Follow me…

Now when Jesus heard that John was arrested, he went to Galilee. He left Nazareth and settled in Capernaum, which lies alongside the sea in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. This fulfilled what Isaiah the prophet said: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, alongside the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who lived in the dark have seen a great light, and a light has come upon those who lived in the region and in shadow of death. From that time Jesus began to announce, “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!” As Jesus walked alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, because they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” Right away, they left their nets and followed him. Continuing on, he saw another set of brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father repairing their nets. Jesus called them and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues. He announced the good news of the kingdom and healed every disease and sickness among the people. (Matthew 4:12-23, CEB)

Jesus saw them along the shore and said, “Follow me and I will teach you to fish for people.”

How do you fish for people? And remember that the way they fished there was by net. So do we set a net trap for people to catch them for Jesus?

Nope, that isn’t how it works. We do not catch people by casting a net.

We catch people by sharing love and showing how God is active here and now.

So love, and catch some people.

Loving People. Loving God.

healthy people

Afterward, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at a kiosk for collecting taxes. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Levi got up, left everything behind, and followed him. Then Levi threw a great banquet for Jesus in his home. A large number of tax collectors and others sat down to eat with them. The Pharisees and their legal experts grumbled against his disciples. They said, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. I didn’t come to call righteous people but sinners to change their hearts and lives.” (Luke 5:27-32, CEB)

It seems that the Pharisees and legal experts wanted everyone to be perfect before they interacted with Jesus, or they wanted people to be perfect before Jesus interacted with them. And that isn’t how it works.

The church is a hospital for the broken, not a palace for the perfect.

You do not need to be perfected before you come to Jesus. You can’t so that is good news!

Love people where they are and be with them there and know that God’s love is being shared through your life.

Loving People. Loving God.

favoritism

Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem again with Barnabas, and I took Titus along also. I went there because of a revelation, and I laid out the gospel that I preach to the Gentiles for them. But I did it privately with the influential leaders to make sure that I wouldn’t be working or that I hadn’t worked for nothing. However, not even Titus, who was with me and who was a Greek, was required to be circumcised. But false brothers and sisters, who were brought in secretly, slipped in to spy on our freedom, which we have in Christ Jesus, and to make us slaves. We didn’t give in and submit to them for a single moment, so that the truth of the gospel would continue to be with you. The influential leaders didn’t add anything to what I was preaching—and whatever they were makes no difference to me, because God doesn’t show favoritism. But on the contrary, they saw that I had been given the responsibility to preach the gospel to the people who aren’t circumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. The one who empowered Peter to become an apostle to the circumcised empowered me also to be one to the Gentiles. James, Cephas, and John, who are considered to be key leaders, shook hands with me and Barnabas as equals when they recognized the grace that was given to me. So it was agreed that we would go to the Gentiles, while they continue to go to the people who were circumcised. They asked only that we would remember the poor, which was certainly something I was willing to do. (Galatians 2:1-10, CEB)

God doesn’t show favoritism.

It is not about mutilation of the physical sort.

God doesn’t care if you are circumcised or not. The physical act of circumcision is a part of the covenant to God’s chosen people but does not mean you are in or out of the kingdom of God.

There is nothing that can keep you from the love of God because God doesn’t show favoritism.

Love all, the way God loves you. Accepting even though God shouldn’t.

Loving People. Loving God.

not a human origin

Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that the gospel I preached isn’t human in origin. I didn’t receive it or learn it from a human. It came through a revelation from Jesus Christ. You heard about my previous life in Judaism, how severely I harassed God’s church and tried to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my peers, because I was much more militant about the traditions of my ancestors. But God had set me apart from birth and called me through his grace. He was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might preach about him to the Gentiles. I didn’t immediately consult with any human being. I didn’t go up to Jerusalem to see the men who were apostles before me either, but I went away into Arabia and I returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. But I didn’t see any other of the apostles except James the brother of the Lord. Before God, I’m not lying about the things that I’m writing to you! Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, but I wasn’t known personally by the Christian churches in Judea. They only heard a report about me: “The man who used to harass us now preaches the faith that he once tried to destroy.” So they were glorifying God because of me. (Galatians 1:11-24, CEB)

Paul plainly says that the Good News of Jesus Christ is not a fabrication.

