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Isaiah 9:1-4
Matthew 4:12-23
Each of you and myself merit nothing from God. We are sinners through and through. We too are like the people described in Isaiah today, we are in darkness and we turn away from God each and every time we sin. Sure, we say we are Christians, we worship here today but each of us, including myself, will Sin and turn away. Sometimes it may even be during service today, an hour from now, a day or two but we will. Actually we do merit something from God and that is to remain separated from God for all of entreaty in Hell. We are asked to be Disciples of Christ, to follow Him and obey Him. Some of us try, some try even harder, some are better at it than others. We can have all sorts of excuses for why we fail to follow Jesus.
Did we not hear last week in John, that Andrew follows Jesus and bringing his brother Peter to Jesus tells Peter that the Messiah has been found? How then if in John, Andrew and Peter are the first disciples are they again described as the first disciples, but being called while fishing? That can be a bit confusing but there are multiple ways of interpreting how this may have taken place in the gospels.
John is written by an author, with an assumption that those reading the text, already know who Jesus is. It is not so much about when they follow but they know that Jesus is the messiah and therefore they follow. Matthew is written by another author, at another point of time to another audience, with another particular purpose. Gets confusing having multiple truths sometimes. How about this for example, and this is the premises I am going with, even though we cannot really tell which account was actually first, but let’s suppose John is, it may have really goes like this:
Andrew follows Jesus as we hear in John and introduces his brother Peter to Jesus. Andrew and Peter hang out with Jesus for a short time, but they have work to be done, they need to get back to their daily lives. After all, a guy has to eat, right? They depart from Jesus and head back to their fishing at some point. There is still stuff to be done, earn a living, feed a family, etc. Doesn’t sound like Andrew and Peter, at least based upon their actions, merit the Love of God, they stray from God. However, Jesus encounters them again, and now we are in the calling of the first disciples in Matthew’s account. How is that much different than what some of us do? Don’t we put Christ at the center of our lives, we follow and then we stray to take care of worldly things and we can loose site of God in the world. It is not that we need drop everything and God provides. It is about what is center to our lives, where is the light of our life and are we focused upon the light? Do you merit the Love of God in Jesus? Jesus wants us to follow, follow in unconditional discipleship. The good news is that Jesus came back for Andrew and Peter…..and for you too!
Indulge me now for a moment, while I jump back to the first part of the gospel. In Matthew, the author makes a connection to the location that Jesus goes to, from the words of the Isaiah 9:1-2. Jesus departs to a place of darkness, godlessness, full of gentiles and some Jews. Yet, the light will shine upon this land, where Jew and gentile alike occupy. This foreshadows the great commission, which is a command to bring the gospel to ALL NATIONS, which therefore includes gentiles as well. Even from the start, Jesus’ ministry has contact with the gentiles and with the great commission specifically includes the gentiles, you and me, all people. The people who are part of the darkness, the ones that are idol worshipers, ones that do not follow the God of the Jews, the Jews who have strayed, are being brought the gospel. Not because of their merit for it, but because God Loves God’s people. Jesus Christ, the expression of God’s love to All Nations, to you and me.
We are invited by Jesus to follow Him and be His Disciples, we are expected to be His Disciples, not half-heartedly but fully, all in. For Andrew and Peter, the Rabbi, Jesus asks them to follow Him. We have correlation here between Jews and Gentiles being invited to follow Jesus. For Jews, a boy would study Hebrew and the scriptures, working to become either a scribe or a Rabbi. Only the best of the best of the best were allowed to continue on, to attain one of those positions. Otherwise they would go into some sort of a trade. As the best of the best of the best, a Jewish male would peruse a Rabbi he wants to follow and learn from, to walk in their footsteps.
Jesus, a Rabbi, asks instead Andrew and Peter to follow Him, Jewish men who must not be the best of the best of the best, they were working a trade and did not make the cut to become a scribe or Rabbi. Jesus also asks us, to follow Him. I can only speak for myself here. I am not the best of the best of the best. I never indented to be a scribe, a Rabbi/Pastor. My grades in school have been okay but not an A student. I am full of flaws. I stray away from God. I have missteps yet I have been called by Jesus to be His Disciple. From that I also am called to pursue the education to become a pastor. Jesus is also calling each of you to be His Disciple not because you merit it, but because of the Love of God. Being a Disciple is not about salvation but about being part of the kingdom breaking through, dawning here and now.
Nothing we have done, nothing we can do, merits the Love of God. God Love’s humanity so much that God comes to earth, is born both human and divine, God and Human, 100% of each. Only God can be 100% of each being 200% in 100%, it is a God thing that this unique to God. It is this same uniqueness that God can also say to each of you, individually, I especially love you…….
Even though we are not the best of the best of the best, can never be the best, will continue to sin, will be flawed from the day we were born and until the day we die, God, in Christ Jesus loves us and forgives us continually. God, as the person of Jesus, allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross, so that all our flaws could be washed away by His blood and that despite our continual rejection of God in sin, we will be made perfect and be with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit forever. The dawning light has come to the world, chooses to shine upon not those that deserve the light by merit but instead to all people because of the Love that God has for God’s people.
This is the grace (not through our own merit) that God chooses to see us in. It is not cheap, it comes at a cost, a great cost, the Son of God and with that comes expectations. The longer we keep God focused at the center, changing from our old ways to new ways of life in Christ, being a Disciple, the better our lives can get today and in the future. God says to each of us individually, “I especially love you”. Jesus says, follow Me and be my Disciple.