Tonight I would like to start with a movie clip from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Indy and his father have been forced to help the Nazis find the Holy Grail, the cup which Jesus used at the Last Supper with His disciples. Towards the end of their adventure, Indy’s father is shot, leaving him no choice but to go and find the Cup of Christ that would bring healing and long life to anyone who drinks from it.
As Indy enters the cave, there are a series of challenges that he must figure out in order to even reach the room that holds the sacred cup. Failing any of the challenges would result in not only the death of his father, but also his own. After making it past the first two challenges, Indy is faced by the most difficult one yet as he stands before what is called “the path of God.”
***Play video clip***
I love this clip for a few reasons. First, I love the fact that the whole basis of the movie is this search for immortality and freedom from death. Death is a pretty scary thing for a lot of people especially in our day and age. Today, as we sit on the five year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, fear fills a lot of people as we wonder when the next attack will happen. We also have been hit by an increase of natural disasters as well as dealing with war and increased violence.
As I looked online earlier at a view different surveys that asked the question, “what are you most afraid of,” death or a death related fear ranked at the top of every one. I think it would be pretty safe to say that the majority of people that you would talk to would jump at a chance to dodge death and receive eternal life. Think about it, if you were offered an opportunity to not have to worry about death, wouldn’t you jump at the chance? I know I would!
Second, I absolutely love the fact that the freedom from death that these men so desperately want, can only be found in the power of Christ. It is not some scientific thing that these men are looking for. It is not some sacred religious ritual that they are trying to uncover. Nor is it a random fountain somewhere in a jungle. The search for eternal life rests in the power of Jesus.
The third thing that I love about this clip is that they portray this “path of God,” which leads to Christ, as something that is not easy or natural. Sometimes today people get this idea that following Jesus is easy. All you have to do is believe right? A lot of the times in connection with church and Jesus, we use the word “saved.” I just have to say this little prayer and then I am all set. I am heaven bound and Jesus is my little personally buddy that I can pull out my pocket whenever I need Him. Saved communicates that it is a one time deal and I am done, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Following Jesus and having a relationship with Him is something that is really hard at times; not all the time, but sometimes. A lot of the time, a relationship with Jesus is like coming out to a giant cliff with seemingly no where to go. There are things that may be really hard to believe, understand, or do. You begin to question yourself and your own abilities thinking that what is before you is impossible. Then you begin to question God asking Him why he put this in your path. You are then left with a decision: Do I either turn around and head back or just sit down and forget about this Jesus guy? Or do I take the chance and jump?
This year, if you haven’t figured it out yet, our theme is going to be ‘Jump!’ We are going to spend our time focusing on what it means to ‘Jump’ into a relationship with Christ. For the most part, we are going to be spending the most of our time looking at the lives of the disciples and going through the Gospels; the first four books of the New Testament.
For tonight, we are going to start right from the beginning and take a look at when the disciples actually became the disciples. Let’s open our Bibles to Matthew 4:18-22.
***Read Matthew 4:18-22***
Let’s take just a minute to really digest what we just read. We have these two guys named Simon, who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They are out on a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee fishing. That is what they did for a living. Day in and day out, they would spend the day fishing and then selling their catch to local shops to make a living. Without fishing, they wouldn’t be able to survive on their own.
One day, this Jesus guys comes walking along the shore and calls out to them. “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” Peter and Andrew were left with a choice. This was not the first time they had been around Jesus. Earlier on, they had spent a day with Jesus and, no doubt, been amazed and challenged by His teaching. So, as Jesus’ question resonated in their heads they decided to follow Jesus. The two men leave their nets behind and the jump out of their boats and swim to shore to walk with Jesus.
As the three men walked down the beach, a little farther down they come across another two other guys, James and John. The two brothers are also fishermen, working in the family business with their father, Zebedee. Jesus calls out to them as well. “Come and follow me.” They too, were left with a choice which, apparently, was not a difficult one for them. Verse 22 says that the two brothers “immediately” follow Jesus, leaving not only their work behind but also their father. They too, jump out of their boat and swim ashore.
Put yourself in these guys’ shoes for a second and think about what they just did. With Peter and Andrew, you maybe could justify their actions. They left everything they knew but they left for something else they knew. As we said, they had spent a whole day with Jesus earlier on. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t think I would be ready to leave everything I knew behind after spending just one day with someone.
James and John though seem to just be lunatics. They leave “immediately” and there is no indication that they had spent time with Jesus before. They had most likely heard of him at least but still, they left their father drifting along in the boat by himself. Not only did Zebedee loose his sons that day but he also lost his workers for his fishing business.
Imagine that you are one of those four men. What is your response to Jesus? For most of us, it would not be an easy decision and would probably feel similar to what Indy felt as he stood on the edge of the cliff. Just in front of you is eternal life and freedom from death. Jesus offers something that you can only find in Him, and that is a relationship with the One True God. Not only is it being offered to you, but He is someone you can bring back with you and introduce to your friends and family, assuring that they will be able to live eternally as well.
On the other hand, the life that you are living now may be pretty difficult to leave behind. Possibly having to change the way you live, the way you talk, the people you hang out with, the activities you participate in, or more sounds pretty scary and difficult. At times it seems just down right impossible. Questions constantly haunt us as we think about following Jesus and what He is asking us to do. What are my friends going to say? What are my parents going to say? Do I really want to stop some of things I am doing? They are a lot of fun…
Guys, my prayer for you, and really for all of us this year, is that we would learn to ‘Jump’ into a relationship with Jesus and follow him the way these disciples did. Some of you may be thinking why jump into a relationship and not begin or step into one.
First, jump communicates that there is no turning back. Once the disciples had jumped into the sea, they were wet and headed for shore! Once Indy put his foot out and jumped onto the ledge, he couldn’t change his mind. You jump out of a plane and there is no turning back; you are all in. That is how we should be living for Jesus; 100%, all in, no turning back!
Second, jump communicates excitement and fear. When you think about most situations that require you to jump, often they are associated with challenging yourself and stepping out in faith and trust to someone or something else. I think of you guys who did the zip line at summer camp last month. It takes guts to jump off the platform at first but once you have jumped you experience such excitement and joy. That is what it is like to follow Jesus. Sometimes it is hard to obey and follow but when we do, there is nothing like it! The disciples learned that pretty fast as they witnessed all sorts of miracles, awesome teaching, and eventually seeing their Master raised from the dead.
Third, jump communicates something that stands out. I want everyone to stand up. Now, I have asked a couple people earlier to help me with this part. So, if my first volunteer would begin stepping side to side where they are and the rest of you take note on how long it took for some of you to figure out who it is. Yes, it may have only been 5 seconds but watch how long it takes to notice my second volunteer…about ½ a second.
When Jesus called out to the disciples he asked them to come and then added that He would teach them how to be fishers for people. They would be making a difference and bringing thousands of people into a relationship with Christ because of how they were living.
God wants all of us to jump into Him! He wants us full throttle, diving into Him despite the fear and trusting that he is there to catch us and that it will be amazing. He wants to use us to make a difference and be an example. It doesn’t mean it is going to be easy but it will be better than anything else you could ever partly step into.
