To what is your life committed? For Many people today it could be summed up in one word – money. Chuck Swindoll gives an illustration of this truth in one of his books. He tells about a pastor friend of his who was in need of a dark suit to wear to a funeral. He had very little money so he went to the local pawn shop in search of a bargain.

To his amazement they had a solid black suit that fit him perfectly. And it was at a very reasonable price. As he paid for the suit, he inquired how they could possibly sell such nice suits so cheaply. The pawnbroker smiled and said that the suits had cone been owned by the local funeral home. They had used them on deceased people for funerals, and then removed them before burial.

The pastor felt a little uncomfortable wearing a suit that had been on a corpse, but since no one else would know, and he really did need a suit badly, why not? Everything went fine until about halfway through the sermon. While he was talking, he casually started to put his hands in the pockets of his new suit and it was then that he discovered that his pants had no pockets. And the truth came home to him. Why would a dead man need pockets? We leave it all behind.

Let me ask that question again. To what or to whom is your life committed? Today’s reading from Matthew is about a group of men who were called by Jesus to be his disciples. It is about Simon and Andrew and James and John, four fishermen. But it is also about you and me, because we have been called to be disciples as well. We have been called to be committed to something that is eternal, that is ennobling, that is earthshaking.

Notice, first of all, how ordinary these four men were. They had no formal education that we know of. Neither did they possess any particular personal attractiveness of extraordinary talent of which we are aware. They were just ordinary fishermen. This is a common mistake we often make – to assume that God calls only the most gifted and talented people. But that seems to be the opposite of what God does.

God came to Moses with the summons to go tell Pharaoh to “Let my people go.” Moses responded, “Who am I that I should go to the Pharaoh?” Later Moses protested that he was too “slow of speech” to carry out such a mission. God came to Gideon, who would later be called a great leader of God’s people. But Gideon responded, “My clan is the weakest in Mannaseh, and I am the least in my family.” Even the most successful of all Israel’s kings, David, was astounded by God’s call. “I’m only a poor man and little known.”

The apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that God has deliberately chosen what the world considers foolish. Friends, he is talking about the church. God chooses ordinary people to do his work so that they will depend on his power and not their own. For this reason ,says Paul, no one will ever be able “to boast in the presence of God.”

Beginning with the crude manger in Bethlehem, no message is clearer in the New Testament that this one – Christian faith is the celebration of ordinary people who come to possess extraordinary power. When you are asked to serve God in some capacity, don’t talk yourself out of a great opportunity by thinking you are too old or don’t have enough education or some other personal putdown. The first disciples that Jesus called were ordinary men.

Notice also what they were called to do. They were called to spend the next three years of their lives in the presence of Jesus. A disciple is one who studies with a great teacher. It is implied that those who follow Jesus need to grow. We do not blossom overnight into mature spiritual giants. Dwayne Dyer, in his book entitled, Your Erroneous Zones, asks how you distinguish between a flower that is alive and one that is dead. His answer was that the one that is growing is alive. The only evidence of life is growth. So it is with the life of the spirit.

Andrew, Peter, James and John could not have grown in their faith outside the fellowship of the company Jesus had called together, and neither can we. The place most of us encounter Christ and learn about him and grow in our spiritual walk is within these walls. The cry of a few years ago was, “Jesus yes, the church no.” But that is simply an illusion. Follow-up studies on people involved in Christian groups not related to a local church over the past two decades back that up. It simply does not last. The ember removed from the fire soon grows cold.

Like every pastor, I am astounded at times by the casual attitude many people have about their responsibilities to the church. The work of the church is so important. Our ministry to children and youth and adults is vital to the kingdom of God. This is a place where disciples grow. This is where we are equipped for the work Christ has given us. The church deserves our best loyalty and service.

An orchestra was giving a concert in a large church in England. The place was absolutely packed. Afterwards a casual member of that church flippantly asked the pastor of the church when the church would ever be filled like that for Sunday morning worship. The pastor answered, “It will be filled when like that conductor I have eighty well-trained and disciplined men and women to work with me.” How the church needs that today.

This brings us to the final thing to be said. There would come a time when those men would no longer be called disciples, but apostles. Disciples are those called to come. Apostles are those called to go. There needs to come a time when we move from being followers to being leaders. Our church should never have any difficulty finding people to take on leadership positions, but we, like most churches, do.

There comes a time when mature Christian believers realize that it is time to move from being “ministered to” to the work of ministry itself. Perhaps that was part of why Jesus could not remain with his disciples physically. He wanted them to understand that now they had the privilege and responsibility of carrying on the work of God.

In his last appearance to Simon Peter, Jesus asked him four times, “Simon, do you love me?” And each time Simon Peter said, “Yes, Lord.” And do you remember then what Jesus said to him each time? Each time he instructed Simon Peter to “feed my sheep.” That is the final step in following Christ. It is to feed Christ’s sheep. We need to appreciate that in the church today.

One of the most monumental works in all the world is the Great Wall of China. The mammoth manmade structure stretches 1,800 miles over plains and deserts. The Chinese built it to keep out barbarians, but for the Chinese themselves it became a barrier to progress. Isolate from others behind that wall, they quit progressing as a people.

That can happen to us as individuals or as a church. Great things happen within the walls of this church. But if we never see ourselves as apostles – as people who have moved from being followers to being leaders – as people who have moved beyond being called to come to those who are now called to go – if we never become apostles, those sent out in ministry to the world, we will stagnate and die in our own spiritual pilgrimage.

Yes, these were four ordinary men. But God did extraordinary things through them. The first part of their pilgrimage was spent in the fellowship of Christ and other believers in order that they might grow to spiritual maturity. But there came a time when, in order to continue their growth, they discovered that they must become teachers, missionaries, leaders of local churches, and servants both of the Word and the world.

Amen.