Follow Me - Drastically Different Disciples

My name is Greg Hampton. I am one of the pastors

here at the house. If we have never met, I would

love to meet you. I would love to grab a coffee

with you or some other beverage of your choice.

And I would love to hear your story. I like to

talk about Jesus. I would love to hear how you

ended up here at the house, what your background

is, all that stuff. I would just love to get

to know you. It was cool. Throughout my life

as a pastor, a handful of times I've had, I remember

there was one time there was a young guy, maybe

like 24, and his dad started coming to the church.

His dad was probably, you know, late 50s. And

I asked the dad, like, hey, do you want to go

out and get a coffee sometime? And then I saw

the son, and the son said, hey, my dad mentioned

that you wanted to get a coffee with him. And

he asked me, why? And he said, I just told him.

Probably because he wants to have coffee with

you. I promise, I don't come to coffee and I

don't meet people with an agenda. I really do

just want to get to know you. So feel free to

put that on your connection card. I'd love to

meet you. Today we're starting a short series,

a three -week series called Follow Me. Because

that is what Jesus said. Jesus said, follow me.

So we're going to jump. Right in, if you want

to grab your Bible, there's Bibles on the table,

or you can download a Bible from any of the digital

app stores. If you don't have a Bible of your

own, grab one of the blue Bibles, either from

the table or from the bookshelf in the lobby,

and just take it home with you. It's free. So

we're going to be in Matthew 4. The New Testament,

the Newer Testament, goes Matthew, Mark, Luke,

John, Acts. So it's right there at the beginning.

If you see any of that, you know you're in the

right neighborhood. And while we read the Scriptures

in the context of a sermon here at the house,

we like to give it our full attention. You can

do that any way that's most comfortable for you,

but one of the ways we do that is to stand as

we are able. And if you'd like to stand with

me as you are able now, and I will read from

Matthew 4, and then I'm going to jump to chapter

9 as well. Matthew 4, starting in verse 18. As

Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two

brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew,

his brother, casting a net into the sea, for

they were fishers. And he said to them, Follow

me, and I will make you fishers of people. Immediately

they left their nets and followed him. As he

went from there, he saw two other brothers, James,

son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the

boat with their father Zebedee. mending their

nets and he called them immediately they left

the boat in their father and followed him i'm

going to jump to chapter 9 okay chapter 9 verse

9 give me a second to turn there nine nines this

as jesus was walking along he saw a man called

matthew sitting at the tax collection station

and he said to him follow me and he got up and

he followed him And as he sat at dinner in the

house, many tax collectors and sinners came and

were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. Let

us pray. God of every tribe, every tongue, every

color, and every nation, we pray that you bless

us with ears to hear today, hearts to receive.

We thank you for the scriptures that they have

persisted throughout the millennia. We still

have them to consider, to learn from, to be directed

by. And I pray that whatever you have for us

to learn today, I pray that it would stick, that

it would become a part of the framework of our

faith, that we would become more like your son,

Jesus. Amen? Amen. You can have a seat. All right,

so have you ever felt like your work defined

you? Did you ever feel like your work defined

you? Has your work ever become your identity?

I had this in my notes and I took it out. I have

a career, a vocation, a job that comes with a

title. And so when people don't know my name,

what do they say? Hey, Pastor. Yeah, if you're

a barista, people don't go, hey, barista, right?

The thing that I get to do for a living, a lot

of the people that do this for a living have

a really hard time not making this their identity,

not turning it into who they are. I think that

we do that for a lot of people. I think pastors

do that. I think that whatever it is that we

do for a living, I think a lot of us do that

for whatever it is. that we do, we wrap so much

of who someone is in what someone does. And I

think, I want to suggest that 2 ,000 years ago,

it wasn't that different. These four fishermen,

they knew what it felt like to be defined by

what they did for a living. Just as much as we

feel like we might get defined by what we do

for a living today. So to drop everything that

they were doing to follow Jesus, was no small

decision. It was an identity redefining decision.

Because they weren't leaving behind their livelihood

or a paycheck. They were walking away from the

thing that had defined them, how they were known.

James and John. They're described as the sons

of Zebedee. So they're walking away from more

than just an identity as a fisher. When they

walk, they get invited by Jesus. They have to

step over their father to go where they're going.

They're leaving more than just the job. They're

leaving family. These weren't small decisions.

They were identity redefining. Now, I don't know

how many times that you have had to change careers.

Sometimes we just change jobs. Sometimes we change

careers. Or how many times you've lost a job

and so suddenly you've had to consider like,

oh, what do I do now? Is this a time to change

vocations and careers? Or do I find something

that is exactly the same? But I've been there.

I've been in that situation where something fell

through and suddenly we're having to go, okay.

What are we going to do? How do I even feel about

myself that this thing fell through and that

this thing isn't going to work out? I had to

think about who I thought that I was or what

I was capable of doing. Back in 2004. For you

kids, that was 21 years ago. That's a while.

