My name is Greg Hampton. I am one of the pastors
here at the house. If we have never met, I would
love to meet you. I would love to grab a coffee
with you or some other beverage of your choice.
And I would love to hear your story. I like to
talk about Jesus. I would love to hear how you
ended up here at the house, what your background
is, all that stuff. I would just love to get
to know you. It was cool. Throughout my life
as a pastor, a handful of times I've had, I remember
there was one time there was a young guy, maybe
like 24, and his dad started coming to the church.
His dad was probably, you know, late 50s. And
I asked the dad, like, hey, do you want to go
out and get a coffee sometime? And then I saw
the son, and the son said, hey, my dad mentioned
that you wanted to get a coffee with him. And
he asked me, why? And he said, I just told him.
Probably because he wants to have coffee with
you. I promise, I don't come to coffee and I
don't meet people with an agenda. I really do
just want to get to know you. So feel free to
put that on your connection card. I'd love to
meet you. Today we're starting a short series,
a three -week series called Follow Me. Because
that is what Jesus said. Jesus said, follow me.
So we're going to jump. Right in, if you want
to grab your Bible, there's Bibles on the table,
or you can download a Bible from any of the digital
app stores. If you don't have a Bible of your
own, grab one of the blue Bibles, either from
the table or from the bookshelf in the lobby,
and just take it home with you. It's free. So
we're going to be in Matthew 4. The New Testament,
the Newer Testament, goes Matthew, Mark, Luke,
John, Acts. So it's right there at the beginning.
If you see any of that, you know you're in the
right neighborhood. And while we read the Scriptures
in the context of a sermon here at the house,
we like to give it our full attention. You can
do that any way that's most comfortable for you,
but one of the ways we do that is to stand as
we are able. And if you'd like to stand with
me as you are able now, and I will read from
Matthew 4, and then I'm going to jump to chapter
9 as well. Matthew 4, starting in verse 18. As
Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two
brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew,
his brother, casting a net into the sea, for
they were fishers. And he said to them, Follow
me, and I will make you fishers of people. Immediately
they left their nets and followed him. As he
went from there, he saw two other brothers, James,
son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the
boat with their father Zebedee. mending their
nets and he called them immediately they left
the boat in their father and followed him i'm
going to jump to chapter 9 okay chapter 9 verse
9 give me a second to turn there nine nines this
as jesus was walking along he saw a man called
matthew sitting at the tax collection station
and he said to him follow me and he got up and
he followed him And as he sat at dinner in the
house, many tax collectors and sinners came and
were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. Let
us pray. God of every tribe, every tongue, every
color, and every nation, we pray that you bless
us with ears to hear today, hearts to receive.
We thank you for the scriptures that they have
persisted throughout the millennia. We still
have them to consider, to learn from, to be directed
by. And I pray that whatever you have for us
to learn today, I pray that it would stick, that
it would become a part of the framework of our
faith, that we would become more like your son,
Jesus. Amen? Amen. You can have a seat. All right,
so have you ever felt like your work defined
you? Did you ever feel like your work defined
you? Has your work ever become your identity?
I had this in my notes and I took it out. I have
a career, a vocation, a job that comes with a
title. And so when people don't know my name,
what do they say? Hey, Pastor. Yeah, if you're
a barista, people don't go, hey, barista, right?
The thing that I get to do for a living, a lot
of the people that do this for a living have
a really hard time not making this their identity,
not turning it into who they are. I think that
we do that for a lot of people. I think pastors
do that. I think that whatever it is that we
do for a living, I think a lot of us do that
for whatever it is. that we do, we wrap so much
of who someone is in what someone does. And I
think, I want to suggest that 2 ,000 years ago,
it wasn't that different. These four fishermen,
they knew what it felt like to be defined by
what they did for a living. Just as much as we
feel like we might get defined by what we do
for a living today. So to drop everything that
they were doing to follow Jesus, was no small
decision. It was an identity redefining decision.
Because they weren't leaving behind their livelihood
or a paycheck. They were walking away from the
thing that had defined them, how they were known.
James and John. They're described as the sons
of Zebedee. So they're walking away from more
than just an identity as a fisher. When they
walk, they get invited by Jesus. They have to
step over their father to go where they're going.
They're leaving more than just the job. They're
leaving family. These weren't small decisions.
They were identity redefining. Now, I don't know
how many times that you have had to change careers.
Sometimes we just change jobs. Sometimes we change
careers. Or how many times you've lost a job
and so suddenly you've had to consider like,
oh, what do I do now? Is this a time to change
vocations and careers? Or do I find something
that is exactly the same? But I've been there.
I've been in that situation where something fell
through and suddenly we're having to go, okay.
What are we going to do? How do I even feel about
myself that this thing fell through and that
this thing isn't going to work out? I had to
think about who I thought that I was or what
I was capable of doing. Back in 2004. For you
kids, that was 21 years ago. That's a while.
