Leaving the Old Road

Intro

Last we we introduced the road to the cross that we are going to walking through the book of Mark all the way till Easter in 8 weeks. We saw how Jesus invited us to step onto the road by going all in with him. Going all in with Jesus means doing what he told us in Mark 1:15 Repent and believe. Meaning stop pretending that the road your going down without Jesus will ever intersect with Jesus’ road. The only way to get off of our dead end roads is to stop turn around and go the opposite way. To turn away from the road that will lead to death and instead choose the road that leads to life.

Today as we continue our journey on the road to the cross we are going to see that to follow Jesus on his road we have to give up more than just our map our plans for our life. We need to give up our old identities to find new ones rooted in Jesus.

Mark 1:16–20 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.” 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.

I want you to remember the reason that Mark wrote his Gospel. 1. So we would know who Jesus is and 2 how we should respond to it. These verses give a very short and simple command follow me. but before we see the response that the fishermen had and what we should have we got to remember who it is that is giving the call to follow. Not everyone that tells you to follow them is worth following. We get bombarded with messages everyday from people that tell us to believe this. support me, follow me,

But heres the deal.

1. Who you Follow Defines you.

There is only one master worth following.

His name is Jesus. Who is he why is he the one worth following? in just one chapter Mark paints that picture in verse one we see he is the Christ and the Son of God, in verse 3 we see him as the Lord, in verse 7 we see him as the worthy one, in verse 8 he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit, verse 10 he is the Spirit annointed one, in verse 11 he is the beloved son, in verse 11 he is also the one who pleases God, in verse 15 he is the one who brings the kingdom of God, if you were to read the rest of this chapter you would see in verse 22 he is the astonishing teacher and the one with authority, in verse 24 he is the holy one of God. Youll see him cast out demons, heal the sick, cleanse leapers. and that is Just chapter 1! Every chance he gets Mark is is shouting to us. The kingdom of God has come near because the king is here!

Doesn’t that sound like someone worth following? Who could ever top that resume? and thats just the cover letter of who he is and what he has done. We have been given the freedom to choose our own masters. naturally we gravitate towards choosing ourselves. Then when that doesn’t work out we may gravitate towards politicians, mentors, romantic partners, even pastors. Who is your master today? we were made for relationships, its good to have people we look up to, but there is only one that is worth following with you’re whole heart.

If he is the only one worth following, If he is all of those things that Mark points out in this chapter. then the guys he picked to follow him must have been worthy to follow. They must have flashed so much potential that Jesus was lucky to have them.

Well lets look at these two sets of brothers and where they were at in life. First its important that we know that the dream of every jewish boy was to become a Rabbi. there was no higher dream. We all have our dream jobs. For every boy in Judah they all had the same dream job. So they would all start on that track. There would be a very specific road they would follow if they wanted to reach their dream.

The first step was called bet seffer. All Jewish boys would spend the years from 5-10 years old learning how to read and memorizing scripture most would end their education here and go learn their family trade.

The most advanced students would go on to a higher level of education for 10-12 year olds called ben talmund where they would memorize the entire old testament. most of the students who made it to this level stopped here

the next step was only for the best of the best. The validvictorians it was called midrash They would spend their early teens studying the scriptures they had memorized and learn how to apply it. and when they thought they were ready they would seek out a rabbi and ask if they could follow them. but rabbis would only accept requests to follow from the most promising young men. if a student wasn’t chosen the message was essentially “youre not cut out for this go learn your family trade” dream over.

So with that in mind What are Simon, Andrew, James, and John doing when Jesus approaches them they are fishing. They are working in their families trade. which means at some point on their road toward their dream of being a rabbi of being someone important. Someone looked at them and said you’re not cut out for this. Go fish.

These were rabbi school drop outs. a rabbi at some point had looked at them and said you’re not good enough I dont want you to follow me. and what did Jesus do. He did the opposite of what was expected. even the top of the class guys had to ask the rabbi if they could follow him. but Jesus went to them and asked them to follow him.

2. Jesus Calls You Before You’re Ready

Jesus didn’t put any prerequisites on following him. He didn’t say go back and get your degree then come follow me. He didn’t go to the synogogue their church and when they got there then he said follow me. He met them where they were at. He met them where their physical location was but also where they were at the point in their lives.

Considered dissapointments by their families, considered unexceptional by society, considered not smart enough by the smartest people they knew. and just when they had accepted that thats just who they were. Jesus showed up knowing they would never risk another rejection by asking if they could follow him. Jesus looked straight at them and asked them to follow them.

Jesus does the same for you wherever you are at. weather you feel like you have it all together, if you feel like you are a dissapointment, if you feel surrounded by chaos and you dont know what to do. Jesus is not sitting back waiting for you to get it together, to make something of your self, to meet some standard of moral or social acceptablility and then he’s going to ask you to follow him. Jesus’ call to us today is the same call that he had for the fisherman that day “follow me”.

Even though we have nothing to offer, even though we should have to somehow earn or beg for an invitation to follow him Jesus says no. from where you are right now. You’re invited to follow me.