There are so many things today that are simply not true. That someone has said or heard and repeated and it is not validated. And faith is something people say can’t be proved. Well, that is true, you can not prove it, so you could say it is fabricated. But I like Paul, know that this is not a fabrication and it is not of human origin. God created the world and stepped down from God’s throne and came to live among us and teach us how to love.

Share what you have heard and do not be swayed by others who say it is a fabrication and not true.

God loves us and calls us to love others.

Loving People. Loving God.

why

At that time John’s disciples came and asked Jesus, “Why do we and the Pharisees frequently fast, but your disciples never fast?” Jesus responded, “The wedding guests can’t mourn while the groom is still with them, can they? But the days will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they’ll fast. “No one sews a piece of new, unshrunk cloth on old clothes because the patch tears away the cloth and makes a worse tear. No one pours new wine into old wineskins. If they did, the wineskins would burst, the wine would spill, and the wineskins would be ruined. Instead, people pour new wine into new wineskins so that both are kept safe.” (Matthew 9:14-17, CEB)

Do you look at others and wish you did what they do? Or wonder why they do what they do when you don’t do that?

There are so many things the scriptures tell us to do and ways to do them. And yet it seems as many people as there are there are that many ways to do something.

People asked Jesus why his followers didn’t do what other teachers were telling their followers to do. It is like judging someone else for sinning differently than you.

We are all walking a road and journeying toward the kingdom. We will all get there, and yet our journeys will be different.

Do not judge yourself based on someone else. Focus your life on God and follow where God leads you.

Loving People. Loving God.

reminder

The Law is a shadow of the good things that are coming, not the real things themselves. It never can perfect the ones who are trying to draw near to God through the same sacrifices that are offered continually every year. Otherwise, wouldn’t they have stopped being offered? If the people carrying out their religious duties had been completely cleansed once, no one would have been aware of sin anymore. Instead, these sacrifices are a reminder of sin every year, because it’s impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (Hebrews 10:1-4, CEB)

If temple sacrifices could take away sin, why haven’t they?

They are a reminder of how we are not right with God. They remind us of our sin. Because the blood of bulls and goats can not take away sin.

The Law doesn’t make us right, it reminds us how we are wrong. And we are all wrong.

The good news is, we are made right because of God and that is not in our power to control.

So know you, like me, and everyone else is sinful.

But God made a way!

Loving People. Loving God.

how could I?

An angel from the Lord spoke to Philip, “At noon, take the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) So he did. Meanwhile, an Ethiopian man was on his way home from Jerusalem, where he had come to worship. He was a eunuch and an official responsible for the entire treasury of Candace. (Candace is the title given to the Ethiopian queen.) He was reading the prophet Isaiah while sitting in his carriage. The Spirit told Philip, “Approach this carriage and stay with it.” Running up to the carriage, Philip heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you really understand what you are reading?” The man replied, “Without someone to guide me, how could I?” Then he invited Philip to climb up and sit with him. This was the passage of scripture he was reading: Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent so he didn’t open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was taken away from him. Who can tell the story of his descendants because his life was taken from the earth? The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, about whom does the prophet say this? Is he talking about himself or someone else?” Starting with that passage, Philip proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. As they went down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look! Water! What would keep me from being baptized?” He ordered that the carriage halt. Both Philip and the eunuch went down to the water, where Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Lord’s Spirit suddenly took Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. Philip found himself in Azotus. He traveled through that area, preaching the good news in all the cities until he reached Caesarea. (Acts 8:26-40, CEB)

“Without someone to guide me, how could I?”

Do you remember the first time you read the Bible?

Did you understand it? Now we may get meaning from the words we read and the stories may make sense (there are some stories I read today after reading them many times that I still struggle to make sense of) but do we get the meaning that was meant by the author?

Now, this is actually true of any story we read. The author had one thing in mind as they were writing, but the words may create an image in my mind that is different than what the author was looking for. I remember the first time I watched a Harry Potter movie with my oldest daughter and the dementors were there and she said, “That is not how I pictured the dementors.” We get an image and sometimes it isn’t what everyone else gets.