I was the worship pastor at a church. in Moline
but the grant that was funding the position that
I had was running out and so they were essentially
taught well we can probably keep you on but you'll
essentially they were like here's three jobs
that you can do so that we can justify keeping
you on and then something else that I was doing
was kind of being phased out and So Cindy and
I just kind of thought, well, maybe it's time
to move on. Maybe we're being called to something
else. We happened to then meet another pastor
at the same time named Gene. He'd been hired
to relaunch a ministry at the church that Cindy
and I had met at, and a ministry that we had
loved because we had been a part of it, and they
were going to start it back up again and turn
it into something else. And Gene wanted me to
be the worship arts pastor. for this ministry,
which is absurd because Jen was also involved.
So the idea that I was the worship arts pastor
when Jen was involved was kind of laughable at
this point. But he wanted me to have this role.
But there was one catch. The pay was zero. So
we did, any rational young couple does, we sold
our house and we moved into his basement. And
the plan was that we would live with them in
their basement apartment until the church was
able to turn this job into a paid position because
that was the idea. It wasn't, oh, you'll just
do this for free forever. That same year, we
got pregnant with our first child. And Cindy
can correct me if I'm wrong, but I honestly don't
feel like when we first found out that we were
really worried. I mean, it was like, oh. But
we had this sense that this is going to work
out. This is going to happen. We were walking
in faith. In a lot of ways, faith defined who
I thought I was. We really believed that this
ministry was going to work out. And then it did
not. The pastor that was above the pastor we
worked for was like, well, I don't think we need
that. And essentially... I've said essentially
four times today. What turns out to be a future
hope turns into a present problem. My wife is
pregnant. I have no income other than I was helping
lead worship at another church sometimes on Sunday
mornings. I had to get a job. So the first job
that I could find, because that's the kind of
job you get when you have no job. Did you hear
me? Sometimes the job you get when you have no
job is the first job. Sometimes I meet people
that are like, well, I'm just waiting for the
right thing. And bills are piling up. You know
what makes you really appealing as someone that
can get a job? Having a job. Because people go,
oh, you're already hired somewhere? Oh, you're
hireable? Oh, yeah. Sorry. I'm on a little soapbox
here. But the first job I could get. Okay, I
told one person and my family can't say, but
just guess. In generic terms, where was the first
place I could get a job? Ready, set, go. Okay,
did anybody say a factory? I didn't think so.
I got a job at a factory. Now, to be clear, I
was not hired at this factory because I was qualified
or even because I was looking for a job in a
factory. I got a job in a factory because someone
knew I needed a job. And they had a friend of
a friend that was looking to start a new position
at a factory that manufactured agricultural parts
for places like John Deere. And they needed someone
that would be the split shift shipping manager
from 11... to 7 or 11 to 7 30 every day to kind
of make sure there wasn't a lull there between
shifts and someone would be in charge of making
sure that everywhere everything got where it
was meant to go and so my first day at the factory
if you're going to be a manager of something
like that the first thing you have to do is learn
to do everything else right and so they put me
to work the first thing that i had to learn was
how to pack the shipments If I was going to be
the one in charge of telling people how to pack
this stuff, I had to know how to do it. So I'll
tell you how to do it. You make a box and then
you put some oil in it because these are heavy
metal machinery, machined parts that are going
inside of a combine somewhere. And you put down
the metal and you put down the part and then
you put metal and then paper and then oil. And
then the metal, and then oil, and then some paper,
and then some more oil, and then another piece
of metal, and oil. You would just fill up the
box with oil and metal is what you were doing.
And then when that box was filled with oil and
metal, you would then fill another box with oil
and metal, and another box with oil and metal.
When I got home that night, there was oil everywhere.
Guys, I had steel -toed boots. Are you impressed?
But I was covered, just covered, because my dad
did this kind of work his entire life. I am your
son, right? Because it just wasn't in me. And
I had like six or seven cuts on my hands from
all the parts. And again, Cindy can correct me
if I'm wrong, but I feel like I made the argument,
and I used the justification, I'm a guitar player.
I'm a worship leader. I can't do this. I'd start
convincing myself I was going to get injured.
I was going to hurt my hands. I would lose the
vocational identity, the skill that I thought
that I needed by working at this factory. And
y 'all, that is the story of the time that I
worked at a factory for one day. I'm not exaggerating.
I don't think I even went in to get the check
for the one day. I think they mailed it to me.
To this day, when I meet people that work in
factories, people that work on lines, people
that work with their hands, I know how much respect
they deserve. Because I tried. And I failed.
I automatically hold a positive view of someone
that has that identity of what they are capable
of because for one day I tried to do what they
did and what they do. And I didn't feel like
I could do that long term. And I also think that
maybe I don't blame any factory member for looking
at me and thinking that I wouldn't last a week.
Been times in my life where I actually felt small
next to people that I knew that worked in factories.
