The Call to follow
Matthew 4:18-22
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
John 1:34 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
Don’t you love the way Jesus called the apostles to become a part of the gospel movement? Jesus went to where they were and called out “follow me” to the first two men, Simon Peter and his brother James.
John’s account shows how two followers of John the Baptist left John and when they asked Jesus where He was going, Jesus simply replied, Come and see.
Jesus did not craft an elegant presentation to persuade men to follow Him. In fact, in Matt 8;20 Jesus tells people the son of man has no place to lay His head. Yet, the apostles followed.
Two thousand years have passed since Jesus left His place in heaven to become incarnate and He continues, through the Holy Spirit, to say to each of us “come and see.” When we read the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry, and when we allow His grace to penetrate our very being, then we, too, will answer the call to “come and see.”
In the name of te Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Catching the Vision
Isaiah 6(NRSV) 1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.
3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”
I have always been drawn to Isaiah’s description of God. He is not just holy, but holy times three! He does not occupy a small place in a small room, but His presence fills the Temple. And Isaiah, when confronted by a holy God, comes face to face with his sin. He has the only response imaginable—he accepts salvation and follows God.
But as I read Isaiah’s description of the holiness of God, I wonder how many understand the importance of holiness. And, I wonder how we in the 21st century can catch the vision of holiness.
Holiness is not discussed much in today’s world, nor is it a much sought after quality. What is holiness? Simply put, holiness is being set apart. Jesus’ example taught us that while we live in this world, we are not to become a part of this world. The last prayer Jesus prayed over His disciples was this: John 17(NRSV) 15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.
Yet, the lines between holiness and worldliness seem to have blurred. How do we recapture the vision? Allow me to remind you that sin entered the world through disobedience. What caused Eve to give in to the temptation of sin? Eve lingered in the vicinity of the tree with the forbidden fruit. She could have chosen to bypass the tree, but the more that she saw the fruit was good, the stronger her urge was to consume the fruit.
What if we made the decision to seek after holiness by lingering in the presence of God? What if we, the Church, committed to being intentional in following and living like the Christ? What if we neither gave in to the allure of sin, nor rejoiced in pronouncing judgment over those who do so, but instead we sought after a holy God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength?
There is a vision that each one of us can catch. It is a vision of the most high God exemplifying holiness and inviting us to come along, to linger in His presence, to be set apart.
Psalm 27(NRSV) 4 One thing I asked of the LORD,
that will I seek after:
to live in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the LORD,
and to inquire in his temple.
In the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Tell me the Story of Jesus
The Old Rugged Cross
By George Benard
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross
The emblem of suffering and shame
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross (rugged cross)
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it some day for a crown
To the old rugged cross I will ever be true
It’s shame and reproach gladly bear
Then he’ll call me some day to my home far away
Where his glory forever I’ll share
And I’ll cherish the old rugged cross (rugged cross)
Till my trophies at last I lay down
And I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it some day for a crown
I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it some day for a crown
Do you recall the first gospel hymn you ever memorized? I do. My twin sister and I memorized “The Old Rugged Cross” when we were nine years old. We had sung many hymns by that time in our young lives, but it was this song that grabbed our hearts and we sang it over and over while gently swaying on the front porch swing.
Music was always important in our family. Our grandparents sang “Farther Along” and “The Lifeboat.” We sat by our aunts in church and sang “Higher Ground” and “I’ll Fly Away.” There was something about those songs of our youth that just connected us with our God, and just as we learned these songs extolling the praises of our Creator and our Savior, we began to form our understanding of Who God was and who we were in Him. And just as we learned these great old hymns, we began to learn Scripture. At that time, the only translation of God’s Word was the King James Bible, so to this day when I quote Scripture from memory it is from that translation.
As I grew older and my faith developed and strengthened, my soul was stirred over and over again by the songs of the church—Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art, and Great is Thy Faithfulness. I find myself wondering, Areany of the songs so dear to me still heard by little girls today? Will they memorize these songs, leading them to memorize Holy Scripture?
I Know it in my Knower
Matt 16 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
People have demanded proof of Jesus’ divinity for over 2000 years. Books have been written proclaiming who He is, and just as many books have been written disavowing Jesus as the Messiah. So what is the foundation of our faith? What inspires us to believe?
