[Conflicted] Mark 1:16-20

Our text this morning is going to be Mark 1:16-20. Today we are going to talk about the calling of the disciples and about what it means to be a disciple and follower of Jesus.

Let’s turn there and read that passage together before we get started:

”16 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. 18 And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. 19 And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the [son] of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. 20 And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.”

How do you answer a call?

When Americans answer the phone, most of us just say, "Hello." It’s different kn other countries.

• Germans answer a ringing phone with their last name.
• In Denmark, the Danes will answer with both their first and last names.
• Russians say, "I’m listening."
• The curious French say, "Hello, who’s on the line?"
• Italians greet callers with "Ready" upon which the caller demands, "Who's speaking?"
• The Spanish give the command, "Speak!"
• The Chinese proclaim, "Hey, hey, who are you?"

In this passage we are going to see how Peter, Andrew, James and John answered the call to be a disciple of Jesus.

Remember, Mark skips over a lot of content. It’s the “Cliff notes” gospel. This passage makes it seem like this is the first time Jesus has met Andrew and SImon and James and John. But they’ve actually been following Jesus off and on for about a year at this point, and have seen Jesus preform several miracles already.

But in this passage, Jesus calls them to follow Him full time. He’s been dropping hints for a year. He’s told them to follow Him before. He’s shared his heart with them and they’ve seen enough of Him to know, that Jesus is the real deal. And in this passage Jesus makes it official and these men are going to step out by faith and follow Jesus for the rest of their lives.

What does it mean to be “called?” Sometimes you’ll hear preachers talk about “the call to preach” or missionaries talk about “ the call to the mission field.” I think that’s a real thing. Believe me, I’m not a preacher because I had nothing else to do. The last thing I imagined myself being as a kid was a preacher. I ran pretty hard from that. I just felt the leading of the Lord very clearly in my life that this was his plan for me and I could either be a Jonah or be a preacher.

But I think there is a sense that all Christians are “called”. Whatever God calls you to do, Jesus calls you to Himself. He calls you to a life of following Him. He calls you to be a witness to others and advance His mission. This passage is as good as any for us to talk about what that means.

I’m going to give your four main points this morning. We are going to talk about the nature of the called, the nature of the caller, the nature of the call and the future of the called. I know that’s a mouthful, but we’ll understand a little better as we get into it.

First, let’s pray.

The first thing I want us to look at in this passage is...

1. The nature of the called.

In other words, who were these people? Peter and Andrew, James and John. Who were these guys?

Verse 16 says that they were casting their nets into the sea, for they were fishers.

It’s easy to think of Peter, Andrew, James and John as the local Galilee anglers club. There was a group of old guys who like to fish down in Tennessee who met nearly every morning at Hardees. They called themselves “the liars club.” It’s easy to think that these guys were that kind of fisherman or fishermen in the Bass Pro Shops, outdoor channel kind of way. That it was their hobby.

But they were actually fishermen in the “deadliest catch” kind of way. This was their living. This was their business.

And it was kind of a big deal. It was a big enough deal for them to support families. We know Peter had a wife and a house. We know they owned multiple boats. We know they had a bunch of hired employees. This was their business.

History tells us that the fish from the Sea of Galilee would be salted and shipped all around the known world at that time. It was such a big business that some of the cities around Galilee were actually named for the fish trade. Bethsaida mean “house of fish.” This was a big business. And these guys were in on it.

So...

A. They were simple businessmen.

They knew their trade. They knew how to take care of themselves. They were probably very good at it and they probably made a comfortable living at it.

It was the family business, they learned it from their dad who probably learned it from his dad who could have learned it from his. There was some pride there.

But they were more than just businessmen...

B. They were believers.

Long before Peter, Andrew, James and John met Jesus they were followers of John the Baptist. Actually, the first place we see these guys isn’t on a lake in Galilee, in the North of Israel, it’s down in Judea where they were listening to John the Baptist.

In John 1, Andrew and probably the apostle John were listening to John the Baptist preach when John the Baptist said

“Behold the lamb of God that take the away the sins of the world.”

And it seems like they said to themselves, if that’s the lamb of God, why am I listening to this guy? So they started following Jesus.

Then Andrew got his brother Peter in on it too and Jesus said to them “follow me” so they did for awhile. Off and on for about a year at this point.

These weren’t just random fishermen that Jesus met for the first time, they were believers and...

C. They were friends and followers of Jesus.

So what did they know about Jesus? My second point this morning is...

2. The nature of the caller.

These guys had been with Jesus for a year now and they had seen some things about Him...

