C208 1/31/60 Youth week
© Project Winsome International, 2000

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"THE CHRIST OF BECKONING CALL"
Dr. John Allan Lavender
Mt. 4:18-22

There is no eluding the fact that the church of Jesus Christ owes a tremendous debt to its young people. We are grateful, of course, for the splendid sacrifice and service of those, who in their maturity have given their best to Christ. But we can never underestimate the contribution which has been made to the cause of Christ by Christian youth.

For one thing, Christianity began as a young people's movement. Jesus was six years my junior when he began his public ministry, and three years my junior when he died upon a cross. Many of the disciples were teenagers, and the oldest of them would still have qualified for membership in our college and career class.

From its inception, Christianity was a young people's movement. The story of the early disciples is the saga of an adventurous group of young men who head out after their master. Not knowing for sure who he was, where he was going, or why they were following him. They only knew, in the words of James Stewart, "They had been magnetized by him, fascinated, gripped and held by
something irresistible in the soul of him. As a result they were willing to be laughed at by friends, plotted against by foes, with doubts sometimes growing clamorous in their own hearts until they almost wished they were done with the whole business. But still clinging to him, coming through the ruins of their hopes to a better loyalty and earning at last the worthy accolade 'the glorious company of the apostles.'"

No one ever knew the heart of youth with its "sudden loneliness, haunting dreams and hidden conflicts" like Jesus. Nor was anyone quite so conscious of the fact that the adolescent years are God's best chance with the soul.

So from the very beginning, the Lord Jesus Christ has sought out lads and lasses in the prime of their youth, gently tapping them on the shoulders, issuing the beckoning call!
"Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men."

And youth has answered! Three out of four major religious decisions are made in those years 'twixt twelve and twenty. Ninety percent of all missionaries receive their first missionary call to Christian service during the same period.

There is something about Jesus that appeals to youth. There is almost an immediate instinctive feeling of kinship between them. There is a fineness in him. A genuineness of character, an unsophisticated singleness of purpose about his action that challenges the noblest and best in young people. They want to be like him. And they are prepared, without sham or shame, to bow down in humble admiration before the one they intuitively recognize as Lord.

But along with this beauty of character that appeals to youth, a second reason why Jesus has been able to elicit such response from young people is that he comes to them offering life. And that's what young people are interested in, life. And that's what Christianity is, L-I-F-E, life.


Christianity is not the dry business of tracing the history of some ancient king through a hundred "begats." It is not wearing a black suit, a drab tie and going around with a sad-sack look on your face. Christianity is life. L-I-F-E.
"In him was L-I-F-E and that life was the light of men." (Jn. 1:3)
And young people, until you have linked your life with the one who said, "I am the life," you have never known what real life is all about. Even as the person who has merely heard aboutlove can know the depths of that wondrous emotion until he or she has been in love.

Yes, Jesus came offering the youth of his day, life. Abundant life. Creative life. Thrilling life. Dynamic life. Victorious life. And as a result they were prepared to leave all and follow him.

And he is here this moment making the same offer to you, my dear young friends. He is here with the offer of life as it is meant to be lived. God grant that some of you, who have not yet done so, will happily respond to his beckoning call.

The Diversity of the Disciples
Whenever I read the story of Jesus' choice of disciples I am impressed by the incredible diversity of character and personality among them.

There was impetuous Peter and deliberate John. There was slow-witted Philip and quick-witted Bartholomew. There was doubting, skeptical Thomas, and simple, trusting, believing Matthew. There was ambitious James, and spiritual Andrew. There was enthusiastic, vivacious, happy-go-lucky Simon, and businesslike, dutiful, conservative Judas.

What an unbelievable conglomeration of youthful character and personality! Yet, fulfilling to the very letter, his grand promise to "draw all men unto (himself)," Jesus, with amazing magnetism, took this motley mass of humanity and molded it into a marching, fighting, winning army which literally turned the first century world right side up.

And young people, that's what Jesus wants to do with you, in you and through you today. If he could use that unlikely group, he could use you. If there was a place in his program for the impetuous as well as the thoughtful, the quick as well as the slow, the radiant as well as the somber, the youthful as well as the more mature, then, thank God, there is a place for you.

And if you will let him, he will use you to create a twentieth century revolution Christian-style. A revolution aimed not at war, but at peace. Not at death, but at life. Not at man's destruction, but at his salvation.

