Come Follow Me, A tale of nets and rubble
Introduction
Good morning brothers and sisters. I am thankful for the chance to speak with
you this morning. It is a blessing and a
privilege.
Fishing
I thought I would start off today by sharing a story from my
youth. When I was young, my father used
to take me and my brothers fishing. We
would spend what felt like hours holding fishing poles, and waiting for the
signs that told us that a fish might be nibbling the bait on the end of our line. Then we would yank on the pole to try and
“set the hook” so that we could reel the fish in.
I have a confession to make.
Although I love spending time with my Dad and my brothers, I actually hate
fishing.
To be fair, there are a few things I enjoyed about these
times. I liked going to lakes. I liked sitting in boats. I love nature. I loved sitting in the
sunshine and admiring the water and the trees.
On the other hand, I don’t like spearing worms with metal hooks. I don’t like reeling in some poor fish
knowing its got a metal spike pierced through its lip. And I don’t like touching slimy, wiggly,
unpredictable, floppy things that at any moment could make me squeal in fright.
Fortunately, in today’s modern age, we have been given
Pokemon Go which has a lot of similarities to fishing, only without the hooks
and the slime.
Some people love to fish.
My father and my oldest brother are two of them. They can spend hours and hours fishing
together. Not me. After a few minutes, I’m pulling out my phone
and playing Pokemon Go, trying to “catch them all”.
Four Fishermen
In the New Testament, we read about four men who were
fishermen. Their names were Simon, Andrew, James and John. They were partners in their fishing business,
and apparently they were fairly successful at it considering they had their own
boats and nets.
I want you to join me as we try to envision what it was like
for them to live two thousand years ago.
They worked by hand, lowering and raising the nets. Perhaps their hands were calloused and worn
from the ropes in the nets that they used each day.
Imagine one night, they went out to fish and they didn’t
catch a thing. Nothing. Their nets were
empty by the time they returned to shore in the morning. I do not know if they grumbled and complained
like my brothers and I may have as children when my father made us go fishing
and there was nothing to be caught. But
we do know that they came back from the sea empty handed. So they beached their boats, pulled their
nets to the shore and began the laborious task of cleaning them.
It was then that a crowd of people approached. The focus of the crowd appeared to be a
single man, who came to Simon and asked him if he would thrust out a little
from the land so that he could speak to the multitude. Of course, we know that
this was no ordinary man. He was Jesus of Nazareth.
Undoubtedly Simon felt something different about him, for he
obeyed. They went out a ways into the
water, and Jesus taught the multitude. We do not know the content of the
discourse that He gave. However, we can
imagine Simon sitting next to him in his boat as He taught, and marveling at
the things that He said.
When Jesus was done teaching, he turned to Simon and said to
him, Go out where the water is deeper, and let down your nets.
If we put ourselves in Simon’s shoes, how would we have reacted
to this instruction? He had just spent the entire night fishing and caught
nothing. He was undoubtedly tired, and
probably a little frustrated from his lack of success.
In fact, he tells Jesus, Master, we have toiled all the
night and have taken nothing; nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the
net.
What happened next was a miracle. The net was suddenly filled with fish – so
many that the net began to break and he had to call out to his partners James
and John to help. I imagine that they ran to their boat and came quickly to his
aid, and still the fish came to the net.
Their catch was so large that their ships began to sink for the weight
of the fish.
When this happened, Simon fell to his knees and beseeched
the Lord to depart from him, because he was a sinful man. He didn’t feel worthy to be in the presence
of the Savior.
To these men, Jesus said, and I am paraphrasing here: Come,
Follow me, and you will no longer catch fish to kill them, but rather, you will
bring men into the Gospel net, so that they can live. (Luke 5, Matthew 4, see Jesus the Christ, pg.
188, note 4).
There is a lesson to learn from Peter, Andrew, James and
John’s response to the Savior’s invitation.
We read in Mathew, chapter 4 that they straightway left their nets and immediately left their ships and followed him.
