Everyday Yes -- #1

Eventful yet peaceful week. I wasn't here to see more of Sheila's moving progress, but saw evidence by way of two baskets in the hallway which I immediately took possession of. It's all about the Country Style, after all!! :D Minimal contact with Rob other than borrowing his extra mattress for my granddaughter, Brandi. Carissa and Greg went on vacation and couldn't bring her. They went up North to visit Greg's mom and then over to Mid-Coast Maine to visit Rich and his father. Art is starting to lose some memory, so it's a bit concerning. The decision not to take Brandi was a discussion due to that. They also visited Jasmine while in the area, so that was good. They would have seen Ben as well, but he was working. I ended up with Brandi from Monday after school until Wednesday afternoon. Carissa left her car local so I had access to it. It was a good time with "the girl". There was a temptation to put enough gas Carissa's car to visit Mike in Brattleboro, but as we're trying to take things "slow-ish*", I restrained myself. The good news on his end is that the Hotel he's staying in has a new thing for the homeless to sign up for a year at a time rather than month to month. So, Praise God that takes some of the stress off him. Continued prayers for all going forward.

Raise your hand if you've ever felt like an outcast or marginalized. I have both hands raised for the "outcast crowd". Literally Every. Single. Year. of school, I was teased and/or bullied. I had one close friend through Elementary, no one really in Middle School, and 4 in HS; only one of whom was actually in my class. And mind you, this was a private Christian School where I attended K-12. Public or Private School, outcasts are a fact of life. I can't help thinking of two Musicals in relation to today's message*. The first is Phantom of the Opera. I see that story as one of the earliest "anti-bullying" stories there are. Madam Giry meets Erik as a child in a Gypsy Sideshow and befriends him when no one else would. The other movie I think of in terms of more general Godliness is Les Miserables. It is, at it's core, a story of mercy and redemption, and after all, that's exactly what The Gospel entails. What God invites us into. You'll see how this relates to our message series as you read on...

Part of being a Church Family is sharing testimony of how God has been working in people's lives. This morning's service "intro message", if you will, was from one of our Elders. He shared about working in different levels of the Children's Ministry and how he's greeted each week by kids asking, "What do you have for us today??" It occurred to him that we should all greet God that way each day. "What do you have for me today, Lord*??" He also shared that one of the regular things he challenges the kids with is the question, "Has God ever failed??" No, He hasn't. He's always with us, for us, and working His plan in our lives. And that brings us back to another major theme in our Church. That what God does through us, He also does in us. There was a Sermon Series on it at one point, but that was before I started my blog. I just checked the website, but unfortunately, the archived messages only go back 1 year.

So this sermon series "piggybacks" on last week's title of God's Big Yes. This series on "Everyday Yes" looks at Discipleship in daily life. In order to see this in action, we will be looking through the Gospels to see how Jesus called, led, and shaped the first ones. Let's "get in the boat" with Simon Peter, James, and John...

Luke 5:1-11 New International Version

Jesus Calls His First Disciples 5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a] the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Luke 5:27-32 New International Version

Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners 27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. 29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

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Two passages today cover the message. We will look at them as one narrative for our theme today.

In looking at Discipleship, the first question to ask is this, "What is a disciple??" In general terms, it's a student or apprentice. More specifically, a student of a particular subject or "discipline"; thus, the word "disciple". You learn to be disciplined in a certain practice or lifestyle. The term "apprentice" also works here in terms of learning a particular skill. Pick the one that works for you.

For the Christian, we should all consider ourselves disciples of Jesus. As Pastor Matt shared an explanation from the Children's Ministry Director to her students, "Discipleship is our everyday "yes" to Jesus." Some of us may struggle with that because it's like, "Okay, I made the decision for Salvation years ago, but the every day life part is just really hard. That being an absolute truth; let's look at how Jesus encouraged His Disciples and shaped their hearts and lives for His mission. How He invited them and us into a New Life*.

Now in reading the first passage which many of us know so well; it can be easy to miss some of the bits that the original readers would have understood immediately. As Westerners, we are used to our teachers or preachers standing up to deliver their lessons or messages. In the Jewish culture, it was the normal practice for the teacher to sit down before proceeding. It occurs to me just now that this was a position of humility as opposed to superiority. Jesus was showing that a teacher is not above the lesson although they are otherwise in charge of the group.

We see in verse 5 where Simon Peter has an issue with Jesus' instruction to put out into deeper water for a huge catch. He's the "expert" here, he's grown up in it and knows the skills and the habits of the fish. As we know, however, he finally stops arguing and obeys. To say that the results took him by surprise would be one of the biggest understatements of all time*!!

There are 4 major points to consider when looking at Jesus' "search criteria" and methods of invitation --