You have been given an invitation to follow the king of kings. That is a big deal. and yet the response that most of us have is not the response that matches an invitation from someone of that level.

There are certain people that if you get an invitation from them to go somewhere with them. You don’t have to check your schedule first you say yes imediately. If Peyton Manning were to invite me to his house. I am not asking Alysa if we have anything going on that day I am just saying yes. If you get an invitation from the president to the white house you just say yes, one of my favorite authors is Brent Crowe if he asks me to come learn under him for a few days I am not asking anyone I’m not waiting for vacation days to get approved I am just going.

If we believe That Jesus is the only master worth following. and we believe that like the disciples we are unworthy of an invitation to follow. When we receive that invitation to follow. We have to respond.

3. Drop Your Nets

Look back at how the fishermen responded Mark 1:17–20

Mark 1:17–20 CSB

“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.

Immediately they dropped their nets and they followed Jesus. They didn’t even fully know who Jesus was yet and still when he called they went immediately. They dropped their nets.

Pull out fishing nets.

The fishing nets that they dropped werent just tools that they used to do their job. Their fishing nets were a core element of their identity. When anyone asked them who they were they would say fishermen. and the net was a visual sign of that. It wasn’t just what they did it was who they were. but when Jesus said follow me what does it say the immediately dropped their nets.

They radically and rapidly responded to Jesus’ call. They didn’t know where they were going. They didnt know every detail about who Jesus was. But they knew they couldn’t carry the nets and follow Jesus at the same time. Their old identities wouldn’t fit them any more. They had been invited to follow the one who would become their new identity.

Think about this if they didn’t accept the call to radically and rapidly respond to Jesus we would not be talking about them today. Their identities would have remained simple fishermen. If they had held on to their nets instead of dropping them they would have missed out on being a part of the greatest story ever told, a relationship with the king of kings, and eternal life.

My question to you this morning is what are you missing out on because you are too scared to let go of your nets. What are you letting define you when Jesus says I got something way better than a net to define you.

Some of you have made your job your entire identity. Its not what you do to you its who you are. some of you when people think about you the first thing they think is republican or democrat and not follower of Jesus You have let it become your identity. Some of you maybe got a diagnosis and you have made that diagnosis your identity. There are no shortage of things out there both good and bad that can become your identity.

But none of them. There is no net no identity that you can choose that is better than what these fishermen chose. When we talk about these men now the way we identify them is by the word disciple. Which simply means someone who follows someone greater.

When people look at you. do they identify you as someone who is just following someone greater. Or someone who is trying to become great.

The world will tell you if you want to be great hang on to your nets tighter at the cost of everything else. Jesus says if you want to be great let go and follow me.

Like we learned last week the call to follow Jesus on his road is not him just coming along for the ride for your plans. The disciples didn’t say ok Jesus I will follow you come get in the boat and go fishing with us. no they left everything. Their map for their life, their identity to follow Jesus because the deemed it worth it because of who Jesus is.

The call to follow Jesus is clear and unconditional. He puts a blank contract before us and says sign at the bottom and I will fill in the details.

Conclusion

My question to you this morning are you still holding onto your nets? Or have you responded radically to Jesus call to follow him?

Who you follow will define you. and you will follow someone or something. Of all the choices out there, there is none better than Jesus. who right now is reaching out his hand even though you don’t think your worthy, ready or know enough and is saying. I know all that and your right. You arent worthy, you dont know enough, you’re not ready. But I took care of that on the cross so now you are free from your nets, your old identity you are free to drop them and follow me.

Are you ready to drop your nets this morning? are you ready to be known not by your mistakes but by his majesty?

Answer the call to follow him this morning if you have never done that.

For those of us that have answered the call I want to ask you. have you been picking back up your nets. Letting lesser things define you?

To let something lesser define you makes no sense when you are a child of God.

It would be like if someone didnt know who micheal Jordan was and when they asked him what he did for a living he said I work at Nike.

Thats kind of underselling it isnt it. 6 time champ, greatest basketball player of all time why would he choose to go by a lesser title.

If you have accepted the call to follow Jesus and you are child of God. There is no higher title that is worth being known by. There is nothing. There are lots of things that define me.

Tennessee fan, Laker fan, tall, Pastor, homeowner, Husband, father. some good things. but I don’t want to be known or remembered for any of them. None of them are my identity. My identity is that I am a follower of Jesus. I am a child of the king. Why would I choose a lesser title as my identity. When I have been given a new identity that is better than any other because Jesus is greater than any other.

Christians following Jesus isnt about fitting him into who you already along with all of those other things. because I am a follower of Christ I will work with excellance and treat those around me with grace, because I am a follower of Christ I will do my best to treat my wife the way that Jesus has treated me. Because I am a follower of Christ I will father in a way that points my children to being followers of Christ. So they wont just be my children but children of the king.

I think theres some people in here today with some nets to drop. You need to let go how the world or you define you so you can fully embrace how Jesus defines you. During this last song I want you visualze what nets you keep picking back up as your identity. hold it in your hands. and when your ready just open your hands to drop those nets. to never never let that lesser title define you ever again because you know who you are. You are a follower of Jesus, a child of the king a Child of God.