Let Go, Let God, and Let’s Go!

Preached by Michael Cheuk
January 25, 2009, Third Sunday of Epiphany, Year B
Mark 1:14-20

In April of 1984, I received an invitation that changed my life forever.  That invitation came in the form of a letter, an acceptance letter to be exact, offering me admission to Rice University in Houston as a member of the class of 1988.  Rice University wasn’t exactly on my radar screen during my sophomore year in high school.  But during my junior year, my guidance counselor recommended that I check out the university, since it had a good reputation in engineering, which was the area that I wanted to major in at the time.  After visiting the campus, I really liked the school.  My friends in high school joked that that should have been no surprise-since I was Chinese, of course I should like Rice!

In today’s Gospel lesson from Mark, several fishermen received an invitation that changed their lives forever.  That invitation came in the form of a call, from a rabbi, a teacher named Jesus, who was just starting out his ministry proclaiming the good news that the kingdom of God was near.  One day, Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee. He found four men fishing in the lake and said to them: “Come, follow me.”

What a strange thing for a rabbi to do.  For you see, rabbis did not go around making house calls and visiting places of business to invite potential disciples to come follow them.  No, it was eager disciples who would approach a rabbi asking for the privilege of studying with him, and the rabbi would say either yes or no.  It’s like back when I was in high school, trying to sort out where to go to college.  The universities and the professors didn’t come to me. No, I and other high school students went to them – we researched and visited schools, we filled out applications, we showed off anything that could prove our worthiness – our GPA’s, our SAT’s, any accomplishments that might make a university want to accept us as students.  And even today, it would be extremely unusual, to say the least, if a professor came knocking at your door to offer you a chance to enroll in his class and study under him.  But that’s exactly what Jesus did when he issued his invitation to Simon and Andrew, and James and John.  In Mark’s Gospel, there was no indication whatsoever that these fishermen had anything special about them that would have caught Jesus’ attention.  Those four were just minding their own business when Jesus took the initiative to seek them out and to issue this invitation: “Come, follow me.”

What a strange thing for a rabbi to do.  But at first glance, even more strange, even more amazing in my mind, was the fact that when Simon and Andrew heard Jesus’ invitation, verse eighteen says, “at once they left their nets and followed him.”  There seemed to be no hesitation on their part.  They simply let go of their nets, which were their means of livelihood and symbols of their lifestyle and identity, and followed Jesus.  What Simon and Andrew did has always puzzled and intrigued me.  No one in his right mind would just let go of everything to follow an itinerant teacher, just because he said, “Come, follow me.”  Right?

Apparently, Jesus was no ordinary teacher.  In the very beginning of his Gospel, Mark had already identified Jesus as the Son of God.  While there was nothing special about those fishermen whom Jesus called, there was definitely something very special about Jesus.  For those of you who are in business, imagine Bill Gates visiting your shop with the invitation: “Come, follow me.”  For those who play basketball, imagine Kobe Bryant entering your gym with the invitation, “Come, follow me.”  For you aspiring Hollywood stars, imagine Tom Hanks or Julia Roberts came knocking at your door and said, “Come, follow me.”  Imagine the top person from your field or profession coming to you inviting you to come and follow, and I imagine some of you might be tempted to let go of everything and accept this one-in-a-lifetime offer.

Even so, it is hard to imagine how Simon and Andrew could immediately let go of their nets, their only means of livelihood as fishermen, in order to follow Jesus.  But that’s not all.  In the next verses, Jesus issued the same invitation to James and John, and they not only let go of their nets, but they also left their father Zebedee, left their boat and their hired men to follow Jesus.  James and John let go of family ties, let go of possessions and let go of a life of being served in order to answer Jesus’ call.  It’s hard for us to imagine letting go of so many things in order to follow Jesus.  We are a people who have been told again and again to “grab all you can” and “you can have it all.”  We often don’t know what it’s like to let go and give up some things in order to pursue the best path God has for our lives.  Maybe that’s why we overextend ourselves in our work, we overextend our credit limits to accumulate more than we need, and we overextend our schedules and our commitments.  Sometimes, it is possible to allow our lifestyles, our possessions, and yes, even our families to become our idols.  As Christians, our work, our accumulations, our schedules and our families are not bad things in and of themselves, but when we cannot let them go and when they begin to occupy a higher place than following Jesus, then we may be missing out on a life of discipleship that Christ calls us to live.

I don’t know about you, but in my life, I find that when I’m afraid to let go, many times it is because I fear what will happen when I’m no longer in control of my life.  Those who know me know that I’m a planner.  I’m obsessive over the details.  I’m compulsive in carrying those details to the letter.  I want to prepare for the contingencies, and I try to leave nothing to chance.  And I’m that way about my own life and future.  But when Jesus calls to invite me to follow him, He’s basically asking me to hand over the control of my life to Him.  The question is, “Am I willing to let go of control and let God be the Lord of my life?”

When Jesus invited the four fishermen to “Come, follow me,” Jesus didn’t map out a three-year plan.  He did not give many details.  Jesus’ invitation was simply a call to journey with Him, to commune with Him daily, to literally follow Him wherever He went-twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week-living the way the He lived, observing and learning from the minute details of the His life, and training to do what the He did.  To follow Jesus meant the transformation of their lifestyle so that it conformed to the way that Jesus lived His life.  Jesus’ invitation is first and foremost a call not to a plan but to himself: “Follow me.“  Jesus’ invitation is secondly a call to a continuous journey with Him rather than a single act toward Him: “Follow me.”

