Following Jesus

Luke 5:8-11

Peter had two reactions when he encountered God's power. First, when Peter saw this incredible miracle, he realized he was in the presence of Someone who was far more than mere man. Peter realized he'd encountered the supernatural—he'd seen the power of God displayed before his very eyes.

Peter's first reaction—appropriately so—was to shrink in dismay and horror before Jesus. "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"  When God and humanity meet, there is a clash between holy and unholy.

He felt so small, so ashamed, so undeserving. He was overwhelmed with his own unworthiness. How could a common, ordinary fisherman stand in the presence of the Almighty? He was a sinner—dirty, unclean, unworthy—and now he'd been found out. His sinfulness was laid bare—uncovered in the blazing light of God's holy perfection. Peter wanted to hide. He wanted to get away. "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"

When sinful beings encounter a holy God—when we see him for who he really is and also see ourselves for who we really are—our first reaction should be horror and shame. Sin should horrify and disgust. And when we see sin residing in our own hearts, we should be even more disturbed and horrified!

But unfortunately in our society, we have become used to seeing sin. Sin is so common, we're no longer shocked or dismayed by the wrongs and the evils that surround us. We're not disturbed by wickedness or injustice as we should be. We have become accustomed to living in a society that tolerates all kinds of sin. It's on the nightly news...even in PG13 movies. In fact, get mildly upset about it, and you'll be denounced for being intolerant.

In 1973, Karl Menninger—a noted psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, co-founder of the Menninger Clinic—published a book called Whatever Happened To Sin? He was concerned because personal responsibility and consequences were disappearing in society.

It seems odd. We have laws against littering. We aren't allowed to throw garbage around anywhere we please. You cannot dump your trash out on the curb, or pile your garbage up in your back yard week after week, without getting into trouble. There are certain expectations about living in a community that say you must follow standards of cleanliness. Why? Because we understand the problems created by unsanitary conditions. Disease and vermin proliferate in untreated garbage. So we have laws about what to do with garbage.
But when it comes to moral or ethical garbage, when it comes to spiritual trash—well, we need to be more tolerant of those things. Just because it's wrong for you doesn't mean it's wrong for everybody. Aren't you being a little judgmental for insisting that people deal with their spiritual garbage?
Something is wrong here! If we have laws to deal with garbage and waste, then doesn't it make sense that we should be able to legislate immoral behavior that brings spiritual disease and death?

But if public sins often go unnoticed beneath the radar, what about our private sins? What about the dark things that lurk inside our own hearts? What about pride, jealousy, lust, selfishness, envy, unforgiveness, and bitterness—all those things that we cover over with a fine, respectable exterior? What about those sins that eat away our soul from the inside out? What about the spiritual decay and corruption that destroy our spirit even while we continue to act righteous on the outside?

Some people come to church looking good—but they carry hidden, secret sin deep down inside. You can be seething with anger and resentment deep down inside and still paste a smile or a peaceful façade on the outside. You can act sweet and loving toward others but be addicted to lust and porn in the privacy of your own home. You can pretend to be something you're not.

You can fool others, but you cannot stand in the presence of the Almighty and fool him! When you encounter the supernatural power of God, your sins are uncovered by the blazing light of his holiness.

We need a fresh encounter with God! We need to see his power and his holiness. We need to feel what Peter felt—so God can work in us and save us from our desperate condition. Peter's first response was to hide—to get as far away from Jesus as possible. "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"

Our first reaction to an encounter with God's miraculous power should be a deep sense of guilt and shame, a horrified realization of our own unworthiness and sin, an intense desire to hide from God's holy presence. Like Peter, our instinct should be to get away—as far from Jesus as possible.

But our second reaction should be to get as close to Jesus as possible, to follow him, to leave everything else behind (ambitions, career, plans) for the joy of being with Jesus.

Peter's second response was 180° the other direction from his first. "They pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him."

After we feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit, after we confess our sin and our own unworthiness, after we repent, we are finally ready to receive forgiveness. When Peter said, "I am a sinful man," Jesus said, "Don't be afraid." Why did Jesus let him off so easily?

The Bible says Jesus "did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world" (John 3:17). He didn't come to overwhelm us with his holiness but leave us wallowing in our sinfulness. Jesus came to show us our hopeless condition and desperate need—alongside of his infinite love and his amazing grace. He didn't come to scare us but to forgive us.

So Jesus said to Peter, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men."

When we see our hopeless, sinful condition and our desperate need, Jesus says, "Don't be afraid, from now on things are going to be different. Don't be afraid, I'm going to forgive you. Don't be afraid, I'm going to change you. Things are going to be different from now on."

God's love and grace made all the difference in Peter. So instead of being afraid and trying to run away and hide and get as far from Jesus as possible, Peter's second response was to follow Jesus. He wanted to get as close to him as possible.

This is what grace does for the sinner. This is what grace should do for us—grace should spur us to want to get as close to Jesus as possible. It should motivate us to follow him.

Sixteen times in the NT Jesus told people, "Follow Me." And the concept or idea of following Jesus appears even more often than that.

But what does it really mean to be a follower of Jesus?

