FOLLOW - Follow-wear

We have been talking about what it looks like for us to follow Jesus and perhaps the best news we have heard sofar is that we don’t have to be perfect to follow and we don’t have to understand everything there is to know about Jesus before we follow because the first followers of Jesus were unbelieving sinners.  They followed just the way they were and Jesus led them to places of forgiveness, strength and new life.  So if we are sincere about wanting to follow Jesus, we can follow him just the way we are today and allow him to lead us in a path of grace and truth.

Jesus also only calls for us to take small next steps when we turn to follow.  We don’t jump into the deep end and swim strong; we wade into the water one step at a time and when we do Jesus will increase our courage and strength so that we do not need to be afraid.  The promise Jesus makes to those who follow is that no matter what we face in life we can be fearless because God will be with us and God in each and every situation.  Today we are going to talk about what we need to wear if we are going to follow.

People can tell who and what we follow by looking at what we wear.  Let’s take a little quiz here.  Who do these people follow?

There are times we can also tell what religion someone follows by what they were:

What should we wear if we follow Jesus?  Maybe you think of this

Jesus never called us to wear different clothes but he did call us to live a different life so if we are going to follow we need to be identified by something and Jesus makes clear that what needs to mark and identify his followers is love.  John 13:34-35.

There is an old hymn that has a chorus that goes, and they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love.  So it is love that we need to put on and it is the apostle Paul who not only tells us that love needs to be our clothing but he defines what these clothes and what this love is to look like. Colossians 3:12-14.  

So what would this love look like if we were to put it on our feet?  How about this… What to wear

It’s hard not to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient when you are wearing bunny slippers.  Let’s face it, these aren’t worn by warriors and cut throat competitors.  Bunny slippers aren’t worn by people whose only goal is to win and get ahead; they are worn by those who are humble, gentle and kind.  Today they are a symbol for us of love, the love needed by those who follow.

So let’s explore what this love looks like.  Paul says this love is compassion.  The word for compassion here is not one that talks about a feeling from the heart but a feeling from the gut, or more explicitly, the bowels, the very depth of our being.  In Jesus day they talked about a deep seated love coming from deep within us and while bowels might be a little too graphic for us, let’s talk about a feeling that moves us in the gut.  Compassion isn’t a warm fuzzy feeling where we might say “ahh” like when we see a cute puppy,

it is the deep care and concern that moves us and even brings a sense of pain and sorrow into our lives like when we see a child in need.  Compassion is the kind of gut level emotions that stirs us and that tells us that we have to do something to alleviate the pain of sufferings of someone else.  Compassion is about doing something to help lift someone up.

When I was in college, what moved me to feel this gut level kind of compassion were the pictures of children dying of starvation in Ethiopia.

A three year drought during the 1980’s caused mass migration of people into camps where the death of children and adults to the lack of food and water was a horrifying event which took place day after day after day.  When picture like this make us sick – that’s compassion.  When what we feel in our gut moves us to do something – that’s compassion.

When I became a pastor and had the financial means and heard there was a way to help children in need, I decided to sponsor a child in Ethiopia because of what I felt when I was in college.  Today I am on my second little boy in Ethiopia and because of the compassion I physically felt in college, I want to always support a child in Ethiopia.  More recently people have been moved with compassion when they saw or heard about the plight of refugees from Syria

or the ebola virus in Africa

and now the Zika virus in South America.

When we are moved to do something to alleviate pain and suffering – that’s compassion and that is what is to mark God’s people.

Kindness.  A great definition of kindness comes from Andy Stanley who says kindness is loaning our strength to others when they need it.  Kindness is making ourselves available and offering what we have to others.  Think of those who have been kind to you.  Many times it is those who are willing to give you time or a listening ear.  It’s people who loan their strength or service.  When people have been there for us, giving us their time and help, we see them as kind and that’s the kind of love Jesus says needs to be part of our lives.  Kindness is loaning seniors and afternoon to help around their homes and yards.  Kindness is signing up to help with S.O.S.

