WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:01.520 Good morning. 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:04.400 Good oh morning. 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:07.599 Sorry, it's the mask I couldn't hear you. 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:09.199 Uh thanks for joining us this morning. 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:13.439 Today's reading is from Mark chapter 1, verses 16 through 20. 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:22.160 It says, 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. 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:27.120 And Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:30.399 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:38.159 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. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:44.719 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:45.920 This is the word of the Lord. 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:47.200 Please be seated. 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:50.079 Thank you for joining us this morning. 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:53.200 Any morning's a good morning when we sing Where Were You? 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:56.159 That's like one of my all-time favorite songs. 00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:57.920 My name is James Rathman. 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:00.479 I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver. 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:04.400 Right after the service today, we have our first ever members meeting. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:07.920 So if you are a member, stick around and we'll meet right in this room. 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:12.560 If you're watching online and you're a member, you can hustle and make it here. 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:16.640 So look forward to gathering together in that context. 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:20.560 But first, really thankful to see you all here. 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:21.760 Thanks for coming. 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:25.680 And really looking forward to getting into this text today. 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:32.560 I think it's so simple, but it's it's amazing how what it reveals about who Christ is. 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:35.599 So let's pray and then let's get into the text. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:39.280 Father in heaven, we praise you. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:42.719 We praise you because you hear us. 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:45.920 You hear our questions, you hear our cries. 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:49.519 Uh, your ear is ever turned toward us. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:02:00.159 Lord, you make your uh the the heavens are your throne, the earth is your footstool, and then you make your dwelling among the humble in spirit. 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:06.400 Lord, we pray that we would be humble in spirit this morning to receive your word and to see who you are in it. 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:08.159 We lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:09.120 Amen. 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:17.280 So this morning is about fishermen and fishing and becoming fishers of men. 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:24.400 Oh, now Galilee is uh a great place to be a fisherman, or at least it was. 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:31.280 I don't know much about current Galilean fishing, but I know a bit about ancient Galilean fishing. 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:36.879 And uh it was an excellent place to be a fisherman, it was a thriving industry. 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:40.960 The main meat of the Roman Empire was fish. 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:43.360 And so it's this international trade. 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:48.319 And the Sea of Galilee had 16 different fishing ports around the sea. 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:58.719 In fact, Josephus, an ancient Roman historian, records that at one point they were able to recruit 230 fishing boats for a battle that they used. 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:05.759 So there were just fishing boats, 230 of them at the Beck and Call around the Sea of Galilee. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:18.639 Towns around the Sea of Galilee were named things like Bethsaida, which means house of the fisher, Magdala, which means fish tower, and Terakia, which means salted fish. 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:22.319 This was a fishing community. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:25.520 To be in that community was to be a fisherman. 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:28.319 Uh, has anybody seen the movie The Perfect Storm? 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:29.599 Yeah. 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:35.360 Remember the town at the beginning of that movie in Alaska where everybody is a fisherman? 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:37.439 That's what Galilee was like. 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:40.719 That's what it was like to live on the Sea of Galilee. 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:42.319 People fished. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:46.479 And the fish wasn't just consumed locally in local markets. 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:52.879 Fish that was caught in Galilee was consumed as far away as Alexandria in Egypt. 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:58.000 And it was consumed in uh uh in Syria as well, in Antioch. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:02.479 So this is an international thriving trade. 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:06.159 And our first disciples are members of it. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:07.439 They're fishermen. 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:11.919 They make their living by fishing in the Sea of Galilee. 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:13.759 It's a plentiful place. 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:20.959 And when we think of fishing, at least when I think of fishing, especially here in Colorado, we think of rods and reels, right? 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:29.279 You cast a line and then you you wait or you hope and you you wait for the fish to decide, all right, I'm gonna take a bite. