Forsaking All to Follow

"So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him."

Luke 5:11

No matter how much study or effort goes into the process of preaching, there are countless ways to improve.  There are things I wish I had said which I neglected, topics or passages I wish I had handled differently, or words after saying them in retrospect I would have left unsaid.  After preaching it is a mixture of feeling blessed to learn from God and share from His Word coupled with the knowledge I didn't quite nail it.  Yesterday I taught on the first part of Luke 5 and afterwards was a bit disappointed I didn't expound this verse just a bit more.  Praise the LORD He is a Redeemer and the One who gives understanding of His Word so even man's poor attempts can be fruitful and practical.

After Jesus caused Simon and his partners to haul in a miraculous catch of fish, upon reaching the shore they "forsook all and followed Him."  This meant they left their boats, the fish they had caught, their nets, their families, and homes to follow Jesus.  Since Jesus was their LORD they were completely at His service.  The point I wished I had emphasised was because Jesus is LORD they could be assured their families would be cared and provided for should Jesus lead them away from home.  Following Jesus meant Peter leaving his wife and mother-in-law (perhaps some children as well) and James and John are described as leaving their father in the boat with the servants.

There would be a heavy personal cost to follow Jesus for Simon Peter, but he was not required to sin in divorcing his wife to follow Christ.  He was not required to spend all his money on "the ministry" to the neglect of his own family.  Jesus would lead Peter to places and to people which were outside his comfort zone, but Jesus would not lead Peter to shirk his responsibilities at home.  Just like the fruitfulness of Peter's fishing efforts were directly related to the guidance of Jesus being the captain of his ship, so Peter could trust Jesus to lead him in a godly and good way--even when it meant time away from home.  Separation from family and friends is a hard thing Jesus sometimes asks us to do and we can trust Him to supply the needs of a marriage, friendship, and family.

It is important for us to examine our motives and ensure we are actually following Jesus in our ministering, not just assuming He is in our boat when we left Him on the shore weeks ago.  There are seasons of life; there are seasons of ministry.  Doing things because we have always done them (or at one time felt led to do them) is not a good enough reason to keep doing them.  God is faithful, and may we also be faithful to forsake all our plans and ambitions so we might follow Him in His way.  Those who are married ought not to seek to be loosed, and those who are unmarried ought not be preoccupied to "settle down" in marriage.  Whether married or unmarried, whether our parents are elderly, our children are young, or the family business is booming, let us choose to follow Jesus.  He will always guide us in the right way and make our efforts in obedience to Him fruitful.

Praise God with Understanding

Over lunch yesterday I shared an engaging conversation about the nature and character of God.  It struck me that no matter how abundant the evidence or plain the facts, at some point faith is required.  God is eternal and infinite in love, wisdom, grace, and goodness.  We humans are finite, locked within time, and our perspective is shockingly limited.  In reaching for better understanding of God and how He operates (who does not share our thoughts, nor are His ways like ours) we cobble together examples which are woefully inadequate using words which cannot do justice to God's reality.  At a funeral or memorial service it is impossible to convey the impact of a single life of a brief span of time:  how can we explain eternity or He who inhabits it?

Because God has graciously revealed Himself through the Word and the person of Jesus Christ we can know Who we worship.  But let us not make the mistake that God is like us any more than a created thing resembles the maker.  He formed Adam from the dust of the ground yet God always has been!  Inventors design and manufacture tools and machines for particular purposes.  A mobile phone looks and behaves nothing like those who designed it, operating on electricity rather than being a living, breathing, thinking person.  A mop bucket, automobile, shoe, or building bear no resemblance to those who engineered or utilise them.  God confronted presumptuous people who assumed He was like them in Psalm 50:19-21:  "You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit. ²⁰ You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son. ²¹ These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes."

It is good to recognise God is someone completely foreign and beyond this world.  This proves difficult when we use familiar allusions like saying "God the Father."  God is a Spirit and does not have a body, but when I think of our heavenly Father and a throne I logically envision something rather based on human anatomy with facial features obscured with white light.  Because God is completely beyond human form, this concrete frame of reference is the best we can do because we live in a concrete, physical world.  This world, relationships, and created living and non-living things can only hint at the order, glory, love, and wisdom of God.  The heavens declare the glory of God but they are not god nor is any created thing worthy of worship.

