Jesus Calling – The Twofold Call of Christ

January 26, 2003

The Rev. Dr. Anthony J. Godlefski, Pastor

Montgomery United Methodist Church

Psalm 150 

Mark 1: 14-20

The Calling of the First Disciples 

¹⁴After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ¹⁵"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" 

¹⁶As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." ¹⁸At once they left their nets and followed him. 

¹⁹When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. ²⁰Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning! Imagine with me, if you will, what it must have been like to be at the Sea of Galilee on that remarkable day. A summertime feeling is in the air. The air is wonderfully dry, and the breezes blow past, and Jesus stands on the hill. And He looks down to the Sea of Galilee, and what does He see? He sees many boats out on that lake, floating around – fishermen in the boats hauling in their catch for the day.

The fishermen of those days didn’t use lines and hooks like we do. They used great big nets that they threw out over the water. They pulled the rope up from underneath, and they hauled fish onto the boats. Fishing was a very important industry. Fish were the staple food for the folks in those days. They only ate meat perhaps once or twice a week, but fish they ate a lot.

So, there were many fishermen out there. Jesus observed. He was no stranger to them. Chances are, He came down and visited with them many times before this.

Now there were two fishermen in a particular boat, and their names were Simon and Andrew. Jesus was looking at that particular boat. He walked down to the seaside, and He called to them. “Simon! Andrew!”

They turned around to see where the voice was coming from, and whom should they see but the Lord Jesus Himself. They locked eyes with Him, and He with them. And He said, “Simon and Andrew, follow me, and I’ll make you fishers of people.”

They looked at each other. They dropped their nets. They came to the shore. And at once they knew that they just had to follow Him. I wonder what it was like to look back and look into the eyes of Jesus. I wonder what it was like to hear His voice. I wonder what it was like to hear His voice call your name. Can you picture it? How would He call to you? How would you hear that voice?

He calls to you! And what does He say? He says, “Follow me! And I will make you fishers of people.”

Let’s talk for a bit about the twofold call of Jesus Christ. The first thing He says to us is, “Follow me.” Now I’ll bet every person here has felt that little tug inside, that nudge, that internal wondering about the nearness of God, that hunger of the spirit that cannot find rest until it rests in God; this is Jesus knocking at your door, asking you to follow Him. This is Jesus, God with a face, that is reaching out to you, saying, “You are important to Me. You are an essential part of the kingdom of God. I have things I need you to do. But first, I need you to be my Disciple. Follow Me.”

To follow Jesus is to never be alone again. To follow Jesus is to know that your life has deeper meaning than ever before. To follow Jesus is to be connected to God.

I remember wonderful days at the Westminster Choir College when we had the privilege of singing with some of the greatest orchestral conductors in the world. One of them was the incomparable Robert Shaw. The front of the stage of Avery Fisher Hall was filled with the musicians of the New York Philharmonic. The risers at the back of the stage were filled with the singers of the Westminster Symphonic Choir. The audience was filled with listeners. Everything depended on one leader - Robert Shaw. We - all of us - trusted that this leader would shape what we each did into a wonderful thing, a musical event of spectacular beauty. He never let us down. We always went home walking on air.

Likewise, Jesus is our leader in life. We follow Him, and he weaves our lives together in a wondrous way. We walk in His footsteps, and our lives take on importance and deep meaning. Following Jesus brings us a joy and a sense of security that nothing else can.

Following Jesus means to obey His words and imitate His example. It means seeing God as He sees God. I think that, in everyday life, the principle we can use to follow Jesus is very well described in a little piece of jewelry I saw in a Christian bookstore. Maybe you’ve seen these – a little bracelet or necklace or pin. It’s got four letters on it; it sort of looks like a little radio station. WWJD. What does it stand for? “What would Jesus do?”

I invite you to think deeply about that this week, my friends. It’s kind of easy to toss that little slogan off. But don’t – bring it to your everyday work. Bring it to your everyday lives. And follow Him by asking the question, “What would Jesus do?”

Say it’s summertime and you’re driving down the street. You’re kind of in a hurry, but by the side of the road there’s a child with a lemonade stand. What would Jesus do?

You’re talking to a friend, and the friend seems burdened and upset. Your mind is on the next thing you need to do, but – what would Jesus do? Maybe give that person a listening ear and soft eyes.