I was the worship pastor at a church. in Moline

but the grant that was funding the position that

I had was running out and so they were essentially

taught well we can probably keep you on but you'll

essentially they were like here's three jobs

that you can do so that we can justify keeping

you on and then something else that I was doing

was kind of being phased out and So Cindy and

I just kind of thought, well, maybe it's time

to move on. Maybe we're being called to something

else. We happened to then meet another pastor

at the same time named Gene. He'd been hired

to relaunch a ministry at the church that Cindy

and I had met at, and a ministry that we had

loved because we had been a part of it, and they

were going to start it back up again and turn

it into something else. And Gene wanted me to

be the worship arts pastor. for this ministry,

which is absurd because Jen was also involved.

So the idea that I was the worship arts pastor

when Jen was involved was kind of laughable at

this point. But he wanted me to have this role.

But there was one catch. The pay was zero. So

we did, any rational young couple does, we sold

our house and we moved into his basement. And

the plan was that we would live with them in

their basement apartment until the church was

able to turn this job into a paid position because

that was the idea. It wasn't, oh, you'll just

do this for free forever. That same year, we

got pregnant with our first child. And Cindy

can correct me if I'm wrong, but I honestly don't

feel like when we first found out that we were

really worried. I mean, it was like, oh. But

we had this sense that this is going to work

out. This is going to happen. We were walking

in faith. In a lot of ways, faith defined who

I thought I was. We really believed that this

ministry was going to work out. And then it did

not. The pastor that was above the pastor we

worked for was like, well, I don't think we need

that. And essentially... I've said essentially

four times today. What turns out to be a future

hope turns into a present problem. My wife is

pregnant. I have no income other than I was helping

lead worship at another church sometimes on Sunday

mornings. I had to get a job. So the first job

that I could find, because that's the kind of

job you get when you have no job. Did you hear

me? Sometimes the job you get when you have no

job is the first job. Sometimes I meet people

that are like, well, I'm just waiting for the

right thing. And bills are piling up. You know

what makes you really appealing as someone that

can get a job? Having a job. Because people go,

oh, you're already hired somewhere? Oh, you're

hireable? Oh, yeah. Sorry. I'm on a little soapbox

here. But the first job I could get. Okay, I

told one person and my family can't say, but

just guess. In generic terms, where was the first

place I could get a job? Ready, set, go. Okay,

did anybody say a factory? I didn't think so.

I got a job at a factory. Now, to be clear, I

was not hired at this factory because I was qualified

or even because I was looking for a job in a

factory. I got a job in a factory because someone

knew I needed a job. And they had a friend of

a friend that was looking to start a new position

at a factory that manufactured agricultural parts

for places like John Deere. And they needed someone

that would be the split shift shipping manager

from 11... to 7 or 11 to 7 30 every day to kind

of make sure there wasn't a lull there between

shifts and someone would be in charge of making

sure that everywhere everything got where it

was meant to go and so my first day at the factory

if you're going to be a manager of something

like that the first thing you have to do is learn

to do everything else right and so they put me

to work the first thing that i had to learn was

how to pack the shipments If I was going to be

the one in charge of telling people how to pack

this stuff, I had to know how to do it. So I'll

tell you how to do it. You make a box and then

you put some oil in it because these are heavy

metal machinery, machined parts that are going

inside of a combine somewhere. And you put down

the metal and you put down the part and then

you put metal and then paper and then oil. And

then the metal, and then oil, and then some paper,

and then some more oil, and then another piece

of metal, and oil. You would just fill up the

box with oil and metal is what you were doing.

And then when that box was filled with oil and

metal, you would then fill another box with oil

and metal, and another box with oil and metal.

When I got home that night, there was oil everywhere.

Guys, I had steel -toed boots. Are you impressed?

But I was covered, just covered, because my dad

did this kind of work his entire life. I am your

son, right? Because it just wasn't in me. And

I had like six or seven cuts on my hands from

all the parts. And again, Cindy can correct me

if I'm wrong, but I feel like I made the argument,

and I used the justification, I'm a guitar player.

I'm a worship leader. I can't do this. I'd start

convincing myself I was going to get injured.

I was going to hurt my hands. I would lose the

vocational identity, the skill that I thought

that I needed by working at this factory. And

y 'all, that is the story of the time that I

worked at a factory for one day. I'm not exaggerating.

I don't think I even went in to get the check

for the one day. I think they mailed it to me.

To this day, when I meet people that work in

factories, people that work on lines, people

that work with their hands, I know how much respect

they deserve. Because I tried. And I failed.

I automatically hold a positive view of someone

that has that identity of what they are capable

of because for one day I tried to do what they

did and what they do. And I didn't feel like

I could do that long term. And I also think that

maybe I don't blame any factory member for looking

at me and thinking that I wouldn't last a week.

Been times in my life where I actually felt small

next to people that I knew that worked in factories.

