Mission is such a nebulous word. When we talk about mission in church settings, our minds immediately go the work we do in the community and around the world—we think about the church being in missions. We begin this message series and have made the focus of this Lenten season Mission: Possible, and we hope that all of us will be engaged in at least one service project over these next forty days as we engage in Forty Days of Service. And, yes, that’s missions, but when we say Mission: Possible, I’m speaking of the overarching mission of the church. We are not simply to be a church in missions, but we are to be a church with a mission—we are a church ON a mission. I love the mission statement of the United Methodist Church—the mission of the UMC is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. That’s the mission we believe is possible. We believe it is possible to become disciples, and in so doing, participate with God in the transformation of His creation. Here’s the reality we face: God through Jesus Christ has called us to a mission with a purpose. That’s right! God has called us through Jesus Christ. We are, like the Blues Brothers of old, on a mission from God, and that mission begins with the call. It’s the call to the mission we look at this morning. To get a more clear understanding of the call, we go back to the call of the first disciples. We do that because in over 2,000 years, the call hasn’t changed.
We heard in today’s passage the most well-known call to A mission in the Bible. If we grew up in Sunday school, this passage is old news to us. We’ve heard this story, and have been encouraged to heed the words, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” If we are new to the Christian faith, this episode seems a bit strange. After all, who just drops everything they’re doing to follow some itinerant preacher who happens by one day? Sounds a bit cultish, if you ask me. I mean seriously, does Matthew (or anyone else for that matter) expect us to believe that Jesus was such a compelling person that these four fishermen would drop everything to follow him around the countryside? Yet, this whole episode is about the call of Jesus Christ to a mission and a purpose. As we explore their calling, perhaps we learn a bit about our own calling to be on a mission. What can we learn?
First, I learn who Jesus calls to this mission. Jesus came to these fishermen brothers. His ministry had been on-going in the area around the Sea of Galilee. He had been baptized, he had preached, he had gone into the synagogues, and John’s Gospel indicates he had set up household in the village of Capernaum along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The likelihood is Jesus had encountered these fishermen before. They likely had heard his teaching, and Jesus reached out to them to call them into the Kingdom.
We discover by reading John’s Gospel that Jesus has already had an encounter with Andrew and Peter, and likely John as well. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. One day, Jesus walked by and John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” He was saying to his disciples that this is the guy I was telling you about. Him. He’s the One. Andrew and another disciple that scholars believe was John, the son of Zebedee, followed after Jesus. Jesus asked them why they were following him. To make a long story short, they hung with Jesus for a while, then Andrew went and found his brother Peter and said, “We’ve found the Messiah.” Peter got up and went with Andrew to meet Jesus. It was at this encounter that Jesus told Peter, whose name had been Simon to this point, that his name would be Peter. These men knew Jesus, but more importantly, Jesus knew them, and because he knew them, he called them to His mission—to make disciples. Jesus called them to be disciples to make disciples.
Jesus knew they were common, ordinary fishermen. Not like sitting out by the creek with a pole and a hook. They were commercial fishermen who made their living on the Sea of Galilee. The commercial fishing business was a tough trade in the first century. I mean, really, it’s still a tough business. I had a commercial fisherman in a congregation I previously served, and I had the opportunity to go out with him a couple of times. I was glad to do it, too, because Lester Duval was happy to keep the pastor supplied with fresh catfish out of the Atchafalaya River. This pastor loves him some catfish, and I knew if I went out with Lester, I was likely coming home with a fresh catch. But, it was a long day that started early in the morning. There were traps to check, and trot lines and seines. Morning and evening, and if you checked a trap or a net and there was a problem, it was back to shore to fix what needed to be fixed. Then, late in the day, do it all over again. Not a glamorous life. Want to catch a glimpse of the life of commercial fishermen? Watch Deadliest Catch on The Discovery Channel. It’s a brutal life. The life was brutal in the first century, too. It was hard and dangerous work, and those who performed it were simple, hard-working men who only sought to make a living for their family. Most were not highly educated. Many couldn’t even read and write.
What difference does it make? I only point this out to illustrate that Jesus wasn’t looking for highly qualified persons to fulfill this mission. He wasn’t then, and he isn’t now. He was then, and is now, looking for ordinary people who are able to answer the call to be on a mission with faith. It doesn’t take a smart person, or an educated person, or even a trained person to answer the call to discipleship, and the call to mission. It takes a willing person. It takes a person who is willing to hear the claims of faith, the claims of Jesus, and to consider the alternatives, and to respond in faith to join Jesus in the mission of transforming the world for the glory of God.