Now, it seems to me there are some helpful and encouraging things to be learned by just taking a look at the lives of the disciples. Take Peter, Andrew and Thomas for example.

Peter
There is something very loveable about old Peter, and I use that word "old" affectionately, for he was actually very young.

Peter was a born leader. It didn't matter much what group he was in, Peter would be at the top of the heap. He was the kind of vivacious fellow who was always ready for anything. Eager. Out-going. Gregarious. Lusty in his laugh. A burly, happy-hearted, impetuous man of the sea. And wherever something was going on, Peter would be found in the center of it.

But with all of his assets, Peter had his liabilities, too. For instance, it was Peter to whom Jesus said, "Get thee behind me Satan" (Mt. 26:23). It was Peter who blurted out the mercenary question, "We have forsaken all and followed thee, what shall we have hereafter?" (Mt. 19:27).
And it was Peter who disowned his master because of the taunts of a servant lass (Mt. 26:69).

What a sad moral mixture he was! And yet, how very warm we feel toward him. For the story of Peter is, in many ways, our story too. How often, young people, have you found yourself responding to life situations the same impetuous, erratic way Peter did? How many times has your heart ached because, like Peter, you allowed the snide, sneering taunts of the crowd to steer you away from Christ? And how many times have you cried out for strength to withstand temptation?

Well, dear hearts, take hope! The story of Peter is the story of a weak man made strong. Or better yet, a strong man made stronger still. By handing over to Christ the reins of the wild horses of human emotion which chafed within him, Peter was able to channel his energies, drives and actions for God and good, and thus use them, instead of be used by them. Jesus took "old Peter" as he was, and made him what he ought to be. From a bungling, eager but erratic, disciple, Jesus transformed him into the very symbol of solidarity. A rock. Firm. Steadfast. Sure. And my young friend, what Jesus did for Peter, he is ready, willing and able to do for you.

Andrew
And then there was Andrew. Just the opposite of impetuous Peter, Andrew was a plodder. And because he wasn't a radiant, effervescent, spellbinder like his brother, he was constantly being eclipsed by him.

Although he found Jesus first, and then went with haste and told Peter of his newfound friend, Andrew later had to stand aside and see Peter admitted into the intimacy of the inner circle, along with James and John, a select society to which he was never invited. And yet, not once did Andrew give the slightest hint of jealousy or resentment.

As a matter of fact, the one distinguishing mark that stands out about Andrew is that whenever he appears on the gospel scene he is busy introducing someone else to Jesus. It began with his brother Peter, whom he brought to Jesus. Then, as we read in Jn. 6:8-9, when the great crowd of 5,000 to whom Jesus had been preaching began to grow restive with hunger, it was Andrew who found a little boy with five loaves and two fishes, and he brought him to Jesus.

Later still, as recorded in the chapter of John 12:22, it was Andrew who brought the enquiring Greeks to Jesus when they waited to be introduced to him. And this practice of his is repeated throughout the gospels. He was a plodder, unspectacular, and yet faithful. Earnest and dedicated to the end.

And young people, I'm inclined to believe that that may well describe some of you. Actually, very few people are radiant, effervescent spellbinders like Peter. Oh, we may share his impetuosity, but few of us share his brilliance. Not very many of us are silver-tongued orators who can sway great masses of men without eloquence. For the most part, we're Andrews. Plodders. Average in our ability. Destined to fill the unglamourous role of the common man.

But young people, if, like Andrew, you fill that common role in an uncommon way, you will make your life really count. For, while Christ needs people like Peter, he counts much more upon people like Andrew. People who though plodders, are loyal, faithful and dedicated to the end.

It seems to me there's an enormous amount of wisdom in these lines from an unknown poet:
"Dream not so much of what you'll do tomorrow,
How well you'll work perhaps another year;
Tomorrow's chance you do not need to borrow,
Today is here.

Boast not so much of mountains you will master
The while you linger in the vale below;
To dream is well, but plodding brings you faster,
To where you go.

Swear not some day to break some habits fetter,
When this old year is dead and passed away;
If you have need of living wiser, better
Begin today."
In other words, be an Andrew!

Thomas
The third member of the twelve to which I would call your attention is Thomas. And I suppose, of the twelve, he's the one most misunderstood. Generally speaking, he is called "Thomas,the doubter." He's thought of as the agnostic, or even worse, the skeptic. And he earned this title because of the one time in his relationship with Jesus he expressed any uncertainty. Actually he was very firm in his convictions.