That is why the eunuch said, “Without someone to guide me, how could I?”

We need community to discern what the Bible says.

We need community to understand our calling as followers of God.

We need to be in community with others to know what we are called to be in the world.

That is one of the things I love about Bible studies in groups. We hear different images and understandings, and we see the richness to the text and the understanding of loving the world.

Be in community and share your imagination!

Loving People. Loving God.

testified

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is really greater than me because he existed before me.’ Even I didn’t recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be made known to Israel.” John testified, “I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and it rested on him. Even I didn’t recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit coming down and resting is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and testified that this one is God’s Son.” The next day John was standing again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus walking along he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard what he said, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he asked, “What are you looking for?” They said, “Rabbi (which is translated Teacher), where are you staying?” He replied, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two disciples who heard what John said and followed Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Christ ). He led him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter). (John 1:29-42, CEB)

John baptized Jesus and saw the Spirit descend and then he told the world.

And while John and his disciples were standing around, Jesus walked by and when John said who he was two of John’s disciples followed after Jesus, and what did Jesus say/ask?

As followers of Jesus, it is our calling to share the good news of Jesus with the world. We are to share the love God has given us, but what do we see Christians sharing? Is it love, or is it change or burn? I see both. I feel like society sees the later more than the first though.

That is why it is interesting what Jesus says to the disciples of John that are following him. “What are you looking for?” The simple question Jesus asks.

Jesus didn’t tell them to change, or that if they were sinners they would not see the kingdom. He asked what they were looking for and when they said where are you staying, he invited them to come and see. How simple.

How many people have you invited to come and see? We have seen and heard that Jesus is the Son of God, come to us to teach us to love, and we need to testify and share that with the world, and the way we do that is by saying come and see.

Love People by sharing the love you have been given and inviting them to come and see.

Loving People. Loving God.

Why do you follow?

One day Jesus was standing beside Lake Gennesaret when the crowd pressed in around him to hear God’s word. Jesus saw two boats sitting by the lake. The fishermen had gone ashore and were washing their nets. Jesus boarded one of the boats, the one that belonged to Simon, then asked him to row out a little distance from the shore. Jesus sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he finished speaking to the crowds, he said to Simon, “Row out farther, into the deep water, and drop your nets for a catch.” Simon replied, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and caught nothing. But because you say so, I’ll drop the nets.” So they dropped the nets and their catch was so huge that their nets were splitting. They signaled for their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They filled both boats so full that they were about to sink. When Simon Peter saw the catch, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Leave me, Lord, for I’m a sinner!” Peter and those with him were overcome with amazement because of the number of fish they caught. James and John, Zebedee’s sons, were Simon’s partners and they were amazed too. Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on, you will be fishing for people.” As soon as they brought the boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus. (Luke 5:1-11, CEB)

I have always wondered after this story, did Peter follow because of the miracle?

Was it the catch of fish after they had been doing it all night and catching nothing and then Jesus says, “row out and drop the nets for a catch?” And they get a huge catch.

I mean did Peter follow because of this?

Do we follow for what we will get?

Why do we follow Jesus?

Loving People. Loving God.

First and now…

Theophilus, the first scroll I wrote concerned everything Jesus did and taught from the beginning, right up to the day when he was taken up into heaven. Before he was taken up, working in the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus instructed the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed them that he was alive with many convincing proofs. He appeared to them over a period of forty days, speaking to them about God’s kingdom. While they were eating together, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised. He said, “This is what you heard from me: John baptized with water, but in only a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:1-5, CEB)

Luke was Acts Volume 1, or is Acts Luke Volume 2?

Interesting that those who decided on the books in the canon (Bible) decided to separate the 2 by John.

But, Luke tells of the stories of Jesus while he was here on earth and Acts gives the story of the disciples after Jesus went back to be with God. But now how could Jesus go to be with God if/since he is God (that is a post for another time).

We just need to know the stories, much like we know our families’ stories that were never written down. They are a part of who we are, just as Luke and Acts and all the rest of the books are a part of our story.

Know your story and share the love.

Loving People. Loving God.