Perfectly Imperfect People

Messed Up

The times I’ve messed up. There are days I am amazed you listen to me. That God uses me in a role like this is evidence of how much God can do w/ so little.

I accepted Jesus as my Savior as a 17-year old junior in high school. I was away from home for the summer. The Harris family took me in that summer and showed me how God designed families to work.

Mine, didn’t really work that way. They raised 3 sons. I stepped in as their 4th. They weren’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But they were saved. They demonstrated something to me that I didn’t have. First, you need to see what you don’t have to realize you need it.

They aren’t perfect. I’m not either. They showed how Jesus accepts imperfect ppl and what He can do when we accept Him.

I promptly went back for my senior year of high school and learned the definition of backslide. That means I went back to my old lifestyle, such as it was. Didn’t go to church. Didn’t try very hard to have any kind of relationship w/ Jesus. Same old friends, girlfriend, job, activities, etc.

Then, God led me back to Sherman for college. The Harrises, Sherman bible church. But, my freshman year wasn’t a stellar year for me spiritually. Joined a frat. Did my thing like I was doing in high school.

Jesus, church, was something I visited on Sundays. But there was little evidence of Jesus in my life Monday thru Saturday.

I got my spiritual act together my sophomore year. I was asked to be a bible study leader in a college ministry, Inter-Varsity Xian Fellowship.

Still a baby believer, I had no bsns leading a BS, I shutter to think of the things I said in that group that were not right. Still figuring out what a Xian was supposed to look like. I knew very little about the bible. But I had to learn fast.

After college, seminary. I graduated as a 30-year old know it all. I had the answer to every question you could ever ask, plus a few you wouldn’t.

I had to learn how to work w/ a board and committees. It wasn’t pretty at times. This church had their issues and I had mine. It was a volatile mix at times.

If the next church had been like this one, I’d probably not still be in ministry. It was hard. As much my fault as anyone’s. But not good.

The good news is, we’re not dogs, these aren’t tricks, I can still learn a thing or 2. And, I’ve got to keep learning. Not just the bible, but how to work w/ ppl and teach the bible in way that you can learn it.

I go back to what I learned from the Harris family. God uses imperfect ppl to reach other imperfect ppl and invite them to accept Jesus like they did. And, to know, Jesus already accepted them, imperfections and all.

On the one hand, it makes no sense that Jesus would call ppl like me, and you, to be responsible for this community, and this church, to bring the 2 together and to meet Jesus. Surely, He could have chosen better ppl than us.

But, on the other hand, it was me being able to relate to the ppl that Jesus led across my path that made me realize He has accepted me and can use me to do the same.

Jesus knows the good in us and accepts us even while knowing the not-so-good about us. Then He works with us to let others know that He has done the same for them.

This morning, we’re looking at the passages where Jesus called his first disciples. Jesus came from an unexpected place, to an unexpected place, and chose unexpected ppl to join Him.

We will spend most of our time in John 1:35-51, then a little time in Mark 1:16-20.

The Rock

John 1:35–42 NIV

The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

The next day. This is the 4th day in sequence.

Jesus was baptized one day, the next John the Baptist was Q’d by the Jewish leadership. The next day Jesus walked up and John introduced him. Then, this day, when John deferred to Jesus and sent his followers to follow Jesus.

John the Baptist showed humility and told the ppl w/ him that Jesus was the One to follow. He pointed ppl to Jesus, not himself.

The imagery, John the Baptist was standing still while Jesus walked by. John’s ministry was stopping while Jesus’s was just getting going.

John the Baptist was w/ 2 of his disciples. 1 was Andrew. The other isn’t named. But it was John, the disciple, writer of this gospel, 3 short letters, and Rev; who never named himself in any of his writings.

So, the un-named disciple is John. The second John.

He was a teenager when He started following Jesus, the youngest of the 12 disciples. He lived the longest of the 12. He wrote Rev in the late 80s or 90, 60 years after this day.

John saw Jesus be crux’d. Saw him alive again. Saw him ascend to heaven. He saw Elijah and Moses at the transfiguration. He saw all of his fellow disciples be killed, in mostly horrible and painful ways.

He had little idea what he was in for on this day. He just bel’d he’d found the Messiah and he was all in.

Jesus asked John and Andrew a Q. “What do you want?”

They replied, “We want to see where you are staying.”

Jesus said, “Come and see for yourself.”

There’s more going on here than the obvious. Where are you staying? Means they wanted to do more than just visit. In that day, a Rabbi would choose his students, and the students would live w/ the Rabbi, spend almost every moment of every day w/ their teacher, learning from him.

