The following help wanted ad is said to have appeared in a London newspaper almost 100 years ago:

Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success.

The ad was placed by explorer Ernest Shackleton, who was seeking helpers for his expedition to the Antarctic. What was it about Shackleton and the promise of danger, perhaps even death, that compelled 5,000 men to respond to his ad?

Two thousand years ago, Jesus was also looking for people to help him on his mission. He didn’t place an ad, but if he had, perhaps it would have read like this:

Wanted: ordinary men and women to follow and learn from itinerant rabbi. No wages, long hours, extensive travel by foot. Occupational hazards may include rejection; arrest; defamation; scorn; run–ins with religious, governmental, and civil groups; and general persecution. Unsurpassed rewards program and ultimate retirement plan.

In our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus calls his first disciples, and he doesn’t have the benefit of help wanted advertising. Instead, he walks along on the edge of the Sea of Galilee, and he comes across two fishermen, Peter and his brother Andrew. As they are casting their nets into the water, Jesus says simply, "Follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people.” And immediately, Peter and Andrew drop their nets and follow.

Jesus then continues his walk along the shore and sees two more brothers, James and John, who are in a boat with their father mending their nets. And he says to them, too “follow me” and immediately they leave their boat and their father and follow Jesus.

What is it about the charismatic young prophet which compels these four men, without a moment’s hesitation, to leave everything behind –– their homes, their families, their livelihoods –– to “follow Jesus, a man whom they cannot understand, on a journey that will perplex and confuse them, to a destination as yet unspecified”?¹ It is as though they can already feel the presence and pull of God’s promised kingdom. Jesus' call is strong, his invitation to a new life as fishers of human hearts and souls is so pressing and poignant, that they do not resist at all; they willingly give up their old life and old ways of doing things in order to follow him.

We might think that those four fishermen are heroes – like the men who responded to Shackleton’s ad. What faith! What courage! What conviction!

But this story is not about the fishermen. It’s not about all they are leaving. It’s about whom they are following. This story is about Jesus, and the power of God to transform our lives.

Throughout the Gospels are stories of people whose lives, in one God-drenched moment, are transformed by Jesus. He says to the leper “be clean,” and immediately the leper is cured [Matthew 8:3, Mark 1:41, Luke 5:13]. He touches the eyes of blind men, and immediately they receive their sight and follow him [Matthew 20:34, Mark 10:51–52; Luke 18:42–43]. He says to the paralyzed man, “Stand up, take your mat, and go to your home,” and immediately the man stands up and takes his mat and goes home [Mark 2:11, Luke 5:24–25]. He takes the hand of Jairus’ lifeless daughter, says to her “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” and immediately the girl stands up and walks around [Mark 5:41–42]. Jesus’ cloak is touched by the woman with the hemorrhage, and immediately her bleeding stops [Mark 5:28–29, Luke 8:44]. Jesus places his hands on the bent woman, and immediately she stands up straight [Luke 13:13].

Jesus touches the lives of people and transforms them from sickness to health, from brokenness to wholeness, from emptiness to abundant life. What begins with Peter, Andrew, James and John is continued with tax collectors, farmers, laborers and peasants who join Jesus’ band of disciples, because his invitation is more important and his call is more compelling than any security, any relationship, any possession they have. And their faith brings them together as a Christ’s Church.

Jesus' call to discipleship transcends that moment on the shores of the Sea of Galilee; he calls to us now, in our own time and place. It was at our baptisms that Jesus first called us and we first accepted his invitation to discipleship. And he invites us now to come together to continue to build Christ's Church, to bring others to Jesus through the Gospel of peace, reconciliation and love; to show others the transforming, healing love of God. Because Christianity is not a set of beliefs, it is a way of life. Just this morning, Jesus has called little Chase to discipleship, and I pray it is a call Chase lives out many times and in many ways throughout his life.

The word “disciple” appears 269 times in the New Testament. By contrast, the word “Christian” shows up only three times. That’s because the mission of the Christian church is not to provide for the comfort and satisfaction of its members. Instead, the mission of the Christian church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

No matter who we are or where we are on life’s journey, Jesus calls us; he doesn’t care whether we’re educated, or faithful, or obedient, or even good, because even through ordinary people like you and me, God can do extraordinary things. When we respond to Jesus’ call, our lives will transformed. And in responding to Jesus’ call, we are then sent out to help transform the lives of others.

One of the best ways you can begin being a disciple, begin your “people-fishing,” is by simply sharing your faith with others and inviting them to church. Do you know that one of the primary reasons people don’t come to church is "No one ever asked"?

I have shared with many of you that I spent the first 20 years of my adult life away from organized religion. Then, as I approached mid–life, I began to feel a spiritual void in my life, a yearning in my heart, and I thought that I’d like to start going to church again.

I spotted a lovely white church in the center of the town where I lived, and said, "That's the church I'm going to go to, when I start going to church." I said that for years, and for years I just kept driving by that church. You see, I was afraid to go in because I didn't know anyone. I was afraid to be a stranger, the odd person out, in a place where everyone knew everyone else. I was afraid that it would show I had been away from church for 20 years.

But then one day, someone in my neighborhood invited me to come with her to that church. She wasn't in my face, she wasn't being pushy, she was simply sharing her faith with me, sharing her love for her church. She wanted me to have what she had; she wanted me to experience what she experienced – a relationship with Christ nurtured in that community of faith. And that was the beginning –– that simple invitation changed everything. My entire life was transformed immediately and forever in the God-drenched moment I walked into that church, and the God–shaped hole in my heart was filled.

How might you, as Jesus’ disciple, be able to transform someone’s life, as my friend and her simple invitation to church transformed mine?

Wanted: Men and women to serve as conduits for God’s grace, and agents of Christ’s transforming love. No experience necessary. Salary paid not in money but in joy beyond compare. Open minds and listening hearts preferred, but all are welcome. On–going discussions with the Teacher suggested, especially on Sunday mornings. Benefits include living water, everlasting life, and unconditional love. Inquire within.

Amen.

¹ Walter Brueggeman, Charles B. Cousar, Beverly R. Gaventa, James D. Newsome, Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV – Year B (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993), p. 123.

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