The summer before my senior year of high school, at age 17, I went on a mission trip with my church to Helena, Montana – we spent the week doing backyard VBS during the day, and services for the community at night – I don’t remember much about the trip, other than I stayed in a home that had two teenage boys and in our free time I was introduced to M-80s, which was a small but powerful explosive, and we blew stuff up – Anyway, on the last night, during the response time, my youth pastor was making a call for those who wanted to follow Jesus, which was a normal part of every service I had ever been in growing up – but then he called for anyone in the room that felt called to ministry, and my heart started beating out of my chest – I know I have the reputation for crying, and this night was no different – I don’t have much of a recollection of anything other than the service being over and I was still knelt at the altar crying. Something was activated in me that night, and my life trajectory has been focused on ministry ever since.

 

I know my story is not particularly unique, but it’s the way Jesus works – And as I reflect on that event, while it was the official beginning of something, it started 2 years earlier with a youth pastor named Poly Rouse, who invited me into a small group of what he called leadership, and invested in us every Sunday afternoon. We prayed together, memorized scripture together, and were challenged to be leaders in our church, school and community. When I think about that season, I was being intentionally discipled, learning to recognize God’s voice, so when the time came, I was able not only to discern his voice, but take the next step in learning how to lead others into a life of following Jesus.  And, 30 short years later, I became a pastor.

 

In today’s passage, we will see Jesus calling his first disciples – these guys were definitely rough around the edges, but Jesus called them into ministry – His call consisted of one statement: “Follow me and I will send you out to fish for men.” Jesus spoke their future over them, but invited them into a season of preparation, sitting under his ministry, watching and learning, doing ministry alongside him, and eventually being sent out into the world to do the things they had seen him do. My prayer for you today is that your heart begins to beat fast as you consider the call that God has on your life.  Matthew 4:12-22

 

V12-16 – Verses 12-16 summarize how Jesus began his ministry in Galilee, primarily in the area of Capernaum – It was interesting to me how much detail Matthew left out of this part of the narrative – for instance, why was John put in prison? We find out later in Matthew 14 that Herod Antipas one of the sons of King Herod, divorced his wife and married his half-brother Phillip’s wife, Herodias (an unfortunate name for a woman) – John condemned this act by Herod, so Herod had John arrested – But even more interesting, Herod Antipas ruled over the northern region of Israel, specifically Galilee, for the Roman Empire – so, when Jesus “withdrew” to Galilee, he was not avoiding conflict, but actually going to the region ruled by John’s adversary.

 

Second, in V13, he says, “Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum”- why did he leave Nazareth? Luke 4:14-30 tells the story of Jesus walking into the synagogue, reading from Isaiah 61, and saying, “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” – His hometown was not receptive to his message, drove him out of town, and ultimately tried to run him off a cliff – so, “leaving Nazareth” seems a bit vague here.

 

But, in context, Matthew has a point he wants to get across: Jesus ending up in Capernaum was fulfillment of the words of Isaiah 9:1-2 – Remember, Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience and trying to connect them to a bigger story – he uses the word fulfillment 12 times in his book – he is connecting the dots that that Jesus was the promised Messiah.

I said this last week, but let me remind you that the Holy Spirit is in the business of connecting dots – he wants to connect you to a bigger story – he will use your past, present and future and connect your life to the way of Jesus – He does not waste a moment of your life – in fact, what you often see as a coincidence or random encounter, the Holy Spirit wants to connect you to something bigger – no coincidences in the Kingdom of God.

 

V17 – The message of Jesus here is peculiar here, because it is the exact message of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:2: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near” – on the surface, there is a sameness to their message, but here is the nuance: John was preaching of the promise of the KOH – Jesus was saying, “It’s not just near, it’s here. I am the King of the Kingdom” – the word “repent” means think in a NEW WAY, so Jesus is, in effect, saying, “Think in a NEW WAY, because I am the NEW WAY.” When Kingdom comes, your life is reframed – Jesus doesn’t throw away your life, in fact, he never wastes a moment, but rather reframes it for his glory – now watch how Jesus begins to gather his disciples for the purpose of training up and sending out.

