Spontaneous Discipleship | January 21, 2024

This sermon continues the theme of Jesus calling disciples to come and follow him. Last week, we heard about Jesus seeing Nathanael under a tree. Initially skeptical (“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”), Nathanael quickly realized Jesus was in fact the Messiah. Today, we hear Jesus call four different fishermen, all of whom immediately leave their nets and follow him.

This week’s story illustrates a kind of enthusiastic faith that most of us–myself included–often lack. We want to follow Jesus, but there’s so much that gets in the way. Life is full of distractions (both good and bad). What would it look like to have the kind of faith to drop everything and follow? What are the “nets” Jesus is calling us to drop? Holy Spirit, give us the faith to hear and obey Jesus’ call!

Today’s Scripture readings are 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, Psalm 62:5-12, and Mark 1:14-20. Portions of this sermon are adapted from my January 21, 2018 Drop Your Nets sermon on these texts, for which I found helpful this 2015 reflection from David Lose (although I didn’t use actual nets this time!). Here’s the sermon podcast audio as well as the livestream from Living Hope.

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Grace to you and peace from the one who calls us all to follow, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Were any of you farm kids growing up? I’m never sure if I should call myself a farm kid or not, because my family had horses, but it was more of a hobby farm. We didn’t have cows to milk, or fields to harvest, and our livelihood didn’t depend on the weather.

But having horses did require lots of planning ahead for our family to do anything. If we traveled anywhere, we had to make sure to be back in time to feed the horses, or if we went on a longer trip, someone had to be lined up to feed and clean up stalls.
I think that might be part of why even as an adult, I’m not very good at spontaneity.

We actually were spontaneous this week—we took Micah and Jonah and met my sister and her daughters at a children’s museum in Oconomowoc yesterday. We’d only come up with this idea on Monday, which is pretty spontaneous for us.

Usually when we travel, Christin and I both like to have everything well-planned and lined up ahead of time. We’ve never once shown up at a hotel without a reservation. I want to have a full itinerary with tickets and reservations and parking and everything all set. Maybe even paper copies in a folder, just in case.

I don’t think I’d do well traveling with Simon and his brother Andrew, or with James and his brother John. I’m not sure I’d be willing to just immediately drop my nets and follow.

And it’s not that I don’t want to follow Jesus—in fact, I think I am doing my best to follow Jesus as a disciple, but if I were in these guys’ shoes, I’d have some questions before I’d leave my livelihood, drop everything, and follow.

How long is this going to take? Where are we going? Where are we going to stay tonight? Does this calling come with a dental plan?

The reality is, there are a lot of things that would keep me from this kind of immediate, spontaneous response to Jesus’ call, from just getting up and following like they do. I have kids. I have a dog. I have responsibilities. I’m trying to keep track of things for two different annual meetings, and Lent is coming up in just a few weeks; I don’t have time on my calendar to just take off and follow Jesus.

These aren’t bad things, but they make the thought of just dropping my nets to follow Jesus pretty hard. Maybe that’s true for you too.

I have trouble finding time to pray and do regular devotions, and I work in a church! I’m really good at seeing opportunities to help people and be Jesus to them, and I realize it about five minutes after the moment passes.

I care too much about my bank account and my calendar to do what the disciples do in this story. Clearly, none of these fishermen had a mortgage! It’s kind of discouraging just to admit that, but sometimes it’s helpful to just name what’s hard about this call from Jesus.

So I wonder, what is it for you? What keeps you from following Jesus? What are the nets you’re holding that Jesus is calling you to release?

Maybe it does have to do with your bank account, or a job. Maybe it’s a relationship, or a need to be in control. Maybe it’s wanting to know all the answers, or a desire for comfort. Maybe it’s fear. What holds you back?

To be clear, I don’t think Jesus is asking you to walk out of church today and quit your job, abandon your family, and get on a plane to go be a missionary somewhere. Most of the responsibilities we have are good and important. Like I said before, if you have horses, you need to feed them every day.

But Mark makes it clear that there’s an urgency to Jesus’ call. Jesus’ message is urgent: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near.” God is on the move. Here. Now. In this world.

This isn’t some hypothetical thing to wait until Jesus calls us home, or until everything in the world is right. This isn’t a call to follow eventually once we’ve got enough education, or the mortgage is paid off. God is working here and now and calling us to get involved, to participate, to live as disciples, to put Jesus in first place.

The kingdom of God has come near. That can be hard to believe, because when you look around the world, there’s a lot of brokenness, a lot going on around us that is clearly not of God’s kingdom.

