When I last spoke to you we were looking at Paul and how he made plans. In that sermon I used two questions: 'Who am I?' and 'Where am I?' Those two questions led to the answer of a third, 'What does Jesus want me to do now?' Today, we're going to look again at that first question but this time from the perspective of Jesus' call, 'Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.' Let's take that apart and see what will happen.
'Follow Me.' That's an invitation. But to what? There are many ways to answer that, but the heart of the matter is missed if we don't see that it's an invitation to intimacy. This is what the evangelists of my youth were getting at when they talked about a personal relationship with Jesus. Intimacy. Jesus' call to discipleship is a call to be by His side so that you can enjoy a close relationship with Him. This isn't new with Jesus. The Old Testament is filled with this same dynamic. Intimacy. Sadly, the Pharisees never got this. For them religion was a matter of rules to obey and doctrines to argue about. But that's not what Jesus is about. When He calls someone He calls that person to a life of intimacy. And once a person heeds the call to follow Him, that intimacy with Jesus defines who he is.
'Follow Me.' Did you notice what happens when Jesus calls Simon and Andrew. 'And immediately they left their nets and followed him.' Just like that, these two brothers left their job. They quit on the spot. James and John did something similar. 'And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed Him.' They left their father and the family business. They followed Jesus instead of staying with Dad. You'll notice that Jesus didn't say, 'Oh no, men. Don't do that. I would never expect such sacrifice.' No, Jesus called them to do exactly what they did. This is also a part of following Him. The first label I used was intimacy. This second label is loyalty. It may show differently in different lives, but being a disciple means loyalty to Jesus first, loyalty to Him above anything else. And this makes sense. What else could intimacy with Jesus lead to but this kind of loyalty?
Third label: change. 'I will make you fishers of men.' Jesus tells these early disciples of His that He is going to change them. Now, if this was just a matter of a change in how they spend their time, catching men instead of catching fish, that would be no big deal. But this change is more significant than that. It's not about changing an occupation. This is about a changing a person. Consider these disciples at the beginning of their time with Jesus and how often they just didn't get it. And then take a look at them in the book of Acts. They have been deeply changed. They have been changed on the inside and this change shows so clearly on the outside. They are different men. All of this fits, of course, with Jesus invitation to intimacy and His expectation of loyalty. Simon and Andrew and James and John did not understand these elements of following Jesus very well at the beginning. Change was necessary. And change happened. And because of that change they stopped building their own kingdoms and began building Jesus' kingdom. Intimacy, loyalty, change, three elements of following Jesus, three elements that describe you.
Sometimes it helps to say what you're not saying so that what you are saying will be clear. I'm not saying that here are three element that ought to describe you. This is not a to-do list for faithful Christians. These are not goals to struggle toward. What I am saying is that these three describe you. This is who you are. You enjoy intimacy with Jesus. You are loyal to Him. You are experiencing His change in your life. This is who you are. It's important that you understand this as a present fact and not a distant goal. These three are yours because of the Gospel. If these things - intimacy, loyalty and change - are, instead, goals for you to achieve, then your hope of doing a good job of following Jesus will depend on you. It will depend on how well you do at cultivating those three elements. That will become a crushing load that you will never be able to bear. Where's the grace in that? No, this is who you are. By the power of Jesus' Spirit, this is you. Following Jesus really is a matter of grace.
And yet, we need to admit that we are these things only partially. The level of our intimacy with Jesus is partial. The strength of our loyalty is partial. The degree of our change is partial. Just a moment's reflection makes all too clear that there is much that is incomplete in our following Jesus. So, do I sneak in works at this point? Do I try to urge you on to do a better job when it comes to following Jesus? Do I lay out some detailed plan for you to pursue so that you can create greater intimacy, loyalty and change? No. Listen again to Jesus' words. 'Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.' We do not complete what is partial in our following Jesus. We do not improve our level of intimacy. We do not strengthen our loyalty. We do not create the change we need. Jesus does all of that. You see, it really is a matter of grace. By His Spirit, Jesus takes care of all of that. As I've told you before, all you need do is put yourself in the place where His Spirit does His work: read your Bible, commune with your God, talk of Spiritual things. Put yourself in the place where the Spirit of Jesus does His work, and then watch Him change you.
I've gone over these three elements, trying to be clear about what they are and what they aren't. But my goal has not been just to describe them. What I want is for you to enjoy them. This is the Gospel. There is great comfort in the Gospel. There is great comfort in these things. So, consider: Your intimacy with Jesus presupposes something. It presupposes His intimacy with you. A great verse to ponder comes from the life of Paul. '... the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.' Jesus didn't come to save a bunch of people and you happened to make it into the group. He came for you, for each of you, individually. The Good Shepherd knows His sheep by name. Jesus knows you by name. If you were the only sinner, the only person needing to be saved, just you, He still would have gone to the cross. Just for you. The only reason that you can enjoy an intimate relationship with Jesus is because He enjoys an intimate relationship with you. Do you see what that means? You are never alone. Proverbs says, 'The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.' That may be true when it comes to those who are merely human but Jesus knows all about your sorrows and understands them. And He rejoices with you in your joys because He knows what they mean to you. You - each of you, one by one - are precious to Him. Intimacy.
Loyalty is also a two-way street. You are loyal to Jesus as disciple to Master. But that means that He is loyal to you as Master to disciple. His loyalty to you will look different from yours to Him, but at the heart of both is the simple commitment: I am for you. Jesus is so for you, you have no idea. He is so committed to seeing you flourish. By the time He completes His work in you, you will be amazing. The beauty of who you will be will shine so brilliantly - because of Him. He is a loyal Master to His disciples.
These two aspects of following Jesus - intimacy and loyalty - help us deal with our difficulties with the third, change. When I talk about Jesus' call to follow Him and how it cuts across loyalties to family or career or anything else, it feels uncomfortable. It feels a little scary. We begin to fear what that change might mean. It's okay if we choose to change this or that aspect of our lives. But it's entirely different when we aren't making the choices, when change just comes at us, out of the blue, disrupting our lives. We fear that kind of change. But we fear because we forget who we are. We forget that we are disciples who are following Jesus. When you remember who you are, you also remember that change is not some random event that comes crashing into your life like some raging bull smashing all the fine china, and leaving this great mess that you have to clean up. Whatever change comes into your life, comes from Jesus. 'I will make you fishers of men.' He is the one doing the changing. There is no out of control bull. It's all under control - His control. And this Jesus who is bringing all this disconcerting change into your life knows you. Intimacy. There is no cookie cutter, one size fits all change from Him. Whatever change comes into your life is tailor made for you. It fits perfectly. It's exactly what you need. Jesus makes sure of that. This is change that comes from intimacy. And that leads to loyalty. The point of the change is for your good. Jesus wants you to flourish. The change He brings your way will accomplish that task. It may hurt, but it's still good. It will achieve His goal of making you beautiful. He is a good Master to His disciples. So, what is there to fear? Just remember who you are.
By the time we get together again next week, each of you will have dealt with a lot of life. You will have interacted with people (some pleasant, others not), made some plans, carried out some plans, chosen this instead of that. As you do all of those things, remember who you are. Don't slip into the old ways of thinking about yourself. Don't let other people define you according to their ideas and agendas. You are a disciple of Jesus. You are following Him. That means intimacy, loyalty and glorious change. Each of those makes a difference in how you deal with this life. Enjoy them.
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