A. They had seen his power.

They were there at the wedding at Cana when Jesus turned the water into wine. They were there, also at Cana, when Jesus just spoke a word and healed the nobleman’s son. They knew that this was no normal man, He was someone who had power from God.

Also...

B. They had heard his message.

They were “flies on the wall” when Jesus said to Nicodemus “Ye must be born again” and “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on me shall not perish.”. They heard, after the fact, about how he offered the woman at the well living water.

In John 6 (which is after this point) Peter a bunch of Jesus’ followers were deserting him and Peter said this:

”Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)

Remember folks, Jesus’ message was far more important than Jesus’ miracles. The purpose of the miracles was to back up the message. We might not see miracles like the disciples did, but we still can say like Peter did “Where else are we going to go? You have the words of eternal life.”

They had seen Jesus power, they had heard Jesus message and...

C. They had seen his heart.

In John 4, Jesus insisted on traveling through Samaria so he could talk to the woman at the well. It might have made perfect sense to the disciples that he would talk to Nicodemus, and upstanding Jew. But this woman was a Samaritan. She was despised. And she was an immoral Samaritan.

But after Jesus witnessed to this woman, He said to his disciples:

”My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, there are yet four months and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes to the fields; for they are white already unto harvest.”

Jesus had a heart for souls. He saw the multitudes as people who needed to hear his message and be saved.

So who were they? They were a bunch of fishermen, ordinary guys who had followed John. But they knew Jesus, and they heard his message and they saw his heart and his power.

So I have to ask you - have you met Jesus?

• Have you heard and believed His message?
• Would you say like Peter “Where can we go, you have the words of life?”
• Have you seen His power?
• Have you seen His heart for people?

Now, let’s get back to the passage in Mark and get to the meat of this. My third point is...

3. The nature of the call.

Jesus comes to these guys while they are fishing and He says in verse 17 ”Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.”

What was Jesus calling them to?

First...

A. It was a call to follow.

Jesus was saying “come ye after me” or in other gospels “follow me.”

That’s a simple message isn’t it? That’s not complicated. Just stop what you are doing and follow me. I’ll give you instructions later. Just walk where I’m leading. Step where I’m stepping. Do what I’m doing.

Don’t worry about the end game. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Just follow me. Day by day. Step by step.

At it’s simplest, that’s what being a Christian is all about. Just following Jesus. Getting as close to Him as you can and going where He is leading. Everyone knows how to play “follow the leader” and that is what God asks us to do - just follow Jesus. Come after Him.

Everything else is secondary. Everything else is incidental. For us it’s about being with Jesus.

I have a friend from college who worked as an assistant pastor for a very talented preacher on the east coast. That pastor got called to a huge church in California and do you know what my friend did, he went with him. After a couple of years out there this guy got called to an even bigger church in the Carolinas and guess what, my friend followed him there. Either this guy has some really good blackmail material or there is something special about him.

We ought to be that attached to Jesus side. Following Him through our life like a puppy follows his master.

?
If Jesus goes with me I’ll go...anywhere.
It’s heaven for me, wherever I be
If He is there.
I count it a privilege here,
His cross to bear
If Jesus goes with me I’ll go 
Anywhere

That’s the heart of it. It’s just following Jesus. Being with Him.

It’s a call to follow. Also,...

B. It was a call to leave.

Verse 18 says:

”And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.”

This was a huge step of faith for these guys. They were fishermen. That’s how they brought home the bacon. (But they were Jews and fisherman so maybe that’s how they brought home the bass.) It was a family business. Their families could have been doing that for hundreds of years. It was what they knew.

And they left it all behind to follow Jesus. They were leaving their old way of life behind. They were leaving what they knew behind, they were stepping out by faith.

The call to follow Jesus may include that for you. He may ask you to leave the nets and the fish behind and do something new you know nothing about. He may ask you to give up security, to give up comfort, to leave your familiar place to serve and follow Him.

For some of us, following Jesus means leaving your home and traveling across the country or across the world to serve Jesus.

But it’s always a call to leave.

It’s always a call to leave your old life behind and take on the new adventure of following Jesus. It’s a call to leave the world and the world’s system.

Make no mistake about it, if you answer the call of Jesus, you are going to leave some things behind.

So it’s a call to follow, a call to leave, thirdly...

C. It was a call to learn.

Many times Peter, Andrew, James and John were called “disciples.”

The word “disciple” means “pupil” or “learner.” In Bible times you’d attach yourself to a teacher and follow Him around and be mentored by Him. Almost like an apprenticeship.

Following Jesus means learning from Jesus. It means we don’t know everything. We aren’t the teachers, we are the learners and He is always teaching us. It’s a lifetime of learning.

