Mark 1:17
“The Call to His Cause”
“Come follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
Two fishermen were out in their boat one Sunday morning when they heard the church bells ring in the distance. One said, “You know, we really ought to be in church.”
The second bloke didn’t even look up but continued to bait his hook. “I couldn’t have gone today anyway, I’ve got the wife sick in bed.”
For some people fishing is everything.
Essentially that is what Jesus is calling us to in this account we’re looking at. When we respond to Jesus’ call to follow him, we are agreeing to join him in the task of fishing for the souls of people.
In this account of the calling of the first disciples, Jesus challenges every person – Christian and non-Christian alike - to be a laborer for his kingdom; to share his heart for the lost and to keep as their central focus in life the task of bringing people in to Him.
1.CONSIDER CHRIST’S CALL
Jesus challenges every person to be a laborer for his kingdom. We can choose to toil for many things in this life, but Jesus calls us to come and work for him. Picture it like this, we’re being headhunted for a far more prestigious position than we could ever have dreamed of.
That’s the essence of Jesus’ call. He is saying, stop playing around in the minor league, it’s time to be a part of something far more significant.
Here is Jesus, talking with two fishermen in their place of work, and he says to them, “Come follow me.” He has something far more important for them to be doing.
a. Soul winning is a command that must be obeyed.
And if we have faith we will follow him. From another angle, Jesus’ words, “Come follow me,” are not merely a suggestion they are a command that must be obeyed.
One Christian I know has taken this command seriously. He is a successful professional in the health care industry. Recently he was offered a practice that he could have easily purchased and it would have seen him through very comfortably to retirement. Yet he considers himself a minister first and a health care professional second – and so because the practice would have detracted from his primary concern for the kingdom of God, he turned it down.
In another set of circumstances he may have accepted the practice on the grounds that it would enhance his participation in the call to bring people to Christ. In fact for his boss, who is also a Christian, this has certainly been the case.
The point is, it was an ambition for reaching others for Christ, not personal gain, which guided the decision.
Christ’s call to follow him is not an invitation that we may or may not accept.
We have no choice. If we refuse to follow we are disobeying the king. When he calls, we must come.
Jesus said, “Come follow me.” It’s impossible to be a Christian and follow our own path. If Jesus is Lord we can’t say “No” to him, no matter what the cost – if we do he ceases to be our Lord.
For Simon, Andrew, James and John, following Christ meant leaving everything for full time service. While not every Christian is called into “the ministry,” everyone who wants to follow Jesus must abandon everything for Christ’s cause. Soul winning must be the primary focus for every Christian – no matter what their earthly occupation may be.
And you know, this approach to work (whether it be in our place of business or in the home), can transform the dullest most mundane task into the most exciting and rewarding. At the very least our paid work is financing the task of reaching the lost for Christ. In the home we’re not just baby sitting the kids – we’re coaching them every minute of the day, to be true followers of Christ. Christians carry Christ into their homes, factories, offices, schools Universities and so on.
So Christ’s call to follow him is not an invitation that we may or may not accept. If Jesus is really our Lord there must be a surrendering of our will to His will. That is the price of discipleship – the cost of following Jesus.
“Follow me,” Jesus said. How far are we willing to hear that voice and obey it not matter what the cost?
And when we consider the cost to us it’s nothing anyway – Jesus has something far greater for us.
Jesus’ challenge is for every person to be a laborer for his kingdom. It’s His intention that we understand this point today – when we follow Him we become a part of something far greater than our own little ventures.
When we follow Him we share in the magnificent task of winning the souls of the men and women around us.
What do you think - winning a man’s mind is greater? His heart maybe? Or perhaps we’re crude enough to say winning his wallet is a greater ambition. C’mon, what greater occupation is there than winning the soul of a man? It’s an assignment that has eternal significance.
This is Christ’s call on your life. Will you rise to it?
2. SHARE CHRIST’S CONCERN
And what is it that would make someone give up their job and follow Jesus on this adventure? What is it that would make someone put soul winning above all other ambitions?
I suggest that it’s a sharing of Christ’s concern for the lost.
Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Follow Jesus and he will give you a heart for the lost and he will show you how to win them.
But only as we catch Jesus’ genuine passion for souls can we become soul-winners too.
Jesus said, “I will make you fishers of men.” This suggests two things.
a. We must follow Jesus
The first is that unless we follow Jesus we can’t win souls. We can only become fishers of men by following Jesus’ example.
There are some things that we can’t get from books and seminars and Christ’s concern for the lost is one of them. This is something that is caught not taught. Jesus’ heart for the lost can only come through personal contact with the master soul-winner.
No amount of instruction from human sources can take the place of spending time with Jesus. Only when we catch His passion for souls, His spirit of compassionate love, can we become soul winners. There are no short cuts in this.
b. We are promised success
The second thing this verse suggests is that if we really follow Jesus we will certainly become soul-winning fishers of men. We have Jesus’ promise for it to happen.
