Sermon
5-12-13 the call, pt 1 Matthew 4:18-22
18 As Jesus was walking
beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his
brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to
fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed
him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James
son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father
Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and
immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Its
mother’s day. We celebrate you.
Also
understand that it can be a difficult day for many
Not a mother, lost a child, difficulty with mother
But
we celebrate today as we are able
Good
fit for today because there is a calling involved.
A
decision to change your life for a purpose.
From the beginning of time, humans have asked, “What is life?
What’s the point? What am I supposed to be do?”
as Rick Warren states it, “What On Earth Am I Here For?”
The response is the easiest and the hardest thing for us to do:
Matthew 22:37-39
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This
is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the
second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]
Today we begin talking about this calling. It is not an easy
conversation.
Our “Call” is our unique way of loving God and loving others.
And scripture is full of great call stories. Men and women
whose lives were interrupted by this great command to love God and love others.
Why so many call stories in scripture?
Because
All are called
God’s
initiative – God starts it
God
doesn’t need us, but chooses to work with and through us
Body
of Christ- we are
Gifts
of the Spirit- we have
Essentially,
choosing to be a Christian is accepting a call
To
lay down your nets
To
take up your cross
It
is done by God’s
grace
God doesn’t wait for or demand perfection,
but accepts our brokenness and
gives us
what we need for the
moment (daily bread);
He
uses broken cisterns
Wounded
healers
Paul
was a murderer. Noah a drunk. Abraham a liar.David an adulterer
Yes,
They weren’t good enough
1
Samuel 3 – Samuel and eli did not have a clue that it was his voice.
Samuel
didn’t know God, or his word. He didn’t grow up with it, and he certainly was
not ‘churched. Many are tempted to ignore my call for those exact reasons
The
same circumstances were true of Jesus asking the disciples to follow him…they
were in a trade and old enough that they’d never passed a rabbi’s ‘tests’ to
follow a rabbi, yet Jesus says, come on guys, let’s go. Follow me, I don’t
care…and look what they did!
God
works with the willing.
(bumper
sticker: God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called.”)
Peter
was an unlikely first round draft choice
Explore fishermen and their role in society
God’s
invites us to go
Go…I’ll show you Abraham, (Genesis 12:1)
I know the plans I have for you (Jer 29:11)
Come
follow me (Matthew 4:18-22)
We
Have a choice = stay or go
Doesn’t
force
Doesn’t
demand
Peter
(and others) gets to choose
We too are invited.
Saying
“yes” = Leaving our nets
Doesn’t necessarily mean go to Africa
Means leaving Our comfort, our familiarity,
our pleasure
Our business, our excuses.
The commitments that we made before we were thinking of God
Even good pursuits that prevent us from being
free to follow
jobs. Vacations.
Hobbies. Activities. Over- scheduled lives
In
past discussions about calling we have spoken of purpose
Purpose
– love the lord your god with all your heart……..
If
there is a deeper Call
Usually
think that we are called to something but first we must be
Called
out from away from something
·
Saul
quit his job
·
David
gave up sheep
·
Samuel
went to live in the temple
·
Mary
gave up her dreams for her life
·
Israelites
left egypt
·
Peter
left his nets
The
process of call and leaving your nets Begins with a conversation
Its
a really painful conversation.
Do
we even want to have the discussion
Like
to protect you from it- but you are adults,
lets
have an adult conversation
Do
you think most Christians are open to this discussion?
Wouldn’t
we prefer to dabble in Christianity?
What
happens when we are called to something, but not away from something
When
we don’t leave ourselves to enjoin a new thing
·
The
married couple whose lives are still about them
·
The
mother who will not devote herself to child
·
The
minister who thinks its still about him
·
The
church that gets stuck in the pew
·
Or
the Christian who gives God his bit and moves on
I
cant count the number of people that I know that tell me about a call that they
had when they were 22 or 25, and they let it go, but it never let them go……..
To
find your call, you must be willing to leave life as you know it
In
one form or another to find your purpose
There
is a story that I like to tell -the little pony grows up
Once
upon a time a pony played in the pasture with his friends. He laughed and
hopped and galloped around. He ate and drank whenever he wanted to.
He took naps whenever he wanted to. He just pretty much did whatever he
pleased. Ahh, the life of a pony!
As
the pony grew up, he began to notice that all of the adult horses left the
pasture in the morning and were hitched up to wagons. They were gone all
day, and always came back home tired. The pony wondered what that was all
about.
One
day, the farmer came for the pony. He put a rope around his neck and led
him to a corral. There, the farmer forced a metal bit into the pony’s
mouth and began to teach him the ways of the big horses. The pony would
learn later that this process was called “breaking.” It was aptly named
because the experience was not very pleasant for the pony.
But
the Farmer knew that the pony had a purpose that God had created him for.
Difficult as the breaking process was, the farmer stayed with it, because he loved
the pony and wanted him to find the joy in life. Soon, the pony was a
young horse. He was leaving the pasture every morning, pulling wagons to
town and plows through the field. On his way through the farm he would
often look back at the young ponies playing in the pasture. He would
smile - he knew what was in store for them.
If
we are going to find our purpose, we must leave the pasture and be under the
submission of the master.
The
breaking is no fun, but it sets the stage for what is to come
So
many pictures of this in scripture …
Luke
9 57
As
they were walking along the road,(BJ) a man said to him, “I will follow
you wherever you go.”58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens
and birds have nests, but the Son of Man(BK) has no place to lay his head.”59 He said to another
man, “Follow
me.”(BL)
But
he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”60 Jesus said
to him, “Let
the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”(BM)61 Still another
said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my
family.”(BN)62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a
hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Mark
10
28
Then
Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”(Z)29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has
left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for
me and the gospel
30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much(AA) in this present age: homes,
brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in
the age to come(AB) eternal life.
Matthew
10
37
“Anyone
who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who
loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.(AO) 38 Whoever
does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.(AP) 39 Whoever
finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will
find it.(AQ)
What
have we let go of for the sake of Christ?
What
have we left to follow him?
Cheap
grace, often thought of as being forgiven but acting however you want to.
[Accept
forgiveness but still plays cards or ______]
What
if cheap grace is accepting the story, but not sacrificing to be a part of it.
Examples
of ways that some have left their nets
People
that rearranged their lives to take a different job
People
that spend nights and weekends working on projects for children
Food
prepared for the homeless
Stephen
ministers giving their time
Examples
around our church all the time
Leaving
our nets is not just a sacrifice. There is also joy
Escape from boredom
Escape from mediocrity
Escape from self
Escape from all that separates us from God
The
journey begins with a discussion
Jesus
starts……lay down your nets and follow me.
What
will our response be?
Next
week the discussion continues
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