It means day by day sitting at Jesus’ feet.

I was thinking the other day about the time I spent as an assistant pastor in Tennessee, and the most valuable thing for me, far more valuable than college, was watching my pastor be a pastor and talk to him about it every day. I had responsibilities that were a little too big for me, and he helped me through them. He mentored me.

That’s a lot like what a life of being dedicated to Jesus is like. He’s going to help you and speak to you every day through His word. He’s going to provide you resources and help. He’s going to build you up.

A call to follow, a call to leave, a call to learn and lastly...

D. It was a call to work.

Remember, when Jesus said ”Come after me and I will make you to become fishers of men.”. He wasn’t talking to Bass Pro Shops fishermen, He was talking to Deadliest Catch fishermen. Fishing for them meant work. Hard, grueling, demanding, exhausting work.

Following Jesus always includes a job. God has a job for you to do. Jesus’ great mission was to ”seek and to save that which was lost” and if you are going to follow Jesus He is going to get you in on that job too.

If I was going to follow a baker all day I’d probably plan on decorating some cakes. If I was going to follow a farmer I’d probably plan on plowing some ground before it was over. If I was going to follow a carpenter I’d be learning to use a tape measure and carry some boards. If you are going to follow someone who is seeking lost souls - then you are going to be seeking lost souls too. You’ll be fishing for men. You’ll be sowing the seed of the gospel. You’ll be giving out the medicine of scripture.

That’s part of it.

Do you realize, Christian, that God has a job for you to do. There are no extra soldiers in the Lord’s army. Every member of God’s family has a job to do. Just like every body part has a job, every member of a church should be working for Jesus.

So have you answered God’s call on your life? Are you following Jesus? Is He using you? Are you learning at His feet and picking up His work? Have you left your old life behind to follow Jesus?

Or are you still on the fringe? Are you still on the sideline? Are you still a spectator? I believe Jesus wants some people to enter the life of faith and follow Him this morning. You’ll have to leave some things behind, you’ll be learning new things, you’ll have a job to do.

You see, Christianity was never supposed to be a spectator sport. God wants everyone to get off the stands and get into the game. He’s calling everyone to “follow me.”

Has He called you? Have you answered?

I want you to hang onto that and real quick I want to give you the last point...

4. The future of the called.

You see, we know the end of the story. We get to see what God did with these people who left their nets and followed Jesus. Peter, Andrew, James and John.

• Peter went on to be the leader of the early church, he preached to thousands, he wrote books of scripture. He died a martyrs death.
• Andrew, history tells us, became a missionary and preached all over Asia Minor and even all the way up to the border of Russia. He too died for Jesus.
• James was a leader in the early church and was one of the first martyrs for Christ.
• John lived a long life of following Jesus and travelled all over the known world and was used by God to write five books of the New Testament.

They were fishers in a small town in the middle of nowhere. But we know there names.

They were fishermen with no cars, trains or airplanes, but they travelled the world.

They were just fishermen, unlearned men, but they wrote books of scripture that people are still quoting millenia later.

They were just fishermen, but they got to see God do miracles in and through them.

They were just fishermen, but they got to follow Jesus.

C.T. Stud had it all. He was a millionaire. He was a world renowned professional athlete. He was living the life. Then he met Jesus and felt God was calling him into the mission field. He was being called. He sat down one day with his checkbook and gave away everything, then picked up his family and moved to China.

He labored in China, in the Middle East and then in Africa and he died a humble missionary. But that was over 100 years ago, and I know his name and even if I didn’t hundreds and thousands of people are in heaven today because he answered God’s call. And you can read about his adventures on the mission field. To him it wasn’t much of a trade.

William Borden was heir to the Borden milk fortune. One of the richest young men in America. But God got a hold of his heart. He started visiting homeless shelters here in America while he was in college. He wrote in the front of his Bible two words “No retreats.”

He finished Bible college and felt like God was calling him to the mission field, but he had this huge fortune to deal with. He gave it all away. He opened his Bible again and wrote two more words “No reserves.”

He went to Egypt to start ministering there and to learn Arabic. God was using Him. But he tragically got sick there and died as a very young man. When they found his Bible, he had written two more words underneath “No Regrets.”

Church, there is no life more meaningful or more exciting than the life of the called. It’s not much of a trade really.

Whether God is calling you to be a preacher or a missionary or just a faithful church member, it’s an exciting life. It’s a life of faith. It’s a life of following Him.

Have you answered the call? What does God want you to do? Are you walking by faith? Are you fishing for men? Are you following Jesus?

Let’s stand for invitation and prayer.