Follow Me

Transcript is AI-generated and may not be 100% accurate.

Well, welcome everyone. It's fun to be here on what our team decided is one Sunday a month. We want this to be a kid-involved service because you guys are important to us. But it's good to be with you tonight. Hey, Friday night, I was at a wedding, actually, it was someone who's been long part of this community, Tyler, and he started bringing Autumn around and Steve and I had a chance to be at their wedding. It was beautiful and holy and Tyler found his person! It struck me during it how crazy it is when you think about it, that there's a moment and sometimes that's right away for people, right? And sometimes it takes a little longer. But when you realize this is the one, you make the decision that this is the one, this is the one I'm gonna marry, do life with. Even though you don't exactly know what's gonna happen next week, let alone in 20 years, but you make that decision that this is the one. 

And I think it's so crazy because a bigger part of that is that there's something bigger going on, something beyond the couple. And I think it's this holy, sacred space. It's a space where we experience the spirit nudging, the divine, connecting with the divine. And you just know the rightness and that this is the one. And I think in a way, we could call those follow me moments. And I don't know what kind of follow me moments you guys have had throughout your life because I guarantee you, every single one of us has had them and continue to have them. And sometimes they're small, just in the day to day. And sometimes they're really big. 

But I was thinking back when I was a little girl, Grace and Lily, I bet I was just around your age and I was laying outside in the backyard in our home in Arlington Heights. I was looking at a sky just like that. And I had my eyes shut and I was laying back like this. And all of a sudden I opened my eyes and out of the blue, I had this deep sense that something was bigger than me. That there was something really good in the world. And I was moved. And it was a follow me moment and a moment that changed who I was just a little bit. 'cause I think that's what happens. We change and we grow as we're on this journey of becoming. And so tonight that's, we're gonna, we're gonna talk about follow me moments. 

So we're in the book of Mark. Matt laid that out for us a couple weeks ago. And we're gonna be in the book of Mark for a whole year, you guys. Now that feels a little crazy, but I'll tell you more about that in a second. So Mark, most scholars agree, Mark was a disciple of Peter. He wasn’t an eye witness to Jesus, but he took down everything that Peter said and he wrote it. And he was the first gospel writer, even though it's Matthew, mark, Luke, and John. Mark is the one who wrote the first gospel. And they think that Matthew and Luke, um, probably used a lot of his stuff, is they unfolded the story of Jesus. And when we talk about the gospels, we talk about the story of Jesus, who Jesus was, his life, his ministry, all those things. 

But here's how we're gonna spend an entire year in the Book of Mark. So here's our Bible, right? We have the Hebrew scriptures and then what we call the New Testament, those first four books being the gospels. And look at this, you guys, Jack, look at this. Here's Mark. And you're thinking, “How are we gonna spend a whole year in the book of mark?” I'll tell you how. Thanks to our good friend Bill Wright, he sent Matt and I gifted Matt and I each just this slim commentary. Thanks Bill. It's awesome. But trust me, I hope we can get through the book of Mark in nine months. Because there's a lot to know about this, when we look at the Bible and we look about who wrote it and who they wrote it to and the cotext and the context and, even just the translation from the original language. It's amazing. But that's what we're gonna do We're gonna be in the book of Mark doing all that good work. 

And tonight we're in Mark 1:14-20. And Jack Keller's gonna come up and he's gonna read that passage for us. [Jack reads:]  “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” 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. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.”

Awesome. Thanks Jack. That Was great. Well, this is a story. A lot of us know Jesus calling these fishermen to follow Him. But I think sometimes we don't pause long enough and realize what a crazy story this is. I mean, Jesus walks up to Simon and Andrew and he says, “Follow me.” And then he walks up and he walks up to John and he walks up to James. And he says, “Follow me.” And without any conversation that's recorded, any thought of, hey, where are we going, how long we're gonna be, what's necessary here to move forward, they just drop everything right? They drop their nets, they get out of the boat, they leave behind a father and they just follow Jesus. I mean, that's a pretty amazing thing. They had no idea what was ahead, but there must have been a rightness, a sense of something good here that nudged them to just step into that and follow Jesus. 

