AtomPeople Need the Lord
Matthew 4:18-23
Len Sweet writes: Today’s Gospel makes it crystal clear what it means to be a Christian…A Christian is a FOLLOWER of Jesus…meaning our fundamental identity is not that of a leader, but that of a follower!! The Gospel is all about FOLLOWING…meaning, if we lead at all, we lead from behind…we FOLLOW the LEADER…as we reflect the light of Christ into the darkness of the world…
Matthew 4:18-23
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15 “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”
17 From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 18 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. 23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.
This week, at the funeral for Ruth Glessing, the family asked if I would sing this song that speaks about the need of fishing for people…
SING SONG – PEOPLE NEED THE LORD…
Now, the only way this gospel will speak to us is if we are in agreement to the premise of this song: Do people need the Lord today in their lives? Is there something missing for those living without the presence of Jesus in their lives?
If the answer is yes, then we’ll see the core of the gospel today as a calling to be the ones who brings Jesus to the ones who need the Lord!! AND…to be the ones willing to leave our nets…literally and figuratively…and FOLLOW…wherever and to whoever God’s call is given…and not just ask God to bless what we’re doing now!!
When I was on internship…way back in 1982, Deb and Joe were members of the congregation and were incredible leaders in the church and community. Deb was a nurse…Joe was a field supervisor for the local plant…they lived in a nice home on the south side of town, had a couple of small children…and were living out the American Dream…
Actually they were just like James and John in the Gospel today…men who were carefully tending to their investments it appears. They were mending their nets while working aboard their father’s boat. It was a family business and it appears that this family was successful…as they owned several boats!!
Yet, when that call came…they became disciples…and they left everything….
This is what happened to Joe and Deb…they sold their home, gave up their jobs…attended two years of school in Texas…and went to Africa to be missionaries for Jesus…sharing the GOOD NEWS of Jesus as medical and agricultural missionaries.
Over the years, as I’ve reflected on this call to followership, and on Deb and Joe and seen just a very few actually sell their possessions and go to follow Jesus…I’ve come to believe that:
For some the call to follow is to GO…and DO…like Deb and Joe…
For others the call to follow is to STAY and DO…
Yet for all, the call is to FOLLOW and BE the one who fishes for people…that is…the ones who follow Jesus and DO the task…the mission…that Jesus has called us to DO…and BE!! And, this may be something different than what we are currently doing!!
King Duncan, a preacher who writes for e-sermons, writes:
On Feb. 2, 2006, President George W. Bush hosted the 64th annual National Prayer Breakfast. This is a bi partisan event that draws hundreds of politicians, clergy, and other guests each year to the White House. The National Prayer Breakfast is an interfaith gathering: Christians, Jews and even a few Muslims are all included and given time to make remarks. King Abdullah of Jordan was in attendance as a guest of honor. The speaker that day was the rock star known as Bono, lead singer of the group U2. Here is something Bono had to say:
“A number of years ago,” said Bono, “I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord’s blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it . . . I have a family, please look after them . . . I have this crazy idea . . .
“And this wise man said: STOP. He said, stop asking God to bless what you’re doing. Instead, get involved in what God is doing—because it’s already blessed.”
Get involved in what God is doing. What a radical idea.
Don’t spend so much time asking God to bless what you are doing. Rather, ask God to show you what God is doing, and join in.
This is what following Jesus is about…getting involved in what GOD is doing…and not so much asking him to be involved in what we are doing. It’s that THY will and not MY will be done type of thing!!!
Bono believes God is calling him to be an advocate for the poor. He said to the National Prayer Breakfast that day, “Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing. And that is what He’s calling me to do.”
King Duncan then told another challenging story in his reflections on this Gospel. He wrote:
Some of you will remember when Andrew Young was one of our most visible African-American leaders. He is a former congressman, former ambassador to the United Nations and former mayor of Atlanta, Georgia. He is also an ordained minister. One day Andrew Young’s daughter came home from college. She said to him, “Daddy, I heard a missionary talking about ministry in Uganda, and I’ve done a lot of praying about this, and I think God wants me to take a year and go to Uganda as a missionary.”
“Well, honey,” her father replied, “You know that’s all well and good, but there’s a lot of poor people right here in Atlanta that need you.”
She said, “Daddy, I know that, but I really believe that God is calling me to Uganda.”
“Honey, it’s dangerous over there in Uganda,” Andrew Young pleaded, “you could get hurt.”
“I know that Daddy,” she said, “but I could also get hurt right here.”
He said, “But honey you could be killed there.”
“Daddy, I could be killed at any time, anywhere. I really believe that God is calling me to go to Uganda,” she said.
Andrew Young thought and prayed about it, and finally he gave her his blessing. “When my daughter walked onto that airplane,” he said later, “I realized that in baptizing her and raising her, what I said I wanted most for her was that she would become a respectable Christian. But I wasn’t prepared for her to become a real one – a real follower of Jesus!”
Do you hear what Andrew Young is saying? There is a difference between being a respectable Christian and a real Christian.
Pollster George Gallup calls it the difference between being a “believing” church member and a “belonging” church member. Anybody can BELONG to a church. But that’s different from BELIEVING in God’s purpose in the world and seeking to be a part of achieving that purpose.
Jesus, in his call today…to Simon and Andrew, to James and John, to Joe and Deb, and to each of us today is saying: I’m calling you to be a BELIEVER and not simply a BELONGER!!! I want you to be a REAL follower and not just a RESPECTABLE follower…
This is what happened to these 4 first real followers of Jesus…
Peter became the leader of the early church. Andrew is often praised as the first evangelist. John, son of thunder, becomes John the beloved disciple, writing Revelation on the isle of Patmos. John’s brother James is less prominent in the Biblical record. According to Acts, however, James was beheaded for his faith by Herod Agrippa – the only biblical account of one of Jesus’ twelve apostles being martyred for his activities.
What happened to Deb and Joe…I lost track of them a few years back…
Yet all these followers became believers, not merely belongers. They didn’t settle for being respectable Christians; they became real ones. They encountered Jesus and as they responded to Christ’s call, they learned to fish for people…and be engaged in the mission of Jesus!!
People of God…do people really need the Lord today?
If the answer is Yes, then, let the call of the Gospel challenge us today:
1. Will we open ourselves to hearing the voice of Jesus calling us to let him in and then, let him out?
2. Will we, you and me, really follow Jesus…and live a life of mission; not asking God to help us on OUR mission, but asking God to help us join Jesus in HIS mission:
remembering that following Jesus is NOT about what we do for God, it’s about God doing His thing IN us and THROUGH us?
3. Will we together pray for our church, for yourself and for others…that the Kingdom of God will come breaking in on you, your family, and First Lutheran as it did on that day so long ago??
People do need the Lord!! Jesus is calling his people, “COME follow me and I will make you fishers of people!!”
For some, like Deb and Joe…it is a call to GO and DO…
For others, it’s a call to STAY and DO….
Yet for all, the call is to FOLLOW and BE the ones who fish for people…that is…the ones who follow Jesus and DO the task…the mission…that Jesus has called us to DO…!!
And, remember…we have one major advantage over those first disciples!! We know how the story of following Jesus turns out…
Thanks be to God…
AMEN.
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