Don't be afraid to follow Jesus

Luke 5:10-11 Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

These fishermen just had a miraculous catch of fish. They were not afraid to leave it all behind to follow Jesus. They left everything. Everything!

What are you afraid of? That following Jesus will be too costly? That growing in your faith will make you different from everybody else? That allowing Jesus Christ to deepen your understanding will change you too drastically? That following Jesus too closely will mean dark, scary, intimidating places? That we will be asked to deny ourselves and forsake worldly pleasures? That Jesus will tell you to go back out on the water? Perhaps we are tired. Perhaps we are skeptical. Perhaps we want to catch some shut-eye instead. Perhaps we are just plain afraid.

But Jesus is calling. Calling to forsake old, familiar ways for adventures bold and new. To go on roads we’ve never trod to serve, to suffer, to touch and proclaim the reign of God. Sending us on ways where faith transcends timidity. And so we go. We leave everything on the Galilean shore and follow Jesus. We are not all fishermen, we’re not all pastors. We are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, students, workers, bosses, grandparents, friends and neighbors – and off we go. Be as followers of Jesus Christ, we go differently.

We do not go as we went before, but as those who have been caught by Christ; who have been changed by His forgiving Gospel; who have accepted His divine grace; who have been washed in baptismal waters and feasted at His Holy Table. We go differently because we are different.

Peter and his partners were different after that day along the Sea of Galilee. Peter’s last catch was the most impressive one he ever had as a fisherman. But his greatest catch as a fisher of men was preaching from the temple steps that led to the conversion and baptism of 3,000 that Pentecost. These three men became Jesus’ first and dearest disciples. They traveled with Him through the highs and lows, the mountains and valleys. They were eyewitnesses of the glory upon the Mount of Transfiguration and observers of the gore upon Mount Calvary. They were participants at the Lord’s Supper and cowards in the Garden of Gethsemane. They heard the crowds calling “Crucify him!” but also heard the Gospel call, “He is not here! He is risen!”

Left on their own, the disciples would have continued in their ordinary life of fishermen. Left on their own they would have cowered in fear in the locked room hiding from Jesus’ enemies after His crucifixion. But Jesus changed them. Emboldened them. Lit a fire under them, in them, and on their heads. Left on our own, we would be indulging our fears or fulfilling our dreams or protecting our investments. Left on our own, we would be isolated, alone, in the outer darkness of hell. But Jesus came and He has called us to follow Him.

And so we are different. Jesus came for us. He lived a perfect life for our every failure. He suffered and died for our every sin. He rose from the dead for our very salvation. Because of Him, we are different. We are not just fathers and mothers raising our children, but raising His children. We are not just working for ourselves, but providing daily bread for others. While our co-workers and neighbors gossip and worry and swear and sleep around, we are different. We defend our friend’s reputation, trust in God, salt our speech with love and remain faithful to the Lord.

When our child has a drug problem, the world says “Shove him out the door, he’s no good,” we are different. We take that broken child in, nurture, love, rehabilitate and forgive. When our wife has dementia, society coldly says, “Move on.” But we dress her, feed her, change her, and love her more than before. When we have cancer or arthritis or some unknown debilitating ailment, we don’t wake up cursing the world, but praising the Lord that “this is the day He has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

We have been made heirs of salvation in our baptismal grace. We have tasted Christ’s heavenly food at His banquet table. We have experienced divine love and amazing grace. We are fish caught in the Gospel’s net and now we are fishers of men casting out the net. The seeds of the Gospel have been planted in our hearts and now we are bearing the Fruit of the Spirit.

We are living in perilous times. We have savage, militant Islam on the one side and on the other side is hateful rampant secularism. These bitter opposites cannot agree on anything except one thing – the hatred of Christ and those who are His. And we, Christ’s little flock are in the crosshairs. What do we do? Curl up in the fetal position and give up? No! We die with Christ on the cross so we may walk with Him out of the open tomb.

We stand. We fight. We follow Jesus not into a life of ease and comfort but into a life of carrying a cross. We follow Jesus not into peace and safety but follow as bloodied Christian soldiers marching off to war. We travel through the valleys of death and despair so we may enter the green pastures and quiet waters of paradise.

We follow Jesus because there are rewards. We follow Jesus because there are crosses to bear. But we follow mostly because … Jesus invites us to follow. Jesus has offered a change and His mission promises a challenge. Don’t be afraid to give up everything – for in reality we gain everything – as we follow Jesus.