Humility.  It’s important to remember that humility is not putting ourselves down and it is not thinking less of ourselves, it is thinking about honestly about ourselves in relationship to God others.  Who are we in comparison to God?  Many times we think we know what God should do or how God should act.  While we would never come out and say it, we often have the attitude of knowing God’s job better than God does.  But if we are honest, compared to God, we are nothing.  Job got a real lesson in this kind of humility – Job 38:4-20

This helps put our relationship with God into some perspective.  We are not God, but we are children of God created in God’s image which means we have value, worth and dignity.  As children we are also connected to one another which means we are brothers and sisters.  We are not better than anyone else but together we share in all of humanity which means treating everyone with grace and begin willing to do whatever it takes to support and care for one another.

Gentleness.  Being gentle is making the decision to deal with people on their terms and not ours.  It is responding to people according to their strengths and weaknesses and not just according to our strengths.  Being gentle means we have to stop and think about the person we are reaching out to and understand a little of who they are, where they are in life and faith and how to best help, support and inspire them.

A great analogy of how we need to treat people according their strengths and weaknesses is thinking about how we would pick up a contact lens and a baseball.  A contact lens calls for us to barely touch the lens so that it sticks to our finger and then we place it carefully in our hands, but a baseball we can just grab.  We are picking both of them up, but we do it differently and we do it according to what works for them, not what is best for us.  So being gentle takes some time and thought and energy because it requires us to think first about the other person before we think about ourselves.

And then the last definition Paul gives is for love is Patience, something none of us really like to talk about.  Patience in relationships is simply working with others at their speed and not ours.  Most of the time we want to go through life at our speed and sometimes even warp speed and so patience often requires us to slow down – but really, slowing down is not always a bad thing.

Now if you haven’t noticed, one of the things we see in each of these definitions of love is that we have to be willing to consider the other person before we think about ourselves.  Compassion sees the needs in others.  Kindness looks for the opportunity to give ourselves to others.  Humility calls us to see the value in others.  Gentleness calls us to work with others on their terms and not ours and patience means walking and working at the speed of others and not ours, so the common characteristic we see in all of love is that it always requires us to look at others before ourselves.  Paul says this more specifically in his letter to the Philippian, Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience is how we are to treat others because it is how Jesus treats us.  Jesus was often moved with compassion and when he was it always led to action.  Jesus would do something to alleviate the pain he saw.  Jesus is still moved with compassion when he sees us and comes to our aid.  Jesus is also kind to us and gives us his time and presence.  Jesus not only humbled himself by coming to us but his humility is powerfully outlined in Philippians 2:6-8.  And this was the example Paul said we are to follow when he said, have the same midest as Christ Jesus.  In other words, this is what we need to look like and live.

Jesus is also very gentle with us and works in our lives in ways that are good for us.  Sometimes Jesus might speak softly to us like he is picking up a contact lens and other times he might speak or act boldly to get our attention, but even then he is gentle and doesn’t crush us.  And then there is the patience of God.  God is so patient with us, working at our speed and forgiving us over and over and over again.  Jesus works with us at our speed and not warp speed and that makes all the difference.

So we are called to love this way because Jesus loves us this way and if we want to follow we need to look like Jesus and clothe ourselves in compassion, kindness, humility, gentles and patience.  We need to walk softly and carefully with others and that happens in bunny slippers not combat boots.



Next Steps
FOLLOW ~ Follow-wear

Read Colossians 3:12-17.

In each of the following areas:
1.  Define what these qualities of love mean to you.
2.  Identify someone who has shown you this kind of love.
3.  Identify someone who needs this kind of love.
4.  What one specific act can you do this week which
expresses this quality of love.