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:40.160 And so a lot of us when we hear the phrase fisher of men, we think like, okay, this is what Jesus is like, he casts it out, and you know, maybe Jesus is just a particularly good fisherman. 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:45.680 But this wasn't like a rods and reels style of fishing in the Sea of Galilee. 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:47.120 That's not what the analogy is. 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:50.399 They threw cast nets was the strategy. 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:52.959 Has anybody thrown a cast net before? 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:55.680 Yeah, one, two, three. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:00.399 Okay, so three people, and I know of all those three people that they're from the south. 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:03.040 So that says something. 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:08.800 So I yeah, I grew up in Florida, and like as a kid, I remember being taught how to throw a cast net. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:22.240 And a cast net is a circular net with weights all around the perimeter, and you kind of sling it over your arm, and then you pull a little bit out, then you put some in your mouth, and then you throw it out, and it spins out into a circle. 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:29.439 And if there is a fish under that circle, when you pull the net out, the fish is in that net. 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:34.879 You see, so this is not a this is not a type of fishing where you cast out and then you wait. 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:38.879 This is the type of fishing where you throw the net, you bring the fish in. 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:40.480 Does that make sense? 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:44.879 So that's the analogy for a fisherman that we see. 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:49.199 They're they cast their nets and they bring the fish in. 00:05:50.800 --> 00:06:09.279 Today, Jesus encounters these fishermen, and he calls them to be the first participants in his ministry, the people that form this sort of embryonic stage of the church that even we're still a part of today. 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:19.439 Jesus' ministry begins with calling real people with real names who had real normal jobs. 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:21.279 That's where Jesus begins. 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:23.279 Today is all about the call. 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:27.839 What is this call that Jesus makes on these fishermen's life? 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:32.160 We're going to look at the context of the call that Jesus makes. 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:37.519 We're going to look at the call itself and see the power of the call. 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:41.040 And then we're going to see the response to the call. 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:44.959 So the context, the call, and the response. 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:45.759 Ready? 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:48.480 The context of the call. 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:50.240 Mark 1, verse 16. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:07:00.399 It says, 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. 00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:08.800 So Jesus is walking alongside the Sea of Galilee, and he sees Simon and Andrew, and they're casting a net into the sea. 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:09.360 Why? 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:10.480 They're fishermen. 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:13.600 Something that they would have done every single day. 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:16.079 They wake up and they go and they cast their net. 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:24.079 Later that evening, they bring the nets in, they mend them, they count up the fish, they take them to the market, they sell them to the wholesaler who distributes them across the Roman Empire. 00:07:24.319 --> 00:07:26.480 That's the structure of being a fisherman. 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:31.040 It's not much different than a professional fisherman today. 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:33.120 This industry remains. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:41.279 Later on that day, we see Jesus walks past another group of people, and another set of brothers, actually. 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:50.720 This is Mark 1.19, says, and going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were in their boat mending their nets. 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:54.800 So earlier in the day, he sees Simon and Andrew, they're casting their nets. 00:07:55.040 --> 00:08:02.160 Later in the day, once the workday is over, he sees uh John and James and they're mending their nets. 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:09.360 You know, we just see the normal rhythm of a workday of fishing that Jesus is walking alongside of. 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:15.360 And we see two examples where he calls two different sets of brothers. 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:22.399 And I think the reason that Mark shows us two of them is because the event is so strange in a sense. 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:28.720 Strange in that it's just completely simple, the interaction that takes place. 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:37.919 So he shows us two of them because otherwise, I think we'd think, well, that was just kind of a one-off, strange way that Jesus did things. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:43.279 That was a happenstance that Jesus uh called Simon and Andrew that way. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:46.320 But of course, the other disciples couldn't have been called that way. 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:48.080 He shows it to us twice. 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:52.080 That way we're able to see this is a method of calling. 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:55.519 This is the way that Jesus calls people. 00:08:56.960 --> 00:08:59.200 This is not an anomaly. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:02.320 So, what's odd about the call? 