There is war, and poverty, and discrimination, and disease, and selfish consumption, and abuse, and so much broken around us.
But there is also good news. There is also evidence of God at work. We’ll celebrate some of that at our annual meeting today. The Holy Spirit is blowing in this world. God is present with us, in the midst of suffering, working in and through us.

So what do we do? How do we answer God’s call? Jesus says, “Repent and believe in the good news.”

Repent not only in the sense of being sorry for what we’ve done wrong, but repent in the literal sense. Literally, that word “repent” means to turn around. To go the other way. Stop doing the things that cause harm, stop wasting time on things that don’t matter, and turn around to follow Jesus. Put Jesus back in the appropriate place in your life, which is at the center.

And believe the good news. Hold on to the promise that God is here; God is working. Hold on to the promise that no matter what we’re giving up, no matter how comfortable it is to hold on to those nets, no matter how comfy that boat might seem, what God has in store for us is so much better. The purpose God has in mind for you is so much more meaningful than anything this world can offer.

“Follow me,” Jesus says, “And I will make you fish for people.” “And immediately they left their nets and followed him.” What an inspiring example!
The trouble with this story is that Simon and Andrew and James and John seem to have this incredible faith that most of us just can’t live up to.

Of course, if you keep reading the story, it turns out they have no idea what they’re getting themselves into. There’s some strong evidence that except for Peter, all of the disciples were teenagers when they started following Jesus, which helps explain a lot of what they say and do. These are not elite, accomplished, learned people. These aren’t the cream of the crop. They’re not even that faithful.

As the story continues, they’ll keep missing the point of Jesus’ teachings, they’ll ask some really dumb questions, and later on when things get really tough, they’ll eventually even abandon him.

Isn’t that comforting? Even though right at the beginning they seem to have this incredible faith, the disciples turn out to be normal, flawed people, people like you and me, and yet Jesus calls them anyway, and the Holy Spirit inspires them to drop their nets and follow.

The story of the disciples is a story of God using ordinary people, despite everything they’re carrying, despite everything that should hold them back.
And even when they turn away, Jesus keeps on calling them.

So what are we supposed to do with this story? I’m pretty sure Mark intends this to be an inspirational story for us. This is supposed to encourage us as disciples.

Obviously if there are major things getting in the way of you following Jesus that are clearly wrong, stop doing them. Sin is bad. Cast down of those nets.

And for the rest, the responsibilities and realities that are good and important, Jesus invites us to stop and examine our priorities. Keep the first things first. Pay attention to your relationship with God, and prioritize it, rather than letting God just be for when time allows.

Listen for the opportunities God gives you to love and serve your neighbors. It’s a lot easier to be spontaneous and answer God’s call when you’ve already made the decision to listen for the Holy Spirit, when you’re already spending time in prayer.

It’s a lot easier to take up and spontaneously help your neighbors in Jesus’ name when you’re already consciously choosing to see your neighbors as beloved children of God.

What does Jesus’ call to follow look like for you?

It doesn’t need to be dramatic, leaving everything behind. You don’t need to go to the other side of the world to fish for people. Most often, you already know the people God’s calling you to reach out to—that’s probably why you’re the best person for God to use to reach them!

Maybe answering Jesus’ call looks like buying coffee for a friend who just needs someone to listen. Maybe it looks like speaking up when people are gossiping about a neighbor.

Maybe it looks like making the time to pray, or stretching yourself to give a little more than you usually would this month for God to use. Maybe it looks like giving blood, volunteering in the community, or just making the effort to brighten a stranger’s day. Maybe it’s inviting a friend here to worship.

As we get ready for our annual meeting, what does discipleship—dropping our nets and following—involve for our congregation? What is Jesus calling us to let go of as a church? Where is Jesus calling us to take a bold step of faith, to let go of our plans and budgets and our own picture of the future, and instead follow his plan?

Again, having a budget, being well prepared for the future is important—that’s what allows us to be spontaneous. But when the Spirit moves, we are called to follow. And sometimes, Jesus calls us to new adventures. Pray that we will hear that call and follow.

Jesus’ call is not always easy to nail down. When you drop your nets, you don’t really know what you’re getting into, or where all this is going.

I don’t know what exactly Jesus is calling you to, or where he’s leading you. But I do know that this call from Jesus is for everyone, including you.

Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, thank you for calling each of us to follow you. We know you do call each of us as your disciples, even if it’s hard to hear right now. Help us to see where you are leading us, and help us to drop our nets—whatever those are—and come and follow you. Inspire us with spontaneity to do your will, to repent and believe in the good news, in Jesus’ name. Amen