A King & A Cause

Submission to God’s Word

Thanks be to God for His Word.

Church, are you ready to hear and receive God’s Word? To be shaped, built up, edified, corrected and transformed by God’s Word?

Are you hear and ready to feed upon it so that your souls would be nourished?

Let’s pray and ask God’s help as we submit to His word for His glory and our joy.

Main Idea:

A worthy King calls an unworthy people to let go of unworthy things to find joy in a worthy cause.

Introduction

Ever since I first read “The Journals of Jim Elliot” in college I’ve been captivated by his story.

For those who don’t know, Jim Elliot, along with four other men, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Nate Saint, and Pete Fleming were killed, they were speared to death on January 8, 1956 while trying to reach the Aucas Indian Tribe in Ecuador with the gospel.

This mission began nearly four years earlier when Jim, at only about the age of 25 said goodbye to his parents and headed out to Ecuador to begin learning the language and the culture with the hopes of reaching this dangerous, murderous tribe.

Jim Elliot and the team he worked with knew this was a dangerous tribe who had already killed many people. But love for Christ, love for the gospel, love for this tribe drove them forward.

They began flying over this tribe for several months lowering down gifts and supplies and communicating friendly Auca phrases to show them that they were not a threat.

At one point, the Auca tribe even sent a gift back to them in the bucket that had been lowered from the plane.

Jim and this team believed now was the time to make face to face contact.

They located a spot on a beach where Nate Saint, who was the pilot believed was long enough to land the plane safely.

The missionaries were flown onto this beach one by one, Nate then flew over the tribe telling them to come to the beach.

After about four days a man and two women emerged from the jungle. The missionaries shared a meal with them and Nate even took the man up for a ride in the plane. They told them to come back and bring others with them.

Two days later, two more women emerged from the jungle. But this time they did not come in peace. From the other side, Auca warriors were charging toward them with spears raised.

These missionaries, Jim included had guns with them but did not use them against the Auca tribe. Why? Because these men had all agreed going into this that they would not use deadly force against this tribe because they were not yet ready for Heaven.

Jim, Nate, Roger, Ed, and Pete knew they were safe and secure in Christ and so they were ready to face death if it would come and it came for them on that day.

These men left behind wives and children, families and friends for a tribe in Ecuador that they had never met face to face before. Why?

Well, about six years earlier Jim wrote in his journal the famous quote that many of us in here are familiar with. He said:

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” - Jim Elliot

Now, our Americanized way of looking at life and even looking at Christianity causes a shiver to go up our spine when we hear stories like this one.

Our cultural mantra today that’s even sadly found within the church itself isn’t , “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose” but rather, I would argue, “Comfort, Safety, Security above all things.”

I mean, push back if you think I’m wrong.

But the American church today is a far cry from what Christ has called His church to be.

The church today, by and large within American culture seems to be, and we can be guilty of this too, more often preoccupied with operating like a business, with boards of directors, pastors seen as CEO’s rather than shepherds, budgets, building projects, social events.

Now listen, this isn’t a call to irresponsibility, we need to be wise stewards but this maybe a call to reordering priorities and coming back into alignment with what Christ has called his church to be.

Now hear me, I’ve been a proud American citizen my whole life, and I’ve grown up in Bloomington/Normal my whole life. And so I understand how American culture works and I understand the culture of BloNo. But hear me say with as much grace as I can; The church of Jesus Christ came long before the writing of the U.S. Constitution. And the church is not State Farm.

As you saw and heard last week from Mark 1:14-15, Jesus is King of His Kingdom and is building the Kingdom. We are first and foremost, with joy, citizens of the Kingdom of God with Jesus as ruler over all.

And so, our goal as part of Christ’s church is not to make sure first and foremost we have a balanced budget, or several building projects underway, or to make sure we have well-drafted policies, or to make sure you’re comfortable.

Some of those things are important and so we don’t want to disregard, but the church first and foremost is about making disciples and revealing the kingdom of God as Christ builds it. It’s about following Christ who is not safe; his life led him to the cross. But if you want to find meaning and purpose and fullness of joy in your life, you’re not going to find it in the things of earth, you’ll always come up short, but you will find it in glad submission to Christ the King.

And this doesn’t mean we’re all flying to Ecuador tomorrow. But it does mean we need to all pause and evaluate how we are treasuring Christ as King over our lives wherever we are. Listen, you can work for State Farm, or Country, or ISU, or Wilber, or in education or as a stay at home parent and in those domains reveal the beauty, worth, and treasure of Jesus above all things.

But “comfort, safety, and security” cannot be our highest aim in life. You will be foolish to do so and you will not ultimately find joy and purpose in your life.

That’s what we’ll see in our text today.

Here’s my main idea if you want to jot it down.

A worthy King calls an unworthy people to let go of unworthy things to find joy in a worthy cause.

Let’s listen to our text again.

Mark 1:16-20 “Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.”

I’ve got five points to show us from this text that reveal the superiority of Jesus and the worthiness of his mission.