A column by Lisa Miller in the March 16 issue of Newsweek observes that church denominational labels are disappearing in America, causing people to say things like, "My parents are Lutheran, but I'm a Christian."
However, Miller notes that even generic labels like "Christian" or "evangelical" can carry some ambiguity or baggage, so "as the Christian world continues to refine its identity, another label is gaining currency: ‘follower of Jesus.' It is gaining among the young. On Facebook, more than 900 groups use some variation of ‘follower of Jesus.'"
She mentions a Minneapolis business man, Ward Brehm, who doesn't call himself a Christian. Instead, he says, "I just call myself a follower of Jesus. It's a huge difference." And yet, he also admits "that he left his longtime church five years ago and is still shopping [for a church]."
Hmmm. It makes you wonder: do "followers of Jesus" have trouble finding a church where they can fellowship and worship?

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? A follower of anyone?

Many influential people have a "following." Rush Limbaugh and Al Gore have this much in common—they both have a following. Barack Obama has a following. So does Osama bin Laden. Tiger Woods and Oprah Winfrey both have a following. Even dead people—Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, and Mother Teresa are all dead—still can have followings.

So what does it mean to follow someone? If sports legends or religious leaders or terrorists or even dead people can have followers, what does it mean for us to be a follower of Jesus?

Some of the characteristics of a follower are the same no matter whom you're talking about—whether you're talking following a politician, a rock star, a scientist, or Jesus.

One characteristic of a follower, for instance, is to adore the person. A rock star's groupies and fans aren't content merely to admire the star—they go way beyond admiring to adore and praise  the rock star. They hang up posters of the star in their rooms. They wear T-shirts or other clothing proclaiming their loyalty to the star. They rush the stage screaming and shouting, jumping and waving their hands.

It's no wonder we have a show called American Idol, aimed at finding the next big star. Idols are objects of worship—and followers can go so far as to worship the one they're following.

So we can say...

1. To follow Jesus means to adore and worship him.

If we're going to be followers of Jesus, then we're going to go crazy for him. We're going to worship him. We will bow before him as Lord—the One we love more than all others.

But following someone is more than just adoration and praise. Another way to describe followers is to say they are people who believe in the person they are following. Followers trust the leader's character; they believe in the leader's message or philosophy; they accept the leader's values and opinions.

Barack Obama, for example, was elected president because a majority of voters believed his message. He talked about change—"change you can believe in." The voters believed in his ideas, but they also believed in him as a person. They believed they could trust him to do what he said.

In the same way, we can say...

2. To follow Jesus means to believe and trust in him.

If we're going to be followers of Jesus, then we will follow his teachings. We believe that his way of life is the best way of life. We won't pick and choose some of his teachings while we ignore the rest of his teachings. We cannot really follow Jesus if we pick and choose which of his teachings we like and which we don't. If you accept some of Jesus' teachings but reject others, you're not really a follower of Jesus.

Another thing that followers do is imitate or copy the person they follow. They want to follow their leader's example. They want to talk like him; they want to live like him.

When Oprah reads a book, millions of her followers run out and buy that book. It shoots to the top of the best seller lists because her followers want to be like her. If she's reading a book, they want to read that same book. They want to wear what she wears, eat what she eats, and exercise like she exercise.

Followers try to imitate the person they are following. So we can say...

3. To follow Jesus means to follow his example.

Jesus led by example. He took up a basin and towel like a servant and washed his disciples' feet. Then he said...

"14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you" (John 13:14-15).

 

He said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:42-45).

Jesus stooped to care for those looked down on by the rest of society. He took time to be with little children. He spoke to women. He touched lepers. He ate with sinners. Jesus went the extra mile to minister to those ignored by the important members of society, all those denounced by religious leaders.

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps (1 Pet 2:21, NASB)

If we're going to be followers of Jesus, then we will follow his example.

And he said, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you" (John 20:21).

We could talk about a lot of different characteristics found in followers, but I'm going to mention just one last one: a follower makes a commitment. A follower dedicates his or her life and energy to the leader's mission. A follower is determined to see the leader's vision accomplished.

This is no small thing. We're talking about being sold out—about giving one's all to a cause. Muslim extremists who attack unarmed citizens and kill men, women, and children indiscriminately, are criminals of the worst kind. But make no mistake—they are committed to their cause. They will die for their cause. They will strap explosives around their chest and blow themselves up in a misguided attempt to advance their cause.

Far better are the examples of people who have given their lives for a noble cause, who committed themselves to defend the innocent, the weak, and the vulnerable. I am appalled at the radical commitment of the terrorists, but I admire the commitment, for instance, of the nuns—the Missionaries of Charity—who follow Mother Teresa by giving themselves to fulfill her dream of helping the poorest of the poor—to give love and comfort to the sick and dying on the streets of Calcutta.

At the time of Mother Teresa's death in 1997, over 4,000 sisters, an associated brotherhood of 300, and over 100,000 lay volunteers, were operating 610 missions in 123 countries. These included hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, orphanages, and schools. Her followers' commitment was inspired not just by her, but also by Jesus, who said, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matt 25:40).

So we have to say that...

4. To follow Jesus means to commit yourself to his kingdom's cause.

There are all kinds of followers who follow all kinds of leaders. Some followers are more dedicated than others—their intensity or degree of commitment is stronger than others. But the followers of Jesus, more than any other, should be sold out to his cause, completely committed to his kingdom.

Jesus said, "Whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it" (Mark 8:35).

One of the best summaries of the challenge involved in following Jesus is found in Luke 9:57-62—