You’re going to take a trip this morning. We’re about to leave our cold, snowy little part of Ontario and travel far across the ocean to a hot sunny place in another time. So relax. You don’t have to worry about passports, making flight connections or lost luggage. Are you ready?

Here we go-----------

There, that was an easy transition. We’ve arrived at our destination without even any jet lag!

Can you feel that hot Middle Eastern sun warming your winter-chilled bones? Can you hear the seagulls crying overhead? Can you smell the sea water? Do you see the nets laden with fish? Feel the gentle breeze on your cheeks. Drink in the beauty of the lush green shoreline.

Fitting right in, almost as if we belong in this new place, we find ourselves casting fishing nets on the Sea of Galilee. Along comes a man named Jesus and he calls out to us, and to Peter and Andrew, "Come with me and I will make you fish for people." There is something so compelling about this Jesus, that you do just that. You leave your nets and walk with Jesus along the shore. You don’t know where you’re going but that doesn’t really seem to matter.

You have become followers of Jesus. The little group will soon number twelve such followers.

You haven’t gone far when Jesus calls out again, this time to James and his brother, John, and they, too, join your little group. In the blink of an eye, with just one invitation, from the moment when you dropped your fishing nets, your life changed forever. There will be no more relaxing family meals and conversations around the fire. Your home, your familiar bed and surroundings will soon become distant memories. Your life will be almost nomadic as you travel by foot around the countryside, listening to Jesus preach, watching his miraculous healings and often being mocked and criticized by religious leaders who condemn Jesus’ message.

This is your new life. You will have many joys and sorrows during the next three years and beyond. And all the while, you will be learning what it means to follow Jesus.

Learning to be disciples in that cradle of Christianity.

It is time, now, to leave the sunny shores of Galilee and return to Harrowsmith/Verona. We leave the disciples to do the work that Jesus called them to and we come home to do our own.

Learning to be disciples in 21^st Century Eastern Ontario!

How do we learn such a thing? There is no Discipleship 101 on our school curriculum. Yet we do have teachers and lessons. The stories of the disciples and the experiences of our lives will teach us.

As disciples, what was it that Peter and Andrew, James, John and the others had to learn?

First and foremost, they had to drop their nets. They had to cast aside everything that held them back. They had to let go of the past.

What nets encumber you? What holds you back? Would you rather stay with the familiar even if that familiarity is an unwelcome and uncomfortable crutch?

If you are held back by fear of the unknown, if you are afraid to entrust your future to someone you haven’t really known for long; if risking seems too intimidating, then remember those fishermen. Remember their courage. Remember, too, that when they left the Galilean shoreline, they were not alone. They traveled in the company of others who followed the same one. They could lean on each other, offer support and a helping hand to one another. They could share their fears, their hopes and their dreams with each other. And most importantly, they traveled with one who loved them so much he willingly gave his life for them. They stepped into the unknown but they were in extremely good hands, and always and ever deeply loved.

That companionship and that love are there for you as well. Learn to follow Jesus with all of your being. Let go of everything that impedes that call, knowing that you will be all right.

Learning to be disciples.

What else must we do in order to learn to be true and faithful followers of Christ?

Bill Lord is a much loved and respected Professor who served the Toronto School of Theology for many years, most notably in the field of continuing education. His research brought him to some conclusions about how we learn. Perhaps we can apply them to our own learning about discipleship.

Professor Lord says we learn in three ways:

First, we learn by doing and we get better at it the more we do something. We get better at greeting, at reading Scripture, at teaching Sunday School, about inviting our neighbour to church by doing it – not once, but over and over again until it becomes a natural part of who we are.

Anyone who has known me for more than ten or fifteen years knows that the thing that makes me the most uncomfortable is speaking in front of people. Public speaking in school always paralyzed me with fear. About 15 years ago I was asked to chair a committee of Presbytery. Wanting to be more involved in the work of the church, I accepted. Then, I learned that I would have to give reports at Presbytery meetings.

I will never forget my first report. My heart was beating so fast I thought it would explode! My face was so red it felt like it was on fire. It was an incredibly hard thing for me to stand in front of 80 or so people and give a report. Somehow I got through it and made my wobbly-kneed return to my seat.

Many of you have heard me say that I strong resisted a call to ministry. Part of that resistance was the fear of standing in a pulpit every Sunday morning. But I do it and I speak at Presbytery and I chair meetings and every time I do one of these things, the fear lessens a bit.

No matter how long you’ve been a Christian, for most people, being asked to say a prayer in a small group or in front of a large gathering strikes fear in your heart. Let the minister do it. He or she knows how.

Well, folks, let me tell you – ministers are not born with a prayer gene. We do not get some magical infusion of prayer serum at theological college. We have to learn the same as everyone else – by doing it – again and again. Sometimes our prayers reflect the moment and the mood and at other times they fall short. But none of us can ever get better at praying if we don’t do it. God hears us even when the language seems stilted and the words inadequate.

We learn to be disciples by doing what Jesus asks of us – not once – but time and time again.

Professor Lord’s second conclusion was that we can learn something radically new. The familiar adage about old dogs and new tricks is not quite true.

Those early disciples knew how to cast their nets in a way that caught the most fish. They knew where to take their boats to find the fish. I doubt if they knew much about preaching or conveying a compelling and urgent message to strangers.

They may not have been good listeners. They may have struggled with a fear of approaching strangers. But they learned to do all these things. They learned for Christ’s sake.

Have you noticed that many newly ordained ministers are not young first career people? My classmates at Queens ranged in age from 24 to 59 and included a lawyer, a musician, a librarian, a plumber and a secretary. Each one had to learn many new things, new ways and new ideas. It was a tough go at times but we persevered. No one gave up. We all graduated and now minister to congregations from Saskatchewan to Newfoundland.

You say you’ve never taught Sunday School? You say you’ve never planned a worship service? You’ve never volunteered at a hospital or nursing home? Well, that doesn’t mean that you can’t!

The last and final conclusion is that we can change our worldview. Our learning can be transformational. That’s what Jesus did. He widened the scope of people’s vision. He taught them to see – not prostitutes, beggars and lepers – but people in need of love, understanding and acceptance. Becoming a disciple of Jesus requires of us that same transformational shift.

I seldom see much daytime TV, but a couple of weeks ago, I caught some of Dr. Phil. His subject that day was changing your worldview. On his program was a white Southern man – we’ll call him Joe – who was estranged from his daughter who was about to give birth to a biracial baby. Joe hated blacks so much that he almost couldn’t see them as fellow human beings. He loved his daughter but had turned away from her for what he viewed as her betrayal.

Dr. Phil’s remedy was to send him to spend a few days with a black family. He went to church with them, shared a family dinner in their home, and for the first time in his life, he had a conversation with a person whose skin was not the same colour as his.

What happened to Joe? He discovered that people are no different, whatever their colour. They have the same fears, hopes and dreams. They worship the same God. They love their families in the same way.

Joe had a paradigm shift. His world changed forever as he questioned his lifelong-held values and belief. And Joe was reconciled with his daughter, falling immediately in love with his newest granddaughter when she was born. He stopped seeing the colour of one’s skin and started seeing the person. Joe gained a new and far better understanding of the world.

The next time you see a street person pushing a shopping car and rummaging through garbage cans, stop and really see that person. See him or her as Christ would. Look through the ragged, dirty clothes. Cast aside your indignation or anger. Throw away your assumptions about a life wasted and see the child of God that lies beneath the surface.

Start to look at the world as Jesus does. Drop your nets, open your eyes, your mind and your heart – and learn. Learn to be a disciple.

Amen