Deciding to Follow Your Heart Matthew 4:18-22

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers:

Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were 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.

Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

As many of you may know, Bill and Joy Powell are our traveling buddies.

We’ve been from one end of the world to the other with them and have a collection of stories about our experiences – some we can tell and others we dare not make public.

As you might imagine, traveling with Joy Powell is always an adventure.

Joy is so personable and social she rarely meets a stranger. So I guess we shouldn’t have been surprised that day in Istanbul when we went to see The

Blue Mosque.

It was about 11:30 in the morning when we got to the Blue Mosque and as we made our way to the door, we were disappointed to discover we had 2 arrived during the time of prayer; and so a stern Arab man, who was posted at the door, told us we would have to come back later.

Seeing that it was about lunch time, we decide to find a local place to eat and then return to the mosque after the time of prayer. That’s when I thought

Joy was going to create an international incident. Before we knew what was happening, Joy headed off to talk to the Arab man guarding the mosque door.

When I saw her put her arm around his shoulder and heard her say, “Darlin’, can you recommend a good place for us to eat,” I just knew we were in for trouble. As you might imagine, Muslim men are not accustomed to being groped by strange women, much less women who call them “Darlin’.”

Thankfully, the Arab man, named Achmed, found Joy more amusing than offensive. As he began chuckling, he said, “If you will wait for a minute I will take you to my very favorite restaurant in all Istanbul.” And so he did.

After Achmed finished his duties at the Mosque, we followed him down backstreets and alleys to a part of town that was thoroughly Arab. As we moved through the inner labyrinth of Istanbul, I began to get a little concerned.

Here we were, 6,000 miles from home, following a complete stranger, into an area crowded with people whose language we could not speak and who looked at us with bewilderment and suspicion.

As you can imagine, I felt a lot better when we arrived at Achmed’s favorite restaurant and heard him tell the waiter to find the best table for him and his American friends. And as an added bonus, when the meal was over, 3

Achmed gave us his Istanbul tour ending with an in-depth journey through the

Blue Mosque.

As a rule, it’s not very smart to follow strangers, and if you’re a child listening to my sermon, never, ever, ever follow a stranger. Yes, it’s not very smart to go following after strangers, but sometimes when we do, we have experiences that totally change our lives.

In today’s text, four fishermen’s lives were changed when they chose to follow a stranger, and as I read their story I couldn’t help but wonder what must have been going through their minds.

As Matthew begins his story, he tells us that two brothers, Peter and

Andrew, are fishing on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. Obviously, that’s how they made their living. Without fanfare this stranger, named Jesus, comes and simply says, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of people.”

Now quite honestly, Peter and Andrew didn’t have a lot of information on which to make their decision. Perhaps, they had heard about Jesus and may have even seen him around town, but to drop your nets and follow some stranger is a pretty bold decision. And if that wasn’t strange enough, two other fishing brothers, James and John, did the same thing. In fact, Matthew tells us that these brothers left their father in the boat to bring in the nets and clean up the day’s catch of fish.

I think it’s important to understand that this decision, made by these four fishermen, was a decision made without any real information. Jesus never told them where they would be going. He didn’t tell them where they 4 would end up sleeping, or where their next meal would come from, or what they would be doing, except “fishing for people,” which really doesn’t tell you a lot, does it? No, they didn’t know much, but yet they chose to follow Jesus anyway. Why?

I think there was something about Jesus that transcended the scope of human logic. When Jesus spoke to Peter, Andrew, James and John, I think the four men began to feel something happening inside of them that they could not explain. Deep within them, they sensed a pulling at their heart, an indescribable longing to be with this man, to trust this man, and to even leave their jobs and families to follow this man. No, from the logical perspective, following Jesus didn’t make any sense at all, but in the end, they couldn’t ignore the pulling they felt going on in their hearts.

In John 6:44, Jesus explains what was going on in these four fishermen’s hearts. He states, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. . . . The Greek word translated “draw” literally means “to drag” a person or a thing.

So that’s what was happening with these four fishermen. When Jesus said, “Come follow me,” the Spirit of God began working in their hearts, literally

“dragging” these men to the feet of Jesus; and though they didn’t know much about Jesus, they knew they couldn’t go on living unless they followed him.

You know, on one cold winter’s night, as a six year old child, I still remember feeling what these four fishermen must have felt. I remember feeling this indescribable pulling at my heart, a burning desire to give my life to Jesus. 5

Quite honestly, I didn’t know much about the theology surrounding that decision. Granted, I had heard about Jesus all of my life and knew my parents and friends were Christians; but on that night, it wasn’t my parents or my friends dragging my heart to Jesus. It was the Holy Spirit of God. Without any coercion from parents or friends, something inexplicable began happening inside me, something that was drawing me to follow Jesus, and so, on a cold night in December, I prayed to invite Jesus into my heart because I really couldn’t resist the power that was dragging me to Christ.

Yes, on that cold winter’s night, I did what Peter, Andrew, James and

John did. I decided to trust Jesus, to follow him, and to give him my life; and while it might not have been a logical choice, it was a decision I knew I had to make or I would regret it for the rest of my life.

