This is the message and testimony I gave at church on Easter.
A few weeks ago I was with a team in Montenegro where we spent a lot of time near the ocean. Each day we walked alongside the water or took a ferry to the other side of the bay. We would watch as men went out in their boats to check crab and mussel traps and to cast out nets to fish. It reminded me of why I am where I am right now and what Jesus did for me.
First and foremost, Jesus has paved the way for me. He called me, has walked with me and in the end I know he is preparing a place for me. Look at Matthew 4:18-20:
While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
Walking from there in Matthew 4:21-22 he stops by men mending their nets doing their daily work and told them to drop everything and follow him. It says:
And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Can you imagine Jesus is walking up to you here as you are casting nets and he asks, “What are you doing there?” James looks up as he is pulling an empty net and sighs, “fishing”. Jesus responds, “Nice. So here’s the thing, I want you to follow me. Leave everything and follow me.”
Some believe these men were foolish. To these men, Jesus was no stranger. He had just started his ministry and Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John has most likely heard Jesus speaking before he came to them. So when Jesus stood in front of them asking them to follow him, they were faced with truth they had seen and heard and now had to make a decision. Would they follow him? That was all Jesus asked, nothing more and nothing less.
This is what it is like for you and I. My eyes witnessed the change God did in the lives of those around me. I saw and felt the change in my life. So when Jesus said “follow me”, I too dropped everything and followed. I knew I had nothing to lose but had everything to gain. The disciples did not have it all together, in fact most of them were quite unsure of this Jesus. They spent the remainder of Jesus time here on earth watching him perform miracles and many times Jesus would do his thing, healing the sick and giving sight to the blind, and then the next verse of the bible after Jesus healed someone you’d see “and they believed”. We are Jesus’ disciples, who, as he works in us and through us in each person and circumstance, is changining us and allowing us to trust in Him even more.
Here is what I have learned:
Being a sinner doesn’t disqualify you from following Jesus and being an unbeliever doesn’t disqualify you from following Jesus.
Jesus took me from where I was at and promised me more.
Religion says change and you can join us, but Jesus says to join him and you’ll change.
Andy Stanley says that “change is the result of an experience with a savior.” I did not change before I started following Jesus, rather he has changed me as I have followed him. So are you following?
I know there is an end point to following him. All along Jesus has been walking ahead of me. And he is so patient with me. What happened to all of the disciples when Jesus died? Many ran away, some hid, some disowned him and some went back to their lives before.
In John 21:4-7 He says:
Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
This is Simon Peter who had been with Jesus from the beginning and had seen all he had done and still he didn’t recognize Jesus. You would expect that somewhere along the way he would have this magic moment where it just clicked in his mind, but there wasn’t. You don’t have to be perfect to follow Jesus. Simon Peter did not recognize Jesus until the disciples told him. Of all the men in the world who saw all Jesus had done still had much to gain and learn. Jesus knew that. He was not dissapointed. He had no expectations because he knew that his death paved the way. Jesus asks us to just come and follow him and see what he can do. If we jump out of the boat like Simon Peter and rush after him he promises change and transformation on his terms and not ours.
Jesus is alive today. He’s on the shore. Ressurected. He’s calling you to come.
For some of you, you have not confessed your belief in Christ. He asked you to follow him while you have lived in sin, but he is now waiting at the shore for you. You have seen his miracles, the good he has done in the lives of those around you and maybe in your own life and now he is calling you to come. When he said the other night that “it is finished” what he said was that he wants you to come. No longer does your sin define you. He paid for it. Drop your lifestyle, you addictions, your sin, your greed, your selfishness and start living a life worthy of his calling. No longer do you have to worry about fixing your sin or being perfect. Jesus changed that on the cross. He just wants you to follow from where you are at.
You can only listen, read, and watch so long before you heart starts beating so in tune with his that you have no other choice but to drop your nets and follow.
Are you going to follow him?
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