Who He called -- In the passages above, we find two categories of Jewish society, both of whom were marginalized to one degree or another. When children grew up in the Jewish Culture, they all received a basic education. "Readin', writin', 'rithmetic", but just enough for them to "get by" in life. From that point, the Rabbis would choose which ones "qualified" for further instruction. If a child showed particular skill in Math, for example, he might be chosen as a Tax Collector. Others who were not chosen would just take up in the family business whatever that may have been. Simon Peter's father was a fisherman, so that's what he became*. Some who showed strong reading skills may have become Rabbis in the future. The point here is that those Jesus chose, had been "unchosen" or "marginalized" by the society they lived in. Most Fishermen weren't considered for more "educated" positions, and tax collectors were hated for keeping the "extra tax money" for themselves. So, sure, they were rich, but they had no friends beyond their fellow tax collectors. Essentially speaking, they were rich "nobodies".
Diversity -- Among the 12 Disciples were Fishermen, Tax Collectors, a Religious Zealot (the "other" Simon), a Doctor, etc... Those Jesus chose came from various backgrounds and levels of society. They had different economic status as well as differing Religious/Political views. Jesus didn't just choose people from the "in crowd", He chose them based on the needs of the people they would be ministering to.* So if anyone feels like they're "not good enough" or "don't belong", or conversely, "too good" for the ministry of Jesus, this is proof positive that no one is excluded who believes on Him.
Where He went -- As evidenced by our passages above, Jesus didn't just sit around the Synagogue waiting for people to show up. He went out to meet them where they were at. He was ridiculed on a regular basis for hanging out with the "outcasts". Fishermen, Tax Collectors, possessed women, women who had been on the verge of stoning for their offenses, foreign women at wells, etc... He was in the habit of choosing the "unchosen", whether He was specifically calling them into Ministry or not. He showed love to the unloved, which relates directly to the end of the 2nd passage above when Jesus says that, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." Likewise, He meets us where we're at when we call on Him. He doesn't judge us for our position in life or on our past behaviors, He invites us like He did the 12 and others to, "Come, follow Me..." For them, and for us, responding with a "yes" means leaving everything behind and moving forward. The Disciples didn't "hedge their bets" before making their decisions, they simply trusted Jesus and went.
Different demands -- Jesus made different demands of those He chose, whether it was putting down the nets, giving up the money, leaving the Synagogue, or what have you. But the one thing He demanded of all of them and demands of us is our hearts. The things we give up may differ for each of us, but the point lies in releasing anything and everything that holds us back from serving Him in complete freedom. For some, they might give up their job, but others will continue working with an adjustment on their perspective. They will choose to value their identity in Christ rather than allowing their job to continue identifying who they are. Some may have to give up certain relationships or attachments. The more "stuff" in your life that has a hold on you, whether it's Social Media, careers/money, or hobbies; the more risks or challenges there are to following Christ.

We said above that following Jesus meant not only leaving things and people behind; but moving forward. Peter left his father behind and Matthew (Levi)* left his money and his few friends behind. The others all had their own attachments to give up. We all struggle with our own attachments or status, or whatnot. As we've said in prior messages, it's a natural inclination of humans to desire control over our lives. This is otherwise known as Free Will*. We may say things like, "Yes, Lord, but don't make me ____ ." We put limits on our level of commitment. The point we're missing when we do that is that we're limiting God's power in our lives when we think like that*. The Disciples didn't know what the future held in following Jesus, they just trusted Him to know best and the listened and learned as they went. They weren't following an ideology, they were following The Master*. As with the Disciples, Jesus offers us an amazing new life of abundance as we trust in Him. Our Eternity starts the moment we decide to say "yes" to Jesus. We leave behind our identity, our security, and possibly even our status to be transformed into HIs image as we mature and develop the Fruits of the Spirit* over the course of time. We can't expect major changes overnight with God* any more than we can expect to become experts in any field of study or skill after one class or one day of practice.

At the end of the sermon, Pastor Matt shared briefly about a recent conversation with a craftsman in carpentry who is a new believer. The man was asking about how he should approach living a daily life in Christ. Matt knows that this man is at the stage of his career when he's not so much creating as teaching. It was the perfect analogy!! He told the man to compare growing in Christ with being an apprentice carpenter. If you switch roles from teaching and building into the younger carpenters to that of a student learning the skills, you come to understand. Some days there may be frustration with the student as they fumble with a particular tool or whatever. Other days, there will be the pride of their progress in building things. Some days, you may be standing side by side with them and other days you will be observing from a short distance while they work on their own. You learn to live in the process of growth.

During Matt's closing prayer were some good nuggets as well -- He prayed for God to teach us forgiveness, the proper place of money in our lives, and new skills for our life of obedience in Him. He also spoke of the danger of striving so hard to be good that when we get there, we may become self-righteous. His prayer was for God to help us avoid that and live in humility. I agree with that prayer for each of us, in Jesus Name, Amen. -- God Bless!!

Footnotes --

Mike and I taking things "slow-ish" is his word for it. lol Pray for another visit in May.
For anyone who knows me personally, you know that I've pretty much "never met a Musical I didn't love." :D
What do you have for me today, Lord?? -- This reminded me of a post I pinned on Pinterest last night. I'll share it below.
Jesus' invitation to New Life relates back to the Les Mis. reference.
The huge catch of fish was Jesus' way of providing for Peter's family in his coming absence.
Simon Peter grew up fishing -- it's also a distinct possibility that his "rowdy" temperament automatically "disqualified" him for further education. There's no clear indication whether he was otherwise skilled in one subject or another.
Jesus chose based on the needs of those who would be ministered to -- this is my own thought in the process of my typing. It's true though, as it relates perfectly to Jesus meeting people where they're at. He knows that each of us is uniquely qualified to reach certain people or groups. And that should be another encouragement to us if we feel otherwise "unworthy" to minister. We never know who may be blessed to hear our story. Or as they used to remind us in School, "Be good because you may be the only "Jesus" someone ever sees."
Matthew/Levi -- a quick search reveals that Mark and Luke use the name "Levi" out of respect for his more commonly used name of Matthew in order to hide the identity of his past life before conversion. Matthew, in writing his own book, however; makes no secret of his former life, as he is proud of his new one.
Free Will -- see message from April 3rd.
Limiting God's power -- this idea is mine
Not following an ideology -- there was a recent message where trust in man will fail; but following God cannot. (I'd direct you to it, but I'm hitting a "wall" in my energy rn)
Fruits of Spirit Galatians 5
Don't expect changes overnight -- additional Amy Grant song below!!