Let’s take a look at what happened that morning so long ago:
1.
These four men were introduced to the Savior
2.
They heard his words. They listened to his
message and his teaching.
3.
They were touched by the Spirit. They recognized that he was much more than
just an ordinary man.
4.
Then the Savior invited them to follow him; to
leave their nets and their boats and their fish, and become his disciples.
Now, let us leave this beautiful scene on the shores of
Galilee, and return to our present time.
In a way, all of us, at some point in our lives will go through a
similar experience to what Peter, Andrew, James and John went through. The Spirit will touch our lives, and the
Savior will invite us to Come, and Follow him.
At that point, as we stand there with our metaphorical nets in our
hands, the question is, what will we do?
Nets
Elder Joseph B. Worthlin of the quorum of the twelve apostles
said the following when talking about the experience of these four men, and in
particular, the nets left so willingly:
(quote) “Nets are generally defined
as devices for capturing something. In a … more important sense, we might
define a net as anything that entices or prevents us from following the call of
Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.
“Nets in this context can be our
work, our hobbies, our pleasures, and, above all else, our temptations and
sins. In short, a net can be anything that pulls us away from our relationship
with our Heavenly Father or from His restored Church. …
“It is impossible to list the many
nets that can ensnare us and keep us from following the Savior. But if we are
sincere in our desire to follow Him, we must straightway leave the world’s
entangling nets and follow Him.” (close quote)
A few questions come to mind:
-
If the fish, nets, and boats the fishermen left
behind represent our temporal concerns, what things might the Savior require us
to set aside in order to follow Him?
-
What are the nets that prevent us from following
the Savior with all our heart, might, mind and strength?
Before answering that question, and I promise everyone an
answer, I want to talk about another story from the New Testament. This one is found in Mark, Chapter 10:
17 ¶And when he (Jesus) was gone
forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him,
Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou
me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not
commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud
not, Honour thy father and mother.
20 And he answered and said unto him, Master,
all these have I observed from my youth.
21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and
said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast,
and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up
the cross, and follow me.
The reason I share this story, is because I want to talk
about what it means to me to truly Follow the Savior. When the young rich man asked Jesus what he needed
to do to inherit eternal life, Christ began by teaching him the basics: Here
are the ten commandments that you know you should follow.
In our day, If we could approach the Savior and ask the same
question, I imagine Christ’s answer might sound like this:
“You know what you should be doing: Go to Church. Read and study your scriptures. Pray often. Be baptized. Partake of the sacrament. Pay your tithing. Obey the Word of Wisdom. Go to the temple.”
And we may very well answer him with the same words that
this rich man did:
“Lord, all these I have done since I was young.”
In saying that, perhaps we hope that God will say, well
done, my good and faithful servant. You
have checked all the boxes off. You will
inherit eternal life. In hoping this, I wonder if we are not like the Scribes
and Pharisees of old? I wonder if we
want lists of things that we can check off so we don’t have to think too hard. We want to know exactly what the rules are
and what tasks must be done so that we can check them off like items on a
grocery list, so that we can then present our completed homework to the Lord and
expect to be given a gold star and an A grade.
However, this is not the response that the Savior gives to
the young rich man. What does he tell
him?
Christ moves from following a lesser law, to following a
greater law. He moves past lists, to something
higher.
He tells him: Leave the things of the world behind, take up
the cross, and Follow Me.
In my opinion, this is the higher law, one where there are no
more lists.
It is when we go from
worrying about tasks that must be checked off a list like the Pharisees of old,
to living the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
that we begin to truly follow Him.
Let me repeat that.
It is when we go from
worrying about tasks that must be checked off a list like the Pharisees of old,
to living the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
that we begin to truly follow Him.
When we leave our metaphorical nets behind and truly embrace
living the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we no longer have to think about which
commandment or instruction we should be obeying. We emulate the Savior in our actions and our
deeds naturally. We have his image
engraven upon our countenances. It is no
longer about constantly checking our obedience level like a worried mother
checks the temperature of her sick child to see if they are getting worse or
better.