Compassion – the feeling in our gut that moves us to help
1
2
3
4
Kindness – loaning our strength (and selves) to others
1
2
3
4
Humility – being honest about ourselves with God and others
1
2
3
4
Gentleness – dealing with people on their terms and not ours
1
2
3
4
Patience – working and walking at the speed of others
1
2
3
4

FOLLOW - Fearless

During these weeks leading up to Easter we are talking about what it means to follow Jesus and one of the most important things we learned in the first message was that Jesus only called sinners and non-believers to follow.  Everyone who first followed Jesus was a non-believer because at that time no one knew that Jesus was the Savior or Messiah, they just thought he was a good teacher or maybe a holy man of God.  So it doesn’t matter what we believe about Jesus we can follow and then allow Jesus to shape our beliefs about him and ourselves.  It’s also true that it was sinners who followed Jesus because everyone sins and so every person who has every followed Jesus was a sinner which means that our sin does not and cannot keep us from following Jesus.  In fact, Jesus said he came for the sinners – he came to call sinners to follow him and it is when we do follow that we find forgiveness and strength to live a different life.

Last week we also learned that following Jesus comes in a series of next steps.  We all start by listening to Jesus and then we slowly get more involved and then go deeper and deeper into faith.  We allow ourselves to get mildly inconvenienced by Jesus before we radically change everything to follow.  Today, we are going to look at the end game.  What’s the payoff or the promise Jesus makes when we follow him?  What’s the reward?  We can find our personal answer to this by finishing this statement:  I follow Jesus because_______.

Some people have said, I follow Jesus because I want to be a better person.  Well yes, following Jesus can make us a better person because as we follow we will become more patient, kind, forgiving and loving which does make us better people, but Jesus never invited people to follow him so that he could make us better.  Jesus never said follow me and I’ll make you a better person.

Some people have said, I follow Jesus because I want to go to heaven.  What’s interesting about this is that there is only one person Jesus invited to follow him where he made this promise directly.  In one of the final statements before his death, Jesus said to a thief, today you will be with me in paradise.  What’s interesting is that this man couldn’t physically follow Jesus because he was nailed to a cross.  He couldn’t live any differently, he couldn’t seek forgiveness, turn his life around or seek restitution from those he harmed.  He couldn’t really do anything to follow Jesus other than acknowledge that Jesus was a righteous and holy man.  I’m not sure he was even a believer in the sense that he believed Jesus was the son of God or the Savior of the world, he just knew Jesus was an innocent man who was suffering an unjust fate as he hung on a cross.

Following Jesus so that we have an eternal life in heaven after we die is never an ongoing theme of Jesus.  He mentions it and it is clearly important to us, but it was never really the reward or promise offered by Jesus to those who follow.  And neither was the gift of a problem free life.  Some people say, I follow Jesus because I want a pain free and problem free life.  There are people who say that if we would just follow Jesus and put all our faith in him then we won’t suffer or face any problems.  If we simply have enough faith God will solve our problems and remove all our pain.  Many years ago a friend of mine from High School was going to a church that believed this and refused to acknowledge the faith and ministry of an amazing Christian woman named Joni Erickson Tada.

Joni Erickson Tada

If you don’t know Joni’s story, when she was 17 years old, Joni was injured in a diving accident which left her a quadriplegic.  During her years of rehabilitation, Joni learned how to paint by holding a paint brush in her teeth and her amazing work has inspired and encouraged millions.

Joni has shared her story and her faith with millions of people around the world and been recognized globally for her work with disabilities.  While we can look at her and see the amazing faith she has and be awed by the way God has used this woman during her life, there are those who don’t even see her as a true follower of Jesus because if she was then God would have removed her pain and solved her problems.


Nowhere in the gospels does Jesus say, follow me and I’ll make all your problems go away and remove all your pain.  While he does heal people and solve some problems – the reward in following is not a pain free / problem free life, in fact, we are going to look at a passage today which tells us something completely different.  To help us see what Jesus understood as the reward for following him we are going to look at a passage where Jesus speaks directly to his first followers.

