The Invitation to Play Second Fiddle
Third Sunday after the Epiphany • Sermon • Submitted
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· 16 viewsThe reign and rule of God coming to us in Jesus calls us to follow Jesus.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Over the next three weeks we’re going to dig deeper into Mark chapter one and the beginning of Jesus ministry following his baptism which Payton preached on a couple of week’s ago.
We’re going to jump right into the text.
Transition: When we think about Jesus calling his first disciples we want to move too quickly to what this call says about being a follower of Jesus. Instead, we need t stop, take a breath, and reflect on what this call tells us about Jesus, the One who is calling us. Let’s look at three things we learn about Jesus. First we learn that he calls us to repentance and faith.
The Reign and Rule of God has Come to Us in Jesus
The reign and rule of God calls us to repentance and faith
The reign and rule of God drew near to us the day that Jesus burst on the scene as a baby, God veiled in human flesh.
After John is arrested by Herod Jesus, in the same region of Herod’s rule, picks up the same message. The reign and rule of God has drawn near.
This fact calls us to repent.
This fact calls us to believe.
Transition: Secondly, we learn that Jesus comes to us not us to him.
The reign and rule of God comes to us not to it. John 15:16
Do you remember the yellow pages? I mean the real yellow pages, not the website? If wanted anything you would turn to the pages and look for someone to help you. You went searching for what you needed.
In Jesus day the Rabbi didn’t go looking for the follower, but the follower sought out the Rabbi.
It might have been shocking to Peter, Andrew, James and John that Jesus called them to follow him. He turns the world upside down.
Jesus reminds them of this fact in the Upper Room. (Read John 15:16.)
I can imagine that Peter remembered that day when Jesus stood on the shore called him. John remembered when he left his father meticulously mending the nets to follow Jesus because he called them out of the blue.
You also audibly heard the voice of Jesus calling you to serve him too. It was the voice of pastor who poured water over your head and drenched you in the name of God.
Transition: Did you hear what Jesus said to the disciples? That you may fruit abundantly? That leads us to the third thing we learn about Jesus. We learn that Jesus cares about fish.
The reign and rule of God has come to us because God cares for fish.
The paradox i that those catching the fish are fish themselves.
Peter was a fish whom Jesus caught.
Andrew was a fish whom Jesus caught.
James was a fish whom Jesus caught.
John was a fish whom Jesus caught.
The caught fish, catch fish.
We’re humbled when we remember that we’re no different than any other person.
We’re humbled when we know that Jesus uses us to catch fish.
Transition: Now that we’ve looked at what this story tells us about Jesus, we need to move to what this call to go fishing means for us. I want to change metaphors for the rest of this message and talk now about what it means to play second fiddle.
The call to follow Jesus is a call to follow him not lead. First of all being invited to play second fiddle means that we are called by Jesus to play second fiddle. We’ve talked about this a little, but let’s go deeper.
Playing Second Fiddle Means That We Understand That We Have Been Called to Play Second Fiddle to Jesus.
Remember, Jesus called us, we didn’t chose to play second fiddle. We’ve been called by the One who redeemed to play the role of second fiddle.
We are called to point to the one who called us.
We are called to harmonize with the one who called us.
We are called to decrease while Jesus increases
Transition: Playing second fiddle is an invitation for us to know what excites us and scares us about playing second fiddle to Jesus.
Playing Second Fiddle Means That We Recognize What Excites Us and Scares Us about Playing Second Fiddle to Jesus.
Playing second fiddle to Jesus comes with the excitement of knowing that we are involved in something bigger than ourselves.
We love being involved in things that great significance, that pack a punch in society.
Yet, the reason why we don’t often participate in things that are bigger than we are is because of our fear of failure.
I want you to spend some time and think about what personally excites you and scares you about following Jesus.
Transition: The third thing that playing second fiddle to Jesus means for us might be the toughest. Playing second fiddle to Jesus means that we trust God with the details of our lives,
Playing Second Fiddle Means That We Trust God with the Details of Our Lives as we Play Second Fiddle to Jesus
We might be confronted with Peter’s attitude in Matthew 19:27 when he says to Jesus, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then we have.?” In other words, “What’s in it for us?”
What’s in it for us is what we already possess because of Jesus. Forgiveness, life, and salvation. But I have a feeling that doesn’t sound good enough to many of us.
Isn’t God supposed to be our sugar daddy?
Following Jesus is about giving up our hold on these things. I was with a member of congregation recently who is dying. Things don’t mean anything to her anymore.
We are invited to this same attitude today.
Conclusion
When we stop and reflect on our lives, we’re always playing second fiddle to some one or something. There might be an illusion that we’re playing first fiddle, but it’s just that, an illusion. Can you think of anyone better to play second fiddle with than Jesus? Amen