I think one of the things I was thinking about is that maybe sometimes we're a little narrow in the way we view this story, that it becomes a little restrictive. Because when we're thinking about these words of Jesus—follow me—we often connect them to just religious things or things having to do with church or a particular way that a life looks. And I think sometimes Jesus's words, they often become too much about exclusivity and a certain kind of life—instead of inclusivity and something that's applicable to all lives. What if the follow me in Jesus's invitation was more about us each stepping into the fullness of life, our true authentic self, our real self? Because maybe every time we step out in a way that our life seems to fit just right and that our words and decisions reflect who we actually are inside, it's then that we're answering the call to follow Jesus. 

Have you ever had that feeling that you just had to do something and you didn't know quite why, you didn't know where it would take you or what would happen, but it both felt right and it felt necessary and it was just this deep sense like, “I've got to do this.” And I'm wondering if that's what happened with Simon and Andrew and James and John. I think these are follow me moments and I think they come in a thousand ways and they often don't make a lot of sense. They're often not very practical, but I think they happen all the time in our lives. 

I think back 18 years ago when one of our kids was still at home, two were in college. I was working part-time at Christ Presbyterian Church, Steve was working and I was invited by someone to go—some of you guys have heard this story—to Bethel Seminary to just go to an open house, hear a little bit about what they do at the seminary. And I came back and Steve said, “How was it?” And I said, “Hey, I signed up to get my M.Div.” He's like, “What?!” What seemed on face value to be a little crazy impulsive and maybe even a little irresponsible. We had two kids in college, another one that was going to college in two years. I know Steve would say this too, that in the years ahead as we worked hard—and it was definitely a we thing—to follow Jesus in this, that it never felt irresponsible or crazy. It actually felt faithful. We didn't know quite where it would land me, but I knew clearly it was the right next thing. 

And sometimes these right next things that are not always easy, sometimes it actually makes life harder, less comfortable. But regardless of who we are, how old we are, the circumstances of our life, it's all about growing and becoming. Because that's what the follow me moments are about. It's about growing and becoming our truest, our most authentic selves. And that happens in those moments. And those moments are moments of decisions and vulnerability and change and uncertainty. And they're the moments we step more fully into ourselves. And when we do that, the world becomes a little bigger and God becomes bigger and connection with each other and God, it becomes more and more part of who we are. And that's how we're created and who we're called to be. 

The interesting thing about those moments, those follow me moments, is they can take you to amazing places and they can also take you to spaces that are hard, places you never wanted to go. They can take you to places of beauty and awe and they can take you to these spaces where your brokenness is revealed. But the beauty is, those are the moments we become. Yes, Sam? “He'll always look after you.” Yep, and Jesus will always look after us in all of those moments, those moments of becoming. But I think what's so important about those moments is that they are the big, they are the day-to-day. But in whatever form those moments come, we have to listen. We have to be open, we have to be ready to step into it because they will change us and grow us and ultimately connect us to the divine. And here's what I think is key of the text, is that the follow me moments of life are less about where we're going and what we're doing and far more about who we're becoming. And these aren't once in a lifetime opportunities. They come up in the day-to-day over and over again. 

I was thinking about how I could probably go up and down the rows and talk a lot about different follow me moments that we've all had. And they're not all related to churchy things, but we have to trust that God is still working. I was thinking about Becca, who's not here tonight, and her passion around the Fair Play training that she's doing in her job at Optum and how I think that's a follow me moment. Sara, I was thinking about your yes to speaking at Women at The Table—that is a follow me moment. And Lori, your work with ALS, the follow me moments, those moments where God is moving in you and moving you towards something. Maggie, this passion around maybe getting into ministry and going into seminary at some point, I mean those are follow me moments, you guys. And for you kids, these happen in your school day. These follow me moments. 

I was thinking about a story about our son, Sam, when he was in sixth grade. Sam, first day of sixth grade. Can you imagine this sixth grade? You're excited, maybe a little nervous. You got your backpack on and you're walking into school. And guess what someone does to Sam? They trip him. And all his stuff goes flying all over the floor and he's laying on the ground trying to pick his stuff. And all the kids are going back and forth like you can imagine in a busy school. And one boy, and we'll never forget him, Jonathan, he stops and he moves away from his friends and he bends down and he helps Sam pick up all the stuff in his backpack and he pulls them up and helps 'em out. That was a follow me moment because something was nudging Jonathan to help someone who needed help. So they happen all the time and they're happening in your lives as well. 

But there's a common thread that we haven't talked about in every follow me moment. You have to leave something behind. You have to let go of something you might be holding onto as you step into whatever it is that God might be calling you to do. And that means you have to let go of your nets and you gotta get out of the boat and you’ve got to walk away from the Zebedees of your life. And so the question today is, “what are some of those follow me moments for you?” 