Put in a different way, we act as Jesus would act not
because we ask ourselves how Jesus would respond when placed in a certain
circumstance, but rather we act as Jesus would act because we are filled with His love and want
to do as He would do because the very nature of our beings has changed.
-
When we are filled with the Love of Christ, we
see someone who is suffering, and we go to them to comfort them.
-
When we are filled with the Love of Christ, we
see someone mourning, and we go to them to mourn with them.
-
When we see another burdened with more than they
can carry, we reach out and help them without a second thought of whether or
not it is convenient.
In short: We put off
the Natural man.
We have a mighty
change in our hearts.
We no longer have the
desire to do evil, but to do good continually.
We leave our metaphorical
nets and boats behind us, and Come and Follow Him.
So, I ask again:
-
If the fish, nets, and boats the fishermen left
behind represent our temporal concerns, what things might the Savior require us
to set aside in order to follow Him?
-
What are the nets that prevent us from following
the Savior with all our heart, might, mind and strength?
Earlier, I promised you an answer to these questions. Let me give you that answer now. If all of us take a moment, let go of our
pride, and humble ourselves so that we can hear and listen to the promptings of
the Spirit, then right here and right now, the Spirit of the Lord will whisper
to our minds exactly what it is that we need to let go of.
It may be something that prevents us from fulfilling our
Church or family responsibilities.
It may be grievances with our ex-spouse, our families or our
friends.
It may be a temptation or a sin.
It may be sorrow, or despair.
For each of us, it will be something different.
But whatever it is, the need to let it go is the same. What metaphorical net are we clinging to that
prevents us from partaking of the Love of God, and - being filled with that
Love - , Following the Savior and living the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Doubts and Fears
There may be some here today that think to themselves,
Brother Nanto, that is all well and good, but you don’t understand. The net I’m holding on to is different than other
people’s nets. This is no ordinary
fishing net. It is strong. It is important. I don’t want to let go of it because I deserve
to keep it.
Or, you may think, Brother Nanto, I want to let go of this
net, but I am entangled in it, like one of the fish Peter caught. I’ve tried to escape many times. It is binding. I am too weak. It is not possible for me.
“I am hopeless.”
You may think you will never be able to escape the
particular net you are surrounded by, whatever it is.
There is a scene from the musical, The Man of LaMancha,
where a lowly kitchen maid named Aldonza is speaking to a dreamer named Don
Quixote. He is trying to convince her
that she is a magnificent Princess named Dulcinea, but when she looks at
herself, all she can see is someone who is the lowest of the low.
She tells him: “You have shown me the sky, but what good is
the sky, to a creature that will never do better than crawl.”
In her mind, she is just a dirty kitchen maid. But Don Quixote sees her for who she truly
is. She really is a princess. She just doesn’t know it yet.
Perhaps, in the eyes of Peter, on that morning two thousand
years ago, as he knelt before the Savior in his boat, surrounded by fish, all
he could see when he looked at himself was an unworthy fisherman. While Jesus saw an Apostle of the Lamb and
the one He would trust to lead His church after He was gone.
Perhaps in your mind, all you see are the reasons why true
discipleship is unattainable for you. While
Jesus sees us for our potential as children of our Heavenly Father.
Dresden
I am reminded of a talk that President Uchtdorf gave last
Spring in general conference. He began by
describing his visit to the city of Dresden, which was located not far from
where he grew up as a child. This
particular city was heavily bombed during the second world war. Over 90% of the structures of the city were
destroyed in a massive bombing campaign.
He writes: (quote)
During my visit I saw the beautiful Lutheran church
Frauenkirche, the Church of Our Lady. Originally built in the 1700s, it had
been one of Dresden’s shining jewels, but the war reduced it to a pile of
rubble. For many years it remained that way, until finally it was determined
that the Frauenkirche would be rebuilt.
