Luke tells a different version of Jesus calling his first disciples than Matthew and Mark do. In Luke, Jesus has been to Simon's house prior to this. Apparently Simon "knew" Jesus but didn't quite realize who he was. But when he does, Jesus calls him.Luke 5:1-11
Joining the Parade
I suspect that many of you have a picture in your mind of Jesus calling his first disciples. I know that I do. In my picture Jesus begins to teach, to proclaim God’s coming kingdom right after he is baptized and then tempted in the wilderness. As he travels along the shoreline of the
In this picture there is simply something about Jesus and his invitation that draws these fishermen from their old life to a new one. It is incredibly dramatic. One minute they are making a living by fishing. The next minute, a stranger speaks to them and they are forever changed. And I think this picture has had a significant impact on the idea of evangelism as a dramatic event where one meets Jesus for the first time and is changed forever.
My picture of Jesus calling his first disciples comes straight out of Matthew and Mark’s gospels. But today we heard a very different story from Luke. Over the years Christians have often tried to harmonize these stories, but I think that misses the point. The gospel writers were often less concerned with telling precise history and more concerned with making a point. Luke writes for a different audience and paints a very different picture than Matthew and Mark, one that may actually have more contact with some of our lives.
To see Luke’s picture, we need to step back a bit and glimpse the entire canvas. As with Mark and Matthew, Jesus has been baptized and tempted in the wilderness. But then he has begun his ministry, taught in his home synagogue at
In Luke’s picture, Simon already knows about Jesus, has already met him as he finishes a long night’s work with nothing to show for it. But then Jesus asks to borrow his boat. Surely Simon is tired and wanted to say, “No.” But after all, Jesus had cured his mother-in-law.
Luke seems uninterested in what Jesus taught the crowds who gather on the shore. He skips over that, moving quickly to where Jesus tells Simon to put out into deep water. Once again, Simon would rather not, but he obeys this remarkable rabbi. In an instant there are more fish than anyone has ever seen before. And suddenly, Simon is frightened by Jesus. Suddenly Simon wants to be far away from Jesus. Simon has met Jesus before and knows about his ministry, but all of a sudden Simon senses that he is in the terrifying presence of God. Simon, a rough, uneducated, hard living and swearing, dirty and sweaty fisherman, finds himself where ritually purified priests fear to tread, and all he wants to do is escape. “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
I feel safe in saying that there is no one here today who has never heard of Jesus. Fact is, it is pretty near impossible to grow up in the
Now obviously people come to a lot of different conclusions about Jesus based on what they’ve heard and know. For some Jesus is an ethical teacher without parallel. For others he is some sort of divine magic trick that gets them into heaven when they die. For still others he’s a miracle worker. He’s known by all sorts of names and labels: Prince of Peace, Savior, Lamb of God, Son of God.
To one degree or another, most all of us know Jesus, perhaps a lot like Simon knew Jesus before that fateful day in the boat. Most of us have bumped into Jesus here and there, but more often than not he stays pretty far away from our everyday lives.
If we take Luke’s picture of Jesus calling the disciples as any sort of guide, it seems that we can be familiar with Jesus, that we can know Jesus and our lives still go on as they always have. But if we meet Jesus like Simon did, encounter in him the fullness of God with the power to transform; if he becomes real enough that we’re not sure we want him standing right next to us, then life may very well never be the same again.
It’s easy enough to like Jesus, to be a fan of Jesus. It’s like being a fan of anything else. On facebook, the online social networking site, you can become a fan of all sorts of groups, people, and causes simply by clicking on the onscreen button. I’m a fan of a number of causes, a few musicians, a magazine or two, and I’m even a fan of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. But it doesn’t mean much. I don’t necessarily send any money to the causes, or go to the musician’s concerts, and I can’t remember the last time I bought a Krispy Kreme Doughnut.
More often than not, being a fan is about being a spectator, and that asks not a bit more of me than I feel like giving. Sometimes my relationship with Jesus is a lot like that. But when you run into the awesome, holy presence of God, that’s something else altogether. It’s dangerous, and people almost always come away from such encounters changed.
The crowds that listen to Jesus from the shore liked him, were even enthralled by him. But most of them went home the very same people they were before. Not Simon. Simon may have been a fan before, but suddenly things changed. Simon’s first instinct was to flee. Getting too close to God is dangerous. Simon knew those stories from the Old Testament. Whenever God shows up something happens, and it is never something the person wants. And Simon is right. Jesus tells Simon that from now on he’ll be catching people, and Simon’s life is never the same again. He’s a disciple now. His days as a spectator are over. And I’m reasonably certain that Jesus wants to say the same thing to us that he says to Simon. Jesus isn’t looking for fans or spectators. Jesus calls disciples.
In his new book, Donald Miller tells the story of a rather odd family from
One of the children suggested holding a parade. This being much cheaper than an earlier suggestion to buy a pony, Bob quickly endorsed the idea. They began to think about costumes and getting some balloons. The parents planned a cookout in the backyard afterward and the kids started to invite their friend and neighbors to watch.
But then Bob thought how it is much better to be in a parade than to watch one. And so he quickly made a rule. No one would be allowed to watch the parade, but anyone could march in it. A few neighbors agreed and so the first parade was held. As they marched down the street the few spectators were converted into marchers and at the end a dozen or more folks enjoyed the cookout.
Ten years later, the parade has hundreds of participants. People who have moved away fly back to take part, planning vacations around the event. At the most recent, they invited the neighborhood mail man to be the grand marshal, and he showed up in full uniform, leading the parade by tossing envelopes up into the air. Behind him were hundreds of people wearing costumes, carrying banners and flags, and not a soul was sitting on the curb. After all, no one is allowed to watch. There are no spectators at this parade.[1]
[1] Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years (
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