The Holy Scriptures form the foundation of our belief. Inspired by God Himself, the canon of our faith informs us of who Jesus is in every book from Genesis to the Revelation of Jesus Christ. We are told of who he was before he became incarnate. We are given his lineage, the circumstances of his birth. We are told of signs and wonders, of miracles and healing. We hear His words of comfort and peace. And we see the story of redemption.
Years ago I read of a woman whose faith was strong and whose prayer life was legendary. When asked what made her sure that Jesus was the Messiah, she tapped her chest and said, “I know it in my knower.”
I can tell you I know, understand and believe that Jesus is the Son of the living God, I believe He existed from the foundation of the world, I believe He was born of a virgin, I believe He is the second part of the Trinity, I believe he bore our sins on Calvary, rose from the dead, ascended into Heaven, and He is on his way back to judge the living and the dead.
Why do I know these things? Because the Bible tells me so, because the Holy Spirit both forms and informs my understanding, and because I know it in my knower.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Returns to Galilee
John 4:43 When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee 44 (for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in the prophet’s own country). 45 When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival; for they too had gone to the festival.
Jesus Heals an Official’s Son
46 Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capern-a-um. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my little boy dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. 51 As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.” 53 The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household. 54 Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
My favorite gospel is the gospel of John. Matthew’s gospel was written to convince the Jews that Jesus was king. To me the highlights of Matthew was the Beatitudes, and of course the foretelling of the return of Jesus. Mark was written primarily to a Roman audience unfamiliar with Jewish customs. Mark was written in short, concise sentences because Mark’s primary concern was ensuring Jesus’ story was told. Luke was written to Gentiles and my favorite part is the Christmas story. The synoptic gospels shared parables that served to teach us how to follow Christ and live with our fellow man. But John, written by the disciple Jesus loved the best, showed us from the very first verse that Jesus is eternal. It is a personal gospel and includes 7 “I Am” statements and 7 miracles pre-resurrection and one, the gathering of 153 fish, post-resurrection.
The miracle of the healing of the official’s son was the second miracle recorded in John and, like the turning of the water into wine, also occurred in Cana.
46 Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum (Capern-a-um). Capernaum was about one day’s walk from Cana.
47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” Strongs Dictionary translates this phrase unless you see to unless you people see. Jesus was aware that many people were following him solely for signs and wonders, and he knew that miracles did not lead to salvation. But it seems a little less harsh to me to hear that Jesus was directing comment not to this grieving father, but instead to really a generation of people.
49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my little boy dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way.
There are two important ideas here. The first is that the official, being a day away from his son, believed Jesus was limited by time and place. He could not understand how a miracle could occur unless Jesus was in the child’s presence to lay hands upon the boy.
I am reminded of what Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, said when Jesus arrived seemingly too late to save Lazarus from death. She said, if only you had been here my brother would not have died, and then Martha repeated the same sentiment. And do you remember what Jesus said?. (NRSV)John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.“
They simply could not understand that Jesus had no such limitations as time and place.
50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way.
So remember the first idea was that the man thought Jesus was limited by time and place. But the second important idea is that, in a startling turnaround, the official believed and began his return journey.
In each miracle we have studied, we have seen that the people in need required just enough faith to ask for help. Jesus did not seek after those who needed a miracle. Why? Because Jesus was here to seek and save the lost. Yet, he was available to many who needed a miracle, and as is recorded in the last verse of John 21:25 (NRSV) 25 But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
Signs and wonders from God are obviously good things, but they should not form the foundation of our faith. We should not depend on them to prove God to us. In themselves, signs and wonders cannot change the heart; Israel saw incredible signs at Mount Sinai and even heard the very voice of God (Exodus 19:16-20:1), yet a short time later they worshipped a gold calf (Exodus 32:1-6).
Notice the nobleman did not ask for Jesus’ help on the basis of his station in life. Instead, he was asking for mercy because of the child’s great need. And when Jesus said “your child is healed”, the father did not require any further proof. The father’s belief spread throughout the entire household. I love that. The faith of the father was so strong that he was able to share that faith with his family and those who worked in the household to the point that they all received salvation.
I’ve heard it said the man ran to Cana in fear, but he walked back to Capernaum in faith. May we each walk in the same faith every day of our lives.
Seeking Holiness 