Life is full of choices.
Each and everyday we are confronted with choices.
Some are mundane and not all
that important in the grand scheme of things. Like when I get my hair cut at
Cost Cutters and I have to choose exactly how I want them to do it. No
sideburns because that’s where all the grey is, and a 1 guard on the sides
with a 2 on top.
Other choices in life are huge and monumental. Do any of you read the comic
strip Zits? If you don’t, I
heartily recommend it. Zits
is about a teen age boy named Jeremy and is about the funniest comic strip out
there, because it is so close to being about my teenager, and all teenagers.
Anyway, a few months ago
Jeremy did something really dumb. He took his parents car out one night and
drove sixty times around the cul de sac where his new girlfriend lives. He got
caught by the Police and so his dad had to get out of bed to pick him up from
the station.
The next comic strip shows Jeremy mulling over the various things he should
say to his parents like:
--I’m sorry
--It won’t happen again
--I’ll make it up to you
--I’ve learned my lesson
--I admit my mistake.
But instead Jeremy decides
to say, “I’m a product of my environment.” The last frame shows Jeremy
in the midst of his parent’s fury, thinking to himself, “If making bad
choices was an Olympic event, I’d be on a Wheaties box.”
Today’s text is about
choices. It tells us that a life of discipleship, a life devoted to following
Jesus, is one made up of choices.
The first story is of Simon
and Andrew. They are fishing along the shores of the lake and they’re
casting their nets into the water when Jesus walks by and says, “Follow me,
and I will make you fish for people.” Matthew – always fond of the word
“immediately” – uses it here saying, “Immediately they left their nets
and followed him.”
The second story follows and
it is of James and his brother John, who are in a boat with their father
Zebedee. These guys are mending their nets when Jesus comes along and calls
out to them too. Once again, Matthew writes, “Immediately, they left the
boat and their father, and followed him.”
What makes these two stories
from Matthew so interesting is that there is no sense that any of these four
guys had run into Jesus previously. They are simply guys who are minding their
own business, going about the tasks of their everyday jobs, when Jesus happens
to walk by.
In spite of having evidently
no prior contact with Jesus, their response to his call is sudden and
immediate. Andrew and Simon drop their nets. James and John get out of the
boat. All four of them leave everything behind in order to follow Jesus.
I imagine that Zebeddee is
left sitting there in that boat, his jaw dropped open, thinking, “Hey man,
thanks a lot! You just took my two best helpers. This sure isn’t gonna be
very good for my business.”
Now we could sit around and
make all sorts of guesses about what compels these four guys to follow Jesus.
Had they in fact met him before? Had they heard about him? Was Jesus such a
force of personality that they couldn’t say no to him?
We could speculate for hours
on that, but Matthew doesn’t give us a whole lot of information to go on.
The reason I think he doesn’t give that to us is because he wants to stress
that when it comes to a life of faith or discipleship, when it comes to
following Jesus, Jesus is the one who first chooses us.
You see, in Matthew’s day,
it was evidently very common for students to seek out a master and to choose
who they would learn from and follow. But these guys weren’t out searching
for a teacher.
They were just going about
the ordinary business of living their everyday lives, trying to make ends
meet, doing what they knew best, trying to catch some fish.
Matthew stresses that Jesus
is different: His disciples do not choose him. Instead, Jesus goes to find
them; Jesus chooses them to be his followers. Matthew stresses that our faith
is rooted in the reality that is captured in John 15:16,
“You
did not choose me, but I choose you and appointed you that you should go bear
fruit and that your fruit should abide.”
Now, having said all that,
there is still a choice to be made. Andrew and Simon choose to drop their
nets. James and John choose to get out of the boat. All four of them decide
immediately to drop what they were doing, to walk away from their old lives
toward a new life of following Jesus.
And so it is with us. There
are choices to be made in our life of discipleship to Jesus. Each and every
day we encounter choices that either mark us as disciples of Jesus Christ or
as people who decide instead to go another way.
Each of us faces choices
about the things we will do and the things we will not do as Jesus’
disciples. We all face choices about the things we are willing to give up or
not give up in order to follow him.
As people of faith - the
important thing is that we make those choices in the light of the knowledge
that Jesus was the one who first chose us. That we remember we love God
because God first loved us. We give of ourselves freely to God and in love to
others because God first gave freely to us.
Far and away my favorite
musical is Les Miserables. Les
Miserables is a book and a play that is all about choices.
Les Mis, as it is commonly
known, is the story of Jean Valjean, an honest man facing tough times, who
decides to steal a loaf of bread to feed his family.
Valjean is captured and
sentenced to five years in prison, a harsh sentence for the small crime of
stealing bread. While in prison he tries to escape four different times and as
a result ends up doing nineteen years of hard labor.
When he finally gets out, he
is on parole and has become a hardened and bitter man. He has problems finding
a job and a place to stay, until a bishop shows him some kindness and
compassion letting him stay in his home.