Well, like I said, I could think of so many in my own life and the lives of a lot of your stories, but there are some dear friends of Steve’s and mine that over and over again as I'm studying this and looking at the passage and thinking about what I wanted to say tonight, that just kept coming up. Because they've got a beautiful story about answering the call to follow Jesus. Now, you might know this couple 'cause they actually go here and I think you guys might know 'em a little bit. I'm gonna give you a hint and you can see if you can tell me. Will you throw that picture up, Patti? Who do you think it might be? Mark and Nancy. This is, you guys know Mark and Nancy Hirschfeld. Here's their beautiful family. There's Brian, their son-in-law, and Jillian and their son Jacob and Mark and Nancy. They have a story of what it means to say yes, to follow Jesus and have to leave a lot behind. 

Because Mark and Nancy, they lived in Nebraska for many years. How many years, you guys? 30 years. They had really great jobs, a lot of friends, a strong faith community that they were deeply involved in. At some point when Jacob was a little boy, he got diagnosed on the autism spectrum and years later, I think with some help from Jillian, they realized that if they wanted to get the best tools, the best care for Jacob that they could, they needed to move to Minnesota. It was a follow me moment. And that's exactly what they did. 

They left their jobs, they left their home, they left their friends, they left their church community that they were deeply involved in. They even lived apart for a year during that time. They had to let go of their nets, step out of the boat, say goodbye to the Zebedees of their life. And everybody who knows them and knows how relational they are, know that there were a lot of Zebedees in their life. But they did. They've been here 10 years now. 

But there's a whole other part to this story that we haven't talked about yet. The spirit moving, answering the call, leaving behind, letting go. But remember the first part of the text, Jesus says, “The time has come, the kingdom of God is near. See, experience, believe the good news.” Because when we step into those follow me moments, it's not just for our good, it's for the greater good. It's for the kingdom. It's bringing the kingdom, it's bringing the good news. And that's what Nancy and Mark have done. I look back at the last 10 years and trust me, they are regular people. I'm not holding them up. I'm holding up how God works through them. But you guys, they've been part of this community and we have all these kids. What would you like to say? “I would like to say that Mark (Cookie Monster) is one of the reasons I like going to church.” Did you hear that from Jack, Mark? Cookie Monster is one of the reasons he likes going to church. You have something to say? And God will take care of you right on top of it as well. That's really true. And, and here's the thing is that Nancy and Mark come here, they don't know anybody, but they jump in and they love our kids and they volunteer in the nursery. They continue to not just the nursery, but with the older kids as well. And then they're involved in a service called Mosaic over at Christ Presbyterian Church, a beautiful service put on by all of the young adults and kids with disabilities. And maybe I even used that word wrong. And I wanna ask you, is it? It's okay! 

Over the years when we've had families in this community and outside of this community who've maybe been navigating struggles with a child, wondering, you know, where do they go? How do they get help? Mark and Nancy have met with them. During covid, when we had tons of people out of work looking for work, they put together videos, put 'em on our website, met with people who were trying to figure out “how do you interview, how do you get jobs?” And they continue to do that over and over again. Mark and Nancy have shown up. Mark being on the board, Nancy actually helped us get Jae because she headed up that committee. 

And my point about all of this is when we say yes and we follow Jesus and where we let go, not only do we continue to grow and become, but we bring the kingdom. We get to be part of the good news that God calls us to. And I love that so much. Follow me as an invitation for every single one of us to step into the fullness of life that God has created us for. And it is a lifelong journey of becoming. We will never arrive, but we get to do it together. And we get to become more authentically ourselves, our truest selves, our best selves, and we get to live out of the understanding that we are beloved and we belong. That's the full and flourishing life that we're called to. So I'm gonna leave you with this. As you look at your life today, the nets, the boats, the Zebedees: What's the following me moment for you right now in the current circumstances of your own life? And what do you need to leave behind to step into that? 

Will you pray with me? [Prays] Holy and gracious God, you are amazing in the way you work and how your Spirit moves. And it is something beyond us. It's not something we can measure. It's not something we can prove. We just know it. We know it deep down in our heart and our soul. God, we are so grateful for the way you move. We're so grateful for the way you call us to follow you. We're grateful for the way you call us to love one another, and we're grateful that you allow us to be part of your good news in a world that so badly needs it. God, we lift up this time to you and we pray it all in the name of Jesus. Amen.