They wanted to know where Jesus was staying so they could move in, too, and stay w/ him.

Which is remarkable. Rabbi’s would only choose the educated to be their students. Andrew and John were fishermen. They were in their family’s bsns. That means, they failed the entrance exam to college. They had the equivalent of a high school ed. Not enough for all the other Rabbis.

But Jesus invited them to come and see where he lived so they could stay w/ Him. That is, remain w/ Him. Abide w/ Him. Dwell w/ Him.

Brings to mind what John will write later.

John 15:4–7 NIV

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

This is the convo that these 3 had on that early day. Jesus invited them to remain w/ Him. They agreed. The fruit they produced was vast and rich.

John’s writing. Andrew recruited Peter, who became the leader of the disciples and wrote a little scripture himself.

I get ahead of myself. Peter didn’t start out like the guy he would become.

In c.1, names were descriptive of personality traits, talents, or skills.

Simon, in Greek, means “quick to hear”. Simon was a fast learner. We also know, he was quick to act. He was a ‘ready, fire, aim’ kind of guy.

He asked Jesus to call him out of the boat, on the sea, in a storm, a little too quickly, before he had time to think about what he was doing. When he realized where he was, and what was going on around him, he sank.

When Jesus was arrested, he very quickly grabbed his knife and attacked the person nearest him. He was a fisherman, not a soldier. Soldiers trained w/ swords to draw them and come down on their enemy’s helmet at the seam in one smooth motion.

Peter had a knife, attacked a servant, not a soldier. Missed the center of his head, and lopped off his hear.

When Jesus first met Simon, he renamed him Peter. Peter is Greek for rock. The Aramaic form is Cephas that you’ll see in some places in your bible.

Peter is a rash rock, or a rock w/ a rash, or a knack for rashness.

Peter failed Jesus at his most vulnerable point. He denied knowing him, being associated w/ him when Jesus was arrested and on his way to the crux.

Just prior to that night, Peter had proclaimed that he bel’d Jesus to be the Messiah.

Jesus said to him then,

Matthew 16:18 NIV

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Not on Peter, but on faith like Peter exhibited in confirming who Jesus is, Jesus would build his church and nothing can prevent it from happening.

Right after, Peter said he would do anything to prevent Jesus from being assassinated, or at least die trying.

Then, he denied knowing him.

You get whiplash from following Peter’s triumphant moments immediately followed by his terrible moments.

Jesus wasn’t surprised by any of this. He knew what Peter would do. He chose him and renamed anyway.

If we didn’t have Peter, if Jesus would have place a perfect person in the role of Peter, we never would have understood that Jesus can use imperfect ppl like us to do great things.

Peter did become the leader of the disciples. He stepped up at Pentecost and boldly preached to the ppl present what had happened in the upper room when the HS came on them. He explained and translated what they were saying in the streets in their different languages.

Peter was a great success. He led the disciples, wrote scripture, and drew ppl to Jesus.

Peter was the rock, whose faith would be the standard upon which Jesus would build the church that led to us being here today, studying this passage about when Jesus called him to be his student.

No more rules and rituals from the religious leadership. Peter is a rock and Jesus has a relationship w/ all of his followers.

He showed the extent of the relationship when he called the next 2.

The Relationship

John 1:43–51 NIV

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”

The next day, day 5 in the sequence.

Jesus headed off to Galilee where he met and called his next 2 disciples. First, Philip. Then Philip went and found Nathaniel.

Nathaniel was a huge skeptic. Nazareth had a reputation. Nothing good came out of there. The assumption was the Messiah would come out of Jerusalem. But, Jesus didn’t do anything the way most ppl expected.

Philip said he had found the one to whom the law that Moses wrote pointed. The entire OT leads to Jesus. The law, the prophets, and the poetry all point to Jesus.

He called Him the son of Joseph.

I had little idea who Jesus was when I was 17 and a brand new Xian. I knew I was lost, l knew I wanted t/b saved, and I knew Jesus was the only one who could do it. As far as anything else about Jesus, I’ve spent the last 45 years figuring it out. I’ve made more than 1 mistake along the way.

Philip was mistaken about who Jesus’s Father is. That makes this story even more believable.

Still, he urged Nathaniel, “Come and see” Come and see for yourself. Respond to the invitation to come and meet Jesus.

Jesus may call, but the ppl need to respond. We need to choose to come and see for ourselves so we can remain w/ Him, follow him, and be part of what he is doing here.

Jesus understood the inner conflict Nathaniel was wrestling thru. He spoke to him compassionately.

You are a true Israelite. By faith, more than blood. You are a man of integrity, no deceit.

