faith is in the Jesus I have heard from. I read His words and I have faith that things he says I might not even see yet are true. God’s word provides us with the gospel to hear.
1. The first thing we must do is to [Screen 19] listen to His message. We are to have an informed faith that comes from hearing God’s word regarding the good news of the gospel. The promise of the cross that we now know about.
The cross the first followers didn’t have knowledge of and yet still followed.
We should listen and then ask questions. If you are in a church that doesn’t like you asking questions you need to find somewhere that does. We learn together about our Lord as we listen and ask.
2. The next step is to [Screen 20] loan Him your boat. Put yourself out. Make a real effort to learn more. Join a Bible study and listen and ask. Make time to read all the gospels. Get the rest of the story.
3. The next step is to [Screen 21] take Jesus fishing. Yep I said that. Go fishing with Jesus. God wants you to do something different just like Jesus had the fisherman disciples do. They fished when they were sure nothing would happen. Everyone knew you didn’t fish at that time of day. They had already put their nets up and Jesus told them to cast them out again. They did and the rest is history.
What do you need to try differently? Anything? Or have you got it all figured out?
Your relationships. Do you need to treat someone better or give more to your relationship that is in trouble?
Your work. Do you look at your work as if you worked for the Lord? If not maybe you would be surprised if you did by the “catch” you would pull out if you did?
Or how about your finances? Whose money is it anyway? Are you managing it to serve God or just to obtain more stuff?
Something so important is hanging in the balance of whether or not you decide to trust and follow Jesus. Lives are at stake. Yours and the ones you love. You get that.
Amazing things will happen. Your catch in life will be overflowing in regards to your relationship with our Lord and others.
Just trust. Just Follow.
4. The last step is to [Screen 22] leave your nets. Drop whatever you are doing that is keeping you from God’s ideal for you and those you love who are depending on you.
Surrender to Jesus.
Give it all to Him. Your whole life is his.
He paid the price for you.
The song I get the privilege to sing in the Easter Cantata says it like this:
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But when the voice that spoke creation calls your name. [Screen 24]
You know that you will never be the same.
And when you Hear, “Drop your nets.” [Screen 25]
You do just what He says and you go
You answer with your life and you follow. (1)
CT: Following Jesus begins with a first step to listen and then trust enough to follow.
Are you ready to take the next step whatever it is for you?
Are you willing to see what God’s ideal is for you?
Say no to self.
Say yes to God.
Follow.
Know which way to go when the forks of life come upon us.
Trust Jesus to lead and follow.
Don’t pass up what life could be like for you…if you follow.
Closing Hymn “Take My Life and Let It Be”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(1) Black and Boe and Hambly, Glorious Day Cantata
Stanley, Andy; Follow, Session 2
Aland, Kurt, Synopsis of the Four Gospels