Do you remember the time when Jesus was heading toward Jerusalem and most of the disciples tried to convince him that to continue was sheer folly? It was Thomas who spoke up and said, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." That doesn't sound like the speech of a defiant skeptic, does it?

And while we have remembered his insistence upon seeing the nailprints in Jesus' hands before he would believe in the resurrection, we seem to have forgotten that, upon seeing those nailprints, he gave one of the grandest confessions of faith ever given, "My Lord and God!"

To be sure, it was the assertion of a soul which had fought its way "through the mist and shadows into the light!" But what's wrong with that? I, for one, have a great deal of admiration and respect for the youthful soul who wants to know. Who is determined to have a reason for the hope that is within him. And if such a seeking soul will earnestly search for Christ, he will not look long nor far, for the Lord has promised, "To him that seeketh, it shall be opened."

I'm not talking about those arrogant, know-it-all characters, who always want to argue religion. Those budding geniuses who grow up to be blooming idiots. All too often such insufferable characters do their thinking between their chin and their nose. No! I'm talking about those real doubting Thomases. Those sensitive seekers after truth who, not with arrogance and defiance, but with gentleness and earnestness, seek to see beyond the shallows into the deeps. And, as I have said, for them there is God's special promise, "If with all your heart ye truly seek me, ye shall ever surely find me."

The Disciples Calling
Now what was Jesus' purpose in selecting these guys and commissioning them as disciples? Mark puts it in one succinct sentence.
"He ordained (them) that they should be with him, and that he might
send them forth to preach" (Mk. 3:14).

With Him To Comfort
"That they should be with him." There is a bit of wistfulness in that. Especially when we remember the words of Isaiah, "He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." For though we seldom think of him in that way, I don't suppose there has ever been a lonelier figure in history than Jesus Christ. And how it must have encouraged his heart to know that, at least, here were a few stalwart souls who were with him and not against him.
As someone has said,
"When the world outside had been showing itself callous, hostile and
contemptuous, when the day had brought him sneers that stung or a studied
indifference that was a blow in the face, he would turn back at nightfall with
a great relief to these twelve men who, for all their faults, loved him and
believed in him. As Jesus himself expressed it one day when the end
was near, 'It is you who have stood by me through my trials.' And still
today the love and trust of ordinary people means more to Jesus than we
might ever guess."

With Him To Learn
But there is something more in that sentence, "that they should be with him." For in ordaining these twelve, our Lord was not only motivated by a need for human love and sympathy, it was also his purpose to train these men so that by living with him day by day, by watching him in all kinds of situations, by listening to his private talk, by observing the manner in which he prayed, they would begin to share his spirit, zeal and love.

And young people, I do not know of a better way to become more like Jesus than that. The only way to really know him, and become more like him, is to be with him day by day.

Sent Forth to Preach
"He ordained twelve that they might be with him and that he might
send them forth to preach."
Whenever I hear that word "preach" I cannot help but think of a story I've told you before. It's about a young monk who was studying with St. Francis of Assisi. One day the great Christian leader called to the young monk and said,
"Come, my son, let us go down into the town and preach."

The young man was delighted to be the chosen companion of St. Francis on a preaching expedition, and set out with great expectation to observe the master preacher in his work. They passed through all the principal streets and down the back alleys, out into the suburbs and then finally returned to the gates of the monastery.

As they started to go inside the young monk said,
"You have forgotten, father, that we went into the town to preach."
To which St. Francis replied,
"My son, we have preached. We were preaching while we walked. We have
been seen by many. Our behavior has been closely watched. It was thus
we preached our morning sermon. For you see, my son, it is no use walking
anywhere to preach, unless we preach as we walk."

That's it, young people. Words have to be translated from language to language and sometimes the translation is awkward, but deeds translate themselves. And if you would preach for Christ, do it effectively and lastingly, through a Godlike, Christlike, virtuous and vivacious walk.

More than 1900 years have passed since Christ walked beside the sea of Galilee and called to a group of young men saying, "Come, follow me." But he is extending that same beckoning call this morning. Right now, he is walking up and down this aisle. Right now, through the power of the Holy Spirit, he is standing there beside you, reaching out to tap you on the shoulder saying,
"Come, walk with me, and learn to preach as you walk."
Will you listen? Will you follow? You will never regret it.
Christ can do more with your life than you can!