Following Jesus
Mt.4:12-22

The beginning of Jesus’ public ministry is something of a mystery. We are told that Jesus walked by the sea of Galilee and saw some fishermen and he called to them to follow him and he would make them fishers of men. Immediately they left their nets and followed.
This call and response on the part of the men is hard to understand if they did not know Jesus. He had begun to preach the same message that John the Baptist had taught. They may have heard of him, or heard directly, but we are not told that they knew him enough to forsake all and follow him. It seems astonishing that these men would forsake the vocations and follow one who was a new upstart at the best and an unknown and untried person at the worst.

It is also hard to understand even if they knew of Jesus and had known him for some time. Even the best of friendships would be hard put to think that these men who were with some responsibilities would forsake their nets and boats and follow him.

Can you imagine your response if I were to say to you this morning, let us forsake our homes, jobs, and commitments to make a journey around the country visiting towns and cities to declare that the Kingdom of God has come. There would be all kinds of excuses arising quickly over who is going to take care of things left begin, who is going to feed us tomorrow, where will we sleep, what should we bring for clothing, etc..

We cannot follow Jesus physically today walking the dusty roads of Israel, but there is the call to follow Jesus in a lifestyle that is related to his commands. There are many things detailed in that calling, but what I am interested today is to talk about the beginning of that lifestyle. There has to be a beginning point of that life style. We are not born as Christians, or as followers of Jesus any more than we are born married. We have to make a commitment, a choice, a decision.

I. Following Jesus means learning (discipleship)

One of the purposes in living in close relationship to Jesus was that he might teach them. He did this in large groups, small groups, and meeting with one or other of the disciples, one at a time. Not only did they hear him, but they observed him in all his relationships with the public at large. If you would be a disciple of Jesus you must be committed to learning from Him. It is important to know that these four fishermen were not the intellectual elites of the day. They were no professors, genuses or quiz kids. They were ordinary men who worked hard in their trade. But they were teachable...

There are advantages in a master-pupil relationship. Michael Polanyi says that master-pupil relationships are important for all kinds of learning. The reason for this is that we can learn more than we are aware of learning, and we can teach more than we are aware of teaching. Take music lessons for example. If I were taking music lessons I would probably play my assigned piece through for the teacher. After she squirmed at my playing, she would say, “No, No,” She would tell me to move over and then she would play it like it should be played. Then after that she would say to me, “now, you play it that way.” I would move back to the spot and try to imitate what she did. In the process I would have learned things I was not aware of picking up. She has taught me things she was not aware of teaching.
Sometimes people claimed to have learned the guitar on their own. I would argue that it cannot be done. There is no person who has never seen or heard a guitar played who could pick up a guitar, tune it correctly, and proceed to learn to play it on their own. What people usually mean is that they saw someone play and imitated it, or they bought a book and learned to tune the guitar, and then learned a few chords to play, or listened to a record. (Youtube on guitar) In any case the book, or a person serves as a master teacher in the situation.

I suspect that a surgeon could tell us how he learned to do surgery. Somewhere, someone with a knowledge of the body made a decision that an appendix was about to break and they learned by reason and trial and error that the surgery would be a life-saver. As this procedure was improved other people were taught by a master to many pupils.

There are lots of things learned in a master-pupil relationship. A girl learns to cook by observing her mother. A boy learns skills by being with his father. A student learns chemistry by sitting in the class of a master chemist. There are several generations of chemists who have won Nobel prizes in science who were in master-pupil relationships. Even reading a book involves a master-pupil relationship. The book is the master, you are the student, the learner.

Now I have two questions: Are you teachable? Are you learning about Jesus? Are you learning how to be a follower of Jesus? Does your following involve any real learning or are you getting your opinions from others who have no accurate knowledge either.

II. Following means changing your character

Jesus’s call was: follow me and I will make you ...something that they were not. This is a frightening invitation since many people want to remain as they are. Becoming a changed person can mean two things: (1) some ways of living are better than others.(2) there is hope for getting to a better life than one has now. We are not trapped into living with the old ways of life.

Jesus calls us to a life based on His love, and the transformation that comes in love. We are to turn from hate to God who loves us. Recently with the flood in Pakistan there was a report that the Taliban warned the Pakistan government that it should not accept aid from the West for the flood victims. Imagine what kind of hate fills the hearts of those people who would rather flood victims suffer and die rather than accept help from the West. The Taliban was not doing anything for the victims.

This change is not a self-help program. It involves being around the person of Jesus in your life. When you let the words and teaching of Jesus into your life, you begin to see that life is different and life is filled with joy that comes from Him.

Jerry Bacon wanted to get married again....Pat Bacon was his wife of 25 years. One day he asked her to re-marry him. She thought he may be asking a weird question. They were married 25 years before. Neither were Christians. At the age of 16 Jerry struck out on his own, lived a footloose life, did a hitch in the Navy. After they were married they had four sons and doing their best to make a good living. Jerry never wore his wedding ring. He used the excuse that it was a hazard in his work, but it was an expression of his independence. He was a father, a breadwinner, disciplinarian, but that was as far as it went. His wife wanted him to take an interest in the kids social life, Little League, Scouts, school affairs, etc. but he would have none of it. They did not go to Church. Then things began happening. His sister became a Christian, then his business partner, and then a customer began talking to him about God. Before he knew it, all four sons were going to church. Jerry thought they were religious fanatics. He took up transcendental meditation, flying lessons, and golf. His customer who had become a Christian, who had been talking to him about God, impressed Jerry with the need to turn his life over to Jesus Christ. Jerry was impressed, began reading the Gospel of John. And soon he was attending church with his wife and kids. At this point he was invited to a wedding. He began to ponder the words of the service, the ring symbolizing everlasting love. He saw marriage through different eyes. He went home, got out his wedding ring, put it on, and has continued to wear it. Then he asked his wife about re-marrying him. After they talked it over she thought it a good idea. He told her that he was not the greatest husband in the world. He confessed his failures as a husband and father, and wanted to renew their vows in light of his new found faith in Christ.

Becoming a Christian means you will change your life. A wife will become a better wife, a husband will become a better husband, a child will seek to be a better child.

III. Following Jesus means a new vocation.

The first followers of Jesus were told that they would become fishers of men. As followers of Jesus were are also to become fishers of men. A fisherman catches live fish that will die. The kind of fisherman that Jesus made was to catch dying men and give them life.
Catching people may sound too forceful for people who are not fishermen. The idea is that of sharing the good news of the Gospel. In particular, we are called to introduce people to the Master Teacher who is also the Savior from sin.

I remember when my daughter went off to college. She wrote a letter home–before email–about the really neat people she had met at college. Each time in a glow of enthusiasm in her letter she said, “I am looking forward to introducing them to you.” She wanted us to meet them.

Introducing people to Jesus is a little different since we don’t see Him here. But we can begin by sharing the story about the life of Jesus and his teachings and what they mean to us. We can do this in informal conversations, home Bible studies, emails to friends we know and love.

When we were in Japan we heard about the marriage arranger, match maker, there is a term for it, but I cannot remember it. We have a friend who has done a lot of this. This man was a college professor and he knew a lot of girls who were wanting to find a husband. He would gather information about the girl and secure information from a man, and he would seek to match them.
There came a time for introductions and after that they would make a decision. We are called to be match-makers. We have friends who need a Savior. We have a Savior to offer. There is no better match than this.

Conclusion:
One of the most exciting things you can do is to introduce your friendsto Jesus. Do you want joy? Do you want fulfillment? Do you want happiness? Seek to introduce your friends to the most important person in the world.