Because of this experience, it changed how I

felt about myself. Now think about those four

disciples. These fishers, often working through

the night, dragging in nets. full of fish soaked

in water, hands calloused, their bodies covered

in the odor of their work. They knew what it

meant to work hard. I bet they could pick the

people out of the crowd that they thought could

cut it. The people they thought, ah, I bet they

could do it. That guy's got no chance. Jesus

comes along, calls them out of that work into

another work, and then the very next disciple

that we are introduced to is a tax collector.

Matthew was a man that did not work for a living.

Culturally, that's what they would have said.

He doesn't work for a living. Tax collectors

were looked at as thieves and often as traitors.

They were living on other people's money. People

like fishermen that had worked hard for their

wage. And then Matthew makes his living by taking

a percentage. And what's worth is that he was...

collecting those taxes for a puppet king that

had been put in place by the Roman Empire. It's

not a stretch to say that there was a chasm between

fishermen and tax collectors. They were on opposite

ends of the spectrum. And I think that's why,

If you noticed, we started in chapter 4, and

then we meet Matthew in what chapter? 9, yeah.

I think the chasm between them is the reason

that Jesus teaches them all the stuff between

them meeting. What do I mean? In chapter 5, Jesus

teaches about anger and murder. He... He says,

even if you're just angry with your brother or

your sister, you're in danger of judgment. Even

if you think these things in your mind, you're

essentially committing murder against them. If

you even just call someone raka or a fool, you

are in danger of judgment. How many times have

we called the IRS any number of words that can't

be mentioned from a place? Jesus says don't do

that. And then Jesus says to turn the other cheek

when you feel insulted or injured or put down

upon by someone. Turn the other cheek. Don't

repay evil for evil. If you are a Jew living

in the first century, you know what is evil?

The Roman Empire. You know what is evil by extension?

One of your own brethren. Someone of your same

personhood. Matthew, also a Jewish man, collecting

money from your hard work to give it to Herod

and the Roman Empire. He says, do not repay evil

for evil. Because Jesus then teaches them, you

should love your enemies. Pray for those who

persecute you. Do good to those that harm you.

And in chapter 7, Jesus teaches them to be slow

to judgment. He says, before you try and remove

that speck, that piece of dirt that you think

is in their eye, why don't you try and get that

2x6? That's blocking your view off of your face.

And then he says, you should do unto others as

you would have them do to you. You don't think

that maybe, just maybe that Jesus taught all

of this between calling four fishermen and one

tax collector so that they could overcome the

opinions. The stereotypes and the prejudice that

they might have felt for each other when Jesus

called Matthew. I don't think it's that much

of a stretch. I feel that he did because Jesus

had always planned on calling dramatically different

disciples. Who do we think is so dramatically

different that we don't think they belong? Maybe

we're in management and so we don't spend much

time with the people down on the line. Maybe

we have money and so we don't spend much time

with people that don't. Maybe we're a Democrat

and we just don't believe that anyone that voted

for Donald J. Trump could possibly follow Jesus.

We divide ourselves every possible way that we

can. And sadly, research shows that in the last

20 years, the percentage of people that believe

here in America that we are greatly divided,

that number has gotten worse by 15%. Listen,

I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't confront

issues. I'm not saying that we shouldn't. Use

wisdom. I'm not even saying that we should ignore

bad behavior. Of course, we shouldn't do those

things. What I am saying is that when Jesus called

those fishermen, they ceased to be who people

thought they were based on what they did. And

they became something new because of who they

followed. And when Jesus called the tax collector,

he ceased to be all the ugly things that people

thought of him. Because of who he followed. Jesus

gives us a new identity. When we follow Jesus,

It is identity redefining. Jesus gives us a new

way to identify, to look at ourselves and know

who we are. And he does it in a way that helps

us to really believe that we all belong together.

Fishers, tax collectors, Republicans and Democrats,

gay, straight, black. Hispanic and Asian and

white. We all belong together because in Christ,

he gives us an identity that we share. Jesus

is calling dramatically different disciples and

he defines us as more than what we have done

or what we do for a living. I think it's true.

I'm not saying that it's not fair. I think we

have to get better at admitting that we are afraid

sometimes of who we might have to accept. We

have to get better at admitting that sometimes

we are afraid of who we might have to accept.

But if we follow Jesus, he will teach us how

in the space between. Amen? Let's pray. I want

you all just for a moment to let the Holy Spirit

remind you of the moment that you felt the most

brave in following Jesus. Just let the Holy Spirit

remind you right now of the moment you felt the

most brave where you stepped over your father

to get to him. Where you left your nets behind.

Where you left behind a lucrative job as a tax

collector. And hear me say this. You are right

now that same person. And that bravery and the

way that you felt like God was finding you in

that moment is still true of you right now. Jesus,

help us to follow you boldly. It says that they

immediately followed you. I pray that today,

whatever it is that we feel you calling us to,

that we would... Follow you immediately. Even

if it means that we leave behind some version

of how we identify ourselves. Of how we define

ourselves. Help me to be just a little bit more

bold like I was. When I would sell a house and

move into a basement. And help us remember that

moment. And walk from there. We love you, God.

We love you. Amen.