If Jesus could call a few common fishermen to the task of transforming the world, don’t you think it possible he could call you and me, as common and ordinary as we are, as unprepared and untrained as we are? Jesus needs faithful businessmen and women who can reach out to searching businessmen and women. Jesus even needs faithful sports celebrities like Peyton Manning to be a part of the mission. Facebook and other social media has been rife with Peyton’s “testimony” of his Christian faith this week. Perhaps you’ve seen it. Jesus needs faithful law enforcement officers to reach out to searching law enforcement officers…faithful doctors, faithful lawyers, faithful teachers, faithful clerks…Jesus is calling men and women to the mission of reaching a searching world with the good news of salvation, with the good news of hope and healing, of redemption and reconciliation. Jesus is calling ordinary men and women…just like me and you…to be on the mission with him. That’s one thing I learn.
Another thing I learn is that the call is costly. The KJV says, “Follow me,” and those words insinuate imitation. Jesus was saying, “Do as I do, and I will show you what real fishing is.” The mission Jesus was calling them to was one of service and self-sacrifice. It was Jesus who would later take a basin and towel, stoop at his follower’s feet and wash them as a servant. It was Jesus who laid aside the glory of the Father, humbling himself as a slave and went obediently to the cross. The mission isn’t an easy one, it isn’t a popular one, and it won’t necessarily be filled with friends and family cheering us on, but it is a mission that will change the world!
Jesus was honest with those men. Let me honest with you. Ron Heifetz’s, in his book Leadership without Easy Answers says Leadership is only necessary if an organization needs to go somewhere and is accountable to some mission more important than its survival. Many people in leadership try to be efficient managers rather than risk-taking leaders, because institutions crave the placidity of the status quo and reward those who keep them comfortable.
Caregiving, according to Will Willimon, is the default mode of most pastors, and is always less costly than leading. But the problem with caregiving is that no group survives or thrives without continually refitting and repositioning itself—and certainly not an institution that’s accountable to a living God. Part of my job is to constantly remind us of the mission we are on, with the task with which we’ve been entrusted by Christ himself. If I don’t make you uncomfortable, I’m not doing my job! Honestly, I don’t like making you uncomfortable. But, we’re all ON a mission, and it’s only possible when we know that it is costly.
One more lesson I learn from this passage—there are more, but I only share one more—I learn about the priority of the mission. These brothers were able to walk away from the family business at that moment because of the priority they gave to the Kingdom. These brothers had a vision of something greater than themselves. Talk about the purpose-driven life! Jesus had shown them a glimpse of the promise of the Messiah, and their hearts were filled with hope. The only response was to follow after the one who had given them that hope. The promise of the Kingdom of God, and the necessity of sharing that hope with others became the priority of life.
Jennifer Benson Schuldt shares the story of her friend’s son who decided to wear a sports jersey over his school clothing one day. He wanted to show support for his favorite team that would be playing an important game later that night. Before leaving home, he put something on over his sports jersey—it was a chain with a pendant that read, “Jesus.” His simple action illustrated a deeper truth: Jesus deserves first place over everything in our lives. Jesus is above and over all. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17). Jesus is supreme over all creation (vv. 15-16). He is “the head of the body, the church” (v. 18). Because of this, He should have first place in all things, and that extends to the mission he entrusts to His church. When Jesus is our greatest influence in life, He will have His rightful place in our hearts.
Jesus extends the call to us to join him in his mission of transforming the world. There are many of us who have answered the call to faith, but we haven’t answered the call to the mission. We’re afraid he might ask us to leave our homes, our jobs, our security and go to some foreign mission field because we think that’s what mission is. For some of us, he might ask just that. The more likely proposition is that Jesus wants to use us right where we are. If we look at the later life of these fishermen, we find that after the crucifixion and resurrection, they are right back doing what they’ve always done—fishing! Most of them never ventured far from their homes, nor gave up their trades. But, they did make a difference where they were because the Kingdom became their priority.
We do live in a searching world. Many church leaders are lamenting the decline in religion in America. The latest research tells us that more and more people are defining themselves as spiritual but not religious. The Pew Center issued its findings in 2015 that the number of people who feel spiritual experiences is on the rise in spite of the fact that the number of people affiliated with a particular religion is declining. That says to me people are searching for meaning and purpose in life. It also says to me the church has not been faithful in fulfilling its Christ-given mission.
There is a story that Mark Twain loved to go fishing, but he hated catching fish. He went fishing to relax, and catching fish ruined his relaxation since he had to take the fish off the hook and do something with it. When he wanted to relax by doing nothing, people thought he was lazy, but if he went fishing he could relax all he wanted. People would see him sitting by the river and they would say, “Look, he’s fishing, don’t bother him.” So, Mark Twain had the perfect solution: he would take a fishing pole, line and bobber, but he wouldn’t put a hook on the end. He would cast the bobber in the water and lay back on the bank. That way he could relax all he wanted, and he wouldn’t be bothered by man nor fish.
Mark Twain is a lot like we who’ve answered the call to faith, but haven’t embraced the call to the mission. We have our pole in the water, but there is no hook on the end. We’re not fishing. We’re relaxing. I’m not sure that’s what Jesus had in mind when he said, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers for people.”
We have been called to A mission—to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Let us be ON the mission by sharing the Gospel with the world.
