One of the blessings that we have is the amount of freedom that we enjoy. Parents can choose which school their child will attend. Children are free to choose certain course electives. They can choose which extra curricular activities they want to participate in (under the guidance of parents). We can choose our travel destinations, how to spend our vacations, where to work. We have freedom in minor things such as what we will wear, what we will eat, what we will purchase, etc. Of course, this freedom has certain limits, but we must agree that we do enjoy a lot of freedom and opportunities to choose what we will do.

This is also true in our congregation. We can choose when we will worship God and where. We can choose whether we will attend Bible class and how often we will receive the Lord's Supper. We choose to what extent we will participate in worship and how much money we give to the Lord. We can choose whether or not we will use the spiritual gifts that God has given us to serve the Lord to carry out his purpose.

But with freedom comes responsibilities and an awareness of future consequences. For example: I have the freedom to eat what I want. But if I choose to fill up on foods heavy with saturated fats and sugars, my health will suffer. A child can choose to not do their homework or to cheat, but they will have to face the consequences of not learning or of not learning how to learn.

We can choose not to serve Jesus. He does not force people to believe in him or to serve him with their spiritual gifts. But then we will face the consequence of going to hell.

The challenge that faces us is that with so many freedoms and choices, we are being called to follow Jesus or to follow the world, the flesh, and the devil instead. And although one may choose to eat fatty foods and then later healthy foods, Jesus makes it clear that we cannot serve both God and anything else. Luke 16 13 "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

Sometimes when an individual is faced with the freedom to choose, that person cannot seem to make up their mind. And then someone else calls them or speaks to them and convinces them to follow his advice. Sometimes we are faced with the opportunity to serve Jesus or not to serve Jesus. He too we need convincing. Therefore . . .

Jesus Calls us to Serve Him.

Context: Luke records for us that pivotal event in which Jesus called Peter and Andrew, James and John, to be his full time disciples. They already knew him. It wasn't as though this stranger just walked up to their fishing business and said, "Hey, how would you like to follow me around for a couple of years?" John tells us that they had been with Jesus at the wedding of Cana and on a trip to Jerusalem and back. Luke tells us in the preceding chapter of how they had gone to the home of Simon Peter's mother in law and how Jesus had healed her of a fever. They had been with Jesus intermittently for the past year. But now Jesus would be called them to follow him on a regular basis.

Luke 5:1 through Luke 5:11 1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,_ with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2 he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." 5 Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

They had a choice. Would they follow the world and the promise of a successful business or would they become fishers of men? They left everything and followed Jesus. This would lead to an exciting life of being eyewitnesses of Jesus' miracles, his majesty on the Mount of Transfiguration, watching his suffer, witnessing his resurrection, seeing his ascension, preaching the gospel to distant lands, persecution but also joyful service.

Application: We are like the disciples. We know Jesus. We believe in him. Note well that this was not our choice. The Holy Spirit called us by the gospel to believe in him. We could not by our own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ our Lord nor come to him. We could only choose to reject him. But we were called by the Gospel and we do believe as we just confessed in the Apostles Creed and show by our lives of faith.

As those who do believe in Jesus and who know him, Jesus calls us to serve him. Just as a person may need convincing to make the right choice, so too Jesus uses his living word to convince us that serving him is a good thing to do. The Bible tells us that we are to serve our Lord. Joshua 24:14f
14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

16 Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! 17 It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. 18 And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God." 19 Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you." 21 But the people said to Joshua, "No! We will serve the LORD."
Romans 12:1f
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The church is here to give you an opportunity to serve the Lord in a coordinated effort. You can serve the Lord all by yourself just as you could possibly build a house all by yourself. But in both cases you wouldn't get much done in a day and the results would not be nearly as wonderful than if you worked together with others. We are here to equip you for works of service so that the body of Christ might be built up and to spur one another on toward love and good deeds. The church is to be a team working together and not a spectator sport.

I can't make you serve Jesus. I'm not going to dictate to those who have promised to follow Jesus exactly how you are going to do that. I believe in the freedoms that we have in this congregation so I'm not going to say you have to worship so many times a year, receive the Lord's supper a set number of times, serve on this or that committee, give a suggested amount of money, or attend this or that class. I will warn you of the consequences if you don't choose to serve the Lord just as the Bible warns of what will happen to those who don't serve the Lord. Judas was also called to serve Jesus. He chose not to do so and we know what happened to him. The branch that does not remain in the vine (the one who shuts himself off from the means of grace) does indeed whither and die and is good only as fuel for the fire.)

I will also remind you of the blessings that God pours out on those who do serve him with gladness. 
15 Therefore, 
"they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
16  Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
17  For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

Jesus calls you to serve him. The disciples were also called. When they were called they left everything and followed him. How can we do anything less? Amen.