Number 1.

A Higher Calling.

You really see this throughout the entire text. Jesus has just begun his public ministry and now is looking for people to join him in this mission.

And so, he comes across four fishermen, Simon (Peter) and Andrew, his brother and two other brothers, James and John.

Now, all four of these guys were successful fishermen. But Jesus calls them to a higher vocation, a higher calling than what they could attain to on this earth. As fishermen, they could make a decent living, support their families and probably live decently comfortable lives, but Jesus says, “follow me and you’ll be a part of something bigger than your life that will go on for all eternity.”

Now, notice how Mark makes reference to two key things that these brothers reject in order to gain something better. You see it in verses 18 and 20.

It says, both sets of brothers immediately get up and follow Jesus, but notice what they leave behind as they do.

I want to look at verse 20 first.

Mark 1:20 “And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.”

So, James and John here leave behind family to follow Christ.

Now, as Americans, we’re more individualistically minded.

However, even with this individualistic mindset, we still find comfort in our families. Which oftentimes can be a good thing but can also be destructive if family is placed before Christ rather than the family being placed around Christ.

Where we typically fall short is in the idolization of our children. Here’s what I mean and here’s where I see it most often. What happens is that parent’s lives, the family’s life begins to revolve around their kids schedules. So, sports, music, events, programs all come first. We’ve got to make sure our kids are active, that the schedule is packed. And so every weekend is filled with games, every weeknight is filled with practices. Those things get the majority of our time and our focus and what happens then is the church, life with God’s people on mission for the sake of the Kingdom is given our scraps of time.

I want to push us here for just a minute.

There are four key essentials that we’ve identified as pastors that we believe are vital to your growth in Christ, to your spiritual formation as disciples of Jesus.

Our Sunday morning gathering

Sunday Seminars

Community Groups

Monthly Prayer, Discipleship Conversations on Sunday evenings

And three of those four are sparsely engaged by the church.

And this isn’t about guilt or manipulation or legalism. But I also can’t avoid it if I’m concerned by it because I want to see us all growing in grace.

But church I’m going to share my heart. It breaks my heart that we have to move our time of corporate prayer as a church to a smaller venue because just not many people come to pray. Or you can’t be involved in community groups or Sunday Seminars because of sports schedules. And I understand there’s seasons of life where it just isn’t possible. I get that.

But all I’m asking is, are we placing more value on our families with what we want rather than what Christ has called us to with our families? Go play and enjoy the good things God has given us with our families, but two things with that: 1) See those things still as mission and 2) Are we properly balanced with a healthy rhythm that shows that Christ and his church matters and is significant? Will the next generation coming behind us say that we treasured Jesus and his church above all things?

Notice though a second thing the disciples left behind in order to gain something better?

Verse 18.

Mark 1:18 “And immediately they left their nets and followed him.”

I’ll hit this one a little quicker.

What we see is that Peter and Andrew didn’t find their identity in their careers. They left behind their nets, their livelihood.

How often do we find our identity in our jobs, in what we do, rather than in who we are? You tracking with me on that?

So, often our whole identity is consumed and wrapped up in what we do from 9-5 rather than in who God says we are through Christ. His adopted child, loved and accepted, holy and blameless through Jesus.

Here’s a reality check for us. If our identity is wrapped up in what we do, rather than what’s been done, what happens on retirement day when you clean out your desk, take the nameplate off your door and drive home? You’re left searching for a new purpose in life.

In the movie, “The Shawshank Redemption” one of the prisoners, Brooks Hatlen is released after spending nearly 50 years behind bars. Prison was all he knew and behind bars he was known, he was important. But upon release he finds that he has no identity, no purpose any longer and in the end, he hangs himself.

Now, I’m not necessarily comparing our jobs to prison, but the point can still be made, if our identity is all wrapped up in what we do, what happens when we no longer have it? We lose our purpose.

Christ followers don’t find their purpose and mission in their jobs, they have a purpose and a mission which leads them to their job.

Alright, point number 2.

A Sanctifying Work.

Now, this isn’t a main thing found in the text, but I also didn’t want it to pass by.

Notice how in verse 17 Jesus says, “I will make you...”

This mission and purpose, this regeneration of our hearts in being reoriented to that which is better is the work of Christ alone by grace alone.

There’s a reason I wanted to start today with asking us all if we’re ready and here to be shaped and changed by God’s Word.

I can’t change you. Your family can’t change you. Your friends can’t change you. All I can do it seek to persuade you but it’s God’s Spirit and God’s Word that changes our hearts.

Without Jesus’ intervening work in Peter, Andrew, James, and John’s life, they would have remained fishermen, lived a semi-comfortable life, and died without having had any lasting impact in the world.

But the reason we know their names today is not because they were some type of amazing, but because Jesus walked up to them, initiated the conversation, and said “follow me” and then gave them hearts to believe and behold the goodness and glory of Christ.

This is the glory and power of the gospel - it changes us.