Two stark contrasts come to mind here. First we have Simon, Andrew, James and John. The bible says of them, “At once they left their nets and followed him,” and “Without delay he called them and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him” (Mark 1:18 and 20).
These men followed Jesus and their value to the kingdom of God has been told throughout history to Christian and non-Christian alike – these men certainly became fishers of men. What Christ achieved through them is awesome. In fact if it wasn’t for them you and I would not have ever had the chance to believe!
Then take the rich young ruler. Here’s a man at the other and of the scale.
You know Jesus made exactly the same appeal to this man,
“Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me” (Mark 10:21).
When we read this story we often make the point that this man turned down salvation – and he did. It’s tragic, but true.
But consider this - the Bible doesn’t say it, but it’s possible that Jesus had an apostleship in mind for this guy and he turned it down.
“At this the mans face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth” (Mk 10:22).
This man could have been a soul winner walking and talking with Jesus right from the very start. But he had other priorities. Where was this guys concern? Not in the souls of others that’s for sure. And the result of his preoccupation is tragic.
Was the way he invested his life of any eternal value? Not at all! All that he had ploughed his life into was short-lived. His own soul wasn’t won let alone becoming a soul-winner himself.
If we are not winning souls to Christ it’s because we are somehow failing to follow him. The rich young ruler chose not to follow Jesus, and as a result he wasted his life in the minor league. And his eternal end is even more unfortunate.
Only when we join with the Master will He “make” us fishers of men. He promises us success - but the challenge is ours.
3. ACCEPT CHRIST’S COMMISSION
How we rise to that challenge will differ. Today, here and now, Jesus is calling each one of us to follow him and to be made fishers of men. Our ultimate assignment is to cast our nets wide and gather people to Jesus. This is Christ’s commission (OHP).
a. Differing assignments.
Jesus said, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”
You know, if Andrew, Peter, James and John were accountants Jesus may well have said to them, “Come follow me and I will have you add to my number.” If they were mechanics he may have said, “Follow me and I will have you tune souls to me.” If they were receptionists he might have said, “Follow me and through you others will receive me.”
The details of our assignments will differ. One person is called to fish overseas, another at home. Some are wining the souls of our children in the home and at schools while others win the souls of their work-mates. Some are employed as pastors others don’t carry that name – but all are called to win souls. This is the assignment that comes to every person who follows Jesus.
Jesus says, “If you follow me I will give you a ministry to others.” He says, “Follow me because I want you as a part of my ministry team.” And, “Come and be built up with me so that I might send you out for me.”
Jesus wants to enlist our help in bringing in the souls of people. No ten week training course; no college diploma; no accreditation from an important hierarchy. Jesus just calls people to follow him, and he immediately enrolls them on his ministry team to win souls.
b. One aim.
And you know, this is the first and primary assignment we are given when we follow Jesus.
Jesus didn’t say to Andrew, Simon, James and John, “Oh, I see you’re skilled fishermen – would you consider teaching fishing classes at the synagogue?” And he didn’t say, “Let’s form a small group and talk about fishing for souls.”
Jesus didn’t let “ministry” get in the way of mission.
It’s great to have welcoming teams, Drama teams, Dance teams, Music teams, Catering teams, Finance teams, Missions teams, Pastoral care teams – these are all great things we can do for the kingdom of God. But as great as these things are, and as helpful as these ministries are, they can be a real distraction to the one central ministry Jesus has called us to – soul-winning.
We have to avoid the temptation of allowing programmes to distract us from our mission – “Knowing Christ; Making him known; Making disciples.”
Fishing requires focus. If you’ve ever fished with a float you’ll know how important it is to keep your eye on the little neon tip on top of the float. When it dips - that’s the time to strike. If we took our eyes off the float and began to admire the rod and reel, we’d miss the critical moment – and lose our catch.
Soul winning is like that. It requires us to focus not on what we are doing, but why we are doing it.
CONCLUSION
If you think Rex Hunt’s fishing adventures look like fun, just wait till you go fishing with Jesus!
And you can. His call is a challenge for every person to be a laborer for his kingdom. It’s time to put away our small ventures and to begin investing in the big league – God’s kingdom. Don’t plow your life into something that will pass away when you do. When we invest in God’s kingdom the returns last forever.
And Christ’s call is for us to share his concern for the lost. Learn from him and catch his passion by spending time with him. It’s our choice today. We can be like Andrew, Peter, James and John who dropped everything to be with Jesus – or we can be like the rich young ruler who was an eternal failure.
It’s a no lose situation. If we follow Jesus he promises that he “will make us fishers of men.” It was true for the first disciples, it’s true for us today.
And Christ’s commission is for us to do nothing but bring in people. If we have been distracted from the main game then now is the time refocus. If ministry has become hard slog for you then it may be that you have ceased to follow Jesus. Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mt 11:30). Maybe in “doing ministry” we have lost sight of our “mission.” Is the Lord challenging you to be re-positioned for greater effectiveness? Is he calling you to new area of service? Maybe he wants you to gain a new perspective on where you are already serving.
The Lord wants our response to His call today, “Come, follow me,” Jesus says, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
What will it be?
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