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:06.480 Well, we haven't heard anything about Simon and Andrew before. 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:10.240 We haven't heard any news about James and John. 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:15.759 All we see is that they're fishermen just doing a going about a normal day of fishing. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:20.399 And Jesus walks into their day and he calls them. 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:26.879 Here's what we know about Simon, Andrew, James, and John. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:30.879 We know their trade, and we know their names. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:39.679 Their trade, I've already described it's a common industry, a common thriving industry in Galilee. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:41.039 They're fishermen. 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:43.840 But what else does the text tell us? 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:47.519 Were Simon and Andrew particularly devout? 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:49.519 Maybe. 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:52.240 Text doesn't say anything about that. 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:55.600 Were they particularly teachable? 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:57.200 I don't know. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:04.879 Judging by their history, as it goes on, you know, they live three years with Jesus, and then things don't really go so hot right at the very end. 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:12.000 So I don't know if they're particularly teachable or not, but the text doesn't say anything about that. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:19.279 They're fishermen, and Jesus meets them on the shore of the sea. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:29.840 We don't see that, oh, you know what, this was their third Sunday in a row that they had made it to the temple to offer their sacrifice. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:32.879 No, the text doesn't say anything like that. 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:36.240 All the text says is that they were fishermen. 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:38.639 That's all we know of their trade. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:47.759 They're in a common trade, and there's no particular qualification for Jesus' call that is in the text at all. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:50.159 Now, their names. 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:56.320 A lot of times preachers will do this thing where we where it's like, yeah, you can't see anything in this text. 00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:02.960 But if you look at the Hebrew names, you realize that it forms this magical sentence that you wouldn't have otherwise seen. 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:05.120 No, that's not the case here. 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:12.240 There's there's nothing in their names that shows us any any sort of magic like that. 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:19.200 You know, James is just a Hellenization of Jacob, which is a really common name. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:25.919 Uh this is the second John that we've been introduced to, and we're only like 16 verses in. 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:29.039 You know, John was a really common name back then. 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:40.159 Uh Simon uh will have Peter added to his name, and that's because Simon is such a common name that in order to know which Simon you're talking about, they would have to add Peter. 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:45.200 And Jesus gives this Simon a name Peter, so he's just referred to as Simon Peter. 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:48.960 Andrew, he's the only Andrew in the Bible, so he's got that going for him. 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:56.960 But if you look at other ancient Greek texts, at this time, Andrew is a really common name in the area. 00:11:57.279 --> 00:12:00.720 So what magic do we see when we look at these individuals? 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:01.759 We see their trade. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:04.639 It's just a common trade for the region. 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:06.879 No particular qualification is shown. 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:15.679 When we look at their names, these are ordinary names that demonstrate no status whatsoever. 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:21.039 So this is the context of Jesus' call. 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:24.399 Completely ordinary. 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:32.960 Jesus moves into the ordinary workday, the ordinary lives of these ordinary fishermen. 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:39.919 And Jesus shows up in their context and he calls them by name. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:44.080 This is the type of God that we have. 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:54.480 He is the one who seeks out his people by name, despite their lack of qualifications, despite their lack of status. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:57.039 That is not the way he is choosing things. 00:12:57.120 --> 00:13:00.240 That is not the context of Jesus' call. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:04.480 The context of Jesus' call is right where you are. 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:07.519 Notice where they aren't. 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:15.120 You know, this is not like, yeah, I'm a fisherman by trade, but right now, I use this joke in our prayer before the service, but I'm going to use it again. 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:22.159 I I'm not a fisherman, you know, I'm normally a fisherman by trade, but right now I just read Eat, Pray, Love. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:25.120 So I'm on a journey to find myself. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:31.120 And it's so cool that in this midst of my spiritual exploration, Jesus shows up to call me. 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:38.159 You know, they're they're not in their in their gap year of self-discovery when Jesus finds them. 00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:42.320 They're not in the midst of some described spiritual quest. 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:48.399 They're in this utterly ordinary season and Jesus comes into it. 