 

V18-22 – Remember, Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience, and look at what he chooses to underscore – Jesus didn’t go find the educated religious leader, or even the young students who were faithfully following their local rabbi – No, he went to the guys who had grit, who were willing to get their hands dirty, the everyday guys – and notice, these four men didn’t go find Jesus and ask to be in his circle – Jesus sought them out – popular terminology when sharing your Jesus experience, “I found Jesus” – Reality, you didn’t find Jesus, he found you – he is the one who sought you out, not other way around – he is always the initiator of relationship – Let’s dissect the anatomy of this calling.

 

1. You must follow before you can lead. This seems like a no-brainer, yet it is very common in modern-day Christianity to see immature leaders, who know a little, or maybe even know a lot, but have not developed the character of Jesus to live out the calling he has placed on their lives – (character cultivated in lab of SECRET PLACE) – Well-known pastors have been falling at an alarming rate because it has ben discovered that their character was not congruent with their calling – The initial call of Jesus is always FOLLOW ME – Jesus will never call you to live and operate outside of intimacy with him – I know for me, for a variety of reasons, my character was way out of whack with my calling – I was living out of natural gifting for many years – in fact, I am surprised that God didn’t take me out sooner than he did – However, once he did, I had to get in behind him, and allow him to be the leader – The mark of a great leader is his ability to follow.

 

2. The goal of discipleship is GO. Notice the words of Jesus: “Come follow me, and I will send you out…” – If you identify as a Christian, but you aren’t really pursuing where you fit in the Kingdom of God, I wonder what you are doing – From the jump, Jesus tells them that the goal of following him is that they will eventually GO. Throughout the gospels, he is coaching them up for the purpose of sending them into the world – Matthew 28:18-20, known as Great Commission, “Go and make disciples” – if you have been in a small group for a while, whether couples, men, women, whatever, and you think you’re growing, but you’ve never considered finding people you can pour into, then you are likely stagnant – Yes, there is a season of preparation and character development, but God is a GOING GOD – His goal is to prepare you for the purpose of GOING.

 

3. God will often uses your greatest assets for HIS GLORY. Look at what Jesus did: he came to those who fished for a living, and said, “Come follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people” – for so many, ministry means vocation change or being sent to remote village in Africa – while that may be true for some, for most it means that God wants to use you right where you are – He says, “This is what you’re great at, so this is what I’ll use” – Jesus calls architects and accountants, engineers and entrepreneurs – this is the stuff your E210 calling is made of – using your uniqueness and through Jesus, activating a GOING heart.

 

4. There is a cost to being a disciple of Jesus. V20, Peter and Andrew left their nets, V22, James and John left their boat and their father – There is a cost to following Jesus – I don’t know what he is calling you to leave, but Jesus is consistently calling us out of comfort – throughout gospels, the call of Jesus was uncomfortable – Luke 9:23, deny self, take up cross daily, Luke 9:57-62, leave your home, let the dead bury their dead, don’t look back, Luke 14:26, hate father, mother, spouse, children, brother, sister, even OWN LIFE – Rich young ruler in Luke 18, sell EVERYTHING and give to the poor – I don’t know what your personal cost is, but there is always a cost to following Jesus – What is your followership costing you?

 

5. The call of Jesus is for TODAY. V20, “at once”, V22, “Immediately” - Jesus is not excited about a future version of you, he is excited about you TODAY. There is immediacy to his calling, don’t wait for Men’s Advance, don’t wait for youth camp, don’t get the big bonus first.  When Jesus calls, it is for TODAY, Now means NOW.

 

We know Peter’s name because he said yes. Did he immediately start the church? No! There was process and a lot of failure before Peter was ready to GO. However, he left his net and followed Jesus into the adventure of a lifetime.  For you, WHY NOT NOW? The Kingdom of Heaven is HERE! The invitation from Jesus is to THINK IN A NEW WAY, BECAUSE I AM THE NEW WAY.  What is your next YES in following Jesus?