Because of this experience, it changed how I
felt about myself. Now think about those four
disciples. These fishers, often working through
the night, dragging in nets. full of fish soaked
in water, hands calloused, their bodies covered
in the odor of their work. They knew what it
meant to work hard. I bet they could pick the
people out of the crowd that they thought could
cut it. The people they thought, ah, I bet they
could do it. That guy's got no chance. Jesus
comes along, calls them out of that work into
another work, and then the very next disciple
that we are introduced to is a tax collector.
Matthew was a man that did not work for a living.
Culturally, that's what they would have said.
He doesn't work for a living. Tax collectors
were looked at as thieves and often as traitors.
They were living on other people's money. People
like fishermen that had worked hard for their
wage. And then Matthew makes his living by taking
a percentage. And what's worth is that he was...
collecting those taxes for a puppet king that
had been put in place by the Roman Empire. It's
not a stretch to say that there was a chasm between
fishermen and tax collectors. They were on opposite
ends of the spectrum. And I think that's why,
If you noticed, we started in chapter 4, and
then we meet Matthew in what chapter? 9, yeah.
I think the chasm between them is the reason
that Jesus teaches them all the stuff between
them meeting. What do I mean? In chapter 5, Jesus
teaches about anger and murder. He... He says,
even if you're just angry with your brother or
your sister, you're in danger of judgment. Even
if you think these things in your mind, you're
essentially committing murder against them. If
you even just call someone raka or a fool, you
are in danger of judgment. How many times have
we called the IRS any number of words that can't
be mentioned from a place? Jesus says don't do
that. And then Jesus says to turn the other cheek
when you feel insulted or injured or put down
upon by someone. Turn the other cheek. Don't
repay evil for evil. If you are a Jew living
in the first century, you know what is evil?
The Roman Empire. You know what is evil by extension?
One of your own brethren. Someone of your same
personhood. Matthew, also a Jewish man, collecting
money from your hard work to give it to Herod
and the Roman Empire. He says, do not repay evil
for evil. Because Jesus then teaches them, you
should love your enemies. Pray for those who
persecute you. Do good to those that harm you.
And in chapter 7, Jesus teaches them to be slow
to judgment. He says, before you try and remove
that speck, that piece of dirt that you think
is in their eye, why don't you try and get that
2x6? That's blocking your view off of your face.
And then he says, you should do unto others as
you would have them do to you. You don't think
that maybe, just maybe that Jesus taught all
of this between calling four fishermen and one
tax collector so that they could overcome the
opinions. The stereotypes and the prejudice that
they might have felt for each other when Jesus
called Matthew. I don't think it's that much
of a stretch. I feel that he did because Jesus
had always planned on calling dramatically different
disciples. Who do we think is so dramatically
different that we don't think they belong? Maybe
we're in management and so we don't spend much
time with the people down on the line. Maybe
we have money and so we don't spend much time
with people that don't. Maybe we're a Democrat
and we just don't believe that anyone that voted
for Donald J. Trump could possibly follow Jesus.
We divide ourselves every possible way that we
can. And sadly, research shows that in the last
20 years, the percentage of people that believe
here in America that we are greatly divided,
that number has gotten worse by 15%. Listen,
I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't confront
issues. I'm not saying that we shouldn't. Use
wisdom. I'm not even saying that we should ignore
bad behavior. Of course, we shouldn't do those
things. What I am saying is that when Jesus called
those fishermen, they ceased to be who people
thought they were based on what they did. And
they became something new because of who they
followed. And when Jesus called the tax collector,
he ceased to be all the ugly things that people
thought of him. Because of who he followed. Jesus
gives us a new identity. When we follow Jesus,
It is identity redefining. Jesus gives us a new
way to identify, to look at ourselves and know
who we are. And he does it in a way that helps
us to really believe that we all belong together.
Fishers, tax collectors, Republicans and Democrats,
gay, straight, black. Hispanic and Asian and
white. We all belong together because in Christ,
he gives us an identity that we share. Jesus
is calling dramatically different disciples and
he defines us as more than what we have done
or what we do for a living. I think it's true.
I'm not saying that it's not fair. I think we
have to get better at admitting that we are afraid
sometimes of who we might have to accept. We
have to get better at admitting that sometimes
we are afraid of who we might have to accept.
But if we follow Jesus, he will teach us how
in the space between. Amen? Let's pray. I want
you all just for a moment to let the Holy Spirit
remind you of the moment that you felt the most
brave in following Jesus. Just let the Holy Spirit
remind you right now of the moment you felt the
most brave where you stepped over your father
to get to him. Where you left your nets behind.
Where you left behind a lucrative job as a tax
collector. And hear me say this. You are right
now that same person. And that bravery and the
way that you felt like God was finding you in
that moment is still true of you right now. Jesus,
help us to follow you boldly. It says that they
immediately followed you. I pray that today,
whatever it is that we feel you calling us to,
that we would... Follow you immediately. Even
if it means that we leave behind some version
of how we identify ourselves. Of how we define
ourselves. Help me to be just a little bit more
bold like I was. When I would sell a house and
move into a basement. And help us remember that
moment. And walk from there. We love you, God.
We love you. Amen.