In Matthew 10, Jesus sends his 12 disciples out to teach and preach and minister in his name and he gives them very clear instructions about what they should do, where they should go and what they should take with them.  Near the end of his instructions Jesus says… Matthew 10:16-18.

Jesus is very clear that his followers are going to face problems.  There will be controversy and conflict.  It doesn’t say IF you will be arrested or IF you will be flogged but WHEN you are arrested and WHEN you will be flogged.  This is what is coming for the disciples if they follow so the reward cannot be a perfect pain free or problem free life.  So what is the reward?  Why would they follow Jesus if this is what awaits them?  Matthew 10:19-20.

The reward here is that when they go through difficult times God will give them strength and when they are in need of words to say, God will say it through them.  Now you might be asking yourself; if God can speak through them during this difficult time then why won’t God keep them from this difficult time?  God obviously knows the pain and problems are coming – Jesus said as much – but God doesn’t keep it away because that is not what God does.  The reward in following Jesus isn’t that we don’t face problems its that God is with us through the problems.  And if God is with us through the problems then we do not need to worry and we do not need to be afraid.  Matthew 10:26, 28-31

If we will follow Jesus, he won’t lead us to a place without problems – the problems will be there, but he can lead us to a place where we can live without fear and that really is the payoff or the reward we get when we follow.  If we follow we can face life without fear which means we can live more fully and abundantly and courageously.  Living without fear means we can step out into the deep waters knowing that God will care for us – we might not succeed or even survive in this world – but we will be living life fully for God

What would you do in life and in faith if you believed completely that God was with you?  Not what would we do if we knew we would succeed, but what would we do if we knew God was with us so we had no fear?  Most of the things that I regret in my life aren’t things I have done but things I didn’t do because I was afraid.  I was afraid to fail so I didn’t even try.  I was afraid I would be ridiculed or laughed at or rejected so I never had the courage to step out and try it.  My senior year our High School put on the musical Godspell.  Back then I knew the entire score of that musical and today I still know most of the words to most of the songs and more than anything I wanted to audition, but I was afraid.  I was afraid of being laughed at; I was afraid people would think I was being foolish and that I didn’t have a good enough voice so I never auditioned.  I don’t know if I would have made the production, I may have failed, but I never even tried.

Following Jesus won’t mean all our dreams come true, it doesn’t mean will always be successful and it doesn’t mean we won’t face problems and pain, but if we will follow, Jesus will help us become fearless – even in the face of death.  The payoff in following Jesus is a life without fear, a life free from worry because we know that God loves us and will care for us.  In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, Matthew 6:25-34.

So many of the things we worry about or are afraid of, Jesus can help us through if we will follow.  Notice that the problems don’t go away, each day has enough trouble of its own – the troubles come, but when we follow the fear of those problem won’t hold us back.  Let’s face it, our world is filled with pain and problems and our lives are filled with pain and problems and following Jesus won’t take those things away, but following Jesus will give us the courage to face them all and live life without fear.

Living without fear also gives us the courage to do things we otherwise thought would be impossible.  The strength to overcome the limitations we face in life and to carry on through the obstacles we face comes when we follow and find the courage only God can give.  The apostle Paul was a follower who really understood this.  Paul’s life was not perfect and pain free – in fact, Paul faced problems that we will never face.  Paul was arrested and flogged and dragged before Kings to give a testimony about Jesus (sound familiar) and in all those situations Paul wasn’t filled with fear – he was filled with faith.  Paul was shipwrecked and imprisoned in Rome where he faced execution and though it all Paul never talks about fear but he talks about his faith and how he continues to follow Jesus.  Paul’s fearless faith shines through in his letter to the Romans where he says, we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him , who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

That Paul is talking about pain and problems here is made clear when he goes on to say, What shall separate us from the love of God?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  We could add to this list our own troubles and problems.  Can disease or depression or divorce keep us from the love of God?  Can failure in our business, failure in our finances or failure in our relationships keep us from the love of God?  Can the problems and pain that we see in the world around us keep us from the love of God?  No, Paul says…  (Romans 8:37-39)

