Follow Me
By Rev. Heidi L. Barham | January 21, 2024
Click here to listen to the service
Read Mark 1:14 – 20
Our New Testament lesson comes from the Gospel of Mark, which most scholars have concluded is likely the earliest of the four gospels. It is also the shortest of the four gospels. It is characterized by sense of urgency and immediacy as Mark jumps straight to the heart of the matter. Dispensing with any of the details about Jesus’ birth and early childhood… Mark goes right into proclaiming the Good News of Jesus the Messiah.
In the verses that call for our attention this morning from the first chapter of Mark’s gospel… we find Jesus calling His first disciples… extending an invitation to them, “Come, FOLLOW ME.”
These first disciples that Mark mentions are actually two sets of brothers, Simon and Andrew, and James and John, who were all fishermen. In those days, fishing was a major industry in Galilee, so, it is not all that surprising that Jesus would make a reference to fishing when He issued the invitation to the early disciples to follow Him.
Reflecting on this image of fishing reminds me of something that I first read when I was much younger. It was the saying imprinted on a set of notepads that my mom had which I am sure is not an unfamiliar saying, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”
The idea being that it is better to teach others how to do things for themselves rather than simply doing it for them.
However, the text seems to take this notion even a step further. Beyond simply giving someone a fish so they eat for a day or teaching them to fish so they can eat for a lifetime… Jesus wants to teach the disciples to fish for people so they will have the gift of eternal life.
Now, Jesus’ invitation to, “Come, FOLLOW ME,” is not exclusive to those early disciples in our text… it is an invitation to each of us as well to follow Jesus and share the Good News.
I realize that for some, that idea might seem to be a little daunting… a little intimidating even. Perhaps someone is thinking, “I’m not like the disciples… they hung out with Jesus, Himself. I am certainly not in their league…”
Well, if we are being honest with ourselves… we are probably a lot more like those early disciples than we care or dare to admit. You see, the disciples were not exactly people of great faith when they met Jesus. They had a lot to learn as they followed Him.
In preparing for today’s sermon, I came across a memo that I referred to in a sermon several years ago. It was reportedly sent to Jesus from the search firm He hired when He was looking for disciples. I thought I would share it again today:
To: Jesus, Son of JosephOkay, obviously that memo is not authentic, but it does speak to the fact that none of us are perfect… and none of us would have met the requirements for being the “ideal” disciple of Christ either.
Woodcrafter's Carpenter Shop
Nazareth 25922
From: Jordan Management Consultants
Dear Sir:
Thank you for submitting the resumes of the twelve men you have picked for managerial positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests; and we have not only run the results through our computer, but also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant.
The profiles of all tests are included, and you will want to study each of them carefully.
As part of our service, we make some general comments for your guidance, much as an auditor will include some general statements. This is given as a result of staff consultation, and comes without any additional fee.
It is the staff opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have the team concept. We would recommend that you continue your search for persons of experience in managerial ability and proven capability.
Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. We feel that it is our duty to tell you that Matthew had been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus definitely have radical leanings, and they both registered a high score on the manic-depressive scale.
One of the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind, and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious, and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and right-hand man. All of the other profiles are self-explanatory.
We wish you every success in your new venture.
Sincerely,
Jordan Management Consultants
(Tim Hansel, Eating Problems for Breakfast, Word Publishing, 1988, pp. 194-195, as referenced at https://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/d/disciples.htm.)
But here’s the good news, the Lord doesn’t demand or expect perfection… He is merely looking for those who are willing to surrender to His will and answer His call to “FOLLOW ME.”
So, what is the lesson for us today, what should we take away from this text? Does it mean that we are supposed to just give up our livelihood and drop everything we are doing in order to follow Jesus?
Not exactly… although that is what the disciples were called to do back in the day when they were able to walk right beside Jesus… I do not believe that is necessarily what the Lord is commanding each of us to do today.
One thing I do believe this text is telling us; however, is that we should have a higher degree of enthusiasm and energy for sharing the gospel than we do for all the other things we deem as being important in our lives…
Obviously, we need to provide food, clothing, and shelter and care for ourselves and our families. But in doing those things, we must never lose sight of the Lord who is the ultimate source of provision for us. And we must never cease to make serving the Lord the utmost priority in our lives.