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:52.000 So what special preparation had taken place? 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:54.639 The text doesn't show us any. 00:13:56.399 --> 00:14:03.679 And yet Jesus comes into that ordinary place and he calls them by name. 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:08.720 Our God seeks us out. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:14.639 It is Jesus who finds us. 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:19.120 He is the one who calls us. 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:28.720 This is backwards from the way any like discipleship narrative normally takes place. 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:34.159 You know, we've got some like pop cultural discipleship narratives. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:36.879 My favorite is Batman. 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:44.480 Now, when when Batman decides like he's gonna become Batman, he goes and he gets trained. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:45.919 Who trains him? 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:48.799 Raz Alghul, that's right. 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:51.360 Uh, who's a part of the League of Shadows? 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:54.480 And how do you become a part of the League of Shadows? 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:59.120 How do you get trained to make yourself invisible, to become the night? 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:00.639 How do you get trained to do that? 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:19.039 Well, you take this flower and you have to hike it across this crazy glacier and through these towns where there's no food, and then and then you submit yourself to the League of Shadows, and you've proven your character that you are able to be discipled by this organization. 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:20.960 You seek it out. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:24.879 You seek out your master so that you can be trained up in it. 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:28.799 And you prove it, you prove your worth so that you can be a part of it. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:42.080 Look, when you sought out a college to go to, when you sought out a job to be a part of, when you sought out somebody to mentor you, you demonstrated your qualifications and you hoped to be accepted. 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:47.679 The narrative of Jesus is precisely the opposite. 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:57.519 You know, imagine Raz Alghul coming down and hiking and then finding you, you know, as you're like checking out groceries and being like, I think you can be Batman. 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:02.080 And so I've gone on this incredible journey. 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:05.440 I've left the Himalayas or whatever, and I think you can be Batman. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:07.279 You'd be like, well, I okay. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:11.600 Do you know the number for avocado? 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:15.440 Because that's my main need right now. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:21.039 But Jesus leaves that world, Jesus leaves the heavenly throne. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:22.799 How much more is this? 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:27.840 And enters these ordinary lives, and he says, I'll make you fishers of men. 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:30.720 I'll make you like me. 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:34.799 I'll make you like the Son of God. 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:36.240 What's the context of that? 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:37.919 Our ordinary lives. 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:42.639 Don't you see how much this shows about our Savior? 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:49.600 He seeks us out in the context of our ordinary lives. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:54.960 Where does the call take where does the call take place? 00:16:55.600 --> 00:16:57.200 Just times like this. 00:16:57.840 --> 00:16:59.039 Right where you are. 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:01.759 Okay, now let's look at the call. 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:09.200 In Mark 1:17, Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:12.799 Okay, so the the call has two parts. 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:16.799 There's the follow me, and then the I will make you become fishers of men. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:24.079 There's the command, follow me, and then the promise, and I will make you become fishers of men. 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:29.920 At the center of Jesus' call is Jesus. 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:36.160 He's not saying, come along with me as I seek something out that is higher than me. 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:40.160 When Jesus calls you, he calls you to follow him. 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:43.599 Jesus is the absolute center of his call. 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:46.240 He calls you to himself. 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:53.920 Now, this is not a typical calling, either biblically or culturally. 00:17:54.480 --> 00:18:04.640 This is not the way that the Bible talks about other callings, and it's not the way that we see this taking place in other rabbinical discipleship relationships. 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:06.799 They don't say follow me. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:15.279 Moses, when he calls people, he calls them to obey the Lord their God and to serve them, serve him with all their heart. 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:18.240 Moses never says follow me. 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:20.960 He always says follow God. 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:26.319 Jesus comes and says, follow me. 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:30.319 He is the center of the calling. 00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:40.079 Culturally, this is not like any other rabbi student relationship or rabbi-disciple relationship that we see. 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:44.880 In all of those contexts, it's the student that seeks out the rabbi. 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:47.920 You are the one who applies. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:53.119 And you are either accepted or denied based on your qualifications. 00:18:53.839 --> 00:19:00.319 In this instance of Jesus, he, the rabbi, goes and seeks out the student. 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:02.400 Look, they're not in the temple. 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:07.440 These aren't folks that's like, hey, this is awesome. 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:12.960 You showed up for you know your uh second week of classes or whatever, you must be taking this seriously. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:15.200 Thanks for coming to the temple on time. 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:20.480 They're just at their workplace going through their ordinary days. 00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:22.559 Jesus seeks them out. 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:27.200 Christ is the center of this call. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:30.079 He calls them to himself. 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:36.000 Next, I will make you become fishers of men. 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:40.240 This is a promise of becoming. 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:43.279 This is what Christ's call is. 00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:47.519 He says, I will make you become fishers of men. 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:51.119 Now, what is a fisher of men? 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:52.480 Let's talk about that a bit. 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:57.279 Well, a fisher of men is it's exactly what Jesus is doing right then. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:00.160 Jesus is casting out his call. 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:04.319 He's throwing his net and then he's drawing his people in. 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:11.920 Jesus is being a fisher of men as he's calling others to become fishers of men like him. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:18.079 Jesus is always calling people to follow him so that they will become like him. 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:21.519 That is the structure of Jesus' call. 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:26.319 So as he's calling them to be fishers of men, he's being a fisher of men. 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:30.319 So Jesus walks up to them and he says, Follow me and you'll be like me. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:38.720 And notice he doesn't say, follow me and I'll teach you how to fish for men. 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:40.640 You give a man a man. 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:44.480 He'll I don't remember, I don't, you know. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:48.559 But it the uh he doesn't say there's a step beyond that. 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:51.680 You teach a man to fish and then he eats for the rest of his life. 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:57.359 Uh with with this, he doesn't just say that I'll teach you how to fish. 00:20:57.680 --> 00:20:59.759 That's not the subtlety that's in the language. 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:04.240 He says, I'll make you become fishers of men. 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:06.240 What's the difference? 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:13.519 What's the difference between somebody who knows how to fish but somebody who has become a fisherman? 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:15.759 You know, I think they probably know. 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:22.000 They can probably tell when somebody comes in from Antioch and is like, look, the fish trade's killing it. 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:27.920 I've got some cash and now I'm gonna be ready to buy a boat, I'm gonna try my hand at the Galilean seas. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:31.279 They're like, sure, you may know how to fish, but you're not a fisherman. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:36.160 You know, we aren't gonna let you come drink with us at the salted fish. 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:44.720 Because we know that there's a difference between knowing how to fish and becoming a fisherman. 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:55.599 Remember when uh Brad Pitt's brother gets back from the East Coast and a river runs through it, and he sees he sees Brad Pitt casting the line. 00:21:55.680 --> 00:22:04.880 You know, they're fly fishing up in Montana, and he's casting the line and he's Says, my brother had become an artist. 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:12.640 And that's because just the way that he was casting the line, say he'd moved beyond knowing how to fish. 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:15.119 He was a fisherman. 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:16.799 It was in his bones. 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:19.279 He had become an artist. 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:24.720 Jesus saying, I will make you become a fisher of men. 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:29.039 Means that wherever you're going in your life, you are like Jesus. 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:36.000 You are calling people towards Jesus with an effectiveness that is like Jesus' call. 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:37.440 This is in you. 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:40.799 You've become a new type of person. 00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:47.359 Follow Jesus, and you will become like Jesus. 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:51.119 The heights of this promise are just unthinkable. 00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:52.799 Follow Jesus. 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:54.799 He makes you become. 00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:04.079 All right, now the next part, while we're looking at the call itself, we actually aren't able to see just by looking at the call. 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:09.200 But we have to look at the response to the call to be able to understand the call more completely. 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:17.119 In Mark 1.18, their response is, and immediately they left their nets and followed him. 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:21.119 There's no question. 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:23.680 There's no deliberation. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:28.240 You know, I I've read uh several commentaries on this. 