Stones from the destroyed church had been stored and
cataloged and, when possible, were used in the reconstruction. Today you can
see these fire-blackened stones pockmarking the outer walls. These “scars” are
not only a reminder of the war history of this building but also a monument to
hope—a magnificent symbol of man’s ability to create new life from ashes.
As I pondered the history of Dresden and marveled at the
ingenuity and resolve of those who restored what had been so completely
destroyed, I felt the sweet influence of the Holy Spirit. Surely, I thought, if
man can take the ruins, rubble, and remains of a broken city and rebuild an
awe-inspiring structure that rises toward the heavens, how much more capable is
our Almighty Father to restore His children who have fallen, struggled, or
become lost?
It matters not how completely ruined our lives may seem. It
matters not how scarlet our sins, how deep our bitterness, how lonely,
abandoned, or broken our hearts may be. Even those who are without hope, who
live in despair, who have betrayed trust, surrendered their integrity, or
turned away from God can be rebuilt. Save those rare sons of perdition, there
is no life so shattered that it cannot be restored.
The joyous news of the gospel is this: because of the
eternal plan of happiness provided by our loving Heavenly Father and through
the infinite sacrifice of Jesus the Christ, we can not only be redeemed from
our fallen state and restored to purity, but we can also transcend mortal
imagination and become heirs of eternal life and partakers of God’s
indescribable glory. (close quote)
Conclusion
I echo the words of President Uchtdorf. It matters not how completely ruined our
lives may seem. We may be standing amid
a pile of stones and rubble that at one time were the dreams of how we thought our
lives would turn out. We may be gripping
tightly to our metaphorical nets, or helplessly entangled in them. We may have scars and painful reminders of
the past. But that need not prevent us
from our glorious destination. I testify that all things are possible through
Christ. That our Heavenly Father can and
will help us and raise us up if we Come Unto Him.
Sometimes I think God
left us clues of our divine potential hidden
around us in nature. Consider the example of the monarch butterfly.
It begins its life as a caterpillar that has no concept of
flight as it begins its journey through life.
All it knows is the ground. All
it knows is the soil of the earth, and the weeds it crawls among. It may look up and catch glimpses of the sky
and think I will never be able to reach the heavens. I am but a lowly caterpillar; nothing more
than a glorified worm, forever destined to spend my life right where I am.
I do not know if the metamorphosis is painful for a
caterpillar to become a butterfly. I do
not know what self introspection occurs when it wraps itself in a chrysalis for
days and finds a way to leave its old body behind. What I do know, is that through the miracle
of nature, when it finally emerges, it is nothing like it was before. No longer is it bound to the earth and the
soil and the weeds. It has completely
changed. It is now a beautiful Monarch
butterfly.
Before it ate weeds, now it sips nectar. Before it crawled, now it can fly.
Brothers and sisters, we are like the monarch
caterpillar. We have no idea of the
glories and heights to which we can ascend when we leave the world behind us
and truly become disciples of Christ.
We must all have the faith to let go of our nets, rebuild
the rubble that may stand around us, and Follow the Savior, Jesus Christ.
In giving this talk, I hope that I have not come across as
one who has attained the level of discipleship to which I am describing. Like many of you, I have my own nets to leave
behind. I have stood in the rubble of my
own life and wondered if it were even possible to rebuild.
I testify to you, that with the Lords help, all things are
possible. The rubble of our lives can be
rebuilt. With the Lord’s help, the nets
we cling to, or that have ensnared us, can be left behind. I testify that the Lord loves us. He loves me, and He loves you. He has helped me in my darkest times, and He
will help you as well.
It is my prayer that our loving Father in Heaven will
strengthen us and give us all the courage we need to leave behind us whatever nets
we cling to that prevent us from living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray that he will help us rebuild from the
rubble of whatever tragedies we have experienced. I pray that all of us may accept the Savior’s
invitation to Come and Follow him.
That we may live the Gospel of Jesus Christ by following His
perfect example as best we can is my prayer.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