Let me put it this way… our joy and excitement for serving the Lord ought to far exceed all the joy and excitement so many of us had before the Browns fell to the Houston Texans last weekend.
Now, over in Matthew 28 (:19 – 20) we find what is commonly referred to as the Great Commission which says:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.To be clear… not everyone is called to be a foreign missionary and travel around the world to go and tell people about Jesus. But any and all of us who know the Lord ought to be ready, willing, and able to tell someone else our story.
In looking at the commentary in the Life Application Study Bible, it says that the Gospel makes missionaries of all God’s people and asks the question, “Where are you casting your nets?”
Whether we realize it or not… some of us have been called to be missionaries right in our own homes, within our own families and within our community.
It does not take a degree in theology or require ordination as a deacon, elder, or minister to be able to spread the gospel and share our testimony. In fact, I truly believe the most compelling stories of faith come from people who carry no official credentials or titles at all.
And that is because when someone who has no training or certification shares their personal testimony… it offers the listener a sense of hope that if God did it for that person… certainly God can do it for me.
And I think it is fair to say that we could all use some hope right about now.
With all of the unrest here at home and abroad… we need to hold onto hope.
In the wake of one crisis after another… we could all use a little bit of hope… but here is the good news… the Scriptures don’t just give us a little bit of hope… they offer us a whole lot of hope and encouragement not to worry or be anxious or afraid.
In Psalm 55 (22) we read, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” Words that are echoed in 1 Peter 5:7 which reads, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
In Matthew 6 (25, 31 – 33) we find these words of Jesus:
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ …For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”And in Paul’s letter to the Philippian church, we find these encouraging words, “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” from which he goes on to say, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6, 19)
No matter what may be going on in the world around us… we can hold onto hope and let go of our fear and anxiety because Jesus is able to speak peace to the storms in life – even when we may have doubts.
It is in Mark 4 (38 – 39) that we find the story about Jesus sleeping in a boat when a storm suddenly arose… filling the boat with water… much to the consternation of the disciples who were in the boat with Him.
The scriptures say:
…[the disciples] awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”And although Jesus did call the disciples out for their apparent lack of faith… that did not keep Him from hearing and answer their prayer to be rescued from the storm. If we take a closer look at that passage, we will see that Jesus calmed the storm first… and then He addressed the disciples’ fearfulness and lack of faith.
And it is the same thing that Jesus does for us… He meets us in our place of need… regardless of whatever shortcomings we may have. And the reason for that is simple… Jesus is at work in our lives because of God’s love, God’s grace and God’s mercy… not because of anything we have done.
In fact, I am reminded of the words of a song by Dorothy Rambo entitled, He Looked Beyond My Fault, that simply say:
Amazing Grace… Shall always be my song of praise.And that is nothing short of amazing. God looks past all of the “stuff” that other people hold against us and use as a rationale for not helping us… and in spite of us having a multitude of flaws and failures… God loves us anyhow.
For it was grace, that brought me liberty,
I’ll never know, just why He came to love me so.
He looked beyond my faults and saw my need.
(© 1968, Designer Music (admin. CapitolCMGPublishing.com))
He loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to be our Savior… not because He had nothing better to do… but because He knew we needed saving. He looked beyond our faults and saw our need… which is why we read in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Perhaps it would be safe to say that Jesus went on the greatest fishing expedition of all time in order to catch each and every one of us.
And Jesus’ invitation to follow Him is a call for us to go fishing as well… to tell others about the gift of God’s amazing grace and mercy… about God’s unconditional, everlasting love that went all the way to a cross at Calvary.
And let me just say this… the time for us to say yes to the call to follow Jesus is right now.
Just as Mark’s gospel expresses a sense of urgency to share the Good News… we ought to have that same sense of urgency about telling this dying world about our Living Savior… to share the invitation with them to follow Jesus while there is still time.
All we need to do is turn on the news… or look at the Internet… or scroll through any one of the multiple social media sites to see evidence of the fact that tomorrow is not promised to any of us.
But what is promised to all of us is that when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and when we make the decision to follow Him… we will receive the greatest gift ever given… the gift of eternal life.
And if you have made that decision already or you are ready to make that decision right now… I want to invite you to stand and join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship: I Have Decided to Follow Jesus #344. Return to News
