“Called to Follow”

Scripture: Matthew 4:12-23

Last week, we considered the challenges that we face in faith through the temptations that Jesus was subjected to in the desert. We are tempted to work hard for the things of earth, and let the things of heaven take a back seat. We are challenged to turn away from the word of God, and to put our trust in the standards and mores of the world for our guidance and focus in this life. And people tell us that the powers and princes and hopes and dreams and promises that come from earth are the only things that we can truly count on, and that God is only a figment of some fanatic’s imagination. And we fall for the lies.

But Jesus would have us know differently. He told us that it is the word of God that will nourish our soul, and that the words of the deceiver will only bring us starvation. He told us that God is true, and his commandments are good, and that we can trust all that comes from him, but other than the Lord, there is no one and no thing that can claim that hope. He told us that there is only one who is worthy of our lives and our worship, and that we are to give our all to the Lord God Almighty, no matter what others may try to tell us.

Rev. John M. Buchanan, a Presbyterian pastor, prays the following thoughts every time the music stops and the lights go down and the holy hush descends [on the church],: “Startle us, O God! Startle us with the wild improbability of what we say we believe. Startle us with the incredible beauty and goodness of the affirmations this place, and our being in it this morning, represent.”
- Homiletics Online

And when we can say that we truly believe the things of Jesus, when we can honestly, and with confidence, ask the Father to “startle us” in those things, it is then that we are finally on our way in faith.

Read Matthew 4:12-17

Jesus returned to the Galilee, to a city named Capernaum. Capernaum is located at the northern end of the Sea of Galilee and is just a few miles from Nazareth. And as cities go in that day, it was fairly large. This community would become the area that would be the home base for Jesus as he ministered throughout Galilee.
His cousin John’s ministry is coming to a close, while Jesus’ ministry is just beginning. And where will it begin? Not in Jerusalem, not in the center of Jewish faith, but many miles to the north in an out of the way place that the intellectuals of the day considered to be the home of pagans and the ignorant. Even the prophet described this as a place where the people lived in darkness. But Isaiah would also say that the people have seen a “great light”, one that was the dawn of a new day for them, that this new light would lead them out of death and into a life unlike any they had ever known.
This area is also one where Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles lived side by side. And I believe that the significance of this can’t be overlooked. He had come for both the chosen and the exile, for the righteous and the wicked, for the insider and the outcast. His ministry would be for all who lived in the shadow of darkness, and while he would shed the Light of Heaven on all who came near, only those who would follow him in faith would receive the Light.

And he began to spread the word that repentance was absolutely necessary if they were to have any hope of experiencing heaven. And this, in and of itself, was a strange thought for most of the people. Whether they were Jews or Gentiles, the journey to heaven had little to do with repentance from the way each person was living. The only hope of heaven was seen, in nearly every case, as doing as many good things as you possibly could. It was about working your way out of condemnation.
And the Church has struggled with this concept throughout the centuries, too. Even John Wesley said “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” Of course this is generally taken out of context, as Wesley never intended for anyone to think that “doing good” should ever be seen as a substitute for faith and repentance from our sin.
And why are we to repent? Because the Kingdom of God has come near. The kingdom has come in Jesus Christ. Now it’s true that the kingdom of earth is also still in place, but in Christ, we can now also know the better way through him. The 2 kingdoms will continue to exist side by side until Christ’s return, but the Light is now before us, and Hope has come to free us.

Read Matthew 4:18-22

This is, on the surface, not an unusual event. Rabbis, Greek philosophers, and other learned men of that day gathered others, usually students, around them, so that others could be duly impressed with the teacher’s great knowledge. The teachers would teach, and the students would learn, and ideas and concepts would be developed and honed and advanced. But in these cases, the students would generally seek out the learned teachers, and apply to be accepted into their circle. But note what happens in Jesus’ case – he goes and finds Simon and Andrew, not the other way around; he calls them, they do not ask to be his disciple; and they respond immediately, without a word. And the same happens with James and John.
This is important for us to understand. In John 15:14-16, Jesus intentionally tells us that he has walked into our lives, and that he has called us to follow him, and that we are to learn from him and we are to share him with others, and that we have had little to do any of it. Becoming a follower of Jesus isn’t the same thing as becoming a disciple of some other teacher. Yes, we are to sit at Jesus’ feet, to give him the best and worst that is in us, and to receive the very best from him. But we are to sit with him only so long – soon the time will come that we need to begin walking with him, for the learning to begin being applied. The students will learn for the rest of their lives, but if anyone thinks that learning is a solitary existence, you have another think coming!
Learning Jesus’ ways is never an “end all” condition – once we have begun to grasp the meaning of being his, we are to begin calling others to his side, so they, too, can learn, and so they can reach out to even more, and so the cycle can continue through the end of this age.

Read Matthew 4:23

Teaching, and preaching, and healing – the name of Jesus can do it all. And in John 14:12-14, we are told that if we call on his name, we will do the same things that he has done, and not only that, but we will do even greater things!
Have you been fishing for lost souls? What you have been teaching them, and how often have you been teaching them about Jesus? What have you explained to them about his grace and mercy, his redemption and salvation? What lives have you brought to the healing power of Jesus name? I don’t mean to chastise anyone for not doing more, but we all have to know that unless we are doing the very things that he has called us to do, we aren’t following him very closely.

That’s how others will come to meet Jesus. That’s how others will begin to open their eyes to the Light of the Lord. That’s how they will begin listening for his call on their lives. Remember that we don’t actually bring others to Christ – we simply alert them to his voice and his message, and he will do the coming and the calling.

Responding to God's call will not always be easy. But denying the reality of a call can wound the entire mind and body of the individual, or even the entire community. In Jeremiah's words:
“But if I say, 'I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”
--Jeremiah 20:9, from Homiletics Online

These are the words that a follower of Jesus must understand. It is no longer a matter of deciding to witness to his presence – it’s a matter of not being able to stop! George Burns once said “When you stop giving and offering something to the rest of the world, it's time to turn out the lights.”

For a follower of Jesus, for one who has answered his call on their life, it’s more a matter that when you stop giving and offering Jesus to the rest of the world, it’s because your lights have already gone out! And it appears to me that we all have a lot of light-time left.

Give them Jesus! Today!