Following The One Who Calls

Open your Bibles to Mark 1.

We are in our third week into our series on the Gospel of Mark

Last week, we saw John the Baptist baptize Jesus

We saw God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit together in that moment

We saw Jesus get driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be alone with God

We saw Him get tempted by Satan, while also having physical needs and physical dangers

In these, things, we talked about our need for obedience to God and what that should look like.

As you are finding your place this morning, let me tell you a story:

My dad was the emergency manager in Suwannee County Florida for more than 30 years.

It was a tireless work of caring for people

He cared for his employees

He cared for the people of our community

It had been common throughout my life for us to run into people in a grocery store who thought the world of my dad and who would stop us to talk because he had been with them in their darkest hours and he meant the world to them

We’d walk away and I’d ask who they were and he wouldn’t have a clue because that was his every day and there were just too many stories like that for him to remember them all.

A job like that keeps you away from home and family a lot, and you find yourself putting things off.

When dad retired, they threw a large party for him. At the party, there was a table for gifts.

There were gifts of all shapes and sizes, expensive and not, but one gift caught my attention.

It was a box of small, round, wooden coins. On each one was printed the “1 round tuit”

I had no idea what that meant, and so I found the person who had brought it and I asked.

He replied, “Well, as busy as your dad has been for the county, there are a lot of things around your house and in your family life that he wanted to do, but didn’t have time for them. Vacations, home repairs, time with you guys. I know he’s famous for saying he’ll get around to it, so I figured if I made him some round tuits, maybe he would finally get to those things.

Now, this true story about my Dad is funny. But it holds in it a lesson we shouldn’t miss:

Often times, the things that we put off are the things that are the most important, and if we’re not careful, pretty soon it is too late to do anything about it.

With that in mind, let’s turn to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 1, beginning in verse 14.

As we read together, I invite you to stand with me in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

Mark 1:14–20 CSB

After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” As he passed alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. “Follow me,” Jesus told them, “and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. Going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat putting their nets in order. Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Pray, invite people to sit

Last week, we saw John Baptize Jesus. Now, as Jesus returns from 40 days in the wilderness, we find that John has been arrested.

We know from Luke 3:19-20 that John was arrested for publicly condemning King Herod’s relationship with his brother’s wife.

In fact, Herod would later have John beheaded because of it

But remember that John was the prophet who came before Jesus, the Son of God

He came to tell the people to confess their sins and repent of them

He told them to watch for the One who was coming, because Jesus was coming.

He told them that Jesus was coming, and that Jesus would fill those that follow Him with the Holy Spirit.

As John taught, all of those things were the future. But as Jesus begins to preach, what we hear from Him is that those things are all right now.

Look at verses 14-15 with me:

Mark 1:14–15 CSB

After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Jesus said that you must repent and believe the Gospel to enter God’s Kingdom.

Jesus came to bring us good news

The good news was from God, and it was why He came

The good news was for right now.

The good news is that Jesus has come to open the door to God’s Kingdom

For there to be a Kingdom, you need three things.

You need a King-That is Jesus Christ, God the Son, the eternal King of the Universe

You also need subjects-The subjects are you and me.

And finally, you need a realm, or a land in which you live- and God’s realm is all of creation, but in this passage we’re going to focus in on the hearts of men.

Now, God is the the King of everything, so why would Jesus need to open the door for us?

The Answer dates all the way back to the beginning of the Bible, in Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God and death over life in obedience.

God is still the King of everything

But, since that time, creation has been in rebellion against God

And since the coming of Jesus, God has been moving to bring all things into their correct place

All things, including men, will bow before God as King, and it will happen in one of two ways:

by our choice to confess and repent of our sins, accept the free gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ, and surrendering our lives to Him as our King.

OR

Through the judgment of God on the last day, when even sin and death will be judged and those who do not follow Jesus will enter into eternal punishment.

1 Corinthians 15:25–26 CSB

For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be abolished is death.

Right now, that hasn’t happened yet. Right now, there is still time to put your faith in Jesus. And in our passage this morning, I want you to see that

Today is the day to follow Jesus by repenting and making Him King.

And as we watch Jesus begin to call the first of His followers in our passage this morning, there are three imperatives you need to understand and act on if you want to follow Jesus as your King.

Let’s look at verse 16-17, and then at verse 19:

Mark 1:16–17 CSB

As he passed alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. “Follow me,” Jesus told them, “and I will make you fish for people.”

Mark 1:19 CSB

Going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat putting their nets in order.

These men are the very first of Jesus’ followers, and we meet them at the moment of their decision.

And I want you to see that these men had a life.

These were fishermen who were up long before the sun and sometimes through the night.

When they weren’t fishing, they were taking care of their nets.

These were small business owners and men starting families.

They had people depending on them at work and at home.

And yet, Jesus meets them right in the middle of all their busy lives and His call is clear and simple: Follow Me!

Jesus doesn’t call out and say

Follow me when you’re ready

Follow me when you’ve got some free time

Follow me when your real work is over

Follow me when you’ve finished your responsibilities

Jesus says “The time is here! I Bring the Kingdom of God! Follow Me.

In this, we have the first of our three imperatives this morning, that

The call of Jesus is to reckless abandon.

Jesus wants to give you a new life.

