Let Go, Let God, and Let’s Go

In Mark 1:16-20, several fishermen received an invitation that changed their lives forever. That invitation came in the form of a call, from a rabbi, a teacher named Jesus, who was just starting out his ministry proclaiming the good news that the kingdom of God was near. One day, Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee. He found four men fishing in the lake and said to them: “Come, follow me.”
What a strange thing for a rabbi to do. For you see, rabbis did not go around making house calls and visiting places of business to invite potential “students” to come follow them. No, it was the eager ones who would approach a rabbi asking for the privilege of studying with him, and the rabbi would say either yes or no. It’s like back when I was in high school, trying to decide where to go to college. The universities and the professors didn’t come to me. No, I had to fill out forms, send my ACT scores and high school transcripts, hoping the college I chose would take me. But sought out Simon and Andrew, and James and John. There is no indication whatsoever that these fishermen had anything special about them that would have caught Jesus’ attention. Those four were just minding their own business when Jesus took the initiative to seek them out and to issue this invitation: “Come, follow me.”
What a strange thing for a rabbi to do. But at first glance, even more strange, even more amazing, was the fact that when Simon and Andrew heard Jesus’ invitation, verse eighteen says, “at once they left their nets and followed him.” There seemed to be no hesitation on their part. They simply let go of their nets, which were their means of livelihood – their “tools” to make a living, and followed Jesus. What Simon and Andrew did immediatel is very intriguing. No one in his right mind would just let go of everything to follow an itinerant teacher, just because he said, “Come, follow me.” Right?
Now we know that Jesus was no ordinary teacher. But, even so, it is hard to imagine how Simon and Andrew could immediately let go of their nets, their only means of of making money, in order to follow Jesus. But that’s not all. In the next verses, Jesus issued the same invitation to James and John, and they not only let go of their nets, but they also left their father Zebedee, left their boat and their hired men to follow Jesus. James and John let go of family ties, let go of possessions and let go of a life of being served in order to answer Jesus’ call. It’s hard for us to imagine letting go of so many things in order to follow Jesus. We are a people who have been told again and again to “grab all we can” and “you can have it all.” We often don’t know what it’s like to let go and give up some things in order to pursue the best path God has for our lives. Maybe that’s why we overextend ourselves in our work, we overextend our credit limits to accumulate more than we need, and we overextend our schedules and our commitments. Sometimes, it is possible to allow our lifestyles, our possessions, and yes, even our families to become our idols. As Christians, our work, our accumulations, our schedules and our families are not bad things in and of themselves, but when we cannot let them go and when they begin to occupy a higher place than following Jesus, then we may be missing out on a life of discipleship that Christ calls us to live.
I don’t know about you, but in my life, I find that when I’m afraid to let go, many times it is because I fear what will happen when I’m no longer in control of my life. Those who know me know that I like to be in control. I like to be in charge. But when Jesus calls to invite us to follow him, He’s basically asking us to hand over the control of our life to Him. The question is, “Am we willing to let go of control and let God be the Lord of our life?” Really this means to let Him be in charge of our lives.
To respond to this invitation to “follow me” meant they had to let go of their current lifestyle and pattern a new lifestyle after that of Jesus. This is still true today. Jesus’ invitation is secondly a call to a continuous journey with Him rather than a single act toward Him: “Follow me.”
Being a follower of Jesus does not mean just saying the “sinner’s prayer” once, just “walking down the aisle” and getting baptized once, and then never reading the Bible, never praying and hardly ever darkening the doors of the church again. In this passage, Mark describes Jesus’ first approach to evangelism, and it is very interesting that in His invitation, Jesus did not say, “Come, and invite me into your hearts so that you might be saved.” Jesus also did not say, “Come, and I will give you eternal life.” No, Jesus’ invitation was, “Come, follow me, I will turn you into people who win friends and influence people!” Jesus’ invitation to his first disciples was a call not to their own individual salvation, but a promise to empower them to serve and bless others! It was an invitation to live a life of significance that would make a positive impact on the world!
Jesus offers us individual salvation and eternal life - but not just for our own sake.
Who among us does not want to live a life of significance? Who among us does not want to live a life of influence that points others to God? Who among us does not want to live a life that will make a lasting, positive impact that carries on long after we’re gone? The truth of the matter is, God has bigger plans for us than we could ever dream about. But in order for God’s plans to come into fruition, we must be willing to let go of the nets in our lives and let God have control over our lives.
The world’s a better place because throughout history, there have been people who were able to let go and let God.
What if,
Noah said “I don’t do arks and animals.”
Moses said, “I don’t do Pharaohs or mass exoduses.”
David said, “I don’t do giants.”
Mary said, “I don’t do virgin births.”
Paul said “I don’t do letters.”
AND what if Jesus had said, “I don’t do crosses.”
This list reads like a Hall of Fame of the heroes of faith. Some of you might think: “There’s no way that I can attain that level.” But Jesus is not calling you to be the next Moses or David or Mary. Jesus only calls us to be the very best we can be. And the Good News is that Jesus never calls us to a place where He hasn’t been before. Jesus knows what it was like to let go of the status, prestige, and power that was rightly His. In Philippians, Paul tells the readers of his letter that: “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross”. Philippians 2:5-8 NLT
Jesus also knew what it was like to let God be in control of His life. At the Garden of Gethsemane, on the night when he was betrayed, Jesus prayed “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Mark 14:36). And when Jesus was hanging on the cross, bearing the sins of the world, Luke records Jesus calling out with a loud voice, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” (Luke 23:46). Jesus never calls us to a place where He hasn’t been before.
Okay, so far we’ve seen we need to let go and let God. Many of have seen bumper stickers or church signs with this on them. But that’s not all. For if we were to do just those two things, we might be tempted to sit back passively, letting go of everything and letting God do everything. There is one final thing. In response to Jesus’ invitation, Simon and Andrew, James and John, not only let go and let God, but at the end of this passage, Mark tells us that they basically said, “Let’s go!” and they followed Jesus on a journey of faith.
Can we as a class, as a church - let go, let God and say, “Let’s go!” on a journey of faith with God in the coming months?
A lot of churches today have a “rowing ministry.” This is where the congregation places its ministry “boat” in the water and plots its own course. Taking a firm grip their oars, the congregation then rows in their preffered direction without ever looking to change courses – no matter the direction of the wind, the turbulence of the water, or who gets in or out of the boat. This congregation is living by its own agenda, not God’s. God calls churches and individuals to put down their oars, to let go of them, and hoist up the sails and put them in the path of the wind, the wind of God’s Spirit. Then and only then will the church find God, discover her calling and be able to move toward God’s vision and preferred future.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we let go of our oars and let the wind of God’s Spirit take us where God wants us to go?