We cannot comprehend or appreciate the size (big or small) of all God has created, yet by faith we can worship and praise the One God who has created all.  Just like fuel for vehicles and battery power for tools or phones runs out, so our understanding has limitations and an end.  There are things we will never fully understand but we are enabled and called to worship God according to our level of understanding.  It would be silly to allow what we cannot know erode our faith in what and Who we do know.  I do not understand how bones form in the womb of a mother, but I know they can and do.  We are all walking miracles by the grace of God, the One we celebrate and worship with thanksgiving.  As our knowledge of God grows like a baby in the womb, may our praise and gratefulness increase for eternity.  God is nothing like us, but He has loved us enough to become one of us to save, transform, and redeem us forever.

The Redeemer's Voice

Psalm 77 by Asaph is a great example that in our distress it is good to remember who God is and all He has done.  We easily forget to relate God's awesome deeds in times past to our current situation.  Because God is faithful the provision, protection, and help in the past enables us to trust Him in the present.  Perhaps we can't predict how or when God will do His wonders, but He will.

Asaph wrote in Psalm 77:11-15, "I will remember the works of the LORD; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. ¹² I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds. ¹³ Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God? ¹⁴ You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples. ¹⁵ You have with Your arm redeemed Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah"  Instead of racking his brain to figure out how he could change his circumstances for the better, Asaph meditated on all the times God delivered His people in the past.  He compared the ways of God to powerless idols and fatally flawed mythological gods, and with the true God there was found no equal or real comparison.  Who is a great redeemer like the God of Israel, a Saviour who does miraculous wonders?

Asaph continued in Psalm 77:16-20:  "The waters saw You, O God; the waters saw You, they were afraid; the depths also trembled. ¹⁷ The clouds poured out water; the skies sent out a sound; Your arrows also flashed about. ¹⁸ The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; the lightnings lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook. ¹⁹ Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters, and Your footsteps were not known. ²⁰ You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron."  If you have ever been outside in a powerful lightning storm or rattled by a strong earthquake, these natural events can be harrowing and strike fear into the most courageous hearts.  Before the presence of the Almighty it was the water, wind, lightning, thunder, and earth which trembled with fear.  When a way of escape and deliverance from the pursuing army was impossible God was the Way, leading His redeemed people through the Red Sea.

The last verse provides a surprising shift from the verses previous:  the great God which defeats enemies, delivers from death, and causes the elements to tremble with reverence, is a gentle Good Shepherd towards His chosen people.  The earth rightly trembles before its Creator, the One who reaches down as a loving father who takes the hand of his frightened child and says with a smile, "Don't be afraid!  Here I am, and I won't leave of forsake you."  Isn't it amazing the God whose voice is like thunder speaks in a soft and still voice which calms troubled souls who trust Him?  God continues to deliver, lead, and save His redeemed as He always has.

Rejoicing in the LORD Always

A hit song by Bobby McFerrin in the 80's repeated the phrase, "Don't worry, be happy!"  Perhaps the sentiment could be equated with the Aussie standby "No worries" or Disney's "Hakuna Matata" from the Lion King movie.  It suggests a change of mind and focus, that instead of fretting over circumstances out of our control we simply choose happiness instead.  While we can agree worrying can't change our situation, the pursuit of happy feelings is often futile.  The idea worrying and happiness cannot co-exist to some degree is unfounded, for the happiest people endure worrying times.

I am reminded of an approach different to the McFerrin's lyrics by Paul's words in the book of Philippians.  This letter was written from prison where he had been wrongfully arrested and imprisoned for years and said in Philippians 4:4:  "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" Rejoicing in the LORD is very different from being "happy."  Happiness often depends on what happens, but regardless of the circumstances of life we always have great cause to rejoice in the LORD.  God is worthy of all honour, glory, and praise, the sovereign KING over all for eternity who loves us!  A fruit of the Spirit is joy, so not only is God worthy of being perpetually celebrated but supplies fullness of joy to our lives.  God works in us to both will and do His good pleasure, and Paul directs us to rejoice in the LORD always.

Jesus modeled and taught His followers that instead of worrying we ought to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all we need will be added to us.  It feels good to be happy when it lasts, but the huge pitfall of seeking happiness is it is self-focused.  Solomon used his great wealth and power to pursue happiness and fulfillment but he ended up empty.  It is ironic narcissistic people who seek happiness tend to be overwhelmingly dissatisfied.  Paul clues all in on a key to overcoming worry in Philippians 4:6-8:  "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. ⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things."

The one who rejoices in God always is to pray to God instead of worrying.  The focus is to be on God, not the situation or even how bad we feel.  There is one startling omission from what we might expect in verse 8:  there is not one mention of self.  None of us can rise to the standard God has set concerning truth, nobility, or being absolutely just, pure, lovely, good, virtuous, or praiseworthy.  Rejoicing in God, praying to God, thinking about God, that is the place we who naturally worry discover enduring peace and security.