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.
Before you can ascend the mountain you have to leave the boat.
Soon enough you will be up on the mountain hearing Jesus’ commands. Then you will begin to know what is being asked of you— how you are being called to live. The truth of discipleship is that we don’t get the fine print up front. We aren’t told all it will mean, what it will cost, before being asked to make the leap of faith. The leap comes first. You have to leave the boat... Splash through the water... Meet your Lord upon the shore.
I have a prayer exercise I like to do. It’s my own private way of connecting to God but I’m going to share it with you… I like to close my eyes and imagine I’m on a dock. I slowly breathe in and out as, plank by plank, I walk toward the boat at the end of the dock. Then I get in. I look behind me. There on the shore are all the people in my life with all their cares, their worries, and concerns. On the shore I can see all my responsibilities and anxieties. I watch them get smaller and smaller as my boat drifts further and further away from the shore. Now they’ve disappeared and I turn toward the person in the boat with me. It’s Jesus. I can’t see his face because of the bright sunlight but I know it’s him. I tell him my worries and concerns and listen as he speaks to me. When I’m in that boat, I feel safe and taken care of. Heard and loved. But the time always comes when I must go back to the shore. And so I watch as breath by breath, wave by wave, my boat floats closer toward the dock. Then I say the Lord’s prayer and open my eyes.
This imaginative prayer has meant so much to me through the years. I love going to that boat with Jesus in the morning and spending time with him. I like to do it right after my Bible and coffee time, before work starts in earnest. But work always begins when I leave the boat. We can’t stay on the boat. No matter how peaceful and comfortable.
Discipleship always calls us out of our place of comfort and onto the shore. Discipleship is not an act of retreating from the world. It is an act of engagement.
“Come follow me,” Jesus calls out to us, “And I will send you out to fish for people.” The call to follow Jesus is a call to concern yourself with other people. Like our teacher who routinely went to the wilderness to pray and then came back to heal the multitudes, we are called to find in our own lives the balance of retreat and engagement. We are called to rest in the safety of the boat with Jesus, so that we can then take him with us into the villages and towns. But make no mistake, you cannot follow Jesus and not engage with others.
Following Jesus is not a private act. It is not something you do with your free time— a walled off area of your life you enter and leave at your own choosing. Jesus is not content to be a hobby; he wants to be our way, our truth, and our life… all of it. We must drop everything and go where Jesus sends us and where Jesus sends us is always to other people. Flawed, wretched, unholy people.
It is good to retreat into our prayers. I take great comfort in knowing the boat is waiting on me. But the Way of the Disciple is out in the world. Discipleship is about relationship. Relationship with Jesus and relationship with others. It’s loving God with heart strength, soul, and mind but it’s also loving our neighbor as ourselves. In a few days, you will ascend the mountain to learn what this love looks like. Jesus will show you what it means to love your God and your neighbor. It is a narrow path that few find but it is also a house built upon unshakable ground. This journey up the mountain will be an arduous one. It will confront all our weaknesses. It will test our resolve. Some may decide it is too much and turn away.
But before you can ascend the mountain you have to leave the boat.
The Galilean Rabbi is looking at you from the shore with the magnetic gaze of love and he is saying, “Come follow me, and I will send you to fish for people…” Your heart leaps for joy at the prospect but you also fear the unknown. There is so much you need explained. Perhaps he could shout the Sermon on the Mount from where he’s at and THEN you could decide. But that’s not how it works. You must surrender first and then learn just what it is you’ve surrendered. What’s it going to be? The leap comes first.
Father, Lead us from the safety of our boats out onto the shore where you have called us to show your love for others. Begin to give us the heart of a disciple. Make us people who love the God of love and love the ones he loves. Amen.
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