In Step with Christ (2): The Example of Jesus’ Calling

by Rev. Jeremiah Cheung

Mark 1:16-20 contain a very simple message. Jesus saw two pairs of brothers; one pair was casting nets while the other was mending their nets. Jesus said to them, “Come, follow me!” At once, they left their nets, their father, their boats, and followed him.

What I do not understand is: how can such a thing happen? Just imagine this: after the worship service, if you see someone peddling some goods outside and you say to him “come, follow me”, will he leave everything to follow you? Impossible, right? It would be a kindness if he doesn’t drive you away.

At that time, Peter and Andrew were out fishing, James and John were mending their nets with their father beside them; how could they have immediately left their father, abandoned the boat to follow Jesus? Theologians call this “effective calling”, meaning God calls us with a voice full of love and authority, such that we are moved and we accept his call. We do not quite understand this because we rarely have such experiences, but we have a lot of experiences to the contrary.

When calling their children for dinner, to go to bed, to stop playing on the computer, parents usually use the “ineffective call”. The parents may call however long they want, but the children simply ignore them. However, Jesus’ call is an effective call, why is it so?

As I was reading this passage, I realized something – when Jesus called them, there must have been other fishermen there by the Sea of Galilee, but it was as if Jesus saw only these two pairs of brothers, it was as if he saw no one else but them. Verse 16 “…he (Jesus) saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake…” Verse 19 “…he (Jesus) saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat…” and Jesus spoke to them.

Obviously, Jesus’ seeing them and speaking to them was not as simple as it seems. It was like the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the Bible says “his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him”. What did the father see? If the father saw him as a failure of a son coming back home, if he had seen him as a beggar coming home, not only would he not be moved with compassion, he would be very angry and in fact, this is what the older brother saw in the prodigal son returning home. But the father saw a wounded son, a son who had already learned his lesson, that is why he was filled with compassion.

Jesus saw the two pairs of brothers, he called them, they heard him and left everything to follow him. What did Jesus see? What did Jesus say to them?

I. Jesus Saw

1. Jesus Saw Their Diligent Hearts – When we open our Bibles, we discover a very important principle – Jesus calls the diligent ones, because God is a diligent working God.

John 5:17 Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” Our God is a working God, our Lord is working Lord, the people God uses are diligently working ones. When God called Moses, he was tending sheep in the desert. When God called Gideon, he was working on the threshing floor; when God called Samuel, three times he stood up from his bed; when Jesus called Matthew, he was collecting taxes. When the angels announced the good news to the shepherds, they were out tending their flocks in the field. God never calls a lazy person, he always calls the diligent worker.

By the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw Peter and Andrew, James and John, they were working diligently on the boat, and he called them. This teaches us an important principle: God calls the diligent because the more diligent a person is, the more competent he is, the more competent he is the more diligent he will be. Jesus called them because he saw their diligent hearts. You, who are willing to serve the Lord, what are you waiting for? Are you waiting for God’s call? If you refuse to work hard now, you will never hear God’s call.

Rev. Stephen Tong shared a testimony once. He said he began serving as a pastor when he was only about 16 or 17 years old; however, no one invited him to preach. So he bought some gospel tracts, and he gave out the gospel tracts while preaching on the side. Do you think handing out gospel tracts is easy? It is not possible if one is not diligent.

When I was serving in Grace Christian Church, a sister who serves as an interpreter shared her story. She said when she returned home from abroad, she thought of taking on interpreting as a ministry, but no one knew her and she didn’t feel comfortable offering to do so on her own. She said she simply practiced interpreting as she sat listening to the messages preached. She never thought that after a few months the church would ask her to serve as interpreter. She is very good interpreter. Many of you know her because she had been your school principal.