An eternal life that doesn’t end in the grave that sin and death have trapped you in.

A life shaped around His Kingdom purposes that last forever, and not the fleeting things of this life.

A life that will free you from the judgment you deserve.

Jesus wants your life to be what He made it to be.

A life of abundant living in His grace.

A life full of a relationship with Him.

A life transformed by a deeper love than you could imagine or experience anywhere else.

A life that looks different than anything else you could find in this world

But the life that He offers you means letting go of your old life.

It means walking away from the sin that you desire but that slowly kills you.

It means letting go of the pursuits of riches and power and vanity, these things that all of this world trap you into chasing

It means that you stop pursuing your dreams and start pursuing His

Funny thing, I grew up in a house where we didn’t have much. I learned as a child not to throw things away.

Now as an adult, sometimes I struggle to let go of things I need to.

I have clothes in my closet I’ve had my entire adult life

I never wear that old stuff, I just keep it because I can’t let go of it

Most of it is pretty worn, because that’s what happens to clothes when you use them

When I have needed new clothing over the years, I bought it and got more I struggled to get rid of.

Right now, I’m working on simplifying. I’m trying to get rid of that old stuff.

I’ve learned that until I let go of the old, there is no space for the new.

Jesus doesn’t want the leftover space in your old life. He wants you to recklessly abandon your old way of living and trust Him to give you a new life worth living!

Let’s continue together by honing in on verses 16-17 even a little closer:

Mark 1:16–17 CSB

As he passed alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. “Follow me,” Jesus told them, “and I will make you fish for people.”

As we’ve talked about the reckless abandon Jesus calls us too, it is important to remember that it happens in the context of the world we are living in.

Jesus doesn’t tell Simon Peter and Andrew to stop fishing: He changes what they are fishing for

Their fishing was now going to be for His Kingdom purpose

They were going to follow Him so that they could know Him.

And He was going to send them out to draw other people to Jesus as well.

Simon and Andrew never stopped being fishermen. In fact, we see later in John 21 that they still have their boat and nets.

But fishing was no longer their life purpose. Jesus had called them to something much greater.

This is our second imperative in the call of Jesus this morning, that

The call of Jesus is for disciples who will make disciples.

For followers of Jesus, everything about our lives becomes about following Jesus and helping others to do the same.

Put more simply, all of life is about knowing Jesus and making Him known by others.

A disciple is a student who lives with, studies, and tries to copy the life of the person that they are following.

Jesus was drawing people to Himself, calling them to live transformed lives everywhere that He went.

You cannot be like Jesus unless you do what He did

So, as followers of Jesus, our lives must be reshaped.

We must be His disciples, who follow Him in everything with everything

We must pursue closeness with Him by studying the Bible and spending time in prayer

Our prayers should be focused on His will in our lives more than on our needs

We must ask Him about His purposes in everything we are doing and in every person we encounter

We must constantly share Jesus with others and help other believers to mature.

even new believers can do this

they usually are on fire for Jesus and push those of us who are taking our foot off the gas

they also know lots of people that don’t know Jesus and are excited to talk about Him!

I have a wealthy friend in Florida who God blessed richly through business.

He has toys and fun things that I could never afford

But when I am with him, the things he is most excited about are the many, many investments he is making and has made in the lives of others for Jesus.

In fact, without this man’s investment in my life as a young person, it is possible I would not be here in front of you today.

He says that the purpose of his business was not the wealth he accumulated, but for the building of the Kingdom of God!

Jesus calls you to Himself so that you can know Him, so that you can tell others as well.

Let’s look at verses 18 and 20:

Mark 1:18 NASB95

Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

Mark 1:20 NASB95

Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.

Our last imperative might be the hardest one.

It was the driving point for the story about my dad this morning

It may be the biggest struggle for us as people when it comes to letting go of our desires to take on the life Jesus calls us to.

Our last imperative this morning is this:

The call of Jesus is for right now!

Not for tomorrow, next week, or next year. It is for today

Simon, Andrew, James and John all immediately left their work to follow Jesus

Fishing was their livelihood

It was how they made money.

It was how they ate.

And that is what they dropped to go follow Jesus RIGHT THEN. RIGHT THERE.

Can you imagine the look on Zebedee’s face when his boys walked off!

I would have been livid!

We always think we have tomorrow, don’t we?

An old friend once told me that we never know how much time we have left on this earth, and when we say that, we’re never talking about ourselves.

Jesus said it like this:

Luke 12:19–21 NASB95

‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.” ’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

What if tomorrow never comes? What if this is the last hour of your last day of this life?

This morning, Jesus is calling you to Himself!

Jesus is calling you to recklessly abandon anything and everything else.

Jesus is calling you to follow Him and to make your life about helping others do the same.

Jesus is calling you right now, in this moment, while you still have life in your body and it isn’t too late.

This morning, won’t you answer His call?

The worship team is going to come now and lead us in a song.

And as we sing, won’t you take this moment to talk with Jesus?

Won’t you come to Him, now, in this moment, in reckless abandon to know Him and make Him know.

And then, won’t you come after and let’s make some time this week, you and me, to talk about how your Waypoint family can help you in your journey with Jesus?

Let’s not leave the only thing that really matters for a tomorrow that never comes.

PRAY!