Thursday, January 08, 2009
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Leave Everything...
I'm in my third year of teaching now. When I think about it, I am drawn to the kids. A desire exists to reach out to them and guide them in their walks. I want to help their souls grow closer to Jesus. When they have questions, I want to help find the answers. The kinds of questions though have nothing to do with literature and grammar, though. They are the questions that deal with life and death and following Jesus and living what they believe. It is a strong desire. I believe that it is my calling in life to do that. For now, it seems that I am stuck where I am though. I get to nurture their souls a little, but only in the context of school. If I am honest, I feel pulled away from that role to a more meaningful one. It is hard to explain. I am pondering these things in light of what I read about Jesus' first disciples this morning.
In Luke chapter 5, Jesus has a crowd following him to hear him teach. He sees Peter cleaning his nets, climbs into his boat and has them push a little way into the water. From there Jesus begins to teach the people. When the lesson is over, he tells Peter to cast his nets out in the deep water. Peter, still called Simon at the time, obeys and the catch is unbelievable. He has to call another boat for help, and both of them begin to sink deeper into the water. After Peter recognizes what's going on and falls to his knees, Jesus calls the fishermen to follow him. They brought their boats in, left everything, and followed Jesus.
What makes them leave their livelihood and follow Jesus? They look crazy to me. How will they pay the bills? How will they eat? How will they persuade anyone that Jesus is a good teacher when he has asked them to dump everything? The answers are simple, but they aren't easy. First of all, they had known each other a while. Earlier in the book, Jesus had healed Simon Peter's mother-in-law. According to the editors of the new ESV Study Bible, Simon and the crew had been following Jesus as a teacher for at least a year. They knew his teaching, his family, and him as a man. This wasn't a decision made all of a sudden without forethought. They knew who they were following. They trusted him as a rabbi and a leader.
Bear in mind, they also were awaiting a Messiah. The Jews were wanting to be free from their Roman oppressors. When Jesus tells them to cast their nets, they obey with little argument. The fish are so plentiful that the boats are overloaded. This was a miracle that caused Peter, a fisherman by trade, to react. Obviously he'd never seen this before. He asks Jesus to leave, afraid of being judged for his sin then and there. Peter recognizes God at work in Jesus. No other rabbi has done this, so there is something special about Jesus. These guys may not get it all, but the beginning of their education has come.
Jesus then tells them they will now catch men. No more stinky fish for you guys. In their minds, they probably thought they were recruiters for the army Jesus would use to toss down the Roman empire. They were expecting wealth, fame, comfort, and absolute victory. We find later that they found poverty, infamy, and death. These are worldly values, though. After the resurrection and the ascension, they more fully understood who Jesus was and what they were to do.
Here's the deal. Jesus knows who he's going to call from the beginning of time. On our side of the coin, though, we'd do well not to jump into thinking we're called. Remember, the disciples knew him for a while. They didn't just jump into the discipleship boat without any prior knowledge. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were conscientious. They were expecting something from God, as well. They saw Jesus as a rabbi, but also were expecting salvation, deliverance, and freedom from God. It did not come as they expected it, but their eyes were open to see the path to it, even if only a part of it. Lastly, they saw Jesus do something miraculous in their regular day-to-day work. In the normalcy of life, these men watched Jesus load their boats with fish.
All of us have been called to salvation and discipleship. We each also have specific callings. We find them by following Christ. Our direction is found by expecting God to do something in our lives. We must then keep our eyes open even in our mundane nine to five existence. Recognizing these signs, if you will, leads us to that place where we would leave what we're doing, leave our comfort and security, to follow Jesus.
In Luke chapter 5, Jesus has a crowd following him to hear him teach. He sees Peter cleaning his nets, climbs into his boat and has them push a little way into the water. From there Jesus begins to teach the people. When the lesson is over, he tells Peter to cast his nets out in the deep water. Peter, still called Simon at the time, obeys and the catch is unbelievable. He has to call another boat for help, and both of them begin to sink deeper into the water. After Peter recognizes what's going on and falls to his knees, Jesus calls the fishermen to follow him. They brought their boats in, left everything, and followed Jesus.
What makes them leave their livelihood and follow Jesus? They look crazy to me. How will they pay the bills? How will they eat? How will they persuade anyone that Jesus is a good teacher when he has asked them to dump everything? The answers are simple, but they aren't easy. First of all, they had known each other a while. Earlier in the book, Jesus had healed Simon Peter's mother-in-law. According to the editors of the new ESV Study Bible, Simon and the crew had been following Jesus as a teacher for at least a year. They knew his teaching, his family, and him as a man. This wasn't a decision made all of a sudden without forethought. They knew who they were following. They trusted him as a rabbi and a leader.
Bear in mind, they also were awaiting a Messiah. The Jews were wanting to be free from their Roman oppressors. When Jesus tells them to cast their nets, they obey with little argument. The fish are so plentiful that the boats are overloaded. This was a miracle that caused Peter, a fisherman by trade, to react. Obviously he'd never seen this before. He asks Jesus to leave, afraid of being judged for his sin then and there. Peter recognizes God at work in Jesus. No other rabbi has done this, so there is something special about Jesus. These guys may not get it all, but the beginning of their education has come.
Jesus then tells them they will now catch men. No more stinky fish for you guys. In their minds, they probably thought they were recruiters for the army Jesus would use to toss down the Roman empire. They were expecting wealth, fame, comfort, and absolute victory. We find later that they found poverty, infamy, and death. These are worldly values, though. After the resurrection and the ascension, they more fully understood who Jesus was and what they were to do.
Here's the deal. Jesus knows who he's going to call from the beginning of time. On our side of the coin, though, we'd do well not to jump into thinking we're called. Remember, the disciples knew him for a while. They didn't just jump into the discipleship boat without any prior knowledge. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were conscientious. They were expecting something from God, as well. They saw Jesus as a rabbi, but also were expecting salvation, deliverance, and freedom from God. It did not come as they expected it, but their eyes were open to see the path to it, even if only a part of it. Lastly, they saw Jesus do something miraculous in their regular day-to-day work. In the normalcy of life, these men watched Jesus load their boats with fish.
All of us have been called to salvation and discipleship. We each also have specific callings. We find them by following Christ. Our direction is found by expecting God to do something in our lives. We must then keep our eyes open even in our mundane nine to five existence. Recognizing these signs, if you will, leads us to that place where we would leave what we're doing, leave our comfort and security, to follow Jesus.
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