If we follow – the payoff is a life without fear because it is a life filled with the love of God and God’s perfect love casts out fear.  If we follow, we will have the courage to step out into the future unafraid of our problems and even our failure because we know that God is with us and that God loves us and will see us through.  Which brings us to our ice skates; you cannot be an ice skater if you are afraid to fall because every skater falls.  Why do you think hockey players wear so much padding?  Besides helping protect them in all the fights that seem to break out at hockey games, they wear pads because they fall down a lot.  But figure skaters also fall down a lot and they don’t have the luxury of wearing any pads which in mind makes them fearless.

Michelle Kwan

The most decorated skater in US history is Michelle Kwan.  She was an amazing skater who dominated ladies figure skating for a decade winning 17 international skating medals and 9 US Championships.  While many people remember Michelle as one of our most talented and skilled skaters of all time, what she will also be remembered for is placing second in 2 Olympics where she was favored to win.  In 1998, Michelle was the US Champion and while she did well in both the short and long program, she was beaten by another American, Tara Lapinski.  Four years later Michelle was again the US Champion and the heavy favorite to win the gold medal and during her long program, this happened. (link to video of Kwan's full long program from 2002 Olympics)

You have to be fearless if you put on skates because you will fall, but that doesn’t mean you don’t step out and do it and the more you do it the more courage you have and the more confidence you feel and the more life you live.  If we will follow Jesus we will be given courage and confidence so that it won’t matter if we fall or fail or even die because we know that as we step out into the world God is with us and God loves us and that is all that matters.

Now please understand that fearlessness doesn’t come the first day we step out to follow – it’s the end game.  The reward of a lifetime of following Jesus is that we become less and less afraid of what happens in our lives and more and more confident of God’s love and presence and power.  I am sure that the disciples were filled with fear that day Jesus sent them out to teach and preach and the truth is that they weren’t arrested, flogged and brought before rulers and kings to give a testimony of their lives.  In time all of that happened, but it didn’t happen that day or during their first trip out to minister in Jesus name.  The kind of courage they would need and the faith that would help them overcome their fear would develop day by day, week by week and year by year as they followed Jesus and the same is true for us.  Living a fearless life is the reward and the payoff for taking small steps of faith today and tomorrow.  So if we want to be fearless, if we want to live without regrets doing all that God has prepared for us in this world, then today we need to follow.  



Next Steps
FOLLOW ~ Fearless

1. Finish this statement:  I follow Jesus because __________.

2. Jesus says if we follow we can be fearless.
• What fears do you face in life?
• What fears do you have about following Jesus?
• What have you not done in life or faith because you were afraid?

3. What would you do today if you knew beyond any doubt that God was with you and that God loved you?  (Remember that you may not be successful, but what would like to have the courage to try?)

4. How can Romans 8:28 and Romans 8:31-39 help you live without fear?

5. Following Jesus is like ice-skating; it calls for risk and courage and usually involves falling down.  How can Jesus help you step out on the ice?

6. The Bible is full of passages that tell us to Fear Not.  Read and reflect on the following passages:
• Monday – Genesis 15:1
• Tuesday – Deuteronomy 31:6-8
• Wednesday – 1 Chronicles 13
• Thursday – Isaiah 43:1-7
• Friday – John 14:25-27
• Saturday – Matthew 28:10
• Sunday – Revelation 2:10

FOLLOW ~ Next Steps

If you weren’t with us on Wednesday night for the beginning of our Lenten series, Terry did a great job reminding us that each and every person who followed Jesus was a sinner.  In fact, the only people Jesus called to follow him where sinners and the people who really understood the depth of their sin where the ones who were quick to follow while those who thought themselves as being righteous and religious really struggled to understand what Jesus was all about.   It was the prostitutes and tax collectors who grabbed hold of the grace that Jesus offered and his message of love and forgiveness changed their lives.  So being a sinner doesn’t keep us from following Jesus, in fact it is a prerequisite.  So many people think that their sin keeps them from following Jesus when in fact it was sinners that Jesus came to be with and it is sinners that Jesus calls to follow.

