Dear friends: A number of years ago, Chan Gailey, football coach for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, told how he learned a little lesson in humility. He was the head coach of Alabama’s Troy State, and they were playing for a national championship. The week before the big game he was headed to the practice field when a secretary called him back for a phone call. Somewhat irritated, he told her to take a message because he was on his way practice. She responded “but it’s Sports Illustrated.” “I’ll be right there” he said. As he made his way to the building he began thinking about the upcoming article. It would be great publicity for a small school like Troy State to be in Sports Illustrated. As he got closer, he realized that a three-page article would not be sufficient to tell the whole story. Coming even closer to his office he started thinking he might be on the cover! “Should I pose, or go with an action shot?” he wondered. His head was spinning with all kinds of possibilities. When he picked up the phone and said “hello”, the person asked “is this Chan Gailey?” “Yes it is” he replied confidently. “This is Sports Illustrated, and we’re calling to let you know that your subscription is running out. Are you interested in renewing?” Coach Gailey concluded his story by saying “you are either humble or you will be humbled.” You know, we receive all kinds of calls in life, don’t we? Junk calls, usually an automatic robotic voice: “congratulations, we have picked you to go on this trip.” Or a voice offering to update your car warranty. There’s spam and scam calls. “This is the Social Security office, and we need your Social Security number to get your account straightened out.” Fundraising calls: “this is your alma mater, we’re doing a capital campaign and we need your financial help.” Of course there are personal calls from family and friends who are checking in with us. Then there those bothersome calls from people you don’t really want to talk with because they’re irritating and interrupting your day. Surveys, for instance. Or crank calls, or prank calls, or business calls from customers, bosses, or colleagues. Some calls, though, we receive are quite memorable and important to us. I remember when my congregation called me up, said “Steve, we just voted and we want you to come and be our pastor.” Or a call from my grown-up son or daughter, “dad, we just had a baby boy!” Important calls. Today I want to talk with you about the most important call you will ever receive in your life. Because, you see, in our passage for today we come across the calling of Andrew and Peter and James and John by Jesus. He saw these fisherman with nets in their hands by the sea of Galilee and He called out to them “follow Me.” To follow someone means to come after them. Start going, moving in their direction. Get behind Him. And they responded, amazingly. They dropped what they were doing, left behind their businesses, and followed. Everything: business, family left behind. And they traipsed after Him in faith. They had some previous exposure to Jesus according to John’s gospel. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. He told Andrew that Jesus was the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Andrew was intrigued by this, and so he followed Jesus home and spent some time with Him and was convinced! He went home and told his brother Simon Peter “we found the Messiah!” And then Andrew brought Peter to meet Jesus, and then he stayed on, learning more. So later on, when Jesus comes to them and calls them by the Sea of Galilee to follow Him, they went with Him. They’d had some time, I suppose, to think about what they’d learned. They followed. They didn’t know where He would lead them, but they went in faith. And their lives were never the same after that, were they? They began following Jesus, and that involved living with Him 24/7. Getting to know Him. Learning from His wisdom as He taught them. Observing Him as He went throughout the...