Nineteen years of treatment
as a condemned man and a criminal has made Valjean feel and act like one and
so he steals the Bishop’s silverware.
After he is captured and
returned to the Bishop, the Bishop does not condemn him or press charges.
Instead he tells the police that he gave him the silverware and he should have
taken the two silver candlesticks as well.
Valjean is stunned by this
totally unexpected act of kindess and generosity, but he again ends up doing
what he feels he has to do in order to survive. He steals a coin from a young
chimney sweep who happens to pass by. This
stealing of a coin is a tremendously important piece of the story that the
musical doesn’t tell.
Why is it important?
Because after the bishop’s kindness, when Valjean steals from the
chimney sweep he recognizes the difference between his own actions and the
compassion and kindness that the Bishop had shown toward him. And, at that
point he realizes he has a definite choice to make:
He can continue on the path
of petty crime and self destruction he is on, or he can choose to make a fresh
start and follow the example set for him by the bishop.
He can continue to view
others as potential victims as he fights for survival, or he can choose to
live by compassion and understanding, offering help to others in the same way
he received help from the Bishop.
Now, we all know that Les
Mis wouldn’t be such a beloved story if Valjean had not chosen to live life
differently in light of the kindness shown to him by the bishop. It wouldn’t
be such an inspiring story if he hadn’t decided to become a new person in
light of the compassion shown to him by the man of the cloth.
And, in the same manner, the
disciple’s story wouldn’t be such a beloved one if they hadn’t chosen to
follow Jesus and to live different lives in the light of having been chosen by
him. Their story wouldn’t be worthy of retelling over and over again if they
had not decided to drop everything to follow him.
As it was for them, it is
the same for us. Will the story of your life be an inspiring one? Will it be a
story that stands out and that others will want to retell and will cherish for
years to come?
Will you strive to live your
life differently making choices in the light of the choice that God has made
in you? Will you – a chosen follower of Jesus Christ – make wise,
courageous, inspiring, and spirit-led choices based on the love and grace of
God?
The first choice was
God’s, but really the rest of the choices are up to you.
A [2006]
medical study reveals just how difficult change is for people. Roughly 600,000
people have heart bypasses a year in
America
. These people are told after their bypasses that they must change their
lifestyle. The heart bypass is a temporary fix. They must change their diet.
They must quit smoking and drinking. They must exercise and reduce stress.
In essence,
the doctors say, "Change or die."
You would
think that a near-death experience would forever grab the attention of the
patients. You would think they would vote for change. You would think the
argument for change is so compelling that the patients would make the
appropriate lifestyle alterations. Sadly that is not the case.
Ninety percent
of the heart patients do not change. They remain the same, living the status
quo. Study after study indicates that two years after heart surgery, the
patients have not altered their behavior. Instead of making changes for life,
they choose death.
Change is that
difficult. The majority of the heart patients choose not to change. They act
as if they would rather die.
And they will
die, if they don’t change, and change is only effected by gratitude.
Sally Englehart was a registered nurse before being called to ordained
ministry. Effected by many
patients, she is still awed by one particular case of gratitude.
A few years ago, she wrote the following:
“I
worked as a registered nurse for about ten years before my life took a
different direction. One of my earliest patients was a young girl of about 14
who had been in a dirt bike accident. I met this young girl down in the
physical therapy department. She was in a whirlpool bath. I had read her chart
before I went down to work with her and had learned that as a result of the
accident, her leg had been amputated below the knee.
“I
couldn't imagine what it must be like to be a 14-year-old girl with part of
your leg missing. I introduced myself, and we made some small talk. Through
the course of our time together, I learned that she was a follower of Christ,
although she really didn't say much about that.
I
was not prepared for her spirit, however, especially when she lifted her
freshly amputated leg up above the bubbling water for me to see and said,
"Look at how much I have left!"
She
excitedly told me that since the doctors were able to amputate below the knee,
it was much easier to fit a prosthesis. She wondered how long it would take to
heal so that she could get started with that. I heard most of what she was
saying, but I wasn't really paying much attention. My mind was fixed back on
the "look how much I have left!" Her gratitude seemed really
genuine. It wasn't denial or a Pollyanna mentality. She knew she was missing a
good part of her leg, and she wouldn't have chosen that. But she was so very
thankful for this bit of good news. Her spirit made my spirit soar that day.
And I had two good legs.
Hebrews
12:28 says, "Therefore, since we
are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so
worship God." Our gratitude, our thankfulness, is a way in which we
worship God. We can sing, and that is worship. We can say thank you, and that
is worship. And that day in the hospital, the gratitude of a 14-year-old girl
moved me.”
You have
been chosen, you did not choose, in the beginning.
But the rest of the choices are ours.
God willing, we choose well.
Will
you pray with me now?