I hope you will understand what I am trying to say, do not just wait for the Lord’s call, you must diligently serve him even now. When the time is right, the Lord will make his calling. Before the Lord called me to be a full-time worker, I was already preaching. At that time I was the chairman of the school’s fellowship. Once, the speaker failed to arrive and I had no choice but to preach. I still remember that I preached from chapter one of the Book of Ruth on the topic “God’s Time”. After two years, God’s call came for me. I entered the seminary for my training to prepare for a lifetime of service to the Lord. May the Lord find you with diligent hearts.

2. Jesus Saw Their Determination – When Jesus called these two pairs of brothers, it wasn’t that they had nothing to do. They were busy doing their work, they were fishing, they were mending their nets, but why did they follow him when he told them I want to make you fishers of men? Why did they immediately leave everything (including their boats, their nets, their father) and follow Jesus?

They saw a bigger mission. In their hearts, they had determination to serve God and Jesus saw that.

We all have two lives, the first is the life we have now and the second is the life we long to have. There is a movie entitled “Falling Down”. The main character William was very disillusioned with life, because he had a different life from the one he longed to have. One time, when he was feeling particularly upset, he entered a restaurant and ordered breakfast. However, the waiter said, “We are no longer serving breakfast.” William said, “But I want breakfast.” And so they called out the manager. The manager told him, “We no longer serve breakfast.” William insisted, “I want breakfast.” In the end, he brought out a gun and demanded, “I just want some breakfast.” Everyone became very frightened. William kept repeating, “I just want some breakfast.”

Maybe it is not breakfast you want, maybe what you are saying is, “I just want to be happy, I just want a better job or I just want…” Jesus saw the two pairs of brothers. These fishermen from Galilee had a determination in their hearts, they had a desire, they were not willing to be fishermen all their lives, they wanted to do something for the kingdom of God, although they did not know what they were supposed to do, neither had there been anyone who had helped them fulfil their longing. Jesus was saying to them, “I can help you, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” This was their heart’s desire, so they left everything and followed Jesus.

When Philip told Nathanael, “We have seen the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.” Nathanael commented, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” When Nathanael met Jesus, Jesus told him, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael immediately declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” Why the sudden change? Personally, I believe Nathanael was praying under the fig tree, seeking the Lord’s will, he had a heart that longed to serve God. Jesus saw that and thus, Jesus called him out to be one of his twelve disciples. Brothers and sisters, are you fulfilled with your present life? Are you fulfilled with your spiritual life? If you say I am not fulfilled, then you are blessed. The Lord is looking for such people, he is calling out such people, are you one of them?

II. Jesus Spoke

Jesus saw these pairs of brothers, and spoke two sentences. First, he said “follow me”; second, “I will make you fishers of men.” When they heard these, they left everything and followed Jesus:

1. Follow Me – These are very simple words, but they are full of meaning. They point us to two important matters – the object followed and the direction followed.

a. The Object Followed – Jesus is the only object we are to follow. We must not follow any man apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. However, neither should we spiritualize everything. Some people in the church refuse to look at any man, respect any man or follow any man, they say: “I only follow the Lord.” They are wrong.

The apostle John said, “How can you love God whom you cannot see if you do not love the brother whom you can see?” We can change it a little and say `How can you disrespect the authorities you can see and yet claim to respect the Lord you do not see?’

In the church, we follow the Lord’s servants, there is nothing wrong with that. But we must understand that in our hearts, it is the Lord we follow, albeit through his servants. Just like what Paul said, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.”

The president of the bible seminary I attended, Rev. Donald Lau, once shared a story. When he was serving as pastor of the United Evangelical Church of Pasay, then president of the bible seminary, Rev. Zeng Lin Fang, asked him to return to Hong Kong to assume the presidency of the seminary. However, he declined and reasoned that no one knows him, while everyone knows Rev. Zeng. He said that people come and money comes because they know Rev. Zeng; if Rev. Zeng leaves the post, the people will not come and money will not come too.

