THREE AMAZING WORDS

I could be writing this email devotional about the words "I love you," but I'm not. (Although those are three amazing words.)

I could be writing this email devotional about the words "I am sorry," but I'm not. (Although those are three amazing words.)

I'm struck today by the words Jesus speaks to the fishermen working along the edge of the Sea of Galilee in Matthew 4:19 (Common English Bible): "Come, follow me."

I keep noticing what Jesus doesn't say. Jesus doesn't say, "Come, let's sit and talk about God and theological mysteries." Jesus doesn't say, "Come, you tell me what you want from God, and I'll do what I can to meet your needs." Jesus doesn't say, "Come, let's build a building." Jesus doesn't even say, "Come and believe."

Jesus says, "Come, follow me."

Which means so very much!

When Jesus says, "Come, follow me" it tells us that to be on this adventure with the Nazarene will involve moving. It's a journey. If you're going to be on this adventure with God, then you're going to need to get up and move. Things are going to shift. The invitation isn't to hold onto where we are, comfortable and settled, but it is to pick up and move.

Which means change.

Which means being open to new places and people and truths and ways.

Which means sorting and packing.

Which means deciding there are some things you need to discard or leave behind.

Which means deciding there are some treasures we need to pack carefully and take with us.

To hang out with the Nazarene means to move and change and see and adjust and discover.

To be a Christian is to live focused on the life and teachings of Jesus. To be on the journey is to walk with the crucified and risen Lord. Not in a dogmatic, close-minded, judgmental way, but in an open, loving, courageous, faithful way.

Sometimes we forget the journey, the community we have, is all about the Nazarene. But Jesus won't let us forget. "Come, follow me," he says. He doesn't call us to follow a brand of political thought and cultural trends. He doesn't call us to give ourselves to a plot of ground or a building, or to offer our deepest devotion to a small group of insiders or a dynamic and persuasive personality/leader. "Follow me." We're tempted to forget that.

Years ago Will Campbell, a whiskey-drinking Southern Baptist preacher who worked with the KKK along with the NAACP, Black Panthers and other groups down South, was visiting Duke Chapel as a preacher. He and the university chaplain, Will Willimon, were walking down a path through the pine trees that surround the massive Gothic cathedral that is Duke Chapel. The spires tower above the trees. Will stopped, leaned back, studied the magnificent building, shook his head, and said, "It's worth remembering that all of this was begun by an itinerant carpenter who had no place to lay his head."

"Come, follow me," the Carpenter says to us.

Oh, and I want you to notice one last thing. You can't miss this. When Jesus invites ordinary men and women to follow him, he gives them a job: "I'll show you how to fish for people." Amazing! He doesn't say, "Follow me and I'll give you want you want, do what you want, and keep you happy." Jesus tells his would-be disciples right from the beginning that he is calling them to something bigger than their own needs, wants, fears, and desires.

Three amazing words: "Come, follow me."

Do you think we've heard them, yet?

   

In Christ and for Christ,

Mark Fenstermacher