Being a disciple of Jesus does not mean just saying the “sinner’s prayer” once, just “walking down the aisle” and getting baptized once, and then never reading the Bible, never praying and hardly ever darkening the doors of the church again.  In this passage, Mark describes Jesus’ first approach to evangelism, and it is very interesting to me that in His invitation, Jesus did not say, “Come, and invite me into your hearts so that you might be saved.”  Jesus also did not say, “Come, and I will give you eternal life.”  No, Jesus’ invitation was, “Come, follow me, I will turn you into catchy people who win friends and influence people!”  Jesus’ invitation to his first disciples was a call not to their own individual salvation, but a promise to empower them to serve and bless others!  It was an invitation to live a life of significance that will make a positive impact on the world!     Don’t misunderstand me.  Yes, Jesus offers you individual salvation and eternal life-but not for your own sake.  He offers you salvation for the sake of bringing the kingdom of God near.  And the only way that we can do that is to embark on a life-long journey with God and His people, and let God have control of our lives.

Who among us does not want to live a life of significance?  Who among us does not want to live a life of influence that points others to God?  Who among us does not want to live a life that will make a lasting, positive impact that carries on long after we’re gone?  The truth of the matter is, God has bigger plans for us for the sake of His Kingdom than we could ever dream about.  But in order for God’s plans to come into fruition, we must be willing to let go of the nets in our lives and let God have control over our lives.  If Simon, Andrew, James and John had not let go of their nets, their fathers, their boats and their servants, and if they had not let God direct their lives, then chances are, I would not be preaching about them today.  The world’s a better place because throughout history, there have been people who were able to let go and let God.

According to theologian Leonard Sweet,

The world’s a better place because Noah didn’t say, “I don’t do arks and animals.”

The world’s a better place because Moses didn’t say, “I don’t do Pharaohs or mass exoduses.”

The world’s a better place because Ruth didn’t say, “I don’t do mother-in-laws.”

The world’s a better place because David didn’t say, “I don’t do giants.”

The world’s a better place because Daniel didn’t say, “I don’t do lion’s dens.”

The world’s a better place because Mary didn’t say, “I don’t do virgin births.”

The world’s a better place because Paul didn’t say, “I don’t do letters.”

The world’s a better place because Jesus didn’t say, “I don’t do crosses.”[1]

This list reads like a Hall of Fame of the heroes of faith.  Some of you might think: “There’s no way that I can attain that level.”  But Jesus is not calling you to be the next Moses or David or Mary.  Jesus only calls you to be the very best you can be.  And the Good News is that Jesus never calls us to a place where He hasn’t been before.  Jesus knows what it was like to let go of the status, prestige, and power that was rightly in His possession.  In Philippians, chapter two, Paul exhorts his readers: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross!”

Jesus also knew what it was like to let God be in control of His life.  At the Garden of Gethsemane, on the night when he was betrayed, Jesus prayed: “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36).  And when Jesus was hanging on the cross, bearing the sins of the world, Luke records Jesus calling out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46).  Jesus never calls us to a place where He hasn’t been before.

This morning, we are invited to let go and let God.  But that’s not all.  For if we were to do just those two things, we might be tempted to sit back passively, letting go of everything and letting God do everything.  There is one final thing.  In response to Jesus’ invitation, Simon and Andrew, James and John, not only let go and let God, but at the end of this passage, Mark tells us that they basically said, “Let’s go!” and they followed Jesus on a journey of faith.

It is my hope and prayer that we as individuals and as a church will also let go, let God and say, “Let’s go!” on a journey of faith with God in the coming months.  I’ve been sharing about my experiences at a retreat that showed me the importance of embracing a new lifestyle consisting of constant prayer and communion with God in the context of a small group.  I’ve talked about being assigned to spend 100 minutes in prayer with three other pastors that I didn’t know.  Let me share one more story about that experience.  As we were working through a guided prayer sheet in our small group, we read the following reflection:

A descriptive metaphor for many churches today is a “rowing ministry.”  This is where the congregation places its ministry “boat” in the water and plots its own course.  Pulling out its oars, the congregation then rows in its predetermined direction without ever looking to change courses – no matter the direction of the wind, the turbulence of the water, or who gets in or out of the boat.  This congregation is living by its own agenda, not God’s.  God calls churches and individuals to pull in their oars, to let go of them, and instead, hoist up the sails and put them in the path of the wind, the wind of God’s moving Spirit.  Then and only then will the church find God, discover her calling and be able to live into God’s vision and preferred future.  Such a congregation lives by God’s agenda.

When I read that, it became very clear to me that for years, I’ve been working frantically to row the boat in order to control and steer Farmville Baptist in the direction that I had envisioned.  It gives a whole new image to the song “Michael, row your boat ashore,” and it isn’t a pretty picture!  I must admit, all that rowing is wearing me out, and I could see the same in the lives of many of the leaders of this church.  But wouldn’t it be amazing if we let go of those oars and let the wind of God’s Spirit take us where God wants us to go?  That will imply a lifestyle change for us as individuals and as a church.  It will mean that we as a church will need to journey with God in constant prayer and discernment for God’s direction for us.  No longer will we be content to just sit in a class every now and then, to come to worship every now and then, to get our fix and then go home.  It may actually mean that in addition to regular weekly worship, Bible study and small group prayer, that we will spend time daily with our Lord Jesus Christ.  It may mean that we’ll have to let go of some other activities in order to follow Jesus.  It may mean stepping out in faith beyond our comfort zones in order to let God work through us to make a difference in our community.  It will definitely mean that we as a church will need to decide to “Let’s go!” and follow Christ on this journey.  Will you pray about this?  If you have questions about this journey, will you contact me?  God has a preferred future awaiting us, and Jesus is issuing an invitation for us to come and follow.  Will we let go, let God, and will we “Let’s go!”?  Amen.

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[1] Leonard Sweet, cited by Peter Kennedy, “Leaving Nothing Undone” http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/4547.htm.