Bethel Lutheran Church - Pastor Luke Bernthal
Soli Deo Gloria

Jesus Calls You: -Follow Me!- ; Mark 1: 14 - 20; 2009-01-25

1. It is a Call to Repentance
2. It is a Call to Faith
3. It is a Call to Obedience

The Bulletin (order of service)

Text: Mark 1: 14 - 20;
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." 16 And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." 18 They immediately left their nets and followed Him. 19 When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. 20 And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.

Well, whether you’re a football fan or not you and I are “followers” of someone: “Followers” and members of someone whose “team” is undefeated and undefeatable. We are, of course, “followers” of Jesus! We heard Jesus call His first four disciples in our sermon text, saying to them, “Follow Me!” (v. 17a). That’s what the word disciple means: “follower.” Jesus called these four fishermen—Simon (Peter), Andrew, James, and John—to “become fishers of men” (v. 17b). Jesus has also called us, He has called to YOU: “Follow Me!” But our questions for today are, “How do we show that we are “followers” of Jesus, and how do we know that we are followers of Jesus? Do we wear a “Jesus jersey” or waive a “Holy Spirit hanky” while cheering Jesus’ name wildly? Probably not (we are Lutherans after all—much too “reserved” for that, right?)!

However, as Jesus’ followers we do wear a “jersey.” It’s the one He bought for us with His shed blood and clothed us with by His grace: the “robe of righteousness” that Isaiah writes about, “For He [God] has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10). As “followers” of Christ we also have a “team logo,” so to speak. In fact, I’m wearing one right now! It’s the cross. That is where our Lord and Savior won His great victory over sin and Satan, so now that terrible instrument of death is the “logo” we proudly wear and display as “followers” and members of His victorious “team.” The Apostle Paul once wrote that this cross of Christ should, in fact, be our only source of pride and boasting. He writes in Galatians, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14 - NIV).

Yes, that’s all well and good, but technically the “robe of righteousness” Christ has clothed us with is not something anyone can see with their physical eyes, and just about everyone wears or displays a cross whether they are Christians or not. So how can we really show and how can we really know that we are, in fact, “followers” of Christ? Let’s first look at how we can know for certain that we are “followers” of Christ and then we’ll consider how we can truly show it (after all, you can’t really show which team you’re “following” if you don’t really know whose side you’re on!).

How do you and I know that we are “followers” of Jesus? Well, to answer that question I’m actually going to have us look away from ourselves; to look outside ourselves. Look instead to Jesus! Take a look again at the words of our text and answer this question for me: “Who was the one who did the making of these four disciples (or “followers”) in this text?” It was clearly Jesus, wasn’t it? He was the one who went through Galilee preaching the Gospel. He was the one who sought and found those four fishermen that day by the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was the one who called to them, “Follow Me!” and He was the one who said, “I will make you become fishers of men" (Mark 1:17). And that’s exactly what Jesus did for these men, as you can read for yourself in the rest of the Gospels and the Book of Acts.

In the same way Jesus has called to you, “Follow Me!” No, probably not while we were fishing like these four men, but in the same way Jesus used His Word to call us and make us His “followers.” If we look again at our text and see the message Jesus was preaching to the people of Galilee, including to these four disciples, we will see that it is the same message He has preached to us. The first two verses of our text tell us, Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:14-15). “Repent” and “believe.” Jesus’ call to us and to all of His “followers” for all time has always been and always will be 1. A call to REPENTANCE and 2. A call to FAITH.

Jesus’ call to us through His Word leads us to REPENTANCE, which means to “have a change of heart,” or “to turn.” His Word leads us to see our sins—to see the many times we’ve offended the God, who made us and loves us, by what we’ve done and said, even by our very thoughts—and then have a “change of heart” and “turn” from those sins. This means being sorry that we’ve done them and resolving, with the help of God’s Holy Spirit, to stop doing them. But it also includes “turning” to Jesus in FAITH and finding in Him and in His great sacrifice on the cross the full and free forgiveness from all those sins against God and our fellow man that we commit every single hour of every single day! It means believing that those sins have all been nailed to that cross—from our “littlest” white lie to our “darkest” misdeed—they cannot condemn us any longer.

Do you believe this? Then congratulations, you are a “follower” of Christ! But let’s keep one thing clear; just like the four disciples Jesus called and made His “followers” in our text, our calling to REPENTANCE and FAITH is completely His doing. He sought and found us; we didn’t find Him. He brought us from the spiritual death of our sins to spiritual life in Him; we didn’t decide to be made alive any more than we “decided” to be born into this world! No, Jesus’ call to us to Follow Him is completely and totally a call of His grace, His undeserved love, which He planned to do for us before we were even born—in fact before He even created the world! Paul writes in 2 Timothy, “who [God] has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began” (2 Timothy 1:9 – underlining mine - LB).

So, now that we know we are, in fact, “followers” of Christ, how do we show it? Let’s look again at our text to find the answer. Notice after Jesus had preached His message of REPENTANCE and FAITH, after He had called these four fishermen to “Follow Him,” what was their response? We read again the last verses of our sermon text, They immediately left their nets and followed Him. When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him (Mark 1:18-20 – underlining mine – LB).

Notice they didn’t ignore Jesus’ call or pretend like they didn’t hear Him. Andrew didn’t say to Simon Peter, “Peter, just keep on fishing and pretend like you don’t hear Him. Maybe He’ll go away.” They didn’t make up excuses: “Uh, Jesus, we’re working right now so now is really not a good time. We’ve got to make a living, you know. Could you come sometime when it’s more convenient for us?” They didn’t put off Jesus call till later either: “Yeah, Jesus, I’ll follow you when I’m a bit older. Maybe when I’m a bit more ‘qualified’ to be one of your followers.” No, our text tells us that Simon and Andrew, “immediately left their nets and followed Him” (Mark 1:18) and that James and John “left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him” (Mark 1:20). Based on their actions is there any question whom these men were “following”? Is there any question, when it came right down to it, whether these four were more interested in being fishermen or being “fishers OF men” (Mark 1:17). The answer is obvious, isn’t it? It’s obvious because of their OBEDIENCE to Jesus’ call!

We should be the same way! Jesus’ call to us: “Follow Me!” has led us to REPENT, or “turn” from our sins. His call has brought us to FAITH in Him for forgiveness of those sins and has made us one of His “followers.” Now that we are His “follower” as a member of His team He has a role for us to play; a job for us to do. His call to us is 3. A call to OBEDIENCE! Sure, I suppose we could show that we are His follower by making a “Jesus jersey,” or by waiving a “Holy Spirit hanky” and cheering Jesus name enthusiastically. But even better, why don’t we go out and show that we are “followers” of Jesus and members of His “team” by DOING what He has called us to do! He has called us to be “fishers of men” (Mark 1:17), just like His first four followers! He has called us to share His message to “Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15), that “Good News” of forgiveness of sins and fullness of salvation in Jesus, our Savior, who lived for us, died for us, and lives again to make us eternal members of His “team”! Is there someone in your life that Jesus is calling you to “fish” for, using the “lure” of His great Gospel message? I bet there is! In fact, I bet there is more than just one! There is probably a whole “net full” out there! So, let’s go, “team.” Go, Follow Jesus, and go, “fish”! Amen.