It wasn’t just sinners who followed Jesus, however, it was also non-believers.  Again, think about it, everyone who first followed Jesus didn’t believe he was the son of God because they had no idea what it meant to call him the son of God.  People followed Jesus because he was a good guy or they liked what he had to say.  They followed because his stories were good ones or maybe he had healed someone in their family or given them a free lunch or some free wine.  The first followers of Jesus didn’t follow because of great faith; they followed and then developed a great faith.  So no matter what we believe about Jesus we can also follow him and then allow Jesus to lead us to deeper truth and understanding.  So if you don’t believe Jesus is the messiah or the son of God today, that’s ok – you can still follow and simply see what you learn and where God takes you.

What makes the Christian faith different from many others is that while many religions say ~ change your life and follow - Jesus says ~ follow and I will change your life.  If you are looking for a change in your life then today is the day to start and if you are looking for an invitation to follow Jesus – this is it and you can start this very moment because it doesn’t matter what’s on your feet or what is in your heard or in your heart – you don’t need to change anything, you just need to make the decision to follow.

To learn today how to take the first step or maybe the next step we are going to look at the story of Jesus calling his first followers who were all fishermen, which is why we have the fishing boots highlighted this morning.  Each of these shoes will teach us something about following Jesus and the boots today not only remind us that the first 4 followers of Jesus were all fishermen, we are going to see that Peter had to be willing to go deeper and deeper into the water with Jesus before he followed.  The story we are going to look at is recorded in two different gospels, Matthew and Luke, and each story was written to a different group of people.  Matthew shared his stories with a primarily Jewish audience which meant he was writing to people who already had a foundation of faith and trust in God.  These were people who knew God or knew something about God so were already pretty far along in their faith journey.  Here’s what Matthew has to say – Matthew 4:18-22

Many people think this is what it looks like to follow Jesus.  He calls us and we are supposed to drop everything and change everything in our lives to go with him.  If we think that this is the norm then the temptation for us is to simply step back and say, no thanks Jesus, I don’t want to or I’m not ready to do that, but the reality is that there is more to this story but Matthew doesn’t include it because he is writing to people who should be ready to give God all that they have and all that they are to God.

If we turn to Luke’s story we find that Luke fills in the details which are very helpful for us to hear.  Luke is writing to a gentile audience which means they are not Jewish so they do not have a foundation of faith or trust in God, they may not know anything about God and so the picture he gives us about following Jesus is very different.  It’s the same story but it gives more detail.   Luke 5:1-2.

Already we see a difference in the stories.  Jesus doesn’t just randomly come up and ask these fishermen to follow – Jesus is teaching people on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and probably has been for a while.  As fishermen, the disciples have been on the shores and most likely heard Jesus teaching and preaching already and this particular day they were there again cleaning and mending their nets after working all night and so they are listening to Jesus and following always starts with listening.  Following Jesus always starts with information and content and knowledge about God and Jesus.  We don’t follow Jesus blindly into a great and vast unknown – we follow a God who has revealed himself and given us information about who he is and we follow Jesus after we have been able to listen to him and learn from him about who he is and who we are and what life is all about.  So the first step in following Jesus is always to listen but then the story continues,  Luke 5:3.

Jesus then asks Peter to push his boat out a little from the shore so Jesus can use it as a floating stage and continue preaching to the crowd.  What Jesus is asking Peter is if he could inconvenience him just a little bit so that he could keep preaching.  Would Peter be willing to give Jesus just a little – not much, not a big investment – just a little time and effort and energy.  By saying yes, Peter also has the opportunity to keep listening and learning, which is important.  The next step for Peter and for us is Loaning our boat to Jesus.  

