“While walking 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 fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4 
Since 2015, University Lutheran has adopted what we call an “Annual Focus”. The annual focus is sort of a year long theme that we explore in all sorts of different ways – through the sermons, the Bible studies, the programming, the writing, and the different things that we do.
This year’s annual focus is called “Follow Me,” and comes from Jesus’ words to Peter and Andrew in Matthew 4. Jesus says, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” We just got done with an annual focus about our vocations (“Called by the Gospel”). One of the big points that we tried to make during the year was that no person has just one vocation. You may have one occupation, but your vocations include things like your role in your family, your membership in your local church, your function as a citizen, and so forth. This year we’re turning our gaze specifically to one of your vocations – the vocation of being a disciple.
Discipleship is unfortunately a confusing “Christian word” that gets translated and defined in all sorts of ways that may be less than helpful. Many of us hear “discipleship” as a word of law – something that we know we should be doing, but aren’t. But there is Gospel in discipleship as well. It was good news when Peter and Andrew heard Jesus say “Follow Me,” and it should be good news for us too.
The Gospel of discipleship is really about caring. Peter and Andrew were surprised that someone like Jesus would stop and talk to poor fishermen, much less care enough about them to want to add them to His entourage. They probably felt intimidated by Him, after all, He was the guy who at the age of 12 was stumping rabbis in the temple and the guy who even John the Baptist was seemingly a little afraid of. But if they were just intimidated, they wouldn’t have left their boats. There had to be something about Jesus’ character that told them that although the call may be intimidating, the Person behind the call was caring.
As Lutherans, we believe some pretty amazing stuff about discipleship. We believe that we are indeed made disciples by Christ, but that we are made disciples through means of grace – those means of grace are Word and Sacrament, and the often unsaid but absolutely necessary “means of the means of grace” – namely people. We are not made disciples by liturgies themselves (no, not even by the old 1941 liturgy). We are not made disciples by the Small Catechism or the Book of Concord. We believe we are made disciples by disciples.
And here’s some good news, we’re not made disciples by “perfect” disciples. If we were, there wouldn’t be very many disciples around. There is a shortage of perfect disciples because there is a shortage of perfect people, in fact, I can only name One. Instead, we’re made disciples by imperfect disciples – people just like us who are trying this out. Paul puts it this way, “be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor 11). Those people are the perfect disciple makers, because they care. Again, the call may be intimidating, but the person behind the call needs to be someone who cares.
Which means that it could be you. Yeah, you. You could make a disciple. In fact, if you read Scripture, you SHOULD make a disciple or two. As much as other Christian groups may adulate hermits, Lutherans don’t have much need for them. That’s an intimidating call, I get that. But here’s the thing, we care. Over this year we’re going to give you tools and training and opportunity to be a disciple of Jesus Christ who functions as a part of His Body to make disciples. We’re going to do that because the call is intimidating, but we care. We care enough about Jesus to not side step His call to make disciples, but we also care about His disciples enough to not leave them in despair. We are the means of the means of grace. We are disciples who make disciples. We are God’s Baptized.
The call is intimidating, but we care, now Follow Me.