Some of you know what I’m talking about. Some of you know what it’s like to have God’s Holy Spirit drawing you to Jesus. You know what it’s like to have that strange feeling inside of you, that feeling that says, “I’ve got to follow

Jesus or I’ll regret it the rest of my life.”

Maybe you’re a 3rd grader, a 4th grader, a 5th grader or a 6th grader and you’ve been feeling God tugging at your heart, pulling you to follow Jesus. You can’t really explain what you feel, but you know what God wants you do.

Maybe you’re a teenager, a college student or an adult, and you’ve been experiencing that feeling inside of your heart for several years. Week after week, year after year, God’s Spirit keeps tugging at your heart, pulling you 6 toward Jesus, but you keep digging in your heals, determined to resist what

God wants you to do.

Sometimes your resistance comes in the form of logical arguments. You tell yourself, “I’ll do it later when I understand more.” “I’ll do it later when I’m older.” “I’ll do it when I get my life on the right track or when I’m settled in my marriage or my career.”

But may I remind you that following Jesus isn’t a decision you simply make with your mind. It’s a decision to follow that tugging in your heart.

It’s like the decision you make to fall in love. Though I’m 45 years older,

I clearly remember what it was like to be here at Carson-Newman and fall in love with a sweet, young lady named Pat Childers. I remember walking back to my dorm after one of our dates thinking, “I want to be around this person forever. I want to share my entire life with this person. Yes, I love this girl with all my heart and can’t imagine living life without her.” By the way, that’s still the way I feel about her today.

Now, how did I make this decision to love her? Did I make it logically?

Did I say to myself, “Hmmm . . . You know, this girl is attractive, intelligent, personable, comes from a good family and has good teeth. I think I’ll choose to love her.”

You know better. If you’ve ever been in love, you know it’s not a logical decision. It’s not a decision that comes from the head. It’s a decision that comes from the heart. And in the end, you decide to love someone because you can’t stop acting upon the feelings in your heart. 7

And the same is true with following Jesus. You don’t follow Jesus because you completely understand him. You don’t follow Jesus because he makes sense. You don’t follow Jesus because you’ve analyzed various religions and decided that Christianity is best. You don’t decide to follow Jesus because it’s the logical thing to do. You follow Jesus because God’s Holy Spirit keeps tugging at your heart, urging you to commit your life and love to Jesus Christ, and eventually you make that decision because you can’t imagine living life without him.

Can I be honest with you for a minute? One of the reasons I’m preaching this sermon today is because I feel a sense of urgency. To be perfectly honest, there is a selfish motive in my timing. For over 13 years I’ve been preaching to you about Jesus Christ, and I know that some of you have felt God’s Spirit tugging at your heart. You’ve felt God’s Spirit pulling you to make your decision for Jesus, but you’ve kept resisting him, thinking you’ll make your commitment sometime later.

Well, I don’t want you to make your commitment later. I want you to make your commitment while I’m still around to rejoice with you. I want the thrill of meeting you when you walk down this aisle. I want the honor of being the pastor who walks with you through baptismal waters. I want to end my ministry with the thrill of seeing you born into the Kingdom of God.

Now, don’t think for one minute that I’m using my upcoming retirement as a trick to get you to walk the aisle out of some sympathy for me. God forbid that. I’m simply asking you to quit resisting the Holy Spirit as he drags your 8 heart to Jesus. I’m simply asking you to do – today - what you should have done months and years ago. And yes, if you make that decision when some other pastor is standing in this pulpit, I’ll rejoice with that pastor, too, but why would you wait? Why would you resist the Spirit of God one day longer when you feeling him tugging at your heart today!

I’ll never forget an incident that happened early in my ministry. I had finished my sermon and, as usual, I invited people to come accept Christ.

As I waited, the congregation sang these words:

Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me;

See on the portals he’s waiting and watching, watching for you and for me.”

As we sang the chorus, I scanned the congregation and saw no one moving toward the aisle. Then we sang the second verse;

Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading, pleading for you and for me?

Why should we linger and heed not His mercies, mercies for you and for me.

Come home, come home, ye who are weary come home . . .”

Then it happened. There was a strange noise in the back of the sanctuary and as I looked toward the noise I could see this 80 year old man pushing people aside so he could get to the aisle. Then, in a voice that was loud enough to stop the singing, he began to cry out,

“I’m coming. I’m coming home. I’m coming home to Jesus. I’ve put this off all my life and I can’t fight God any longer. I’m coming home.” Needless to say, we didn’t finish the hymn. We just stopped singing, and with tears in 9 every eye, we rejoiced with this man who had finally given in to the tugging

Spirit of God.

Yes, for years, the Spirit of God had been tugging at this dear man’s heart, and at the twilight of his life, he could resist God no longer.

Today, I hope and pray that some of you will come. Not because I’m soon retiring; not because you heard some emotional story about an 80 year old man’s conversion, but I hope you’ll follow Jesus for the same reason Peter,

Andrew, James and John did. I hope you’ll follow Jesus because you can’t resist the power of God tugging at your heart. Yes, I hope you’ll follow Jesus because you finally decide to follow your heart.