Jesus knew Nathaniel before Nathaniel saw Jesus. Jesus had a relationship with the man sitting under the fig tree before he was standing in Jesus’s presence.

And Jesus told him specific details about his life.

When Nathaniel responded in faith, declaring that he believed Jesus to be the One, Jesus told him he’d see even greater things.

The reference is to the OT story of Jacob, when God confirmed the covenant w/ him that he had originally made w/ Abraham, his grandfather, Jacob saw a ladder w/ angels going up and down on. Signifying, Jacob would have direct access to heaven’s guidance as he raised his 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel

For Nathaniel it meant, Jesus would confirm that He is the One who is the promised descendant of Abraham thru whom the entire world would be blessed. Nathaniel will see proof thru his messages and miracles that he will not be disappointed when he decides to follow Jesus and remain w/ Him.

These common men w/ limited education and experience, called by Jesus to follow Him. Jesus would teach them, then send them out to continue the work He started.

Imperfect ppl were sent out to reach other imperfect ppl to invite them to Come and See for themselves who the Savior is and what He will do for them.

Reach Others

Mark 1:16–20 NIV

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

From Mark, this is not a contradictory story, it’s a later day than the days mentioned in John.

While they disciples spent most of their time w/ Jesus, early on they would go back to their fishing business when there were breaks in the work Jesus had for them.

But, Jesus would use these breaks, when they are living their lives, to continue to teach them what it meant to be a follower of Jesus.

Peter, Andrew, James and John were all fishermen. In fact, James and John’s father Zebedee must have been wealthy. It must have been a successful fishing business b/c he could afford hired help.

So, when Jesus called them to follow him, they left a lucrative business that they would have inherited to join Jesus’s fledgling org.

They made a significant financial sacrifice. Their father made a significant sac by losing his 2 sons to their calling into ministry.

Following Jesus has a cost. But the benefits far outweigh.

Jesus called them t/b fishers of men. Imperfect ppl, reaching imperfect ppl, to invite them to come and see the perfect Savior. Respond to the call to remain in Christ.

Join the rock. He may seem like he’s sinking at times. He may be a rock w/ a rash, or a rock that acts rashly. You may be afraid rocks like him will take you down, too.

But, we can relate to rockheads like Peter.

And guys like Nathaniel, who are conflicted internally. Jesus is not what we expect. But, isn’t that what you want from God? Don’t you want a God who is bigger than your expectations?

And guys like James, John, and Zebedee. They responded in their own ways. James and John followed Jesus. Zebedee let his 2 sons go. They all made significant sacrifices for Christ.

They gave their lives to remain in Christ and they got His life in return.

All of them then got the opportunity to tell their own stories that would reach others and urge them to respond to the invitation to come and see so they could remain in Christ, too.

That’s us. Jesus knew exactly what he was getting when he got us. And, he did it anyway.

Applications

Come and see

When Jesus invites you, respond by coming to Him to see what He offers.

Most of us have responded once, already.

He will continue to invite you to stay, remain with Him and learn more and more every day about Him and about yourself.

Remain

Abide. Stay w/ Him. Don’t just visit Him. Disciples would live w/, travel w/, stay w/ their Rabbi.

Don’t just visit on Sundays. Don’t just drop by once or twice/day. Remain in Him and let Him remain in every area of your life every day.

Reach

Jesus knew you when He accepted you and called you. He knew what He was getting when He got you. He still did it.

As imperfect as you are, hopefully a little less imperfect than you were last year, you are the perfect person to reach the ppl around you.

This community is better off b/c you are here. Jesus can use you to invite those close to you to come and see for themselves.

Be open to who Jesus is asking you to reach for Him.

We are all messed up. We continue to mess up. Again, hopefully, a little less this year than last year. And, still less next year.

As imperfect as we are, we are the perfect ppl to continue what Jesus started.

We have lots of help, resources we didn’t have before we met Jesus (last week).

This is our part of the world (Acts 1:8).

All we have to do is tell our story, just like JB did. He told the ppl what he sensed for himself. He saw the HS come on Jesus. He heard God voice say Jesus is His Son. And he felt different when he responded to God’s call.

On the one hand, it makes no sense that Jesus would call ppl like me, and you, to be responsible for this community, and this church, to bring the 2 together and to meet Jesus. Surely, He could have chosen better ppl than us.

But, on the other hand, it was me being able to relate to the ppl that Jesus led across my path that made me realize He has accepted me and can use me to do the same.

Jesus knows the good in us and accepts us even while knowing the not-so-good about us. Then He works with us to let others know that He has done the same for them.

Come and see. Respond to the call to remain in Christ.