Gospel proclamation.

Number 3.

A Noble Cause.

Once Jesus redeems us, he then draws us into his mission and his cause to bring renewal to the world once again through the power of the gospel.

Listen, if you are a follower of Christ and you’re breathing, you have a mission, you have a purpose for why you are here. And it is not to be comfortable.

Jesus says in verse 17,

Mark 1:17, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

The Christian life is not one that is static but one that is moving forward on mission. If you are bored as a Christian, you’re off mission. You’re sitting on the sidelines instead of being in the game.

This phrase, “fishers of men,” is rooted deep within the Old Testament and has an eschatological framework to it.

Let me show you what I mean.

Listen to the prophet Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 16:16,18 “Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the LORD, and they shall catch them.” “But first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.””

Or listen to Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 29:3-5 “Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, ‘My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.’ I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales; and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams, with all the fish of your streams that stick to your scales. And I will cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your streams; you shall fall on the open field, and not be brought together or gathered. To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens I give you as food.”

Or finally, hear the prophet Amos.

Amos 4:2 “The Lord God has sworn by his holiness that, behold, the days are coming upon you, when they shall take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fishhooks.”

Now, here’s what’s going on. God’s using the language of fishing (hooks in jaws) to speak of the judgment that’s coming to his enemies.

Fishing for us is a nice comfortable and relaxing thing to do on a Saturday morning. It’s not so comfortable and relaxing for the fish. The fish just thinks it’s about to get an early morning meal and all of a sudden a metal hook is piercing through its mouth and it’s be dragged and forcibly removed out of its nice home where it’s going to be killed, filleted, and eaten.

As violent as that picture is of fishing, from a fish’s perspective, it’s the image God uses of judgment for his enemies, of those who reject him.

And the reality is, all of us were at one point enemies of God.

Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

All of us, all of humanity rightly deserves judgment, to have the hook of God’s righteous judgment pierce through our mouths and be drug away.

But what’s Jesus say? We’re going to do a different type of fishing. We’re going to save humanity from God’s impending judgment.

It’s no longer the hook of judgment but a life-saver thrown out to redeem and restore.

Judgment is still coming for those who fail to repent and be reconciled through the blood of Christ, but it’s Christ’s blood that saves and we get to be a part of that.

There’s nothing more thrilling than being on the front lines of seeing God bring someone from the darkness into the light. That’s a noble cause that we’re called into.

Number 4.

A Fully-Engaged People.

And so, Jesus has called, he’s done and continues to do the work in our hearts, he’s given us a noble cause to be a part of and now as we grow in grace we are to be fully engaged in the work of redemption.

Jesus has no use for lukewarm followers of his. With Jesus you are either in or you are out.

Now, again, within our Americanized church culture we’ve tried to do both. And so, we want the amenities of our culture, the comfort and security it brings but then we’ve tried to tag on church events and so Christ’s church isn’t a mission and cause and a people that we belong to with the desire to see the gospel go out to the nations with glad and joyful sacrifice on our part through constant prayer, sacrificial giving and joyful sending and going.

Instead, the American church has become more of a social club, a country club that we attend with events that we go to.

When I read the Scriptures, that is not the idea and picture Jesus has for his Bride.

Listen to what Jesus says in Luke 9.

Luke 9:23-24 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

There must be a complete denial of earthly desires and glad acceptance of Jesus’ cross-bearing way of life.

Taking up our cross is not just about enduring difficulty but rather renouncing all selfish ambition and right to control one’s life and destiny.

Rather than seeking the praise of man - we now seek the the joy that accompanies the humble way of knowing Christ and being found in him.

A true believer is one who follows Christ, not one who just believes certain truths about him or lives a moral life. It’s one who is saying, “Jesus first above all regardless of what it costs me.’

David Platt in his book “Radical” says this:

“Radical obedience to Christ is not easy... It's not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us.” - David Platt

And why do we do this?

Number 5.

Jesus is:

A Worthy King.

From the world’s perspective, what Peter, Andrew, James, and John did was reckless. From the world’s perspective, what Jim Elliot and those four other men did was foolish.

But a true follower of Christ would say without any hesitation that Jesus is worth following with “reckless abandon.”

Why? Because he’s worthy. Because he is the highest aim. He’s the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Because as Mark is painting for us in just this first chapter of his gospel and what he’ll do for the first half of his book, he’s showing us the identity of Christ as a King worth following. He’s the Son of God, vs. 1, the Lord - vs. 3, the Worthy One - vs. 7, the Spirit-anointed One - vs. 10, the beloved Son - vs. 11, the King - vs. 15.

Yes, to the world, following Jesus looks reckless and foolish but to those who have been changed by him, redeemed by him, saved by him, there’s nothing greater than to spend your life in glad and joyful service to this great King.

And so, do you see him as worthy? Do you see him as greater than anything or anyone in this world? Are you ready to spend your life dying to yourself in order to gain what cannot be lost?

God help us to see this text as not just another story but truth that transforms us.