Loaning our boat means being willing to have our lives interrupted and inconvenienced by God.  We give a little time, a little energy, a little of ourselves and our lives to God and in the process we are able to learn something new or listen to Jesus a little longer.  Loaning our boat means giving up some time to read the Bible or maybe spending an hour cutting out some shoes for our Sole Hope project.  Maybe it means joining a class or small group so we can learn a little bit more about God or what it means to follow, but it’s taking that small step forward – which is exactly what Peter did.

After these first two steps, Jesus then asks Peter to go a little further and out a little deeper – literally out into deeper water – Luke 5:4-5.  Now what Jesus is asking Peter to do involves some risk and some faith because Jesus is saying, hey Peter, Let’s go fishing.  Peter’s response to Jesus tells us a lot.  He starts by saying, Master, not Messiah, not Lord, not Savior or Son of God, but Master which is simply a term of respect.  Peter has heard enough of Jesus’ teaching to know that he is an honorable man – but he isn’t convinced that Jesus is anything more than a good religious teacher.  And I’m sure Peter is thinking to himself – hey Jesus, you may be a good teacher and know something about God but you know nothing about fishing.

The reason Peter must think this is because Peter and the others have just finished for the day.  They brought their boats to shore and were cleaning their nets because you didn’t fish during the day you fished at night.  During the day when the sun is up the water on the surface gets warm and all the fish stay on the bottom away from the nets, but at night when the water is cool and the fish came to the surface you can gather them up in the nets.  So Jesus is asking Peter to do something that he has done thousands of times before but he is asking Peter to do it in a different way and in a way that was risky.  The risk for Peter was to look foolish.  Remember there is still a large crowd on the shore and Peter is going to look silly if he puts his nets down and catches nothing.

So when Jesus says, let’s go fishing, he is asking Peter to trust him. A little more faith is needed here and while Jesus knows that the payoff will be huge, Peter doesn’t.  Jesus not only knows that there will be huge catch of fish, but that in time the world will change through Peter if he will take this one step, but Peter doesn’t know any of this, he just has to take this one step.  Peter has to be willing to do something he has done every day of his life but in a different way, a way that calls for some faith and trust.  Peter has to be willing to do this one thing God’s way and while Peter still doesn’t have a lot of faith and trust in Jesus as the son of God or savior of the world, he has enough to take this next step.  Look at Luke 5:5, because you say so.  Peter isn’t doing this because he believes anything is going to happen, he does it because he has heard enough from Jesus to at least give it a try and take this next step of faith.  

So Peter goes fishing and this is what happens, Luke 5:6-8.  Notice that the next step has nothing to do with believing anything about Jesus or thinking that Jesus is anything more than who they think he is (which is a good teacher) this step is all about doing something.  The disciples acted, they followed, and then things happened.  There comes a point in our lives where we just need to do something, take a step forward, and then allow God to do whatever God wants to do.  We may not believe Jesus is the son of God, we may not believe Jesus is God in the flesh or the Savior of the world but we have heard enough that we now feel compelled to do something.  Here is where we see the difference between religion and a relationship with Jesus.

Religion tells us to change and then follow
a Relationship with Jesus says, follow and I will change you.

Peter followed and now here comes the change – Luke 5:9-11.

The change is first heard in how Peter addresses Jesus, it’s no longer Master it is Lord.  Something has changed in what Peter believes about Jesus and how he looks at himself and his life.  Jesus is now the Lord and full of God’s holiness and power and Peter is now a sinner who is deeply aware of his own sin.  With his eyes wide open to who Jesus is and who he is, a new relationship with Jesus can be formed.  What’s great about this scene is that Jesus doesn’t look at Peter and agree that he is a sinful man and should be cast out of his presence, not at all – Jesus invites Peter to follow him.

So let me emphasis again what Terry shared with us on Ash Wednesday.  Our sin does not keep us from following Jesus; in fact it is a prerequisite.  We need to come face to face with who we are in light of who Jesus is if we are going to go deeper with God and deeper in our faith.  What we also need to see in this story is that Jesus doesn’t tell Peter to clean up his life and then follow – there is just the invitation to follow with the understanding that Jesus will make Peter into something more than what and who he already is.  We don’t change and then follow; we follow and then allow Jesus to change us with each step we take.

