Follow Me...

I mentioned in last week's post that I relate a lot of things to movies.  So when I hear the phrase "Follow me," many scenes burst into my mental movie player.  Joan of Arc in "The Messenger" crying out to the tired and weary soldiers, "Follow me and I will give you victory!"  Or how about in the closing scene of "The Last Crusade" when Marcus Brody exclaims in joy, "Indy, Henry, follow me, I know the way. Ha" as his horse thunders out of a dry canyon.

But the one that sticks out the most is not the exact same phrase.  But it's close.  Come with me back to the early 80's.   Granted I was just a tyke back then, but imagine if you will, a neon night club.  Full of feathered hair, mega-bangs, and some of the worst fashion sense this side of a burlap sack.  People are screaming in fear as a giant man lumbers through the place with an automatic weapon spraying bullets.  The heroine of the story is trapped under a once badly dancing club goer.  The giant is upon her, when out of no where a dashing hero in a trench coat jumps in firing a shot gun into the man.  The giant staggers back and crashes through the window into the street.

"Come with me if you want to live..." says Kyle Reese to Sarah Connor.

That's right, I'm referencing "The Terminator" in a blog about Jesus.  (Yeah, you can do that!)


Ok so what does any of this have to do with Jesus or discipleship...or anything?  I'm glad you asked.  There are many people, programs, and personalities out there that want you to follow them.  The whole concept of Twitter is to get people to "follow you."  So-called reality TV is about "following" the lives of who ever the flavor of the minute is.

But there was someone saying this long before all of this.

Imagine again, not a movie, but a place.  It's warm, the sun is beaming down on you as you approach a lake.  You hear the waves.  The birds.  Other people working and talking.  You reach down into your fathers boat and pull out one of the nets you use to catch fish.  You can smell the dampness in it.  You and your brother get to work in the shallows.  It's going to be a long day.  Knee deep in the water casting and hauling.  Hoping to get a good catch for the market.

A few hours later a man approaches you both.  He looks at you and smiles.  "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."  Without hesitation you look at your brother, he shrugs his shoulders and you both drop the nets on the shore and follow him.

You and your brother follow this guy along the shore.  A while later you come across some other fishermen.  These guys are in a boat with who you assume is their father.  The guy you are following calls out to them, and they leave the boat and join you.

Ok, back to here and now.  How cool is that?!  Jesus just walks up to these guys, says, "Follow me." and they do.  They didn't hesitate.  They just dropped their stuff and went.  Can you imagine that.  Hearing the actual voice of Jesus call out to you and say, "Follow me."  It gives me chills.

We can still hear the voice of Jesus today.  He whispers to us when we see a homeless person who is ignored by the ocean of humanity breaking around him as if he were just a rock on the sidewalk.

follow me

He weeps at our shoulders when we comfort a friend who has just lost a loved one and is lost and confused about life, and death and hope.  follow me

He cries out in a voice like thunder when we see a child hurt and abused.  FOLLOW ME!!

His voice is all around us.  Calling us to follow him.  When you see the homeless, drop your pride and see the human being that no one else does.  When your friend is hurting, cry with them.  Drop the facade that everything is always sunshine and puppies.  Leave your nets, leave your boats and go.  Go to where Jesus leads you.  It won't always make sense or be easy.  But we have the promise that if we follow him, if we go...he will be with us always.

So listen to the voice of Jesus.  Look for it in your daily life.  He's there, calling you out from yourself.

"Follow me."

Grace, Peace & Hope
-Jersey