Matthew 4 (NRSVue)
18 As he 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. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
Encountering Jesus should revolutionize our values and redirect our purpose.
Here are some questions for discussion:
1. We often frame staying where we are as morally neutral. How does this text expose the illusion that not choosing is still a choice? What “boats” today appear harmless but quietly contradict the call of Jesus?
2. When we lose focus on what matters we often find ourselves in unhealthy routines, have you ever experienced an event that interrupted your regularly scheduled programming and brought you to a better path or trajectory?
3. How radical is it that Jesus’s call is oriented toward transformation instead of merely optimization? In what ways do inherited identities like vocation, theology, or politics become obstacles when discipleship begins to rewrite the story of who we are becoming? How do we tend to respond when following Jesus threatens the story we’ve told ourselves about who we are?
If you’d like to dig a little deeper, consider the following:
1. Discipleship is framed as an invitation, something Jesus does, not something they achieve on their own. How does this shift pressure off performance-based faith? What practices help us remain open to being formed rather than trying to prove usefulness? How should this truth shape how we view those in our proximity?
2. When Jesus says in Matthew “Follow me,” and the disciples “left their nets at once,” how might Revelation’s warning—“because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth (Revelation 3:15-16)”—help us see that staying in the boat is not neutral faith?
3. How has the concept of “law and order” been used as a weapon against both believers and non-believers in your life? What has been the historical response to such circumstances in the past? How can that be applied today in our lives?
4. How can we avoid viewing others as nothing more than their profession? What active steps might you take to perceive the baker as more than just a cookie maker?
5. When they dropped their nets to follow they were demonstrating a level of trust few of us could bring ourselves to. What factors have helped your faith to grow in this direction? Is there something that could be revealed to you that would propel your faith to this level of commitment?
6. Have you encountered a person or directive that you knew instantly you needed to follow as Peter and Andrew did? What does it indicate about what Jesus knew of Simon that we already see Simon as Peter even at this first contact?
For further contemplation, consider this prompt:
Pastor Trey stated, “remaining in the boat would have been sin?” Is sin here defined as doing wrong, or as refusing a revealed good? How does this challenge the idea that sin is only about breaking explicit rules?