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:38.559 And there's kind of a there's kind of a tradition of like, okay, we've got to be able to explain why they just leave their nets and follow him. 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:40.319 This is so strange. 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:45.359 Isn't that the strangest part of this calling event? 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:46.640 They just leave. 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:52.960 Like a guy shows up on the ocean or on the sea and is like, follow me and I'll make you fishers of men. 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:56.079 And they just leave and go with him. 00:23:56.240 --> 00:24:18.720 And so there's some stories that have been that have been crafted and developed that that are like, well, when you understand like what it would mean for a rabbi to walk up and the rabbinical structure of the day, and the schooling that these fishermen would have missed out on, and the opportunity for them to have become a part of it, they simply would have been compelled to follow such an opportunity. 00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:21.759 That's that's a nice narrative. 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:25.440 The problem is it's just not in the text. 00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:42.799 And it also denies these key differences between Jesus' call to his disciples and between the other rabbinical calls that we see in Hebrew literature that is from the same time period. 00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:59.440 And so it's not as though Jesus walked up as this rabbi with prestige and authority and the fishermen said, Follow me, and I'll make you fishers of men, and they would have had to have followed him because of the uh uh nature of the social structures of the time. 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:00.799 That's not the case. 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:05.359 And besides, when he right when he said follow me, they would have been like, that's weird. 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:07.440 That's not what we're here to do. 00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:13.920 We're here to seek God, and sure, you can help me in that, but follow you, that's an absurd claim. 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:30.000 When we look at just what the text itself shows us in Mark, the point that's being made is that Jesus' call is effective. 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:34.799 Why did they respond immediately and leave their nets? 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:38.960 It's because when Jesus calls you, it works. 00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:43.359 He's not casting a rod to fish and wait. 00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:46.640 He's throwing a net over you. 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:54.160 And if the net lands over you, when you when he pulls it back in, you are in the net. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:26:02.079 They don't respond to the call as an ants as an RSVP to an invitation. 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:13.839 They respond to the call of Jesus the way the light responded to God in the beginning when he said, Let there be light, it shined. 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:18.880 Because of the effectiveness of the call. 00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:31.119 When Jesus stands in the boat when they're on this sea and they're in the midst of a terrible storm, and he's sleeping in the back, and they wake Jesus up, and Jesus says to the storm, Be still. 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:39.680 The storm is still because of the effectiveness of Jesus' call. 00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:48.000 Because Jesus' commands work, they accomplish things in our hearts. 00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:57.200 When Lazarus is dead and lying in the tomb, such that he and has been there for so many days that he smells now. 00:26:57.440 --> 00:27:01.359 And his sister's like, Don't go in, don't open the tomb, it's gonna smell. 00:27:01.519 --> 00:27:02.880 This is hard enough already. 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:07.519 He opens the tomb and he says, Lazarus, come out. 00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:14.880 Lazarus isn't like, you know, maybe I'll, I don't know, should I be dead or should we be alive? 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:21.119 Lazarus finds himself alive and he comes out. 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:25.839 That's the effectiveness of the call. 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:29.839 The text is just pointing us to see this. 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:39.599 All of the strangeness about it shows us that there's a power at work in Jesus that is beyond anything we could expect. 00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:59.279 And when he calls us to follow him and says, I will make you become fishers of men, when he says, Follow me, and you will become like me, by his call it is made effective in us, and we follow him, and we become like him. 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:07.599 This is the glory of the God who comes down from his throne and seeks out his people. 00:28:09.839 --> 00:28:23.440 In Mark 12 120, for the other sons, for James and John, it says, and immediately he called them, this is James and John, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:39.839 See, following Jesus is a big yes to Jesus, but it's also a no to anything else that you would have followed. 00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:46.400 They leave their boats and their family and the hired hands. 00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:51.599 You know, James and John, particularly, John was particularly young. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:29:02.720 Um I uh uh growing up, growing up, I uh if you were to ask me what I was going to do when I would grow up, when I was growing up, I'm gonna be a car dealer. 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:05.519 That's because my dad was a car dealer. 00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:10.240 And I know there's like a South Park where somebody says my dad's a car dealer. 00:29:10.640 --> 00:29:14.799 And it's funny, but it's true, some people's dads are car dealers. 00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:24.000 And there was no question, it never crossed my mind that I would do anything else. 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:28.960 You know, James, John, their father is the fisherman. 