For Peter the next step was to Leave everything behind.  Peter left his nets and boats and family to follow Jesus and in leaving it all he allowed Jesus to use him to help build God’s kingdom and share God’s message of salvation – to become a fisher of men and women.
So this story shows us the 4 steps we all take when we follow Jesus:
• Listen to Jesus
• Loan our boats
• Let’s go fishing
• Leave everything behind

Today, each one of us is somewhere in this story.  Some of us need to Listen to Jesus.  We just need to come back next week to hear more and learn what the next shoe has to tell us about following Jesus.  Some of us are gathering information and knowledge and we just need to sit and listen some more.

Some of us need to Loan our boat – we need to allow ourselves to be inconvenienced and maybe read more of our Bibles during the week or maybe join a small group, Bible study or Sunday School class where we can learn more about God or ourselves.  I know what you might say to that, but I don’t have the time – right, that’s what it means to be inconvenienced, it means giving up a little time to learn a little more.  We aren’t talking a lifetime of missions we are talking an hour on Sunday to listen and learn some more.

Some of us need to say Yes when Jesus says, let’s go fishing.  We need to do something that we have done a thousand times before but do it God’s way.  This step usually means that we need to do something different in our relationships, in our profession or in our finances.  I say this because these 3 things form the basic foundation of our lives.  These are the things that make up most of the little and big things we do every day and today God is asking us to do these same things but maybe in a different way.  God is asking us treat our families differently or reach out to a friend or neighbor differently.  God wants us to look at our jobs differently or take a risk we might not take otherwise at work.  God is asking us to spend our money – something we do everyday – but to do it according to his purpose and plan, not ours.  Just like Peter, we don’t know what hangs in the balance if we do something differently but I guarantee you that if we will go fishing – things will change.

And what’s so great is that I don’t have to tell you what that one thing is today because if you are at this step – you know what it is.  You know what God is saying to you because you are thinking about it right now and it is something God has been laying on your heart for some time.  You know what it means to go fishing and if you will do it – if you will hike up the boots and follow – God will lead you and change you.

Some of us might be hearing God say leave everything behind.  Today you want to give God the fullness of your heart and life and vocation and you realize that if you say yes there is no turning back but you are ready for that.  It’s a difficult place to be for many of us because this is where, like Peter, we become fully aware of our limitations and sin – but our sin doesn’t hold us back – in many ways it is what moves us forward because we want to move beyond our sin and experience the fullness of life that only Jesus can offer.

Each one of us is in here someplace and God is calling us to take this next step.  We might need to listen or loan or boat or go fishing or leave everything behind, but we are all in here someplace and God is asking us to simply take this next step.  Can we put on our boots and go deeper?  No matter where we are we can take the next step.  Even after we have left everything to follow Jesus we still need to take the next step and that next step is to go back to that first step and listen all over again.  God keeps calling us out into deeper and deeper waters to let down our nets and so as we begin this Lenten journey together I want to invite you to put on some good sturdy boots, take that next step and follow.


Next Steps
Follow – Next Steps

1.  Read the story of Jesus calling his first disciples, Peter, Andrew, James and John in Luke 5:1-11.  Identify where in the story these four steps take place and what was required of Simon Peter to take each one.
• Listen to Jesus
• Loan your boat
• Let’s go fishing
• Leave everything behind

2.  Each one of us is found someplace in this story.  What is the next step God is calling you to take?  Identify one or two practical things you can do this week to take this next step and follow Jesus.

Listen to Jesus
• ________________________________________

• ________________________________________

Loan your boat
• ________________________________________

• ________________________________________

Let’s go fishing
• ________________________________________

• ________________________________________

Leave everything behind
• ________________________________________

• ________________________________________