You’re at work, and you’re tempted to fire back in anger at some situation. Then you hear WWJD – what would Jesus do? Jesus would take the high road.

You’re lying in bed on a Sunday morning, and the covers are so warm. You’re so tired. But all of a sudden, you remember the Scripture says, “Jesus went to the temple, as was His custom.” What would Jesus do?

There is a joy in being a follower of Christ, my friends. Yes, it’s a sacrifice. Yes, there are things involved. Yes, we’re pulled away from other things. I’ll tell you what – I give thanks to God every time we have a meeting here at church. We try to be very conservative about meetings. We try to keep time limits. But every person who comes to a meeting here at church is making a sacrifice. Each person is giving something of him- or herself to the Lord. I’m aware of that. The Lord is aware of it.

Christianity has its price, but it has its joys. Oh, the Lord says, “[Your name], follow me.” What would Jesus do?

The second call of Christ is, “I’ll make you fishers of people.” I wonder what the tone of Christ’s voice was when He said that to the fishermen. Do you think He said it in a flat monotone? I don’t think so! There was a play on words here – “I’ll make you fishers of people.” I’ll bet they smiled; they might have laughed. There was a winsomeness about Jesus Christ. There was an attraction, a lightness about Him. “My burden is light,” He said.

There was a joy in following Him. And that’s the kind of spirit we can reflect, as we become inviters. The twofold call of Christ is to be disciples and inviters. That’s the sermon in a sentence.

Think about the winsome Christians you’ve met in your life. I can think of a couple of ministers, but mostly laypeople. One that comes particularly to mind is Joel Nystrom. I grieve him still. I miss him and Doris so much. What winsome Christians! The man was in his nineties when I met him, but you couldn’t come away from a conversation with him without feeling blessed and uplifted and encouraged, with wings! That was a winsome Christian. There was an inviter for Jesus Christ.

It’s ours to do likewise. Be an inviter. Be a fisher of persons. Take whatever it is that you do, whatever is your talent, and transform it, transpose it, and make it an attraction for the Lord. Did we ever have an event like that here on Friday night! My word! I sat toward the back of the sanctuary and watched what was going on. We had artists, a singer, a clarinet player, fantastic pianists, sitting up here. During that Rhapsody in Blue, I thought the performers were going to levitate – and take us with them! It was fantastic! The outpouring and power of talent that these people were giving for the Lord was incredible. We salute you, Laura and friends.

The second great thing that happened was, the church was comfortably full, but at least half the people here were non-church. That was wonderful! Sure, I wish more of our church people had been here, but the fact that half the folks here were not from the church but from the community was fantastic! People were coming through the doors of the church for perhaps the first time, and maybe they were meeting the Lord down the line.

I tell you the story of something that happened about 40 years ago. A twelve-year-old seventh-grader walked into a Methodist church, because he was invited by somebody to attend a play. He felt a bit guilty about it – Catholic boys weren’t supposed to go into Methodist churches. He went in and found it wonderful. The people were friendly and …. Well, long story short, he joined the church when he was nineteen, and a couple of years later he joined the ministry. He stands before you now (heaven help the Methodist church!).

But you never know what’s going to happen. The third fantastic thing that happened Friday night is that I went from one person to another and I said, “Hi, thanks for coming. How did you hear about our concert?”

“Someone invited me.” Ah hah! That’s great! “Someone invited me, and I’m here because of that.” It’s a marvelous, marvelous thing. We are called to be inviters for Christ, to be disciples and to grow in our faith life, and to be inviters for people to be surrounded by the love of Christ.

Do you know what the mission of the United Methodist Church is? The mission statement of the United Methodist Church is “to make disciples for Jesus Christ.” I just spoke to a group of 40 laypeople from different churches around the district, and none of them knew the mission statement. But now they do! And I know that you already did.

I like the way Elaine Mallett, our Outreach Chair, phrases it: to help people become disciples of Jesus Christ. That’s our mission, that’s our goal, that’s our marching order. And so, my prayer for you, my dear friends, is that you would hear the call of Christ with your own name in front, saying, “Follow me, and be fishers of people. Be inviters for the Lord.” I invite you to think about it, because God loves you. I do, too. Have a wonderful week. Amen.