Rev. Zeng replied, “The seminary is the Lord’s, if I am not here and people really cease to come and money also cease to come, then you can close down the seminary.” Later on, Rev. Lau went back to Hong Kong and took on the presidency of the seminary. These two seminary presidents (Rev. Zeng and Rev. Lau) were both right. A good leader can really draw people and of course, when people come, the money will also come. Money does not fall from the sky. The money comes from your pockets. But we must always remember, everything is the Lord’s. We must always remember we are to bring people to the Lord.

There is a Parkway Love Fellowship in our church. I like what they always say. They say, “We are like a bridge, we bring people to the church.” They are right in saying so, but I’d like to add one more sentence to that, the church is also like a bridge, we bring people the Christ, because only the Lord Jesus is the object we are supposed to follow.

b. The Direction Followed – Jesus told them, “Follow me.” The word ‘me’ not only refers to the object to be followed, more than that, it refers to the direction to be followed. Where the Lord goes, we go. Let us use Peter to explain this point.

The Lord had told Peter three times, “Follow me.” Why did he have to say it three times? Because Peter was nowhere to be found when Jesus was crucified. Jesus reminded him again and again – follow me. 1. Mark1: 16 -18 records the first time Jesus called Peter. Peter immediately followed Jesus. 2. Luke 5:1-11 is the second time Jesus called Peter. Jesus had told Peter to put out the boat into deep water and then to let down his net for a catch. They ended up catching two boats full of fish. Then, Peter knelt down before Jesus. Twice, Jesus extended his call and he left everything to follow Jesus. 3. John 21:15-22 is the third call.

When Jesus rose back to life, he asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Peter replied three times, “Lord, I love you.” But when Peter saw John following, he asked Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered him, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” This is the last time Jesus told Peter, “Follow me.”

Actually, we are all like Peter, when we encounter difficulties or persecutions, we want to turn back from following the Lord. But praise the Lord, the Lord calls us again and again to follow him. Brothers and sisters, where are you? Are you still following the Lord? If not, today the Lord is calling you: Come, follow me.

2. Become Fishers of Men – What is the difference between fishermen and fishers of men? Fishermen turn what is alive into dead creatures. In the sea, the fish are alive, but fishermen catch them and turn them into food for men, they turn the live fish into dead ones. Fishers of men, on the contrary, turn the dead into living creatures. The Book of Ephesians tells us we were once dead in our sins, but the Lord made us alive, that is called becoming born again.

Jesus gave these fishermen a choice, that is, ‘are you willing to continue being fishermen, or to become fishers of men?’ None of us are willing to make abrupt changes in life unless we see that it will bring us a more significant purpose, a more meaningful life. When the Lord calls, he gives us a more significant purpose, a greater purpose.

When the Lord called Abraham, he was only a 75 year old man living in Ur, the Lord said, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” God gave him a greater purpose, as a result, Abraham became the father of nations, everyone in the whole world knows him.

When God called Moses, Moses was only an 80 year old shepherd in the desert. God told him though, “You will bring the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and you will lead them into the land flowing with milk and honey.” The Lord gave him a greater mission.

When the Lord called Peter and company, they were but fishermen in Galilee, but they became world renown saints. We only have one life, some people are not willing to live ordinary lives, they are willing to do great things for God, so they accept God’s calling.

Peter, Andrew, James and John were not willing to spend their lives as mere fishermen in Galilee, they left their boats, their nets, their family and in the end, they became fishers of men.

In economics, there is a term called opportunity cost. Opportunity cost refers to the price we pay for choosing one thing over another. We really must count the cost, what are we giving up? What are we gaining?

To be fishermen or fishers of men, which one would be more meaningful, which one would be a more significant choice? I was 22 years old when I gave myself to serving the Lord full-time, because I was not willing to live an ordinary life. It has been 28 years now since the time I first entered the seminary, graduated and served in the ministry. I have never regretted the choice I made, how about you?

God may not be calling you to be a pastor, but God is definitely calling you to follow him, to fulfill his plan in your life. Are you willing?