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:30.079 They're in the boat. 00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:34.079 It's going well because they have hired hands that work with them. 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:46.640 I doubt that it ever would have crossed their minds that they would, they ever would have done anything else other than fish and try and make the fishing better and more successful and get more boats out there. 00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:49.519 But they leave it. 00:29:49.839 --> 00:29:56.400 All of that potential energy, all of that potential future that's built up and stored up for them, that they would probably be successful in. 00:29:56.480 --> 00:29:59.680 They could trip and fall and find themselves in a successful life. 00:29:59.920 --> 00:30:04.559 They leave behind to follow Jesus. 00:30:05.359 --> 00:30:10.240 The response to the call of Jesus is always costly. 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:21.359 The response to the call of Jesus is always a leaving behind of whatever else we would have been chasing, whatever else we would have desired to follow. 00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:25.759 But his call makes us able to do that. 00:30:26.319 --> 00:30:28.720 It makes us able to leave it behind. 00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:31.920 That is the effectiveness of his call. 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:35.759 John Piper, I think, says this really well. 00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:39.519 And so I'm just gonna paraphrase him, but so you know where I'm getting it from. 00:30:40.400 --> 00:30:50.799 John Piper says, the purpose of money is so that we can show that money is not the purpose of our life. 00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:52.240 Jesus is. 00:30:53.359 --> 00:31:01.119 The purpose of family is so that we can show family isn't the purpose of our life. 00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:02.559 Jesus is. 00:31:03.599 --> 00:31:12.240 The purpose of a career is so that we can show our career is not the purpose of our life. 00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:13.599 Jesus is. 00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:31.200 See, the answer to the call of Christ is for all of those things to be brought down into their proper proportion so that Christ once again is our Lord, and that in following him we incur the cost, but we become like him. 00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:34.880 Final point. 00:31:36.160 --> 00:31:59.119 I think one of the best ways that Christ has given us to bring all of those other things down a tier, you know, to bring our reputation down a tier, so that we can show that the purpose of reputation is not so that we can be well thought of, but so that we can show that Christ is worthy. 00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:20.319 In order to see that, excuse me, in order to in order to accomplish that, one of the best ways that Christ has given us is the ability to call others to Him. 00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:28.799 When we call others to Christ, it's such an identification with Jesus. 00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:44.559 There's such a strangeness to it that it shows if you have anywhere any anything like an otherwise ordinary life, then it shows this person has a different Lord. 00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:48.079 They're under a different authority. 00:32:49.839 --> 00:33:00.559 You know, that call to Christ, when he calls us to be fishers of men, he also calls us to call others into that by saying, follow him. 00:33:04.079 --> 00:33:05.039 Final point. 00:33:07.519 --> 00:33:11.119 Jesus calls us to leave it all when we follow him. 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:15.279 How can that be possible? 00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:19.759 I want you to consider what else you're following. 00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:27.440 And I want you to consider what did it leave to pursue you. 00:33:31.519 --> 00:33:35.839 Batman could consider, what did Raz Alghoul ever give up for me? 00:33:38.319 --> 00:33:43.119 You know, it you can consider what did my career that I'm laying my life down for? 00:33:43.279 --> 00:33:45.200 You're laying your life down for something. 00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:47.920 What did it ever sacrifice for me? 00:33:49.519 --> 00:33:59.279 In Christ, we see the God who calls us to leave everything is also the God who left everything, that we might be brought in. 00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:06.559 He's the God who seeks us, so that we might in turn seek others for him. 00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:14.079 You see the glory of the God who pursues, who calls effectively into our hearts. 00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:16.320 That is the Christ we worship. 00:34:18.079 --> 00:34:18.719 All right. 00:34:20.320 --> 00:34:22.960 Do we have any questions today, Xandra? 00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:23.920 Great. 00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:28.719 Let's go ahead and pray, and we'll close us out for today. 00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:33.840 Actually, excuse me, we'll take communion, and we'll close us out for today. 00:34:36.159 --> 00:34:41.760 First Corinthians 11, 23 through 26, it says, For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you. 00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:50.239 That the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you. 00:34:50.559 --> 00:34:52.719 Do this in remembrance of me. 00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:58.800 In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. 00:34:59.039 --> 00:35:02.239 Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. 00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:08.480 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:16.239 You have communion cups that you received on the way in, and now's time we'll we'll partake of those. 00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:30.320 We no longer have the opportunity to line up and all take from the same bread, uh, but still in communion together, we can partake of the God who gave himself for us as he sought us. 00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:32.320 Remember his glory. 00:35:33.280 --> 00:35:36.639 Let that compel you to a life that follows him. 00:35:38.239 --> 00:35:45.760 Father, we thank you and we praise you that you sought us out in the midst of our ordinary lives. 00:35:46.239 --> 00:35:48.559 Lord, let us see your glory in that. 00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:52.480