Jesus ups the Ante

¹⁴ After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee,proclaiming the good news of God. ¹⁵ “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

¹⁶ As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ¹⁸ At once they left their nets and followed him.

¹⁹ When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. ²⁰ Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Jesus picks things up where John left off: Preaching the “good news” that God’s kingdom is near. By the way, did you know that the cross and resurrection are NOT the gospel? The kingdom… the reign and authority of God are the gospel. The idea that God is coming to make things right and take charge of his creation… that’s the good news. Atonement is just a vehicle, or one chapter in the story of God coming to reign. So Jesus is saying, “You guys have been suffering under the tyrannical rule of sin and the law. But the dynasty of God is being born in your midst. HIS rule is one of ‘love that will not betray you, dismay or enslave you. It will set you free to be more like the man you were made to be.’” (Thanks Mr. Mumford)

That’s step one. Step two is to surround himself with a few not-so-bright guys who he can disciple. So he calls 4 fishermen and they drop everything to follow Jesus. I’ve heard this was the standard M.O. for lots of rabbis back then. A kid would spend years in Jewish school and then go to work, waiting and hoping a rabbi would come along and pick him up for further training. Apparently these guys had been passed over one time too many. But Jesus sees something in them that others didn’t see. I’m not sure I’d call it “potential” or “teachability”… maybe it’s the mystery of election. Maybe it’s just God’s way, revealing profound things to the “nobodies” that the “somebodies” will never get. Same principle applies today. I know lots and lots of smart, passionate, good people that really struggle to see realities that my simple, uneducated, or irreligious friends understand. I guess Jesus just likes turning stuff inside out.

Another thing Jesus likes to do is up the ante. “Think you know about the law? Let me tell you about the heart. You think murder is bad? Let me tell you about hatred? So you’re against adultery? Let’s talk about lust. So you’re Abraham’s kids huh? Well you’re talking to someone greater than Abraham and you don’t recognize me.”

 He does it here with the 4 fishermen. “Think you know a thing or two about fishing? I’ll show you how to fish for people!” He took what they found mundane and compulsory and turned it into a metaphor for the kingdom. He does that with us too. Suddenly the ordinary becomes extraordinary, the lifeless is endowed with Spirit. That’s how he is. The rigid and inanimate becomes suddenly green and organic in his presence. He takes who we are and what we know and ups the ante.

So how’s God upping the ante in your life? What’s he redeeming, remaking, shifting, and sorting? What’s his big idea for your life? What’s normal stuff is he turning into really cool intentional stuff?

I’ll let you into my own process here by way of example. When I was a kid, I wasn’t a leader. I wasn’t charismatic or popular. I was a dreamer, ultra-sensitive, intense people-pleaser, overactive imagination. I had a couple good friends but nothing like a friend group. When I devoted my life to Jesus (after a summer fling with teenage narcissism) I changed. Over the course of 2 years, I became a charismatic young leader full of passion and wisdom. My mentors and peers were all impressed by the transformation and of course, that was the point. Even though I had an authentic relationship with God, I also had a parallel journey as a serial approval-seeker. So as I’ve gotten closer to 30, I’ve viewed my heart for spiritual leadership with some amount of distrust and disdain. There’s a quiet worry that I’ve sold out for the sake of peoples’ praise and if that’s the case, I’d rather not be a leader, or world-changer, or catalyst. I’d rather just be messy old me.

And of course the way God is redeeming that, the way he’s “upping the ante” on me is by showing me that I can lead as messy old me full of honesty and character flaws and vulnerability…. Not because people praise me for it, but because I love people and because God loves me and because God loves people. I’m not there yet. I’m still pretty vain and pretty insecure. But I think I’m moving that way. And that’s good news because if “ministry” ever becomes inorganic and institutional for me, I’ll burn out quick.

When I was 13 I felt a strange certainty that God was “calling” me to be a missionary in Africa. For the next 10 years, I worked my tail off to hammer out every detail of what that would mean. Suddenly, my calling was this cumbersome thing. Then one day, I married a woman and HER life calling totally messed up all the details of my 10-year plan. Then God said, “hey what if instead of trying to fill in all the blanks you just trusted me that this IS your calling, but that your most immediate calling is to listen and follow me in the ‘little stuff’ day by day, not just in the ‘big stuff’? I’ll fill in the gaps. It’s gonna make sense in the end.” Suddenly the calling felt light again the pressure was lifted.

So today I’m struggling to trust Jesus to make diamonds out of doldrums in my life; to take seemingly flowery and impossible promises (like the promise of people-fishing must have seemed to the disciples) and make them gut-wrenchingly real and practical and genuine.

One more reason that I really like being around Jesus.